History of Aroostook. vol. I. ..

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PUBLIC LliHiART

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HON. EDWARD WIGGIN

History of Aroostook

Comprising Facts, Names and Dates

relating to the early settlement of

all the different Towns and

Plantations of the

County.

Compiled and Written by
Hon. Edward Wiggin

TO NEV/ Ye?K
PUBLIC LIBRARY

ASTOR, Lr«OX ANO

TIL»EN fCi'NDATlONr,
R 1924 L

Copyright 1922

By

GEORGE H. COLLINS

. THE STAR-HERALD PRESfli
Presque Isle, Maine

INTRODUCTION

So far as the writer knows the only complete compilation
of facts covering the early settlement of Aroostook was one
made by the late Hon. Edward Wiggin, about thirty years ago.
In preparation for this record Mr. Wiggin visited every town in
the County, and secured the facts comprised in his narrative
largely from the pioneer settlers of each town, whose recollec-
tions were then fresh regarding their experience and the facts
concerning the early settlement of their town.

This record of Mr. Wiggin, now in the custody of the
Presque Isle Public Library, is in part in manuscript written in
pencil, and in part consists of newspaper clippings of articles
published at the time they were written. The whole series
forms a voluminous and very important contribution to the early
history of the County, but in its present shape is almost value-
less to the public, either for reference or for general reading.

On account of the expense involved, no attempt has here-
tofore been made to get these notes into type, and to bind them
in book form, for better preservation and for the purpose of
more convenient reading and reference.

It is the opinion of the writer that this should be done, and
accordingly he has undertaken the work, and has taken the
chance of incurring the very considerable expenditure of labor
and money it will require, believing that a sufficient number of
the printed volumes can be sold to cover the outlay involved.

The published work is herewith presented to the people of
Aroostook, and we believe that all who are interested in the his-
tory, growth and development of our great county will find this
work of value and interest.

The writer of this introductory notice plans to follow this
with a supplementary volume, covering the different stages of
development, the record of which since the date of thir, early
history written by Mr. Wiggin, has been so marvelou.3 a st^ry
of growth and prosperity.

Though lacking the studious research v/hich has gone
into this admirable work of Mr. Wiggin, the supplement to fol-
low this, though more of a story or series of pictures, may be
expected to contribute further and we hope fittingly and worth-
ily, to the record of Aroostook's wonderful progress.

GEORGE H. COLLINS.

CONTENTS

Pages

ASHLAND — — 66—74

BANCROFT — 237—242

BENEDICTA ..._ , ™ 211—214

BLAINE _ „ -~ .- — 219—223

BRIDGEWATER ,.. — „ _.. 110—117

CAfclBOU - ~ - 117—126

CARY ...- ~„ „ 2{r£— 275

CASTLE HILL :.._ _ „.„.„ ^ „ „ 298—306

CRYSTAL „ 263—265

DYER BROOK .„ _ 202—205

EASTON ...-;..._....- „- 243—249

FORT FAIRFIELD - - _ 79—91

FORT KENT _ 167—180

GLENWO OD -... - _ 2 3 6—237

HAYNESV.LLE „ _ » '. 74—79

HERSEY „...._ „. _ _ 215—218

HOD&DON- ...._ „ , _ „.. - 16—31

HOULTON _ - -.._ ..„ 7—16

ISLAND PALLS -... 206—211

LETTER B „ - _ - - 275—279

LIMESTONE _ _ 197—202

LINNEUS -...;...- ...-, - 48—56

LiTTLETON , ~ 163—167

LUDLOW ....- - - - -....- - 143—148

MACWAHOC -.... - - 260—263

MAPLETON -....-...» 249—256

MAEi^, HILL „.._ -....„ - 148—154

MASARDIS - ~... 154—161

MERRILL - — 279—281

MOLUXKiig _ - 211—214

MONTICELLO ^ - ~ 161—163

MORO - 256—260

NE\V LIMERICK ..- 56—62

NEW SWEDEN : ~ ~ - 224—229

OAKPIELD ....„ - - 281—291

OR ENT - - - ~ -. 107—110

OXBOW 229—235

PR3SQUE ISLE „ ~ 91—107

REED ~~ : - 265—268

SHERMAN - 131—137

SILVER RIDGE - ^. -- 215

SMYRNA •.... - 62—66

THE UPPER ST. JOHN COUNTRY -- 180-197

WASHBURN ^ 127—131

WESTFIELD "• 291—298

WEl2^T0N - -•- - 31—40

WOODLAND 137—143

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

Mr. Wiggin's record of the early history of Houlton is as
follows :

HOULTON

The oldest town in the County, distinguished as having beoi
for years the extreme northeastern outpost of the United States.

In the years immediately following the Revolutionary War,
the people of New England began to pay much attention to the
matter of the establishing of schools and institutions of learn-
ing, ar.d in th s respect Massachusetts took the lead.

The people of New Salem, a pioneer settlement well toward
the Connecticut R'ver, sought aid from the State in establishing
an academy in their tov/n, and the Legislature of Massachusetts
in ure 23, 1799 passed a lesolve e'iaii.tirig them ore half of a
township six m.iles square, to be laid out and assigned by a
committee for the sale of the eastern lands in some of the un-
appropriated lands in the District of Maine belonging to this
Commonwealth, excepting all lands within six miles of the
Penobscot River.

On the 19th of June an additional resolve v/as passed au-
thorizing agents appointed by the legislature to convey the lands.
The hall tov.ishp was surveyed in 1801 by Park Holland,
Eso., and on Feb. 21, 1895, v/as conveyed by John Bead and
Peleg Coffin, as agents named in the resolve, to the trustees of
New Salem Academy'^ Th's tract is the southern half of the
present flourishing town of Houlton.

Previous to the survey, and soon after the passage of the
original resolution in 1799, a company of thirteen men of the
town of New Salem, purchased the land of the trustees of the
academy, and commenced to take measures to have it lotted and
opened for settlement. The deed to these thirteen proprietors
was not, however, made until June 1st, 1810. On June 1st, 1810
the proprietors v^ed that Joseph Houlton be agent to survey
the half township, and he was directed to lay it out in square
lots of 160 acres each, and to divide it by lots and half lots into

8 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

20 equal shares according to the quality of the land, at his dis-
cretion, reserving two lots for public uses.

Mr. Houlton attended to this work, taking Mr. Holland
with him as surveyor, and on November 8, 1801, the proprietors
voted to accept the division and draw for their respective shares
two lots and three half lots to each share. The other seven of
the original proprietors owned two shares each, and the remain-
ing six one share each, and the drawing was made accordingly.
At the same meeting three of the number sold their shares to
the others, reducing the number to ten. The men to whom fell
the task of opening the grant to settlement, and who may be
called the founders of the town of Houlton, were: Aaron Put-
nam, Varney Pearce, Joseph Houlton, John Putnam, Joshua Put-
nam, Rufus Cowles, John Chamberlain, Wm. Bowman, Consider
Hastings and Thomas Powers. All these were citizens of New
Salem except Rufus Cowles, a physician of Amherst, Wm. Bow-
man of Hadley, and Thomas Powers of Greenwich.

Of these ten only three became actual settlers of the grant,
namely: Joseph Houlton, who may be termed the father of
Houlton, and for whom the town was afterwards named; Aaron
Putnam and Joseph Putnam. The other seven sold their lots to
settlers at different times, some of them holding their proprie-
torship as late as 1826.

The act of the legislature passed June 19, 1801 required that
six families should be settled on the land within five years, or
the grant should be void. But at the same time that the con-
veyance of the half township by the State agents to the trustees
of the Academy was made, on Feb. 21, 1805, no settler had as
yet entered upon his lot. Only one year more remained, and
the outlook was not promising.

The region in which the settlers were asked to make their
homes was most remote; no settlement had as yet been made
in the then District of Maine except the Acadian settlement in
the Madawaska District. To add to the troubles they were to
locate upon disputed territory, the settlement of which might
leave them under the British flag. Nevertheless, six families
made known their intention of emigrating. They were the fam-
ilies of Mrs. Lydia Trask Putnam, whose father was a soldier
under Wolfe, and whose eldest son fell in the movement follow-
ing the battle of Lexington; Joseph Houlton, a grandson of a
Revolutionary soldier; Varney Pearce, John and Joshua Putnam,
also of Revolutionary lineage, and Dr. Samuel Rice.

The first to make actual settlement upon the new town was

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 9

Aaron Putnam, son of Lydia Trask Putnam, who came with his
mother and family in the summer of 1805. The others followed
in due time, though not all within the five years allowed in the
grant. Mr. Putnam and his family embarked at Boston and
sailed to St. John, N. B., thence up the river to Fredericton.
Here they took a boat and worked their way with much difficul-
ty to Woodstock, where the weaker ones of the party remained,
and the men went on through the woods and began felling trees
and taking possession of the new lots. Mr. Aaron Putnam ap-
pears, however, to have remained at Woodstock as storekeeper
until 1809, when he joined the colony at Houlton. Mr. Joseph
Houlton and family came in the spring of 1807. Mr. Houlton
was the acknowledged leader of the pioneer band, and was a
man of much energy and ability, being a man of property and
influence in Massachusetts.

In the years of hardship and privation which followed in
the new township Mr. Houlton proved a tower of strength to
the settlers, and his ever ready counsel and assistance were of
much value. He lived to see the colony placed on a firm found-
ation, and the settlement he had helped to plant in the wilder-
ness, incorporated into a town in the good State of Maine. On
a beautiful Sabbath, August 12, 1832, as he sat in his chair by
the window, watching the soldiers of the garrison march by, he
peacefully passed away, at the age of seventy-six. He was ac-
corded a military funeral by Major Clark, who commanded the
troops, and an officer's salute was fired over his grave.

In 1809 came John Putnam, and in the same year Aaron
Putnam returned, and the next year built the first mill dam upon
the stream. This dam was washed away and rebuilt a number of
times before a permanent dam was secured. Dr. R'ce and family
came in 1811, and Mr. Wormwood and family came in 1812. In
1814 came Deacon Samuel Kendall and family, and with them
Deacon Townsend. Nearly all these families had grown-up
sons and daughters, and these inter-married and started new
homes.

In 1808 Joseph Houlton was appointed register of deeds
for 'the Northern District of Washington County by Gov. Sulli-
van of Massachusetts. This office he held until August 8, 1832,
only four days before his death, when he was succeeded by
Timothy Frisbie.

In June 1839 the new County of Aroostook was formed,
and the first Aroostook deed was recorded June 18th of that
year. After the War of 1812 new settlers began to come in, and

10 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

quite an immigration from the Province commenced. Mr. Wm.
Williams and family were the first comers from the Province,
and their descendants are now among the principal citizens of
the County.

Up to this time the settlers were all living in log houses,
and the first frame building in the town was the dwelling of
Dr. Rice, built in 1813, which was years afterwards the residence
of Chas. P. Tenney, until it was destroyed by fire in 1879. The
next frame house was erected by Aaron Putnam, and is today
(1890) in a modernized form occupied by Capt. B. H. Putnam
as a residence.

The first clergyman who came to the place v/as Rev. Ed-
ward Eastman of Limerick, who organized the first Congrega-
tional Church Oct. 13, 1811. No meeting house was built in
Houlton until 1837, though religious services were held in the
houses of the citizens. In 1837 the Unitarian Society, composed
of some 25 members who had withdrawn from the Congrega-
tional Church, erected a meeting house, which is still standing,
though much damaged by the fire of 1888, and abandoned as a
church edifice. In 1838 the Congregational meeting house was
built. Rev. Chas. C. Beaman being its first pastor , and also
chaplain of the garrison.

The years of 1816 and 1817 were hard years, the tradition-
ally cold years, with heavy and continued frosts every month in
the year. In those hard years those who had means shared
with those who had not, and by the aid of an abundant supply
of fish in the streams, and flour obtained from Fredericton at
great expense, the people somehow got through without starving.

During these years Mr. Houlton built his large mansion,
which, remodelled in many respects, is still standing. In 1817
Col. Turner of Vermont, and Mr. Johnson of Massachusetts,
commissioners on the part of the United States, and Sir Arch-
ibald Campbell and Mr. Bouchette, on the part of Great Britain,
came, with a party of 60 men and workmen, to establish a
boundary line. This party made its headquarters at Houlton
for a time, and on the Fourth of July, what was long known as
the Line Men's Ball, given by the commissioners and engineers,
took place at Mr. Houlton's new house. This was the grandest
affair of the settlement up to this time. Army officers on the
survey were present in full uniforms, and the citizens, of both
sexes were attired in their best. A sumptuous dinner was served
and the festivities were kept up during the day, and when even-
ing came on. the house was brilliantly lighted, though at that

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 11

time unfinished within, and containing only one immense room
on the ground floor. Sir Archibald Campbell led the dance,
and chose for his partner Miss Christina Wormwood, the
youngest female present, she being then about fourteen. The
surveying party did not remain very long after this event. The
location of the boundary was a matter in dispute between the
two nations, and no further attempts were made to locate the
line until after the Webster — Ashburton Treaty of 1842.

In 1818 a petition was sent to the Massachusetts legislature
for the incorporation of the half township, together with the ad-
joining half township granted to Groton Academy, which latter
now constitutes the town of Hodgdon, into a town to be called
Houlton. This petition shared the fate of a similar one sent in
1809, and the settlement remained unorganized.

Some time previous to this Mr. Houlton had built a grist
mill and saw mill on the Cook Brook; Aaron Putnam, a saw
and grist mill near the bridge, and Ebenezer Warner, who came
in 1810, a saw mill on Houlton Falls.

In 1820 these pioneer settlers found themselves under the
jurisdiction of the State of Maine, but still without local organ-
ization. Soon after that year came the children of Varney
Pearce, one of the original proprietors, who did not settle on the
grant, and had recently died at New Salem. The descendants
of this family are numerous, and are among the foremost busi-
ness men of the town.

In 1822 Mr. Wm. H. Cary of New Salem removed his fam-
ily to the new settlement, and immediately commenced the erec-
tion of a spacious residence, which is still standing on the hill
above the station. Mr. Houlton was keeping tavern at the time,
and with him Mr. Cary and family boarded until their house
was finished.

