USA > Maine > Lincoln County > Wiscasset > Wiscasset in Pownalborough; a history of the shire town and the salient historical features of the territory between the Sheepscot and Kennebec rivers > Part 10
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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 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64
Only one other place-name in Maine surely, and another probably, but not certainly contain the same root so far as has been recognized. In both cases, as in Wiscasset, the Indians have great difficulty in expressing their idea in English. They say they cannot put it into English.
The full name of Sunkhaze Stream, two miles above Oldtown is Wetchi-sankessek which Father O'Brien defined as "where one comes out". Much the same explana- tion was given Thoreau by Joseph Polis: "Suppose you going down Penobscot, just
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Pownalborough
like we, and you see a canoe come out of bank and go along before you, but you no see 'em stream. That is Sunkhaze." (The Maine Woods, p .- Riverside ed .; p. 302, first edition.) The idea is of a blind outlet. It may also involve the idea of a bend which shuts off the view up a stream; for Sunkhaze hardly 200 feet from the main river makes a right-angled turn which hides the course of the stream entirely; it also is choked at the very mouth by two small alluvial islands, so that the outlet is hardly visible when looking up into it. The whole word means "out of the little outlet place."
The second occurrence may be in the old name for the Union River, which enters the sea at Ellsworth. Wech-ko-tetuck, Wek8kategek and Wishtotokwai are forms taken down from Indians, but not fully analyzed. This, too, has an insignificant out- let, stopped close to the outlet by a very high drop (now a concrete dam) and with a sharp turn in direction just above.
Wiscasset Bay shows the same feature of an apparently closed entrance. Large and strong as is the stream that flows out, one can not see what lies above the bends at the Narrows. The outlet turns eastward at right angles to the general direction of the basin, flows thus a short distance and then turns at right angles again to the south. The en- trance is closed to the view, as in the case of Sunkhaze and Union River, by sharp-angled bends; what "comes out" comes without warning. Yet in defining the word it seems sufficient to call it "the outlet" and to note the implication of a strong tide flow and of the turns.
Names of the Proprietors of the Wiscasset Company
The Original Proprietors 64ths
The Present Heirs &c of Ditto Thomas Fairweather, Esq.
Hon. Thomas Hubbard, Esq.
I
Brig,dr. Samuel Waldo
4
Will,m. Wetmore, Esq. & al
Sr. William Pepperell
I
Nath,l. Sparhawk, Esq. & al
Mr. T. Cookson
I
Mr. Moses Grant & al
Andrew Tyler
I
Mess. Geo. Wm. & Pepp Tyler ditto
Jonn Tyler
I
John Clarke
I
Dr. Howard & Mr. Greenwood
John Loring sold Trefant
4
James Halsey
I
Joseph Gardner, Esq.
Joseph Hubbard
I
Thomas Fairweather, Esq.
Benj,m. Hallowell, Esq.
2
Robert Hallowell, Esq.
Capt. Samuel Prince
I
Rev. Mr. C. Robbins of Plymouth
Thomas Boylston
2
Moses Gill, Esq.
Jonas Clarke, Esq.
2
Mr. Stephen Minots Family
Charles Apthorp
2
Perez Morton, Esq.
Samuel Doggett
2
William Doggett & al
Benj,n. Pemberton, Esq.
I
Joseph Brightman
Henry Howell
2
Henry H. Williams
Emmery & Gooch
I
George Rogers, Esq.
I Joseph Crocker
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Wiscasset in Pownalborough
Eben,r. Hasey
I
Deacon Chever of Charles Town
Edward Gray
2
Gray & Jackson's Family's
Francis Shaw
I
William Shaw
Col,n. Kingsbury
I
Brigham
Alexander Thwait
8
Mr. March Rep,r. from Newberry
William Frost
4
Judge Sullivan
Charles Frost
4
ditto ditto
Joseph Frost
2
Capt. Homans
I
Benj. & Jno. Homans & al
Job Lewis
8
John Lowell, Esq.
64
First Division of Wiscasset lands into settlers' lots
Lot No. I Robert Lambert
Lot No. 2 Will Groves
Lot No. 3 Edward Herriden
Lot No. 4
George Beal
Lot No. 5 Joseph Winter
Lot No. 6 Robert Lambert
Lot No. 7 John Gray
Lot No. 8 Richard Holbrook
Lot No. 9 Obadiah Allbee
Lot No. 10
Abiel Whitney
Lot No. II
James Pierce
Lot No. 12
James Reves, who lived on it for a short time. When he left it, it was taken by John Pomeroy.