Shepard Cary, the second son, afterwards became the most
prominent business man of Houlton, and probably no man ever
came to Aroostook who did so much to further its business in-
terests, or to help the laboring men of the County. Mr. Cary
was in his early manhood when his family came to Houlton.
being then but seventeen years of age. He commenced work
as a carpenter on his father's new house, and afterwards worked
for a number of years in the adjoining Province of New Bruns-
wick. In 1826 he returned to Houlton and opened a store in
part of the Cary residence, and soon after formed a partnership
with Mr. Collins Whittaker, from New Salem.

The new firm of S. Cary & Co. commenced the business of

12 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

trading and lumbering, which they continued to enlarge until
it reached dimensions hitherto unknown in this eastern section.
The principal part of their business was cutting and squaring
pine timber upon the upper St. John and Allegash waters, and
driving the same into Fredericton.

The extensive and beautiful farm at Seven Islands, some
eighty miles above Ft. Kent, was cleared, and upon this farm
immense quantities of hay and grain were raised for the lum-
ber operations. The crews remained in the woods throughout
the year, some being employed in cutting and hauling timber,
and others in work upon the farm. Teams of six and eight
horses were used for hauling the timber, and sometimes as
many as 300 men and 200 horses and oxen were in their employ.

Mr. W. Holman Gary Jr., a brother of Shepard Gary, was
employed as overseer in the woods. This gentleman afterwards
continued in the lumber business in connection with W. H. Gun-
liffe, of Ft. Kent, under the firm name of Gary & Gunliffe, and
later moved to Minnesota, where he died. His two sons, W. M.
and W. H. Gary Jr., are now worthy and prosperous business
men in that State. Mr. Gunliffe is now a resident of Ft. Kent
and still continues in the lumber business.

In all the years that Shepard Gary carried on this immense
business and employed such large numbers of men, he was in-
fluential in politics, served for many years as a member of the
House and Senate of Maine, and was the acknowledged leader
of the Democratic party in his Gounty. In 1843 he was elected
to Gongress, and acquitted himself with honor. He built exten-
sive mills and manufacturing establishments at Houlton, and in
many ways impressed himself upon the business and political
interests of Aroostook. He died at Houlton August 9, 1866.

The settlement of Houlton was organized as a plantation
April 21, 1826, and the town of Houlton was incorporated March
8, 1831. The following April 11th, the first town meeting was
held. The town includes the New Salem Grant, and also the
half town granted about 1815 to the trustees of Williams Col-
lege, of Williamstown, Mass. This part of the town was for a
long time known as Foxcroft, and many in modern times have
supposed it was a grant to the Foxcroft Academy.

At the time of the incorporation considerable progress had
been made in the building of roads in order to render the new
settlement more easy of access. We have seen that the first
settlers came by way of the St. John River to Woodstock. Later
arrivals came by way of Bangor, thence by the rivers, lakes

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 13

and streams and the long swamp through the wilderness, to
their forest homes.

As early as 1827 a road was cut through to Baskahegan,
and thus the distance was shortened, and the journey made
easier. Mr. James Lander was the first mail carrier, and in the
early days he traveled on foot through the woods, then on
horseback, and later by carriage as the roads begaiv to be
opened. Mr. Lander continued to carry the mail from Houlton
to Calais as late as 1856.

In 1828 a new and prosperous era commenced for the strug-
gling colony, for on a bright summer day in June of that year
Company C. of the Second U. S. Infantry, under the command
of First Lieut. Joseph C. Gallagher, having come up over the
Baskahegan route, marched through the village to the merry
music of fife and drum, and pitched their tents on the high
ground in the rear of Mr. Joseph Houlton's house. Three other
companies of the same Regiment, Company E., Lieut. Blood-
good, Company F., Lieut. Staniford and Company K., Lieut. A.
B. Eaton, were left behind to accompany the supplies, which
the firm of Towle & Parsons, Bangor, had contracted to deliver
at the Post at Houlton.

The entire detachment was under the command of Major
N. S. Clark, and the other three companies arrived at Houlton
Sept. 29, 1828. In the meantime a tract of land, containing 25
acres, had been purchased by the U. S. Government of Mr.
Houlton, and on the arrival of the first company the men were
immediately set at work to erect a stockade, and to build the
necessary buildings for a complete military post.

The work of preparing a parade ground was one of much
magnitude, as an outcropping ledge had to be blasted, but when
it was finally completed it was one of the finest grounds in the
country. In the erection of so many buildings and the estab-
lishment of a military post, the labor of many men were re-
quired, and employment at good wages was provided for every
man and boy willing to work. For some time the pay roll to
these workmen amounted to about $2,000 a month. This large
amount of money was of incalculable benefit, and from this time
dates the assured prosperity of this banner town of Aroostook.

The transportation of supplies for the Post from Bangor up
the Penobscot River and Mattawamkeag Rivers, and thence over
the rough roads to Houlton, was attended with so much difficul-
ty that Maj. Clark determined to build a military road from
Bangor direct to Houlton, and having obtained the necessary

14 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

instructions from the Government, he proceeded to construct the
road, which was finished in 1832, and was so fine a road that a
party who left the town of Freeman, in Franklin County, on
the 16th day of December of that year, drove to Houlton in
four Gays. Th.s road was for maiiy years kept in an excellent
cor.dc.cn and became one oi the Lnest rouLes for ma.l coaches
in the State. Since the advent of the railroads it has gradually
falieri Ado d.suse and much oi it is now considerably out oi; re-
pair.

These garrison years were years of great prosperity for
'Hculton, ir.cieasi^.g to a gieat exLer.t the bus. Less b£ the town
and i.urr.ish ng a local cash market ior all k.nds of produce. The
soc al relations between tiis miLtia and the citizens were most
cordial. Many of the oi.icers had their w^ves at the garrison
a..d some of those who came unmarried found wives' among the
fair daughters of the town.

In the winter of 1836, Companies F and K of the Infantry
were removed to Boston and suosequently the other companies
followed and were replaced by Companies C E and F of the
F.rst Regiment U. S. Artilllery, who arrived at the Post on the
11th of October, 1838. Major R. M. Kirby of the 1st Artillery
now became Commander of the Post. Then followed the excit-
ing t mes of the Aroostook War, which came so near being a
tragedy, but proved a farce.

That Major Kirby realized that serious trouble might arise
is evident from the fact that on February 1st, 1839, he writes to
the Ordnance Department that "ten barrels of cannon pov/der
should be constantly in magaz ne, sui ;, ;ct to such exigency as
may occur on th.s frontier, at this isolated station." Mr.jor Kirby
kept h.mself well informed in regard to the state of affairs in
dis:ute between the authorities of Mane and New Brunsv/ick
and it is largely due to his judgment and discretion that more
seiious host lit cs were not prec pilated. When requested by the
Governor Oj. Maine to co-operate with the State troops, he re-
spectfully decl ned, as he vouid not compromise the Un'ted
S'ates by any act committed without orders. He informs Gov.
Fa I field of the capture of Land Agent Mclntyre and party, but
g ves it as his opinion that it was an act committed without au-
thority, tivil or miLtary, from the Province of New Brunswick.

The excitement in Maine increased, however, after this
event, and in the spring of 1839 twelve companies of State
Mil tia marched up the Military Road and quartered at different
t mes in Houlton. By the prompt and judicious action of Gen.

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 15

Scott, trouble was averted, as he negotiated an arrangement with
S r John Harvey, Governor of Nev/ Brunswick, that the troops
on both sides should be withdrawn from the territory and the
whole matter be referred to diplomatic action. The Garrison at
Houlton was retained until after the final settlement by treaty
of the disputed boundary queston, when the troops were re-
moved and the Military Post abandoned.

It was a sad day for Houlton when its clfzens bade adieu
to the soldiers and sav/ them march away down the Military
Road. Among those of the officers who afterwards obtained
mil tary farms were Lieuts. Hooker, McDowell, Ricketts and
others of the Union Army, while Lieut. Magruder, afterwards
of Rebel fame, was reme.Tibered by the older citizens as a dash-
ing ai'-d popular young officer. As may be easily believed, the
years foUov/ing the departure of the troops brought hard times
'for Houlton and its surrounding towns. Having this ready mar-
ket thus abruptly taken from them, money became scarce and
a check was put upon the common prosperity. The large lumber
and other operations of Shepard Gary were of great advantage
during these years. Other lumbering operations were also car-
ried on nearby, and the farmers turned their attention to raising
supplies for the woods. This, with the making of shaved shin-
gles in the winter, and the raising of beef cattle, which drovers
took out of the County, was for a long time the business of the
farming population.

The growth of Houlton was slow during these years, but
the town received a new impetus from the coming of the rail-
road. A railroad in New Brunswick was built from St, Andrews
to Canterbury in 1858 and in 1862 was continued to a point on
the Woodstock turnpike, five miles from Houlton. This at once
caused a revival of business and made it possible to ship from
the section articles which formerly had little value except for
home consumption.

In the next ten years various changes were made in the
Provincial railroad and in 1870 a branch was extended to Houl-
ton. This gave Houlton railroad communication with the sea-
board by way of Calais, but it was not until the E. & N. A.
Railway was completed to Vanceboro in 1871, thus connecting
Houlton, though by a circuitous route, with Bangor and the great
American markets, that she became the busy inland city that
we find today. Being practically the terminus of railroad com-
munication with that portion of Southern Aroostook, Houltom
came to be more than ever a trade center for all that large and

16 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

fertile agricultural and lumber region, and its business and
wealth has largely increased during the last decade.

From a straggling settlement in the midst of an almost im-
penetrable wilderness and practically devoid of all communica-
tion with the great business centers it has grown to be the me-
tropolis of northeastern Maine.

HODGDON

One of the oldest, as well as one of the best towns in South-
em Aroostook, is the good old town of Hodgdon. The early
history of this town is intimately connected with that of the
town of Houlton, as a number of the earliest settlers of Hodg-
don moved from that town, and the Creek, as Houlton was then
called, was for years the trading point of the town of Hodgdon.

The south half of the township now included in the town
of Hodgdon, was originally granted by the State of Massachu-
setts to Westford Academy, and the high elevation of land ex-
tending through a portion of the southern part of the town, is
still known as Westford Hill. The resolve granting this half
township to Westford Academy was passed by the General
Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on the 27th of
Feb., 1797. The tract was surveyed by Park Holland in 1801.
It was deeded to John Hodgdon of Ware, New Hampshire, and
Nathaniel Ingersoll of New Gloucester, Cumberland Co., Mass.,
by the trustees of Westford Academy, June 7, 1802, for the sum
of $5760. The deed is signed by Jas. Prescott, Samson Tuttle
and Hezekiah Packard. Nathaniel Ingersoll deeded his inter-
est to John Hodgdon, Jan. 27, 1804, for the sum of $1000. The
bounds of the half township in the original deed began at the
southeast comer, at a spruce tree on the boundary line between
Maine and New Brunswick, marked "Four miles north from
the monument at the head of the St. Croix River; thence north
three miles; thence west 6 miles, south three miles, and east 6
miles to the point of starting." The grantees were bound by
the deed to lay out and convey a lot of 100 acres to each settler
who was upon the township previous to Jan. 1, 1784, but as no
settler had come to the town at that time, this condition was of
no effect.

They were also bound by the deed to set apart three lots

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 17

of 160 acres each, for municipal and school purposes. This deed
was recorded in the registry of deeds of Washington County,
September 12, 1782.

The north half of the present town of Hodgdon was grant-
ed by Massachusetts to Groton Academy, by a resolve passed
on the 27th of Feb., 1797. The deed to the trustees of Groton
Academy bears the date of June 4, 1802. The half township
was surveyed by Park Holland in 1801, and was deeded to
John Hodgdon by the trustees of Groton Academy Jan. 28, 1805.
This deed is signed by Timothy Bigelow, Jas. Boyle and Oliver
Prescott. It was recorded May 28, 1824. By both deeds
the grantees were bound to settle 10 families within six years
from the date of the deeds.

On June 16, 1809, John Hodgdon deeded to Daniel Breed of
Ware, N. H., 200 acres undescribed except as being an undivided
part of the Westford Grant, and on the same day deeded to
Moses Hodgdon 300 acres, also undivided. These men were
never settlers upon the town.

All of the original settlers of the town have passed away,
and it is quite difficult to trace the history of the early settle-
ment of the town. We shall endeavor to tell the story briefly
of many of the pioneers who lived in this good town, and the
influence of whose lives helped to make the town what it is
socially and morally today.

The earliest deed appearing upon the record is the deed
from John Hodgdon to Aaron Perley of Lot 7 Range 8 in the
north half of the town. This deed is dated June 4, 1824, and the
lot is the one so long occupied by Deacon Putnam Shaw on the
Calais Road. Mr. Perley deeded this lot to Samuel Houlton of
Houlton June 18, 1827. September 9, 1826, John Hodgdon
deeds to Chesley Drew of Hodgdon Plantation, physician. Lot
No. 2, Range 7, No. 1-2, which is the lot afterward occupied
by Geo. White, and now by Millard Jones. Sept. 18, 1826, John
Hodgdon deeds to Jane Taylor and her sons, James, George,
Charles and William, for $100, lot numbered 3, Range 7, North
1-2, "same upon which their improvements now are." These
grantees were the wife and sons of James U. Taylor, one of the
oldest settlers of the town.

September 13, 1826, Mr. Hodgdon deeds to Joseph Kendall
Lot No. 8, Range 8, North 1-2, which lot is now owned by C. E.
Skofield. It would apcear that John Hodgdon, Sr., died in 1826
or 1827, for on Nov. 12, 1827 "John Hodgdon of Bangor, student
at law," gives Joshua Putnam of Houlton a power of attorney

18 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

to act as his agent for the sale of the lands in Hodgdon Planta-
tion. This John Hodgdon was the son and heir of the original
proprietor, and was afterwards, for a number of years, a resi-
dent of the town which bears his name.

The early settlers who came upon the town to make a home
were Jas. A. Taylor, Dr. Chesley Drew, Jos. Kendall and Jas.
Doyle, but who was the first man to commence a clearing, we
are at present unable to determine. It is quite certain, how-
ever, that all the above mentioned settlers came to the town in
1824, although they did not receive their deeds until a few
years afterwards. Dr. Chesley Drew came from Massachusetts
to Hodgdon in 1824 and bought the lot on the west side of the
Calais Road on the top of the hill, two miles from Houlton Vil
lage.

Elisha A. Drew, a son of Dr. Drew, bought the two lots ad-
joining his father's, the one on the east, the other on the west.
He lived with his father. They made a large clearing, hauled
much of the wood to the Garrison at Houlton, and built on the
Dr. Drew lot a large house and two barns. About 1836 the
Drews sold the property to Mr. Thos. White, and moved to
New Brunswick. Mr. White lived upon the farm until his death
some 25 years ago. His son, Geo. White, then came into pos-
session of the farm and made improvements upon the farm and
buildings. He died some ten years ago, and the farm was a
few years afterwards sold to Millard H. Jones, who now occu-
pies it. Mr. Jas. U. Taylor moved from Houlton in 1824 and
took the lot next south of Dr. Drew. He cleared up the farm,
and for many years was a well known resident of the town.

During the construction of the Military Road, and in fact
before that time, when the supplies for the Garrison were hauled
over the old "Soldier Road," Mr. Taylor was a noted ox team-
ster, and was employed in that caoacity in transporting supplies
and building the road. He lived upon the farm in Hodgdon
till his death, some 18 years ago. His oldest son, Mr. Chas.
Taylor, had the farm opposite the old homestead, and still lives
upon it. Many other descendants are living in this and adjoin-
ing towns. Mr. Jos. Kendall also moved from Houlton in 1824
and took a lot of land near where the road now turns from the
Calais Road toward Hodgdon Mills. Mr. Kendall was the son
of Deacon Samuel Kendall, one of the early settlers of Houl-
ton. He was a man of considerable education and culture, and
afterward wrote a voluminous history of Houlton, which, how-
ever, was never published. Mr. Kendall made a very fine farm

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 19

upon his lot, one of the best, in fact, in this part of the town.
Some 15 years ago he moved to Houlton, where he died. The
farm was afterwards sold to C. E. Skofield, who now lives upon
it. Mr. Jas. Doyle took the lot next north of the Dr. Drew lot,
and next to the Houlton line. He cleared a farm here and built
a house and barn. He lived there some years and sold to Lewis
Morrill. He was a prominent man in the town until he moved
to the West, and Mr. John Hodgdon again obtained possession
of the farm.

The deed to Aaron Perley bears the date of 1824, but it is
uncertain who commenced clearing upon his lot. Mr. Perley
came from Monmouth, and bought the lot next north of Joseph
Kendall, and probably commenced his clearing soon after the
first settlers came. He did not remain many years upon this
lot, but removed to the lot in the west part of the town, upon
which Mr. Jas Rhoda now lives. He cleared up this farm and
lived upon it until his death in 1850. His widow married Eli-
akim Ames, who lived upon the farm until his death in 1859.
Chas. Perley, a son of Aaron Perley, went into the army and
died in the service.

Capt. Ebenezer Towne came from Topsfield, Mass., in 1825
and took the lot on the Calais Road, on which Mr. J. W. Jack-
ins now lives. Mr. Jos. Kendall had made a clearing on his
lot, and Capt. Towne, who was a carpenter by trade, helped
Mr. Kendall build a house and lived with him until he could
clear a piece of land and build a house on his own lot. Capt.
Towne cleared up a farm and lived upon it until 1843, when he
sold to his son-in-law, Mr. Alfred Todd, and made a home with
another son-in-law. Rev. Daniel Outhouse, until his death, in
1866. Mr. Todd afterward removed to Maysville in North
Aroostook, and sold his farm to Mr. J. W. Jackins, who still
lives upon it.

In 1826 Mr. Rufus Wiggin came to Hodgdon, and bought
the lot opposite Capt. Towne's. Mr. Wiggin came from the
town of Bowdoinham, but for many years had worked at his
trade as ship carpenter at Oromocto, N. B. He first took a lot
in the v/est part of the town, afterward owned by Ephraim Benn,
but as there was no road in that part of the town, he gave up
the lot after felling about half an acre, and took a lot on the
I'ne of the Calais Road. Here he cleared a farm and made a
home, and v/as one of the most prominent citizens of the town
until h's death in 1864. He was for many years a deacon of
the F. B. Church, and was a faithful worker for the moral and
religious interests of his town. He was in town office during

20 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

the whole of his residence in the town, and was postnnaster for
many years. He was a man of kindly disposition, scrupulously
honest, and was beloved and respected by all who knew him.
His son, Cyrus S. Wiggin, no w lives on the old farm. His
oldest son, Edgar M. Wiggin, for many years a prominent man
in the town, married the widow of Benedict White, a son of
Thos. White, and lived on the farm opposite the White home-
stead until his death. His widow still lives upon the farm.

Mr. Thos. Lander came from the town of Fairfield in 1826,
and settled on the lot where Henry Jones now lives, three miles
from Houlton village, on the Calais Road. Mr. Lander and his
son, Jesse Lander, cleared up this farm, and Mr. Lander lived
on it until his death in 1846. He was one of the prominent citi-
zens in the early days, and an old account book of his now in
possession of Mr. Jones, shows that he had considerable deal-
ings with the old settlers. One item in this old book is as fol-
lows: "June 15, 1829. Charles Dr. to horse to River

(meaning to Woodstock) $1.00. Cr. Came home sober to bal-
ance."

After his death his son Jesse Lander took the farm and
lived on it until 1851, when he returned to Fairfield, where he
died. Mr. Henry Jones, a grandson of Thos. Lander, by whom
he was brought up, then bought the farm, and has lived on it
ever since. Mr. Jones was chairman of the board of selectmen
for 20 years. Mr. James Lander, another son of Thomas
Lander, was the first regular mail carrier to Houlton, carrying
the mail on foot through the woods, on the old Baskahegan
trail, before any road was laid to the town. Afterwards the
Calais Road was opened and Mr. Lander drove the stage and
carried the mail many years. He was a kind hearted, energetic
and faithful publ'c servant. He died about 30 years ago.

James Ham went from Bath to Oromocto, N. B., and worked
some time in the shipyard at that place. He came to Hodgdon
in 1827 and took a lot on the Calais Road, south of Mr. Thos.
Lander's, and on the opposite side of the road. He cleared a
farm and lived on it until his death, some 40 years ago. His
son, Benj. Ham, lived on the place for some time, and his son-
in-law, Mr. Alvarez Putnam, now of Houlton, occupied it for a
number of years. It has since been divided, and is now owned
by several proprietors. Mr. Abner Ham, a brother of Mr. Ham,
also came at the same time and took a lot in the extreme south
part of the town.

Here he made a farm, on which he lived until his death

HISTORY OP AROOSTOOK 21

many years ago. Mr. L E.. Jackins now lives upon this lot.
Many descendants of these two brothers are now living in
Hodgdon and other towns in Aroostook Co.

Mr. Asa Brown came from Solon in 1827, and took a lot
adjoining the Houlton line, which is now a part of the John R.
Slipp farm. This lot was deeded by John Hodgdon in 1829 to
"Nancy Brown of Hodgdon Plantation, married woman." Mr.
Brown cleared a farm here, and was a man of some prominence
in the town during his residence there. He lived upon the farm
some 14 years, when he moved to Bangor, and Mr. John Hodg-
don purchased the farm.

In 1828 there was quite an immigration into the new town,
and a number of settlers came during that year who became
prominent citizens of the town, and had much to do with shap-
ing its affairs. Mr. Daniel Smith came from irla.npstead, IN. ±5.,
in 1828 and bought a lot on the line of the Calais Road in the
south part of the town. Mr. Marcus Peters had made a small
clearing on the lot and built a log house, and Mr. Smith bought
his improvements. He was one of the first settlers in this por-
tion of the town. He made a good farm and lived upon it until
his death in 1858. Daniel Smith was a modest and retiring
man, but a man of sterling integrity, and is remembered as one
of the best citizens of the town. His son, Benj. J. Smith, after-
wards had the farm for a number of years, and sold it to Mr.
Andrew J. Tidd, and removed to Caribou, where he is now land-
lord of the Vaughn House (1890).

Mr. John Outhouse came the next year from Nova Scotia,
and bought the lot next south of Daniel Smith, and also the two
lots adjoining on the East. He made clearings on all these lots,
and built his buildings on the middle lot, through which the
Calais Road ran. This 300 acre block was afterwards divided
transversely into three lots, so that the buildings on each could
be built on a county road. Rev. Daniel Outhouse, a son of
John Outhouse, had the south 100 acres. John J. Royal had
the middle lot, and Geo. H. Smith, a son of Daniel Smith, the
north lot.

Mr. John Outhouse spent the last years of his life with his
son, Daniel, and died at his house about 1850. Rev. Daniel
Outhouse was for many years a preacher of the Calvinist Bap-
tist ta th, and v;as a good man and much respected. He died
in 1878, and his widow now lives near Hodgdon Mills.

Mr. Thos. J. Brown came in 1828 from Madrid, in Franklin
Co. He first settled on a lot in the north half of the town, next

22 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

to the Linneus line. Here he made a good farm, and lived upon
it until 1858, when he exchanged farms with Mr. Benj. Tarbell,
and moved to the Tarbell farm near Hodgdon Corner, where
he lived until his death in 1862. He was an energetic busi-
ness man, and for many years engaged in lumbering and trading.
Maj. James Daggett came from Wiscassett in 1828, and took
the lot in the extreme south part of the town on the Cala-'s Road,
on which Mr. James Robinson now lives. His son, Ebenezer
Daggett, lived with him until 1849, when he went to California,
and did not return to Hodgdon to live. Maj. Daggett cleared up
a farn-i and lived on it a number of years, and then gave it to his
son, Frank Daggett, and moved to Massachusetts. He after-
wards returned to Hodgdon, but soon went to live with his son,
James Daggett, ir Amity, where he died in 1856.

Mr. Frank Daggett lived upon the old farm for a number
of years, and then sold to Mr. C. C. Bradbury and moved to
Massachusetts, where he now lives. Mr.Waterman Daggett, a
s'^n of Mai. Dareett. rame with his father, and took the lot on
the east. Here he made a farm, on which he died in 1879. H's
son, Diego Daggett, row lives on the farm. Jabez Daggett,
another son of Maj. Daggett, also came with his father, and
bought a lot on the south line of the town, on which Mr. Chas.
Nickerson now lives. He lived here until 1849, when he sold to
Mr. Nickerson and went to California, where he died. James
Daggett, another son, settled on a lot next west of his father's.
A number of years afterward he moved to Amity, and died there
some years ago. Many descendants of these brothers now live
in Aroostook County.

Nathaniel Harr ngton came from Boston to Hodgdon in
1828. He was a mason by trade. He settled near Meduxnekeag
Stream on the north part of the town. He died about 20 years
ago (about 1870) and Joseph Hrarington now lives on the farm.
Another son, Rev. E. W. Harrington, long a resident of Hodg-
don, is now a pastor of a church in Calais. Benj. Durrell came
about this time and settled near what is now Hodgdon Corner.
He made a clearing and built a house, and after a few years
moved to the west part of the State. Mr. Jas. Jones from Solon
then took the lot and lived on it for ten years or more, when he
sold to Mr. Benj. Tarbell, who also came from Solon.

About 1858 Mr. Tarbell exchanged farms with Mr. Thos. G.
Brown, and died on the Brown farm a few years ago. Benj. Wil-
liams in 1829 settled on the lot now occupied by Mr. Matthew
Wilson. He made a clearing and lived there a number of years.

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 23

when he sold to Mr. Wilson and moved to the adjoining township
11, Range 1, now Gary Plantation. Mr. Wilson has lived on the
farm ever since, and is now about the oldest living resident of
the town. He came from Ireland to Hodgdon in 1830, and first
settled in the west part of the town. A number of sons are liv-
ing on adjoining farms.

In 1829 the three Benn brothers, Ephraim, Abraham and
Solomon, came to Hodgdon from Mirimachi, whither they had
emigrated a short time previous from the Green Isle Erin. They
at first all settled on lots a short distance west of the stream on
which Mr. Lewis Benn now lives. Mr. Ephraim Benn after-
wards took a lot further west, on a handsome swell of land, and
Mr. Abraham Benn bought the lot adjoining on the south. Sol-
omon Benn remained on the original lot. All cleared up good
farms in town. Solomon died in 1867, and his farm is now
owned by his son, Lewis Benn.

Ephraim died in 1876. Mr. Jonathan Benn, his son, has his
farm, and has now 200 acres of splendid land, with 150 acres
cleared. He has a large and handsome house, two large barns,
a horse stable and other convenient outbuildings. Mr. Abraham
Benn died in 1877. Ghas. Smart came to Hodgdon about this
time and settled on a lot next north of the Solomon Benn lot,
where he lived for many years. He then moved to a lot on the
"Horseback," and afterwards to Haynesville, where he died. Mr.
Jared Williams then bought the farm and lived on it a number of
years.

Mr. Isaac Gerow came from Hampstead, N. B., in 1830, and
settled on a lot next east of Daniel Smith. He lived in Hodgdon
until his death in 1866. Abraham Gerow came about the same
time and settled on a lot opposite Mr. Joseph Kendall. Benj.
Durrell had made a small clearing on the lot. Mr. Gerow
cleared a farm on which he lived for a number of years, and
then sold to his brother, Joseph, and returned to New Brunswick.
The farm afterwards passed through a number of hands and is
now owned by Mr. Wm. Jones. Mr. Joseph Gerow came also
from New Brunswick, and settled on a lot east of Aaron Per-
ley. Mr. Wm. Deering had made a clearing on the lot )kmd
bu'lt a house and barn. Mr. Gerow cleared up a large farm and
made add't'ons to the house, raising it to two stories, and mak-
ing other improvements. He was a prominent man in the town
for many years, and lived on this farm until his death in 1862.