Lot No. 13 Nehemiah Ward on which is a meadow called Ward's meadow.
Lot No. 14 Proprietors
Lot No. 15 Samuel Stockbridge
Lot No. 16 Jonathan Williamson
Lot No. 17 One Underwood
Lot No. 18
William Pomeroy
Lot No. 19 Benjamin Pomeroy
Lot No. 20
John Cane or Kane
Lot No. 21 William Barnes
Lot No. 22
Robert Hooper
Lot No. 23 Thomas Worringer, who lived on it a while and then Thomas Means or Mears, lived on it and then it was bought by Caleb Boyinton & his daughter Ann.
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Lot No. 24 James Gray
Lot No. 25 Caleb Boyinton who settled under the Boston Company
Lot No. 26 One Taylor (John Taylor? )
Lot No. 27
James Allen
Lot No. 28
Thaddeus Trafton
Lot No. 29 Jabez Blackledge
Lot No. 30 Lived on for a while by John Silvester
Lot No. 31 Samuel Chapman
Pownalborough had, in 1764, a population of 889 white inhabitants. There were 175 families, 161 houses and 9 negroes. It was at that time and for many succeeding years, the most important town on the Kennebec, for then the township extended from that river to the Sheepscot.
Wiscasset
Wiscasset Point is located in that region which lies between the ancient Pemaquid patent and the Gorges grant, and was a precinct of the ancient Sheepscot Farms. Records of the old Plymouth controversy show that all of the inhabitants of Arrowsic-"Rowsic Island"-were governed at Pema- quid, and lots and tracts of land at old Sheepscot and Wiscasset were then granted. By this the ancient relations of Wiscasset to Sheepscot, in landed interest and title, is shown.
In the course of a generation, land hereabout began to be valuable for title and possession and a few families had settled at the Point, which, when Pownalborough was incorporated, became the east precinct, the name it retained until it was changed to Wiscasset.
Curiosity is always excited by unusual place names and this is evident in regard to the little New England village, whose name is unique. Although the appellation occurs at three points on the globe: Wiscasset Cove-its god- child in Greenland named by Commander MacMillan for his home port; a hotel at Mount Pocono in Pennsylvania; and a group of mills in North Carolina; there is no other town save this one bearing the name of Wiscasset.
Although regarded by most authorities as an Indian locative word, its true definition is still obscure. Its two most salient natural features are the Great Rock, or headland on Fort Hill where the first garrison was built,
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Wiscasset in Pownalborough
called by the Wawenocks, "Kchipnapskw," and the narrow outlet where three waters meet at a sharp bend in the river that conceals the broad sheet of water which forms Wiscasset Bay
A Description of Wiscasset, and of the River Sheepscot By Rev. Alden Brad ford, Minister at Wiscasset, S. H. S.ยบ
"Judge Sullivan, in his History of the District of Maine, Dr. Morse, in his Gazetteer and Geography, and the Duc de Liancourt, in his volume of travels through the United States and Canada, have given some account of Wiscasset. But they are very partial, and in some instances erroneous in their statements; and a particular and accurate description of this place and river, though considerably celebrated for the nautical enterprise of the in- habitants, and for its great advantages with respect to navigation, has never yet been published.
"Wiscasset is situated on the western branch of Sheepscot river, about twenty miles from the island of Seguin; which lies two miles off the neck, or point of land that separates the entrances into the rivers Kennebec and Sheepscot. The mouth of Kennebec is very narrow; only about half a mile; and the current exceedingly rapid. But the entrance into Sheepscot, for seven or eight miles above Seguin, presents the appearance of a large bay. The width gradually lessens. But even at the distance from its mouth, just mentioned, it is two miles and upwards. Five miles below Wiscasset, the river becomes much more confined, and the banks are high. In some places, it is little more than half a mile. The water is very deep, generally from fifteen to twenty fathoms.
"In one place, a mile below Wiscasset, where the river is only about one hundred rods wide, there are not more than eleven fathoms. There is not less water in any place in the river, below this settlement: and it is navigable for the largest ships with perfect safety, as high as this place. In the year 1775, two British men-of-war came up the river opposite the town. And merchant ships of more than five hundred tons are owned here; which lay afleet at low water, when loaded, at some of the wharves.
"Against the compact part of the town, and for a short distance above and below, the river is nearly a mile wide. The navigation is rather difficult for large vessels above this place. But those of an hundred tons may safely
9. Latin for member of the Historical Society, that is, the Massachusetts Historical Society.
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Pownalborough
ascend about four miles higher up the river, to New-Castle. Here is a fall of water, which prevents any other craft than boats to proceed farther into the country. The tide-water continues yet five miles higher, where the river is very small, and fit only for the business of mills; several of which are here advantageously situated.