Mr. Cushman Walker came from Anson in 1830. He first
took the lot on which Mr. Abraham Benn afterwards lived,

24 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

where he made a small clearing and built a log house. He sold
to Mr. Benn and took a lot in the north part of the town, a short
distance west of the stream. Here he made a good farm and
was also engaged in trade for a number of years. He died on
th'.s farm some time in 1875. Mr. Henry Hotham then settled on
the farm.

Capt. Luther Quint came from Anson with Mr. Walker, and
settled on the lot next east of Mr. Ephraim Benn. He cleared
up this farm, and died there many years ago. The farm was af-
terwards divided between the sons, Edwin and Calvin, both of
whom are now dead.

Mr. John Hutchinson came from Turner in 1831 and settled
on a lot next south of the Abraham Benn farm. He cleared a
farm, upon v^hich he lived some twenty years, and then moved
to a lot on Meduxnekeag Stream. His son, Mr. C. C. Hutchin-
son, moved with him to this lot. They made a clearing and built
a house upon the lot. There was a good mill privilege upon this
lot, and in 1854, after his father's death, Mr. C. C. Hutchinson
built a mill on the stream which runs through this lot. In 1860
Mr. Hutchinson built a large saw mill in which he put a rotary,
a clapboard machine and lath saw. He cleared up a large farm
and was for many years extensively engaged in farming. He
was an energetic, persevering man, and took a prominent part
in the affairs of the town. He died in 1883. His son, Alonzo
S. Hutchinson, then took the property and operated the mills
until they burned in 1885. He has since built a shingle mill on
the old site. Mr. Matthias Hutchinson, a younger son, worked
with his father until 1875, when he built a steam mill near Lin-
neus Corner which he afterwards sold to Benj. Alexander, and
in company with Levi Berry built a large steam mill near Hodg-
don Mills, He afterwards sold this to Messrs. Price and Bea-
tham, who, after running it a few years, sold it to Messrs. Sharp
& Ketchum. Mr. Sharp has since sold his interest to Mr. Ketch-
um, who now operates the mill.

Isaac Hutchinson, a son of John Hutchinson, came from
Turner with his father in 1835. He bought a lot next to the Lin-
neus line and made a farm, upon which he lived until his death
in 1854. His son, Isaac L. Hutchinson, now lives upon the farm.

Mr. Chas. Lyons came about this time, and first settled on
the road from the mill to the corner. He was a wheelright. He
soon afterwards took a lot on Westford Hill, on which Mr. Wm.
Gerow has lived since 1846.

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 2o

After some years Mr. Lyons moved to a lot beyond West-
lord Hill, and afterwards moved to Weston.

David Porter came from Bridgton in 1832 and settled on a
lot east of Abraham Benn. He died some 14 years ago. His
son, Stephen Porter, now lives on the farm. He has a fine two-
.story house and a large barn.

Thos. P. Packard came from new Limerick to Hodgdon about
1832 and settled on a lot near the mills. He was prominent man
In the town during his residence in it and was town clerk for a
number of years. He was also postmaster. He moved to Houl-
ton and sold his farm to C. C. Bradbury.

Abraham Greene came from Boston in 1833 and settled on
the lot west of Thos. Lander. He cleared a farm on which he
lived for a number of years and returned to Boston. Mr. Fran
cis Hunter went from Calais to Mirimachi when a young man
and in 1834 came to Hodgdon and took a lot next to the Linneus
line. Here he made a good farm on which he lived until his
death in 1877. He was a worthy man and a good citizen. His
son, Mr. George S. Hunter, now lives on the farm. He has 80
acres of cleared land, with excellent buildings.

Mr. Nicholas Outhouse came from Nova Scotia in 1834 and
settled on the lot next north of Thos. Lander. His son, Wm. H.
Outhouse, lived with him and carried on the farm for many
years.

Nicholas Outhouse died in 1887. William Henry died two
years previous, and his widow still lives on the farm.

Mr. Wm. Addington came from Nova Scotia to Hodgdon
with Mr. Joseph Gerow. He bought a farm on what is now the
Hurter road. His deed from John Hodgdon to Wm. Addington
of Digby Neck, Nova Scotia, is dated March 22, 1832. Mr. Ad-
dington lived on this farm many years, and then moved to
Hodgdon Mills, built a blacksmith shop and worked at that
business for a number of years. He also bought a small farm
near the mills, which he still owns. Nearly all the above named
settlers took lots either near the County line or on it, or in the
west part of the town. In the earliest years settlement was made
in the east part of the town, many of the pioneers of that section
having moved from the Province of New Brunswick. The east-
ern part of the town of Hodgdon has always been known to the
citizens of the town and vicinity as the White Settlement, as
people of that name settled in that portion of the town in the
earliest days of its history. Mr. Jacob White came from Kes-
wick, N. B., about 1826, and first made a clearing on the lot af-

26 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

terwards known as the Patrick Ferry farm. He built a log:
house on this lot, but soon after bought two lots still further
east — lots No. 3 and 4, Range 2, where he cleared up a large
farm, upon which he lived for many years and was a well known
c.tizen of the town. Mr. Wm. White came from Douglas, N, B.,
about the same time, and took a lot immediately north of the
one upon wh.ch Jacob White first settled. He cleared a farm
and lived on it until his death some thirty years ago.

Mr. Lewis btone came from Keswick, N. B., in 1826 or 1827,
and settled upon the lot where Jacob White first made his clear-
ing. Mr. Stone cleared up the farm, and lived upon it until about
1844, when he moved to Wisconsin. Mr. Edwm A. Lowe, now
owns this iarm. Mr. William Stone came at the same time and
settled on the next lot south of Lewis Stone. He cleared this
farm and Lved on it until his death some twenty years ago. Mr.
Edwin Henderson now lives upon the farm. Mr. James Grant
came from New Burnswick about this time, and settled on a lot
adjoining the boundary line. He made a good farm and lived on
it until his death about 1861. Mr. Thos. Buckley now owns this
farm. Many of the descendants of the White and Grant fami-
lies formerly lived in this portion of the town, but nearly all of
them have now removed to other portions of the country and
elsewhere.

Mr. Thomas Furze emigrated from Devonshire, England,,
to Fredericton, N. B., when a young man, and in 1830 came to
Hodgdon and settled on a lot adjoining the boundary line. He
made a farm upon which he lived until his death in 1.875. His
son, Mr. George Furze, was for many years a prominent and re-
spected citizen. He died in 1887.

Mr. Jos. D. Haven came to this part of the town in the early
years, and settled on the lot south of William Stone. Mr. Haven
made a fine farm, and was for many years a prominent citizen
of Hodgdon. Some ten years ago he sold his farm to Mr. John
Moore, and moved to the George Furze farm, where he lived
three years, and then moved to Houlton, where he now resides.

Mr. Thomas Lloyd came to Hodgdon about 1830, and
settled upon the lot upon which his son, Thomas Lloyd
nov/ lives. A man by the name of Worley, who is said to be the
first man to make an opening in this part of the town, had made
a small clearing on the lot, and built a log house, Mr. Lloyd
cleared up the farm and lived on it until 1870.

Mr. John Bell came from New Brunswick about 1830, and
settled east of Westford Hill. Mr. Bell lived here until h'.s

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 27

death m 1873, and many of his descendants are now living in
Hodgdon and other portions of the County.

Mr. Francis Bird came to Hodgdon in 1831, and settled on a
lot in the east part of the town adjoining the Koulton line. He
afterwards bought the William White lot adjoining his on the
south, and now has a fine farm of 200 acres, with 175 cleared.

Mr. John P. Lincoln went from Eath, Me., to Oromocto, N.
B., to work at his trade as a ship carpenter. In 1835 he came to
Hodgdon, and settled on the lot on which his son, Mr. Leonard
Lincoln, now lives. Mr. Lincoln was a well known citizen for
many years, and one of the most substantial and independent
farmers. He died in 1882. Mr. Benjamin T. Lincoln also came
from Oromocto, N. B., in 1837, and took one of the lots upon
which his brother, John P. Lincoln, had settled two years before.
Each of the brothers afterward bought an additional hundred
acres nearby. Mr. Benj. T. Lincoln was for many years a mem-
ber of the board of selectmen, and was a man of kindly and
companionable disposition, and had many strong friends. He
died in 1888. Mr. John Lincoln, father of John P. and Benjamin
T., came to Hodgdon in 1840, and took the next lot south of the
one occupied by the sons. Here he cleared a farm and lived
upon it a number of years, when he sold it to John P. Lincoln
and went to live with his son, Warren Lincoln, on the Calais
Road. He afterwards removed to Wisconsin, where he died in
1864.

Mr. Warren Lincoln came to Hodgdon about 1843, and
took the lot next east of Benj. T. Lincoln. He made a clearing
upon this lot, and afterward sold it to Mr. Thomas Butler, and
removed to a farm in the south part of the town on the Calais
road. He lived upon this farm until 1854, when his buildings
were burned and he sold the farm and removed to Wisconsin.

Rev. Geo. W. Haskell came from Poland, Androscoggin Co.,
in 1843 and settled in the White Settlement. He was a clergy-
man of the Free Baptist denomination. He was pastor of the
Free Baptist Church in that portion of the town until 1855, when
he bought a farm on the Calais road opposite Mr. Daniel Smith,
whose daughter he married. Here he built a neat residence,
where he lived and continued to labor in his profession until
his death in 1874. Elder Haskell was a man well known through-
out Aroostook County. He took a prominent part in the affairs
of the town, and was a number of times chosen as a representa-
tive to the Legislature. He was a man of most genial and kind-

28 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

ly temperament, and had many friends in his town and through-
out the County.

Mr. Thomas Buckley, better known as Deacon Buckley,
came to Hodgdon in 1846 and a few years later bought of Mr.
Warren Lincoln the farm upon which he now lives. There was
a small clearing on the lot and Dea. Buckley cleared a handsome
farm, which he has very much enlarged by the purchase of a
large tract adjoining.

Mr. Joshua Atherton moved to Hodgdon about 1850, and
first settled on a farm east of Westford Hill. He afterward
moved to a farm near Mr. J. D. Haven, where he lived until his
death in 1882. His son, William W. Atherton, now lives upon
the farm. The above named were the principal settlers in the
east part of the town in the early days.

Very soon after the first settlers came to the town, Mr. John
Hodgdon and Mr. Jabez Bradbury built a mill on the Meduxne-
keag Stream at what is now the thriving village of Hodgdon
Mills. The mill property afterward came into Mr. Bradbury's
possession, and at his death, the sons, George and David Brad-
bury, carried on the business until about 1854, when they sold
the property to Mr. William Robinson.

In 1861 Messrs. Oilman Jewett and B. E. H. Durrell, came
to Hodgdon from Dexter and purchased the mill property,
which consisted at that time of a sawmill, grist mill, and card-
ing mill. The saw mill contained an up-and-down saw, shingle
machine, and lath and clapboard machine. The grist mill con-
tained three runs of stones, and conected with it was a mill for
preparing oats for grinding.

In 1861 Jewett & Durrell repaired and enlarged the saw m'll,
and put in a rotary for sawing long lumber. They also tore down
the old grist mill and built a new one in the most thorough ma"-
ner upon the same site. They now have every appliance for
making first-class flour. To the carding they added a fulling
mill and cloth dressing machinery. They carried on the cloth
business and wool carding for a number of years, and then sold
the machinery to Mr. Chas. Tarbell, who removed it .to a build-
ing better fitted to that purpose further down the stream.

Capt. Thomas, formerly of Bangor, leased the sav/ m'll for
a number of years, and carried on a large business in the manu-
facture of lumber. Capt Thomas also bought a farm near the
mill and set out a large orchard, which is still bearing abundant-
ly. He afterwards sold the farm and removed to the town of
Veazie, where he now resides.

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 29

Mr. Lewis Brown of Houlton also leased the mill for a num-
"ber of years after Capt. Thomas left. The saw mill was burned
Tin 1882 and was immediately rebuilt. Mr. Durrell died in 1882
and Mr. Jewett bought the entire property. In addition to his
mill business, Mr. Jewett was quite extensively engaged in
farming. Very soon after coming to the town he bought the
farm formerly owned by Mr. Stiliman Pollard, an old resident
of the town, and took much interest in its management and im-
provement. He was engaged in mercantile business for some
years, having a store near the mill. Mr. Jewett died in Decem-
ber, 1890, and his son. Oilman F. Jewett, now occupies this fine
property. Mr. Christopher C. Bradbury came to Hodgdon from
New Limerick in 1836 and bought the T. P. Packard farm near
the mills. He was for many years engaged in the management
of the mills and when they were sold to Mr. Robinson in 1854,
Deacon Bradbury removed to the farm in the south part of the
town, now owned by Mr. Edwin Robinson. He lived o nthis farm
a number of years and then removed to West Virginia, where he
afterward died. Deacon Bradbury was one of the sterling citi-
zens of the town and his memory is still cherished as one of the
strong men of the early days who helped to mould the character
of the new town.

Mr. John C. Tngraham came from New Brunswick in 1839
and bought a lot on the "horseback," a short mile from the mills.
Mr. Robert Benn had cleared a few acres and built a small house
on the lot. Mr. Ingraham cleared up a fine farm and with his
son, Mr. Henry Ingraham, built a handsome set of farm build-
ings. Mr. Ingraham has been a prominent man in the town for
many years. He has been town clerk for sixteen years, treas-
urer fifteen years and trial justice for twenty-five years. For the
past twenty years he has been in the employ of Mr. Oilman
Jewett as clerk and bookkeeper. Mr. Ingraham is now eighty-
four years of age, but is still smart and active.

Mr. Isaac B. Adams came from New Brunswick in 1839 and
settled on a lot near the mills and worked for many years in the
grist mill. Mr. Adams died in 1860 and his sons are worthy
citizens of Hodgdon and adjoining towns.

Mr. John Hodgdon, the proprietor of the township, moved
to the town which bears his name about the year 1843. He made
a large farm consisting of the Asa Brown, Lewis Morrill, Harri-
son Howes and other adjoining farms which made an extensive
block of most excellent land. He established his residence on
this farm near the Houlton line and built the buildings now

30 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

owned and occupied by Mr. John R. Slipp. Mr. Hodgdon took
an active part in the affairs of the town and in 1844 was chosen,
chairman of the board of selectmen and also town treasurer. He
lived :n the town four or five years and afterwards removed to
Houlton, where he formed a partnership with Hon. J, C. Madi-
gan in the law business and in the purchase and sale af timber
lands. Mr. Hodgdon afterwards removed to Dubuque, Iowa,
where he died a number of years ago.

Deacon Putnam Shaw moved from Houlton about 1844 and
bought of Joseph Gerow the Aaron Perley lot on the Calais roid.
Deacon Shaw lived on this farm until his death in 1867. He was
a good man and a worthy citizen, always working for the best
moral interest of the town.

Mr. Edwin A. Low was one of the prominent citizens of
the town for many years and was for much of the time during
his residence a town officer. His home was in the east part of
the town. He is now residing in Houlton.

Mr. B. C. Smith came from Weston to Hodgdon about 1850
and bought a farm in the south part of the town. Mr. Smith
was a blacksmith by trade and worked at that business for some
time after coming to Hodgdon. He was afterwards for a num-
ber of years extensively engaged in lumbering. He was an
active, energetic bus'ness man and was much respected by his
fellow townsmen. He spent the last years of his life at the home
of his son-in-law, Mr. F. C. Nickerson, of Linneus. His oldest
son, Col. Zemro A. Smith of the 1st Me. Heavy Artillery, was
for a number of years on the staff of the Boston Journal and is
now engaged in journalistic work in the West. Hon. J. 0.
Smith, the next son, is the present Insurance Commissioner of
Maine and ed'tor of the Somerset Reporter. Mr. N. D. Smith,
youngest surviving son, is a prosperous merchant in Portland.
Another son, George A. Smith, was killed in the service of his
country.

The town was incorporated February 11, 1832. It lies Im-
mediately south of Houlton and is bounded on the east by the
New Brunswick line, on the south by Township No: 11, Range
1, now Cary, and on the west by the town of Linneus. The
Meduxnekeag stream runs in nearly a due north course entirely
across the town at a distance of something over a mile and a
half from its western line. The peculiar natural formation
known as the "horseback," extends across the town parallel with
the stream and but a short distance west of it. A short distance
south of the middle line of the town, Westford Hill, a beautiful

HISTORY OF A^ROOSTOOK Si

elevation of land, extending two miles from east to west across
this part of the town. With the exceptions of these elevations
.the town is very level, the surface nowhere being broken by ab-
jupt elevations. In the extreme southeastern portion of the
town is a comparatively small tract of low lying land hardly
suitable for easy cultivation, and east of the Calais road, on the
jear of the road lots in the north part of the town, are a few
swamp lots. Aside from these small blocks the town i sa most
excellent one for agricultural purposes and every lot in town ex-
cept those spoken of is capable of making a good farm, and in-
deed most of them are already made.

In looking over the good old town of Hodgdon we find that
it has fully kept up its reputation as one of the best towns in
the county. After many years of cultivation the farms are still
producing bountifully and show no signs of losing their fertil-
ity. Waste places are being reclaimed. Many new and hand-
some farm buildings have been recently built and evidences of
prosperity and good cultivation are seen on every hand.

WESTON

The tract of land included in the town of Weston at the
time of its incorporation was originally granted to the trustees
of Hampden Academy and consisted of a parallelogram two and
one half miles wide and seven and one-fifth miles long. This
rectangular tract extends in a northwesterly and southeasterly
direction, its northwest corner projecting a short distance be-
yond a bend in the Mattawamkeag River and its southwest cor-
ner extending something over half a mile south of the Baska-
hegan stream. The east line of the original town just skirts the
lakes, leaving between this line and Grand Lake an irregular
tract containing some 6000 acres, known as the Monroe Gore.

The resolve granting this half tovraship to Hampden Acad-
emv was passed by the Legislature of Massachusetts June 18,
1803. The tract was surveyed by Charles Turner, Jr., in the
year 1804, and the following is a record of his survey: "Be-
ginning at a cedar stake, marked, standing at the southeast end
of the Indian Portash (sic) or carrying place from Baskahegan
stream to the Great Schoodic Lake and run east by the magnet
one mile and 280 rods to a beech (sic) tree marked 'S. E. C.

32~ HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK:

H. A. C. T. 1804,' from thence run north 700 rods to a white-
pine tree marked, standing by the Great Scoodic Lake. Began^
agam at the aforesaid cedar stake at Baskahegan and run west
(crossing said stream) 200 rods to a white maple tree marked
'S. W. C. H, A. C. T. 1804,' from thence run north (crossmg
Baskahegan at 190 rods) continue on in the whole seven miles
and sixty-five and a quarter rods to a stake, marked, from,
thence run south till it strikes the Great Lake, passing through
poiids, thence by said lake till it comes to the afore-mentioned
white pine tree,"

ThiS record reads somewhat blindly at first sight, but upon
comparison with the map of the town the original boundaries can
be readily traced. Mr. Turner run north "by the magnet." The
var.ation of the compass at that time was thirteen degrees to the.
west, so that by running by the compass without allowing for
var.ation the tract is inclined in a northwesterly and southeast-
erly direction. The record of Mr. Turner's survey establishes
for all coming time the location of the old Indian Portage, or
carrying place, from the Baskahegan Stream to the Grand Lake.
This portage commenced at the point wheie the south line of the
Hampden Academy Grant crossed the Baskahegan and contin-
ued in a northeasterly direction until it struck the Grand Lake.
Eastward of the Academy Grant and between the east line of
that grant and the irregular coast line of the Grand Lake (then
called Scoodic Lake) is a tract of nearly six thousand acres,,
known as the Monroe Gore. Between the south line of the
Academy Grant and the north line of the half township granted
to Thomas Danforth (now the town of Danforth) is a strip
147 rods wide, a part of which is known as the Nelson tract..
As these two tracts are included in the present town of Weston,,
it is proper to insert their documentary history at this point.

On the lOth day of July, 1830, the Land Agent of the State
of Maine contracted to Edmund Monroe a tract of land in the
County of Washington, situated between the Hampden Acad-
emy Grant and "Scoodic Lake" and containing 5892 acres. Mr.
Monroe paid $301.00 down and gave four notes, bearing date
of May 17th, 1830, and payable in one, two, three and six
years respectively, each note being for $293.00, with interest
annually. This tract was deeded by the Land Agent on May
14, 1835, to James Crosby of Bangor and Deodat Brastow of
Brewer, assignees of Edmund Monroe, and has since been
known as the "Monroe Gore."

By a resolve passed by the Legislature of Massachusetts

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 33

Feb. 19, 1802, a grant of five hundred acres of land was made
to Amasa Smith. This tract was not located until Sept. 1820,
when it was surveyed by Alexander Greenwood, and on Nov.
18, 1820, it was deeded by Geo. W. Coffin, Land Agent of
Mass., to David Nelson, of New Gloucester, assignee of Amasa
Smith. The tract is thus described by the record of Mr.
Greenwood's survey:

"Beginning at a white maple tree, the same being the south-
west corner of the grant to Hampden Academy, marked S. W.

C. H. A. A. G. 1820, D. N., thence running south one hundred
and forty-seven rods to a beech (sic) tree standing on the north
line of the half township granted to Thomas Danforth, Esq.,
marked G. 1820, D. N., thence running east on the line of said
grant to Thomas Danforth five hundred and forty-four rods and
eleven links to a yellow birch tree marked G. 1820 D. N. A. G.
J. G. I. F., thence running north one hundred and forty-seven
rods and eleven links to a yellow birch tree standing in the
south line of the grant to Hampden Academy marked G. 1820,

D. N. A. G. J. G. I. F., thence on said Academy line five hundred
and forty-four rods and eleven links to the bound first men-
tioned."

David Nelson conveyed the tract to Mr. Joseph L. Kelsey
of Bangor, by his deed dated April 25, 1835. The land has since
been sold to settlers and, though now a part of the town of Wes-
ton, is still known as the "Nelson Tract."

The first settlers upon the Hampden Academy grant were
John Davenport, Thomas GHpatrick and William Butterfield,
Esq. Of these, Mr. Davenport was the first to make a chop-
ping, and Mr. Gilpatrick was the first settler who brought a
family to the grant. John Davenport came from St. Albans
and settled on the lot where Joshua Butler now lives, a short
distance south of the middle line of the town. He cleared a
farm and built a set of buildings and was for many years a re-
spected citizen of the town. He died in Weston some twenty
years ago. Thomas Gilpatrick came from Unity in 1825. He
purchased of the trustees of the academy one thousand acres of
land for twenty-five cents per acre. Mr. Davenport had made
a chopping the year before and this chopping Mr. Gilpatrick
cleared and put into crop at the halves. He afterwards settled
near where Mr. Otis A. Gilpatrick now lives, where he built a
log house and in 1827 his wife and son David came to their
rew home. Mr. Gilpatrick lived on this place some six years,
when he moved to a timber house at the foot of the hill some

34 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

distance north of where the old homestead now stands. Mr.
W;lHam Philbrook had made a ten acre chopping on the place
and built a timber house. The family lived in this house till
about 1841, when Mr. Gilpatrick built the buildings on the top
of the hill, now known as the Gilpatrick homestead. He cleared
a number of large farms and was extensively engaged in farm-
ing and lumbering. His house was for years a stopping place
for travellers and was a place well known in all that section.
He afterward bought the William Butterfield farm, some dis-
tance farther north, upon which he lived until his death in 1876.
Mr. Gilpatrick was a prominent man in the town during the
whole time of his residence there, at times doing a large busi-
ness and be'r.g actively interested in the affairs of the town.
Mr, William Butterfield, known throughout southern Aroostook
for many years as "Squire Butterfield," was born in the town of
Sidney and removed from there to New Brunswick, where he
remained a number of years. He came to Weston about 1827
and settled on the lot now occupied by Mr. Ruel Peters, oppo-
site the old steamboat landing. Mr. Butterfield was a land sur-
veyor and in 1828 he lotted the Academy grant, dividing it into
lots, or sections, running east and west across the grant, each
lot containing five hundred acres more or less. The lot upon
which Mr. Butterfield settled was numbered six in this survey.
This lot was deeded by Jcsiah Kidder, secretary of the trustees
of Hampden Academy, to Charles Buck of Bangor, April 12,
1831, and was conveyed by Mr. Buck to William Butterfield by
deed dated August 25, 1835. Mr. Butterfield was appointed
justice of the peace soon after coming to Weston, and the rec-
ords show that he performed marriages there as early as 1832.
He cleared a large farm on this lot and built the homestead
where he lived for many years. He was extensively engaged
in trading and lumbering and was a leading citizen of the town
during all the time of his residence there. He moved to Dan-
forth some twenty years ago and died in that town.

Mr. Samuel Cleaves was one of the early settlers of the
town. He came from Clinton in 1827 and settled in the south
part of the town near Baskahegan stream. Mr. Cleaves went
from Weston to California, but afterwards returned to Haynes-
ville, where he died.

Mr. Joseph Foss came from Clinton in 1828 and settled on
the lot where Mr. Edward Earle now lives, being section 8 of
the Butterfield survey. Mr. Foss purchased of the Academy
trustees four lots, or sections of land, being lots numbered Eight,

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 35

Nine, Ten and Eighteen, and afterwards bought of the town lot
No. Seventeen, which was the school block. Mr. Foss cleared
a large farm and was also largely engaged in lumbering. He
was a prominent citizen and business man for more than twenty
years, when he removed to California and afterwards to Wis-
consin, where he died.

Mr. Samuel Springer came from Augusta in 1829 and set-
tled on the lot in the south part of the town, afterwards owned
by Samuel J. Foster. Mr. Springer cleared the farm and lived
upon it until about 1847, when he sold to Mr. Foster and moved
to Robbinston and afterwards to Danforth, where he died. Mr.
Stutely Springer was a well known citizen of Weston for many
years. He came from Augusta in 1830 and settled some dis-
tance west of his brother Samuel on the lot now occupied by
Mr. Charles Powers. He died in Weston in 1869. Mr. John
Springer, another brother, came from Augusta in 1832 and set-
tled on the lot where D. J. Barker, Esq., now lives, in the ex-
treme southern portion of the town. Mr. Springer cleared this
farm and built the buildings upon it. He was engaged also in
lumbering and in 1868 moved to Eaton in Washington County,
where he died in 1883.

Mr. William Gellerson came from Brighton in 1832 and set-
tled in the northwest part of the town. He had a mill on Cold
Brook near his farm, and was engaged in farming and lumber-
ing for many years. He died in Weston some thirty years ago.
Mr. Thomas Gellerson came at the same time and settled near
his brother William. He was also engaged in lumbering, and
was a well known citizen. He died at his home ten years ago.
Mr. George Gellerson, another brother, came at the same time
and settled near the others and this portion of the town has
ever since been known as the "Gellerson Settlement." Mr. Geo.
Gellerson cleared a good farm and was also for some years en-
gaged in lumbering. He afterwards became a Free Baptist
preacher and preached for many years in Weston and adjoining
towns. Some twenty years ago he moved to Houlton, where he
died in 1881. Elder Gellerson was a good man and was much
respected by all who knew him.

Mr. Is.aac Loveland came from Brighton in 1832 and first
settled in the south part of the town. He afterwards bought a
lot in the Gellerson settlement, where he cleared a farm and
bu'lt a house and barn. After remaining there a number of
years he removed to Orono, where he died.