"Over the river, half a mile above the fall, there is a toll bridge, built in 1795, which is six hundred feet in length.
"The land, where is the compact and mercantile part of the town, ap- proaches to a point; or, is rather two sides of a parallelogram; the longest of which is the bank of the river, lying about N. by E. and S. by W .; and the shortest side, the margin of a small bay, or inlet, which, on the south of the settlement, encroaches on the main about one hundred and forty rods, for the distance of three fourths of a mile.
"The course of the river, from its mouth, both above and below Wiscas- set, is nearly N. by E. But in some places, for short distances, it varies from this direction. A little below Wiscasset point, it is diverted from its general course to a N. W. one, where the bed of the river is narrow; but soon again continues its usual direction.
"On the west side of Sheepscot river, near its mouth, is Parker's island. This is in Georgetown; and extends a few miles, when the island of Jeremy- squam continues to bound this shore of the river, within a mile of Wiscasset point. This island extends about twelve miles in length, and is in some places a mile and a half; but generally from one to half a mile wide. The western side of this island is separated from the southern part of Wiscasset, and from a part of Woolwich, (which is adjoining Wiscasset on the S. W.) by a cross river running from Sheepscot, and falling into the Kennebec opposite to Bath, about eight miles from its mouth. This cross river meets the Sheepscot about a mile south of Wiscasset point, where the course of this latter river, for a short distance, makes a right angle with its general direction; and thus a bay is formed of about two miles by one; which is very convenient and pleasant.
"The cross river communicating with Kennebec, is a great advantage to Wiscasset. Lumber of all kinds is brought here from various parts of the Kennebec, and from Amariscoggin. Vessels of seventy and eighty tons pass through this cross river loaded. And a new light ship of 400 tons has been carried through here, by taking advantage of the tide and current, which, in some places, where the river is narrow, is very rapid.
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Wiscasset in Pownalborough
"Besides the great depth, and the comparative stillness of the water in Sheepscot, there is another advantage for navigation, which it has over most other rivers in the District of Maine: It is seldom obstructed by ice in the coldest and longest winters. It has sometimes been known to be frozen, for one or two days, about half the distance from the Point, where is the lowest wharf, to the narrows; that is, half a mile. But even then, the ice was easily removed. And below this, it never freezes. Only once in six years, though there have been several very severe winters in this period, has the river been frozen as low as the Point, and then it continued only about twenty-four hours. A little higher, at the most northern wharves, the ice is often entirely across the river, and sometimes continues several days.
"The water here flows and ebbs from ten to fifteen feet; generally about twelve; which is nearly the same as at Boston. And it is remarkable, that at Portsmouth, Portland, and other places between this and Boston, the tide flows less than in these two harbours.
"There are ten considerable wharves in this place, one of which is 550 feet in length. It is about eighty rods higher up the river than that at the Point, which is adjoining the channel of the river, The long wharf also runs off to the edge of the channel; so that very large vessels, laden, are afleet at these, when the water is the lowest.
"The compact part of the town consists of about one hundred and thirty dwelling-houses; some of which are large and elegant. The stores are nu- merous; and some of them spacious, and ornamental to the town. There are four streets running parallel with the river, distant from one another about twelve rods. These are intersected at right angles, about eighty rods north of the Point, by a street 140 feet wide, passing down a gentle descent by the meeting and court houses, (which are handsome buildings), in almost a straight course to the head of the long wharf. This is the main street lead- ing into the village from the W. and N. W. The street leading out of town to the eastward is the continuation of the third, which is parallel with the river. It leaves the main street about fifty rods from the river, and its course is straight for three quarters of a mile, when it winds to the N. E.
"On the east side of the river, opposite to Wiscasset, is the town of Edge- combe. The island of Jeremysquam, which lies on the west side of the Sheepscot below Wiscasset, and as high up as the narrows, before men- tioned, belongs to this town, and not to Woolwich, as Judge Sullivan asserts in his History of Maine.
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Pownalborough
"What is now Pownalborough, (for Wiscasset10 is the Indian name of the Point only, though the village is generally known by this name,) is bounded N. and N. by E. by New-Milford, which was incorporated in 1793: It was before called the north parish of Pownalborough: On the N. W. by Dresden, lying on the eastern bank of Kennebec, which was set off from this town at the same time with New-Milford: On the W. and S. W. it is separated from Woolwich by a small stream called Monseag, up which the tide flows some distance, from the cross river, leading into Ken- nebec; and the water of this cross river washes the south part of Pownal- borough.