Mr. Elijah Gove came from Waldo County in 1832 and set-

36 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

tied in the rear of Thos. Gilpatrick's farm, where he died many
years ago. During this year (1832) a number of settlers came
to the town, most of whom have now passed away. Mr. Joseph
Webber came from Clinton and settled on part of the Joseph
Foss lot, the original five hundred acre lots into which the town
was divided by the Butterfield survey having afterwards sub-
divided into smaller holdings. Mr. Webber made a small clear-
ing and built a log house and after remaining some ten years re-
turned to Clinton. Mr. Ira Watson came from New Hampshire
in 1832 and settled in the northern part of the town, where he
cleared a farm and built a set of log buildings, and died many
years ago. Mr. Hezekiah Harris, who is now the oldest settler
living in the town, came from New Brunswick in 1832 and set-
tled on the lot where he now lives, in the north part of the town.
Mr. Harris cleared a large farm and kept a house of entertain-
ment for travellers for many years. Though now advanced in
years and past work, Mr. Harris is still quite active and enjoys
walking around among his neighbors and talking about the olden
times when there were no roads in the town and when the early
settlers were subjected to many hardships. Mr. Braman Price,
a son-in-law of Mr. Harris, now carries on the farm.

Mr. James Brackett, one of the early settlers of the town,
came from Mount Vernon in 1830 and settled near the middle of
the town. He cleared the farm and lived on it until his death
in 1845. His son, William Brackett, then took the farm and
lived on it until his death in 1855. His widow afterwards kept
a public house here for many years and this was long one of
the pleasantest and best known stopping places upon the Calais
road. Mrs. Brackett died in 1873 and her sons, Horace M. and
Gilbert L. Brackett, now live on the old homestead. Mr. Luther
Brackett was also for some time a resident of Weston and lived
on the farm where Mr. George Brannan now lives, part of section
12. Mr. Brackett was afterwards appointed U. S. Consul to
Pictou and did not return to Weston to live.

Dr. Joseph O. Smith came from Addison in 1833 and with
his son, Mr. B. C. Smith, settled on the farm where .Mr. James
Moody now lives, part of section 11. Dr. Smith was an educated
gentleman of pleasant and kindly manner, and is spoken of with
much respect by those of the citizens who remember him. He
practiced his profession for some time after coming to Weston.
Mr. Barney C. Smith, as his name appears upon the records of
the town, had the active management of the farm and also car-
ried on the business of blacksmithing. He, like most of his

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 37

neighbors at that time, was engaged in lumbering and was a
prominent citizen of the town. He moved to Hodgdon about
1850, and his father. Dr. J. O. Smith, afterwards returned to
Addison. Mr. Stephen Smith, son of Dr. Smith, came to Wes-
ton at the same time and settled on the next lot south. He was
engaged in farming and lumbering for many years, and some
six years ago moved to Houlton, where he now resides.

Mr. Joseph E. Shorey was a resident of Weston at this time
and was engaged in lumbering. He had no farm in the town
and soon after settled in the adjoining town of Bancroft. Mr.
Sweet Ellis came from Brighton in 1833 and settled in the north-
west part of the town. Here he cleared a small farm and af-
terwards moved to Haynesville and died many years ago. Mr.
Charles Megquier came from Poland in 1833 and settled a
short distance north of Mr. James Brackett, on part of section
13. Mr. Megquier commenced felling trees on his lot on June
17, 1834, as appears by a diary kept by him at that time. He
that year felled and cleared twenty-three acres and finished
clearing Nov. 1st. In the spring of 1835 he commenced work
on the farm April 1st. He that year sov^ed five bushels of
wheat on five acres and raised 166 2-3 bushels of prime wheat.
Mr, Megquier was then absent from the town for a number of
years, returning in 1839. He extended his clearing and built a
good set of buildings and continued to live upon his farm until
his death, six years ago. He was a man of strict integrity and
was one of the most prominent citizens of the town. He was
postmaster at Weston for many years and held numerous town
offices. His son, Arthur Megquier, now lives upon the farm
and has a store nearby. Mr. Samuel F. Marble came from
Poland in 1833 and settled on the lot next north of Mr. Meg-
quier's. He cleared this farm and lived on it until his death
some eleven years ago. Mr. Marble was a highly respected
citizen and took an active part in the affairs of the town. His
son, Greenleaf Marble, now lives on the old farm.

Mr. Thomas Pratt came from Clinton in 1833 and settled
in the northwest part of the town. Here he cleared a good
farm and built a good set of buildings. He lived upon the farm
until his death some ten years ago. He Is spoken of as a good
cit"zen and a worthy man. Mr. Lewis Smart, who is now one
of the oldest settlers living in the town, came from Vassalboro
to Old Town In 1831 and in 1834 came to Weston and first took
a lot rear the middle of the town, where he made a small clear-
ing and then took the lot in the north part of the town now

38 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

known as the Faulkner farm, and made a shopping and built
a log house, but did not remain upon the lot. He then took a
lot on Trout Brook ridge in the west part of the town, where
he cleared a good farm and built good buildings. In 1848 he
moved to the farm on the Calais road where he has lived ever
since. Mr. Smart was for many years an active citizen of the
town, but is now advanced in years and quite infirm. His sons,
Frank and Charles Smart, live in neat residences near him on
the old farm.

Mr. Patrick Faulkner came from Ireland and settled in
Weston in 1835, in the rear of Mr. Hezekiel Harris's lot. Here
he made a good farm upon which he lived until his death some
ten years ago.

Among the other citizens who were in the town at the time
of its incorporation we may name the following: Mr. Joel Foss,
son of Joseph Foss, came from Lincoln in 1831, but did not set-
tle upon a farm in the town until 1840, when he took the lot
upon which Mr. J. C. Foss now lives, part of section 8. He
cleared this farm and lived on it ten years and then moved to
the farm on which Mr. Charles Clark now lives, where he lived
until 1872, when he moved to Danforth and now keeps a public
house in that village. Mr. Foss was a prominent citizen of
Weston and well known throughout the county. He was for
many years engaged in land surveying and was a member of the
board of county commiss'oners from 1858 to 1861. He was also
a member of the State Legislature in 1852 and for the two fol-
lowing years and again in 1881. Mr. Orrington S. Foss lived
with his father, Joseph Foss, and afterwards moved to Orono,
where he died. Mr. William Butterfield, Jr., settled on the lot
where his son, David Butterfield, now lives, and lived there
until his death some three years ago. Mr. Samuel Butterfield
first settled on the farm where David Butterfield now lives. He
afterward moved to the farm now owned by Mrs. Benj. Moody,
section 9. He sold this farm to Mr. Moody and moved to Jack-
son Brook, where he now lives.

We have thus briefly mentioned the settlers who opened
up the town of Weston and a large majority of whom were citi-
zens of the town at the time ofits incorporation.

The act of incorporation was passed March 16, 1835, and
was signed by Gov. Dunlap on the following day. On April
14, 1835, a petition was addressed to Wm. Butterfield, Esq.. a
justice of the peace, to issue a warrant for a town meeting. This
petition was signed by Samuel Springer, Stutely Springer, John

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 39

Davenport, Joseph Foss, Orrington S. Foss, Thos. Gilpatrick
and John Springer. The warrant was issued to Mr. John
Springer, who was directed to call a town meeting at the dwell-
ing house of Joseph O. Smith on Thursday, April 30, 1835. The
inhabitants met according to the warrant, were called to order
by Wm. Butterfield, Esq., adjourned to Dr. Smith's barn and
chose the following officers, viz: Joseph E. Shorey, moderator;
O. S. Foss, clerk; Wm. Butterfield, Joseph Foss and Barney C.
Smith, selectmen; Thos. Gilpatrick, collector and constable;
Stephen Smith, treasurer. At the time of the organization of
the town of Weston there were but two incorporated towns in
the whole territory now embraced in Aroostook County, Houl-
ton having been incorporated in 1831 and Hodgdon in 1832.
At that time these towns were all in Washington County,
Aroostook not being incorporated as a separate county until
March 16, 1839. On the list of voters in Weston in 1836,
twenty-five names appear and at the town meeting held that
year it was voted "not to grant licenses for retailing ardent
spirits." At that time and in fact for many years after, large
lumbering operations were carried on in this vicinity and near-
ly all the settlers of the town were more or less engaged in this
business. Some who afterwards settled there and became prom-
inent citizens were attracted thither by the opportunities offered
for engaging in this pursuit.

In 1844 Mr. Benjamin Buzzell came from Alexander and
settled in the north part of the town. He cleared a farm and
lived upon it for nearly forty years and moved to Danforth,
where he died. Mr. Edward Bedel now lives on this farm.

Mr. Samuel J. Foster came to Weston in 1847 and bought
the Samuel Springer farm in the south part of the town. Mr.
Foster was a member of the firm of Foster & Lincoln of Ban-
gor, lumber operators. He made many improvements upon the
farm and built a very large and costly residence, two large barns
and a fine stable. The house was at the time one of the most
expensive private residences north of Bangor. In the stables
were stalls for a hundred horses and there were times when
nearly all were filled. Mr. Foster owned some very fine driving
horses and the fame of his roadsters and of their remarkable
performances is still remembered in this section. In addition
to h's extensive lumber operations he paid much attention to
farming and raised large crops of hay and grain. He was a
man of much energy and enterprise and carried on a large busi-
ness in Weston and vicinity for a number of years. He lived

40 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

upon the farm until his death in 1858. The farm was then pur-
chased by Mr. John Weller and Mr. William Lawrence, who
opened the house as a hotel and did a large business in farming
and raising and dealing in horses. This partnership was dis-
solved after a few years and Mr. Lawrence moved to Houlton.
Mr. Weller afterwards disposed of his interest in the properry
and now resides in Danforth. The Foster mansion was burned
some ten years ago and the large farm has been divided. Mr,
E. L. Heal now owns one portion and Mr. Weston Brannan the
other.

In 1855 the "Monroe Gore" and the "Nelson tract" were
both incorporated with the town of Weston and the town is now
bounded north by Haynesville and Orient, west by Bancroft,
south by Danforth, in Washington County, and on the east for
its entire extent by the waters of the beautiful Grand Lake. The
road from Houlton to Calais runs in a southerly direction en-
tirely across the town and for much of the distance the land
west of the road rises in high, mountainous ridges. In the north
part of the town, a short distance east of the Calais road, is
Longfellow Lake, a very pretty little sheet of water discharg-
ing into Brackett Lake, which is of much larger extent and
which empties its waters through a narrow thoroughfare into the
Grand Lake. In the south part of the town is a smaller lake,
called Sucker Brook Lake, the outlet of which is a small brook
flowing northward and emptying into the Grand Lake at Dav-
enport Cove. The scenery from the Calais road is very beau-
tiful in a pleasant summer's day, the view extending across the
wooded points and away to the broad waters of Grand Lake.

AMITY

The town of Amity is the northernmost of what may be pro-
perly designated as the coast towns of Aroostook County, as, in
common with the towns lying south of it in the same range, it
is separated from the possessions of Her Brittannic Majesty by
a water boundary. The coast line of the State of Maine, on its
eastern border, in reality extends northward nearly to the north
line of the town of Amitv and for the past two years a detach-
ment of the U. S. Coast Survey has been at work in this region,
determining the exact contour of the eastern coast and making

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 41

'an accurate map of this boundary. The Monument Stream
which forms the head waters of the St. Croix, rises about a mile
south of the north line of Amity, and, flov/ing southward in an
irregular course, forms the eastern boundary of the United
States until it discharges its waters into North Lake in the town
of Orient. Amity lies directly south of Gary, is bounded on the
-west by Haynesville and on the south by Orient.

The settlement of the town dates back to the year 1825
and in that year Jonathan Clifford, who may be regarded as
the pioneer settler of the town, commenced a clearing on the lot
now occupied by Mr. James Lizette, in the north part of the
town, a short distance west of the present Calais road. Here
Mr. Clifford cleared a farm, upon which he lived for many
years and on which he died some twenty years ago. At the
time of Mr. Clifford's settlement a few pioneers had established
themselves upon the adjoining township of No. 11, now Cary,
and their smokes could be seen from the ridge upon which he
commenced his clearing. These were his nearest neighbors and
no road passable in summer led to his wilderness home. In
1826, Mr. Edmund Cone took a lot near Mr. Clifford's and com-
menced making a clearing. Mr. Cone came from New Salem,
Mass., to Houlton in 1815 and lived in that town until he re-
moved to his new home in what was then called No. 10, now
the town of Amity.

In Houlton Mr. Cone was employed for a number of years
as a teamster, and he afterwards made a clearing on the lot in
the south part of that town near the Hodgdon line, now owned
by Mr. A. K. Bradford. Before leaving Houlton Mr. Cone mar-
ried Miss Barbara Shepard of Richmond, N. B., and together
they bravely commenced the work of making a home in the for-
est. Mrs. Cone was a most excellent woman and was a cour-
ageous and efficient helpmate in these pioneer years. Mr. Cone
cleared up a large farm and was for many years a prominent
citizen of the town. He was one of the officers of the town at
its first organization, and continued to take an active interest in
its affairs until his death in 1883. His son, Mr. Elisha Cone,
now owns the old homestead, but lives upon a farm on the
Calais road.

Mr. Seth Farrar was one of the earliest settlers of the town.
Mr. Farrar came from Searsmont and settled in New Brunswick.
He then emigrated to the south part of Hodgdon, and made a
clearing on the lot afterwards owned by Daniel Smith. In 1826
he moved to Amity and took a lot in the north part of the town,

42' HISTORY OF AROOSTOOIC

a short distance east of the present Calais road. Here he made
a farm upon which he lived for some twenty-five years, then
moved to No. 11 (Gary) and afterwards to Orient, where he
died some thirty years ago. A number of his sons now live in
the south part of the town.

In 1826 Jonah Dunn, Esq., came from Cornish, in York
County, and established his residence in Houlton. Mr. Dunn
was a man well educated and of much ability and force of char-
acter. He had represented the District of Maine in the General
Court of Massachusetts, and after the separation from the
mother state was a member of the Maine Legislature. He took
an active part in the movement for the establishment of a mili-
tary post at Houlton, and was instrumental In having the mili-
tary road opened to that place and with his son, Columbus
Dunn, built a part of that road. He was also a contractor and
builder of portions of the road from Houlton to Calais. Imme-
d'ately upon coming to Houlton, in 1826, Esquire Dunn pur-
chased of the State a block of land in No. 10, now Amity, con-
s'sting of four lots of 100 acres each, and including the Colum-
bus Dunn homestead and the Walton lot on the east side of the
Calais road, and the John Reed lot and Charles E. Dunn lot on
the west side. In 1827, Columbus Dunn, a son of Jonah Dunn,
Esq., settled on the block. At that time the only road was a
lumber road from Houlton, through Hodgdon and Gary, pass-
able for teams only in the winter time. Here Mr. Columbus
Dunn cleared a farm and established the home where he lived
until his death in 1879. Deacon Dunn was for many years one
of the most prominent citizens of the town and was one of its
active religious workers. He was postmaster of Amity for 18
years and held numerous town offices. His widow still lives at
the old home with her daughter and son-in-law, Mr. Erastus
Haskell, who now has the farm. Mr. Charles Dunn, brother of
Columbus, came soon after and settled on the lot next south,
afterwards the Walton homestead. Mr. Dunn remained there
some twelve years and was one of the selectmen of the town in
the first year of its organization. He afterwards returned to
Houlton, where he now resides.

Soon after the arrival of the Dunns a number of settlers
came to the town and commenced making clearings in the forest.
Mr. Asa Tracy came from Gouldsboro in 1827 and made a chop-
ping on the lot in the rear of the Lemuel Tracy homestead. He
moved his family to the town in 1829 and afterwards bought
the lot where his son, Samuel Tracy, now lives, and remained

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 4S

'there until his death in 1870. During the following year (1828)
Jonathan Greenleaf, Samuel Newman, Benjamin Winship, Wil-
liam Clark and James H. Curtis settled in the new town. Mr.
Jonathan Greenleaf, for many years a well known citizen of
Amity, came from the town of Starks and settled in the south
part of the town. He cleared a farm and kept a hotel here for
many years. He was a man of much business ability and took
an active part in the affairs of the town. Mr. Greenleaf died in
1868. The old house, so long a stopping place for travellers,
has since been burned, but two sons, Thomas and John Green-
leaf, still live on the farm. Mr. Samuel Newman came from
Sangerville and made a clearing some distance north of Mr.
Greenleaf s. He was chosen one of the selectmen at the organ-
ization of the town. He left Amity many years ago and after
living for a time in Orient and afterwards in Haynesville, re-
turned to Sangerville and died.

Benjamin Winship first settled on the lot opposite the Jacob
Simpson lot, where he lived for a number of years and then re-
moved to the south part of the town and died many years ago.

William Clark came from Liberty and settled on the lot
where his son, William Clark, now lives. He cleared this farm
and lived on it until his death in 1854. His son, David Clark,
then took the farm and at his death in 1858 Mr. William Clark,
the present proprietor, took possession of the farm.

Mr. James H. Curtis came from Dexter and settled on the
lot where Mr. Samuel Tracy now lives. He made a clearing
on this lot and built a log house and barn and after living there
some SIX years moved to what was afterwards known as the
Walker place. Here he built a set of buildings. Mr. Curtis
lived on this farm until 1846, when he sold to Mr. Erastus Has-
kell and moved to New Brunswick.

Mr. Samuel Wilkins was also one of the early settlers of
the town. He settled in the north part, a short distance east of
the Calais road, and lived In the town until his death' in 1867.

A few years later than the settlers mentioned above, Mr.
William Williams, who was then living in Houlton, bought four
lots a short distance south of the center of the town. These
lots Included the two lots now owned by Mr. John R. Williams,
the Benj. Curtis lot, and the Calvin Curtis lot. Mr. Williams
made a clearing on the lot now owned by Benjamin Curtis,
where he built a log house and lived upon the place a few years
when he removed to Houlton and did not return to Amity to live.
His son, Jared Williams, made a clearing on the lot where Mr.

44 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

John R. Williams now lives and remained three years and sold"
to Mr. George Robinson. Mr. John R. Williams bought the
farm in 1838 and has been a well known citizen of Amity ever
s nee. Mansfield Williams, another son, lived on the Curtis,
place and traded at the "corner" near Mr. Greenleaf's. He
afterwards moved to Houlton and died there some years ago.
Abram Williams also lived on this place for a time and moved
to Houlton and afterward to Hodgdon, where he had a farm
near the Mills and where he died a few years since.

Rev. Elisha Bedel, the first clergyman, settled in Amity,
came from the town of Crawford and organized the first church,
in the town. At the first town meeting Elder Bedel was chosen
one of the selectmen. He remained in Amity until about 1845.

The act of incorporation of the town of Amity was passed
March 18, 1836, and was approved by Gov. Robt. P. Dunlap on
the day following. The warrant for the first town meeting was
issued by Hiram Estey, Esq., justice of the peace, to Edmund
Cone, April 11, 1836. The meeting was held April 21st and the
new town was organized by the choice of Columbus Dunn, mod-
erator, Edmund Cone, clerk, and Edmund Cone, Elisha Bedel
and Samuel Newman, selectmen. James H. Curtis was chosen
treasurer and Asa Tracy, collector and constable.

At the first State election after the incorporation, fifteen
votes were thrown in the town, all of which were for Governor
Dunlap. The year 1837 was an extremely hard year for the new-
settlers and bread was scarce. By the town records it appears
that Messrs. Todd and McAllister o'f Calais owed the town for
the stumpage on lumber cut on the school lots. This money
should, of course, have been devoted to the support of schools,
but so great was the destitution that at a meeting held on June
5, 1837, it was voted to divide the amount equally among the in-
habitants. It was afterwards decided to expend the gross
amount for corn and divide the corn among the settlers. Teams
were therefore sent to Calais and the corn was procured and di-
vided among the hungry settlers.

In 1836 Benjamin A. Curtis came from Dexter and first set-
tled on the lot where Daniel Williams now lives. Here he made
a small clearing, but soon moved to the lot on which John Reed
now lives. He cleared a number of acres on this lot and lived
on it some ten years. He then moved to the Alexander Carr
lot where he lived until 1858, when he bought of Mansfield Wil-
liams the lot where he now lives in the south part of the town.
Mr. Curtis improved this farm and built a new house. He lost

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 45

three sons in the army and Is now old and feeble and unable
to work.

Mr. Daniel Harmon came from Calais to Amity in 1837 and
taught the town school. He bought a piece of land of Columbus
Dunn and lived in the town some six years and moved to Port-
land. Mr. Harmon was an educated man and was clerk of the
town for a number of years. James Austin and Jonathan Small
came from Keneebec County about 1835 and settled on the lot
where Alexander Carr now lives. Mr. Small died shortly after-
wards and Mr. Austin moved to No. 11 and afterwards returned
to the southeast part of Amity, where he died. John Dakin
came from Nova Scotia and in 1836 settled on a part of the
Walker lot, where he cleared a farm and built a set of build-
ings. He afterwards sold to Mr. James H. Curtis and moved
to the west part of the town, where he died some years ago.
Mr. Hartley Deering came from Orient in 1836 and bought the
Samuel Newman lot. He lived on this lot two years and then
exchanged farms with Mr. James Daggett of Hodgdon and
moved to that town, where he died. Mr. Seth Kempton came
from Milltown in 1837 and settled on the lot afterwards owned
by Mr. Alden Spurr. He lived on this lot until 1848, when he
removed to Gardiner. Mr. Peter Beede came from Milltown in
1837 and settled on the lot next east of Seth Kempton. He
lived on the farm until 1848, when he moved to Kennebec Coun-
ty, and died. Mr. Samuel Slipp now owns this farm.

Mr. Daniel Williams came to Amity in 1838. He had been
engaged in teaching in Pennsylvania, and upon first coming to
Amity was employed as a clerk for Mr. Daniel Wood, who had
a store near Mr. Greenleaf's. In 1840, Mr. Williams bought the
lot where he now lives and where he has made a good farm and
a pleasant home. He has been a prominent man in the town
for many years, and though now eighty years old, is still smart
and active.

Mr. Israel Davis came from Concord, N. H., about the
time the town was incorporated or very soon after. He took a
lot in the northwest part of the town. The Davis brook, a trib-
utary of the Meduxnekeag, runs through this lot and on this
stream Mr. Davis built a mill containing an up-and-down saw.
After his death in 1868, his son, Mr. Elbridge G. Davis, took
the property and added a grist mill and afterwards a shingle
mill. This mill was afterwards burned and Mr. Davis built a
new mill with steam power, into which he put one shingle ma-
chine and was planning to put in a rotary saw, but died in 1888

4'6" HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

before completing his designs. The mill has not since been oper-
ated and the engine and machinery have been removed.

James Daggett, Jr., came 'from Hodgdon in 1838 and bought
of Hartley Deering the Samuel Newman lot. He cleared a large
farm and lived on it until 1866.' He then moved to Oakfield
and afterwards to Massachusetts. After a few years he re-
turned to Amity and lived with his son, Mr. Warren Daggett,
until his death in 1885. Mr. Samuel Shepard came from New
Brunswick about 1837, and after living for a while on a part
of Edmund Cone's lot, bought of Charles Dunn the lot next
north of Columbus Dunn's. He built the buildings on this
farm and about 1844 sold to James Ballard and moved to the
Gidney lot in the southwest part of the town, where he lived a
number of years, and then returned to New Brunswick. James
Ballard came from Massachusetts as a teacher. He bought the
Samuel Shepard farm and lived on it some three years, and
sold to Mr. Milo Walton and returned to Massachusetts. Mr.
Hammond Estabrook came from New Brunswick in 1840 and
took a lot in the west part of the town. He cleared a farm and
lived on it until his death in 1864. His son, Mr. Jed Estabrook,
now lives on the farm. Mr. Lemuel Tracey bought the lot where
he now lives in 1842. He cleared a large farm and has for many
years been one of the leading citizens of the town. Mr. Thomas
Greenleaf, a brother to Jonathan Greenleaf, came from Starks
in 1840 and took a lot in the south part of the town, one mile
west from the Calais road. He made a clearing of forty acres
and built a house and barn. He lived here six years and moved
to Missouri. Mr. Warren Daggett now owns this farm. Mr.
Milo Walton came from Chesterfield, N. H., to Houlton in 1845
and kept a drug store in that town for two years. In 1847 he
moved to Amity and bought the farm next north of Columbus
Dunn. He immediately entered into the business of orcharding
and fruit raising, which he planned to carry out on a large scale.
He set extensive nurseries of apples, plums, cherries, etc., and
had also a large amount of small fruits. He had just com-
menced to reap the first fruits of his enterprise when his death
in 1854 suddenly terminated what promised to be a most suc-
cessful business career. He was a man of much ability and
worth and his early death was a severe loss to the town where
he had fixed his residence. His widow continued the business
to some extent until her death in 1871. His son, Mr. Isaac T.
Walton, now has the farm. Mr. Alden Spurr came from New
Brunswick in 1848 and bought the Seth Kempton lot in the south-

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK il

■west part of the town. He cleared a large ifarm and built a good
set of buildings. Mr. Spurr was engaged in lumbering and was
■an active and prominent citizen during his residence in the town.
Two of his sons died in the army and some time after the close
of the war he moved to Milltown and afterwards toHoulton,
where he died a few years ago. Mr. Calvin B. Curtis bought
the farm where he now lives in 1849. It was then a wild lot
and Mr. Curtis cleared the farm and built the buildings. He
has also worked at blacksm'Ithing a part of the time and has
been one of the leading citizens for many years. Mr. Jacob
Simpson came from Warwick, N. B., and was for several years
engaged in lumbering In this vicinity before moving to Amity.
About 1850 he bought the farm where Mr. John Hughes now
lives. He cleared a large farm and was extensively engaged in
lumbering until about 1864, when he sold the farm to Mr. James
Martin and returned to New Brunswick.

Mr. George R. Burt came from New Hampshire in 1850 and
bought the farm on which Mr. John Reed now lives. Here he
opened a store and continued to trade until his death in 1856.
Mr. James Lander, the veteran stage driver, then bought the
place and established his home there. He continued to drive
the stage from Houlton to Calais and Mr. Adrian Vandine, af-
terwards collector of customs at Houlton, entered into partner-
ship with him in trade. Mr. Vandine was engaged most of the
time in hauling goods and Mr. John Reed was employed as clerk
In the store. Mr. Lander died In 1861, and Mr. Vandine re-
tained the property and business until 1866, when he sold to
Mr. John Reed and removed to Houlton. Mr. Francis McCarric
came from Bailyville In 1851 and first settled on the lot oppo-
site Jacob Simpson's. He lived on this lot seven years and then
moved to the farm In the north part of the town, formerly occu-
pied by Benj. Curtis, where he lived until his death In 1874.
Mr. Allex. H. Carr now has this farm.

As a whole. Amity will rank as a good farming town. The
surface is not abruptly broken and the soil, though somewhat
stony in places, Is fertile and productive. A large part of the
town Is still covered with Its original forest growth and Is owned
by non-resident proprietors, a fact which has interfered with the
growth and development of the town. The town has good
schools and good religious privileges and seems to enjoy a gen-
eral feeling of social good fellowship. Taken all in all. Amity
will rank as one of the best towns In southern Aroostook.

48 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOIv

LINNEUS

The General Court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts
on February 26th, 1804, passed a resolve appropriating a town-
ship of land in the District of Maine for the purpose of assist-
ing in establishing a Professorship of Botany in Harvard Col-
lege. The township was surveyed by Benjamin Marshall in
October, 1807, and is thus described: "Beginning at a basswood
stake near a large yellow birch marked N. E. C. B. G. T. 0.
one hundred and sixty rods south of the southwest corner of a
half township of land granted to the New Salem Academy,
thench running west, thirteen degrees north six miles to a large
hemlock tree marked, thence south, thirteen degrees west six
miles to a stake; thence east, thirteen degrees south six miles to
a large maple tree, marked; thence north, thirteen degrees east
to the first mentioned basswood stake." At a meeting of the
Trustees of the Massachusetts Society for promoting Agriculture,
held June 4th, 1808, it was voted that the Secretary of the Com-
monv/ealth be requested to deed the township to Dudley A,
Tyng. The deed of the township from William Tudor, Secre-
tary of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, to Dudley Atkins
Tyng, is dated June 27th, 1808.