"The town extends nearly eight miles from S. by W. to N. by E .; and is four miles in the opposite directions. It contains about three hundred and fifty families, and two thousand inhabitants; two thirds of which are in the village at the Point. Nearly half the town is cleared; and there are some very good farms. But the land in general is too clayey to be profitable for tilling. For grass, it is very good.
"A great part of the land on the sea coast, and within twenty miles of it, in the District of Maine, contains a large proportion of clay;11 and while every man possesses an extensive farm, it is not to be expected that the clayey lands will produce much beside grass, barley, and potatoes; as they cannot afford to mix with it a sufficient quantity of sand and manure to render it suitable for the profitable culture of corn and grain in general. But when they shall be contented to hold and cultivate less land, and shall learn to mix sand or shells with the clay, it will produce all kinds of roots, grain and fruits in the greatest plenty. For it has been found that clayey lands are the best for gardens, when prepared by a mixture of sand and manure.
"The land farther from the sea coast, and for a great distance into the country, and parallel to the ocean, is of a very superior quality. It is gener- ally of the richest loam, and produces all kinds of grain as abundantly as any part of New-England. And it is settling and improving in a most rapid manner.
"There are a few good orchards in Pownalborough. But the cultivation of the apple tree is too much neglected. The common red cherry is found
10. Formerly it was pronounced Wissacasset by the Indians; and is said to mean the confluence of three waters or rivers.
11. There are some exceptions to this general remark.
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Wiscasset in Pownalborough
here in great abundance. There are also some plum trees. And the pear un- doubtedly might be successfully cultivated; for it is generally found on clayey ground. A few peach trees have been raised in this and the neigh- bouring towns. But the general opinion is, that this fruit will not grow in this part of the country. This, however, is a mistaken idea; and adopted probably to excuse the negligence of the people. If particular spots were chosen, lying to the south, and of a light or loamy soil, no doubt they would succeed. General Knox, who lives about thirty miles eastward of this place, has in his garden a great number of peach and apricot trees of two and three years growth; and they look as flourishing and vigorous as those in the vicinity of Boston.
"Currants, raspberries, gooseberries and strawberries grow here, and in most parts of the country, in great abundance. And there is a fruit called the moose plum, nearly as large as the apricot, natural to the climate, which would probably be much better, if carefully cultivated.
"The wood is chiefly ever-green, such as the fir, spruce, hemlock, white pine, and yellow, or Norway pine. There is also a considerable proportion of maple, of different kinds, of birch and beech. In the adjoining towns, there is a great quantity of oak.
"The extremes of heat and cold in this place do not differ much from Boston.12 There are not so many very warm days here in summer, as in the vicinity of Boston, but some when the mercury rises as high within two or three degrees. And in winter, the mercury has been found not to be more than two degrees lower; but yet there is more cold weather here during the winter.
"Pownalborough was incorporated in 1760, the same year that the county of Lincoln was separated from Cumberland; and it owes its name 'to the pride of Governor Pownal.'
"There were some settlements made in this vicinity, as early as the year 1661. One Walter Philips purchased land at that time of some Indian chiefs, and lived several years on the western banks of Damariscotta river, now within the town of New-Castle, which lies above Wiscasset. Between this period and 1680, there were many families in this vicinity; the greater part of them on the eastern banks of Sheepscot in New-Castle. The inhabi- tants were mostly Dutch; and were under the government of New-York and Hudson's River. They were driven off by the Indians, in 1680.
12. Dr. Morse is mistaken, when he says that the heat here is greater than at Boston.
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"About this time, there were a few families at Wiscasset. One George Davie settled here in 1663. It is said he lived about half a mile north of the Point, on an eminence, fifty rods from the river. A brother of his, and two others, lived here at the same period. But they all fled in 1680. The widow of one of these Davies died in Newton, near Boston, in 1752, aged 116. There is a portrait of her in the room of the Historical Society.
"George Davie had also purchased a large tract of land of some Indians. 'This came by inheritance and transfer to a number of wealthy men, who, in 1734, associated under the name of the Boston company. Wiscasset Point is in this tract.'
"The settlements begun again by one Robert Hooper, in 1730. Foye and Lambert came in '34. And the proprietors soon after lotted out the lands for settlement.13 Hooper lived some time by the side of a large rock, a little south of Main-street, and about three rods from the river, where now stands the house of Jeremiah Dalton.1+
"A few years after this, some families settled on the cross river, about two miles from Wiscasset Point; the names of which were Boynton, Taylor, Young, and Chapman. And in 1745, one Hilton from Dover, New Hamp- shire, set down by Monseag river, which separates Woolwich from Pownal- borough. But they were kept in continual fear by the Indians; and fre- quently were obliged to shelter themselves in the fort, which stood at the Point. Hilton was killed by the Indians; and his oldest son, now living in this town, was taken and carried to Canada; but returned the year after. A captain Williamson, who died here in 1798, aged 80, was also taken and carried to Quebec, but was soon released.
"The post road from Boston to St. George's river and Penobscot passes through this town. And a post-office has been established here eleven years. The mail arrives twice a week from Boston; twice from Hallowell by a cross post, and twice from the eastward.
"Wiscasset is a port of entry and delivery. And there are owned here nearly thirty square-rigged vessels; some of them very large. They amount to about 10,000 tons. They are lately chiefly employed in the West-India trade. Until within a few years, the merchants sent all their large vessels to England and Scotland with lumber. And some still pursue the same line of
13. Sullivan's History of the District of Maine.
14. A daughter of Hooper, Mrs. Taylor, is now living in Pownalborough. She was nine months old when she was brought to the place.
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Wiscasset in Pownalborough
business. But the other is found to be more profitable. For the last three years, the merchants have added greatly to their property by trading to the Islands.
"Wiscasset is justly considered a very healthy situation; and this is also true of most other towns in the District of Maine. More persons die of con- sumption, than of any other disease. And this is most probably owing to the too frequent use of spirit and tea. A great proportion of the common people are intemperate in the use of spirituous liquors; and often drink tea twice a day; which must be very injurious to the constitution. If they could be per- suaded to reform in these respects, they would preserve both their health and their property.
"For the last six years, the deaths, on an average, have been 13 a year. The births annually are upwards of 60.
"And very few die in infancy. And if children were rightly managed from the time of their birth; if they were used to frequent cold washings and to the fresh air, and were kept cleanly, it would be very rare that any of them die, except by some malignant, contagious disease.
"Several of the inhabitants of this place were from England, Scotland, or Ireland; some of whom were Episcopalians, and some Presbyterians; but they are all happily united with the rest of the people, who form a Congre- gational Society. The Rev. Thomas Moore was the first ordained minister. He was settled in 1773.
"Wiscasset is the principal shire town in the County of Lincoln. The Court of Pleas sits here once, the Supreme Judicial Court once, and the Federal District Court twice, a year."15
15. Above account taken from the Massachusetts Historical Collections (1801), VII, 163-171.
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VII Land Claims
T HE great argument-the only plausible one our ancestors could main- tain-for expelling the Indians from their dominions was that it was inconsistent with the law of nature, and evidently against the designs of Providence in the progress of civilization, that immense tracts of wilderness, which in a state of cultivation would be capable of sustaining countless num- bers of people, should be entirely appropriated as hunting grounds for the few native tribes. It was equally unjustifiable that the Plymouth Company should hold a patent of 2,000,000 acres of land on the Kennebec or that William Bingham of Philadelphia, by a lottery sale, should have acquired title to 2,350,000 acres of land in northern Maine.
In common with all of this part of Maine much trouble and litigation had arisen from conflicting titles to the land and it was not until June, 1792, that the rights of the occupants of much of the land in the village were per- fected. In that month a committee of Wiscasset Proprietors, as those hold- ing under the Indian deeds to George Davie were termed, visited Wiscasset and were occupied for several weeks in negotiating the terms for a release of their claims.
In 1760 a township under the name of Pownalborough was incorporated. This new township ran from Fort Shirley, a mile above Swan Island on the Kennebec, to the Montsweag River, and from the Kennebec to the Sheep- scot, and in addition to the original plantation of Frankfort included what afterwards became Perkins, Dresden, Alna, and Wiscasset.
In the meantime, the repopulation of Wiscasset Point had begun. In 1730, twenty-two years before the beginning of Frankfort plantation, Rob- ert Hooper, with his family of four, began the second settlement at this place. In 1734, William Groves, Robert Lambert, and Robert Foye came from Rye, New Hampshire. A few years later Josiah Bradbury, Michael Sevey, Nathaniel Rundlett, Richard and Benjamin Holbrook, and John Young joined them. By 1740 it was a plantation of thirty families, with one hundred and fifty people. In 1734, a fort was built, and two years later two blockhouses were added. Despite the hostilities of the Indians, the settle- ment prospered and grew in population, wealth, and importance. How much of this development was due to individual enterprise it is hard to
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