At a meeting of the Trustees of the Massachusetts Society
for promoting Agriculture held June 30th, 1810, it was voted that
Dudley A. Tyng be authorized to convey the township in fee
simple to Aaron Dexter and Ebenezer Preble, purchasers of the
town, upon the purchase money being paid, or secured to the
Treasurer of Harvard College. It was also voted that the pur-
chasers be requested to cause the said township to be called by
the name of Linneus. The deed from Dudley A. Tyng to Aaron
Dexter, Doctor of Medicine, and Ebenezer Preble, merchant,
both of Boston, is dated Aug. 9th, 1810.

The town of Linneus lies in the second tier of townships
from the New Brunswick line, is directly west of the town of
Hodgdon, and corners on Houlton on the southwest. The early
history of Linneus is intimately connected with that of the set-
tlement of Houlton as the old Soldier road over which supplies
were brought to the garrison at Houlton was made through this
tov/n. This road was cut through by the United States troops in
1828. It began at what was called Soldier Landing on the east
branch of the Mattawamkeag some two miles below the mouth
of Beaver Brook, followed up the brook across the township of

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 49

"Letter A" and after entering Linneus turned in a northeasterly
direction from the height of land on which is now the J. D. Gove
farm, following nearly the line of the present military road to
where Hon. Parker P. Burleigh now lives, entering Houlton near
the southwest corner of that town.

The first settler upon the town was Mr. Daniel Neal who
came from New Brunswick in 1827 and settled near the north-
east corner of the town, on what is now a part of the farm of
Hon. Parker P. Burleigh. We find mention of Mr. Neal in let-
ters from Major Clarke, the officer in command of the garrison
at Houlton to Capt. Staniford, who commanded the detachment
engaged in constructing the Soldier road. In a letter dated
Sept. 25th, 1828, Major Clarke writes: "As soon as the road shall
have been completed to Neal's you will order the four six-
pounders to that place and leave them there." On the same day
Major Clarke writes to Mr. Towle, of the firm of Towle & Par-
sons, who had the contract to forward the supplies for the troops :
"As soon as all the public property deposited at Neal's shall
have been brought in I request you to forward on those cannon."

In these letters we find the first mention of any settlement
in the present town of Linneus. Mr. Neal was a Maine man and
went to New Brunswick to work at his trade as a ship carpenter,
coming thence to his forest home in the new grant. Here he
cleared up a considerable tract and lived upon it until 1836, when
he removed to Jackson Brook. His son, John Hodgdon Neal,
was the first child born in Linneus.

Soon after Daniel Neal made his settlement in Linneus a
man named Nesmith settled near the "Cold Spring," as it was
then called, on what is now the Howard farm. Mr. Nesmith
formerly lived near Thomaston, Me., and removed to Miririchi,
where he was quite extensively engaged in lumbering. He
afterwards met with heavy losses and the great fire in Mirimichi
completed his financial ruin. He then decided to remove to the
wilderness of Aroostook, and coming to Fredericton, N. B., he
placed his wife and three children, together with some house-
hold goods, upon a sled and started up the St. John River on the
ice with a pair of horses. Before reaching Woodstock the team
broke through the ice and his wife and one child were drowned.
With the two remaining children, a boy of ten years and a daugh-
ter then a young woman, he reached Woodstock, where he left
the daughter and proceeded northward with the little boy. In
corrpany with a man by the name of Anderson, Mr. Nesmith
came to Linneus and built a camp near the "Cold Spring." They

50 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

made a clearing and remained a number of years and then sold
their improvement to Col. Benj. Rackliffe and Nesmith removed
to the far West, taking the little boy with him. The boy grew
to manhood and when the State of Oregon was admitted to the
Union he was chosen one of the first United States Senators
from that State.

The opening of the Soldier road induced other settlers to
come to the town. In 1828 or 1829 Samuel and John Shields
came from New Brunswick and settled east of the Soldier road
near the line of Hodgdon, then Groton Academy Grant. Both
cleared up farms upon which they lived for many years and
died at an advanced age. Mr. Thos. 0. Shields, son of John
Shields, and Mr. True B. Shields, son of Samuel Shields, now
live upon the old homesteads and have good farms. The same
year Mr. John Jones settled south of Samuel Shields on what is
now the Geo. Starrett farm. These three were the first settlers
east of the road. Among the settlers who came to the town soon
after Mr. Neal and settled along the line of the new road was
Col. Benj. Rackliffe, who came from Waldo County about 1829
and settled on what is now the Howard farm, a short distance
south of Linneus Corner. Col. Rackliffe was for years a prom-
inent citizen of the town. He afterwards moved to Presque Isle,
where he died some ten years ago. Jacob Martin came the same
year and settled on the 'farm now occupied by Dr. Boyd. He
was a resident of the town many years.

In 1830 Col. Moses Burleigh came from the town of Paler-
mo and bought of Daniel Neal a lot next south of the farm upon
wh'ch Hon. Parker P. Burleigh now lives. Col. Burleigh was
a prominent man in the State before his removal to Linneu;3.
He was a milit'a capta'n in 1812 and was called into the U. S.
service and was with his company at Belfast at the time the
British entered the Penobscot to destroy the U. S. frigate Adams.
He was a delegate to the convention held in 1816 at Brunswick
in the District of Maine, to form a State Constitution in antici-
pation of the separation from Massachusetts and in the same
year was promoted to a lieutenant colonelcy in the' Massachu-
setts militia. Immediately after removing to Linneus, Col.
Burleigh was appointed to take the census of the northern part
of Washington County, which then included the Aroostook set
tlements. As the territory was then in disoute the Provinc'al
warden endeavored to arrest him, but he eluded pursuit and com-
pleted his work of census taking. In 1831 he was appointed
assistant land agent and took an active part in expelling tres-

HISTORY OP AROOSTOOK 51

passers from lands in this vislnity. He held the office of post-
master for several years and was an active, energetic man and
an upright and honored citizen. He died at Linneus in 1860.
His son, Parker P. Burleigh, was but seventeen years old when
he came with his father to Linneus. He worked for his father
and helped clear up the farm and build a home until he was of
age, when, determining to acquire an education, he entered
Hampden Academy and afterwards Hartford, (Conn.) grammar
school. He paid especial attention to the study of land survey-
ing and thoroughly fitted himself for that profession. Returning
to Linneus, he took an active part in the affairs of the new town
and held many offices in the town and county. He was State
Land Agent from 1868 to 1875, and was ifor many years post-
master at Linneus. He represented his town in the Legislature
of 1856 — 57 and was twice elected senator from Aroostook
County. Mr. Burleigh is now living on the old farm in Linneus,
upon which he has made many improvements, and although
nearly eighty years old, is a hale, hearty, active man. He owns
large tracts of timber land in the county, to the care of which
he devotes much of his time. He has two brothers, Moses C.
and Samuel K. Burleigh, living near him. Hon. Albert A. Bur-
leigh, his oldest son, was born in Linneus in 1841. He also fit-
ted himself for the business of land surveying and in 1864 en-
' tered the army. He was wounded and taken prisoner and con-
fined at Petersburg and Richmond. After his return from the
army he took a farm in the town of Oakfield, adjoining Linneus,
upon which he lived for a number of years. He was for many
years a member of the board of county commissioners and is
intimately acquainted with every portion of Aroostook County.
He now resides at Houlton and is collector of customs for the
Aroostook District. He is also President of the Bangor and
Aroostook Railroad Company and is giving much of his time
at present to the development of that enterprise.

Hon. Edwin C. Burleigh, the younger son, was born in Lin-
neus in 1843. He also enlisted in the army in 1864, but was re-
jected on account of physical disability and entered the adjutant
general's office as clerk. He was afterward twice elected assist-
ant clerk of the House of Representatives and in 1880 was ap-
pointed to a clerkship in the office of State Treasurer. He also
held the office of State Land Agent for three years. He was elect-
ed State Treasurer in 1885, which office he held until he resigned
to accept the honored position of Governor of Maine, to which
he was elected in 1888. He was re-elected in 1890 and is the

52 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

present Chief Executive of the State of Maine.

The act of incorporation of the town of Linneus was ap-
proved by Governor Robert P. Dunlap on March 16, 1836. A
petition from the citizens of the town was immediately after-
ward presented to Moses Burley, (as the name was then spelled)
one of the justices of the peace of the County of Washington,
to call a town meeting to organize the new town. This petition
was dated March 25th, 1836, and was signed by Benj. Rackliff,
Parker P. Burley (sic) John C. Hamilton, Richard Hamilton,
John M. Rackliff, George W. Webber, Henry Kitchen, John E.
Raymond, Daniel Neal and Abner Craig. The meeting was held
at Col. Burley's house and Moses Burley was chosen moderator,
Parker P. Burley was elected town clerk, and Moses Burley,
Jacob Martin and Benj. Rackliff, selectmen.

The old records of the town are still preserved and are in
a bold, plain handwriting and signed "Parker P. Burley, town
clerk." Isaiah Morrison and Aaron Plummer were chosen fence
viewers, Benj. Bither one of the highway surveyors, Parker P.
Burley, treasurer and collector of taxes, and he with Ebenezer
Collins and J. Fisher Howard were the first board of S. S. com-
mittee. Isaiah Keith was chosen constable 'on condition that
he do the business for the town w'ithout charge." On June 4th,
1836, John Stevens impounded a dark red horse owned by James
Files. The bill of expense for impounding and selling the horse
was $3.65 1-2, and the horse was sold at "public vendue" by
Constable Keith for $5.85. At the first election for representa-
tive to the Legislature, 19 votes were cast; Jesse Gilman had 13
votes and Hendrick W. Judkins had 6 votes. As the election in
the district resulted in a tie vote, another election was held on
Oct. 24th. This also resulted in a tie vote, and a third election
was held on Nov. 14th, at which time H. W. Judkins of Houlton
was elected. From these records we find that Hugh Alexander
was town clerk in 1837 and that Jeremiah Trueworthy was that
year chosen first selectman, but declined to serve. Stephen B.
Pattee was a constable in 1838. On the old records we find the
names of others of the old settlers of the town who were in
active life during the first years of the settlement. Though un-
able to give the exact dates of each man's coming to the town
we have been able to trace quite accurately the place o'f their
first settlement.

Hugh Alexander was one of the army teamsters in 1828,
when the supplies for the garrison at Houlton were hauled over
the Beaver Brook road. He settled in Linneus about 1830, on

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 53

the lot where Mr. John Taylor now lives, some two miles north
of Linneus Corner. When Daniel Neal moved to Jackson Brook
in 1836, Mr. Alexander took his place and lived there some time
and then took the Hamilton lot a short distance north of the Cor-
ner. He lived on this farm for many years and was largely en-
gaged in the lumbering business. His son, Benjamin Alexander,
was for years a prominent business man at Linneus Corner, and
also kept the Letter A. House for a number of years. He rep-
resented his class in the Legislature and was much respected
by his fellow citizens. He died at Linneus a few years ago.

Abner Craig settled on the lot south of the Either farm,
where he lived for a number of years, then sold to Edmund
BIckford and moved to Haynesville, then known as "The Forks."
Isaiah Morrison settled on a lot on the east side of the military
road, just north of the Corner. He was an active citizen of the
town for many years. His son, Benjamin Morrison, afterwards
lived and died upon the farm, and B. Decatur Morrison, a son
of Benjamin, now has the old homestead. Joseph L. Morrison,
son of Isaiah, settled east of the Corner, on what is now the
county road to Hodgdon Mills. Aaron Plummer was the first
blacksmith in the town and had a house and shop nearly oppo-
site Mr. Burleigh's. Silas Varney also settled on that lot in
1830. Jesse F. Howard settled on the lot opposite the J. D.
Gove farm, where he lived a number of years and then moved
to Brewer. Ebenezer Collins settled in the east part of the town
soon after 1830, on the lot next south of John Jones and next to
the Hodgdon line. Mr. Eben Collins, his son, now occupies the
farm. Isaiah Keith settled on a lot north of the Bither place
and on the east side of the road. He lived in the town for many
years, then moved to Oakfield, where he died a few years ai,'0.
John Stevens was for many years a resident and worked at day
labor for farmers. James Niles cleared up the farm now occu-
pied by Mr. Charles H. Young. Jeremiah Trueworthy settled
on the farm now occupied by William H. Howard. He sold to
Daniel Howard in 1845 and moved to Houlton. He afterwards
became a wealthy land owner and was a prominent citizen of
Houlton. John C. Hamilton made a farm on the west side of
the road north of the Corner, afterwards the Alexander farm,
where he lived a number of years and then moved to Bangor.
His brother, Richard Hamilton, lived with him. George W.
Webber settled west of the Military road, on the farm now occu-
pied by George Downs. Joseph H. Downs settled near him
and these two were the first settlers in that part of the town.

54 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

Mr. Downs was killed by a falling tree, Mr. Webber lived in
the town a long time, then moved to Sherman, where ne still
resides and has been engaged in trade for a number of years.
All the above mentioned citizens were living in the town at
the time of its organization in 1838.

Benjamin Either came to Linneus from Bradford, Me., in
1832, and settled on the lot where his son, James F. Either, now
I'ves. Here he made a good farm and built a fine set of build-
ings. Mr. Either was a framer of buildings and framed many
houses and barns now standing in Linneus and adjoining towns.
He was long a prominent citizen of the town. Four of his sons
are now living on farms in Linneus and many of his descend-
ants live in the town and vicinity. His youngest daughter is
the wife of Hon. Edwin C. Burleigh, the present Governor of
Maine.

Nathaniel Goodhue came to Linneus about 1835 and took
the lot on which J. D. Gove now lives. Mr. Daniel Cookson
had made a small clearing on this lot before Mr. Goodhue
bought it. Stephen B. Pattee married a daughter of Mr. Good-
hue and lived with him in 1837. He afterward moved to Fort
Fairfield, where he was engaged in business for many years.

Other early settlers, though somewhat later than those men-
tioned above, were Joshua Merrill, who settled west of the Mili-
tary road on the lot now a part of the David Tozier farm, and
Henry Taylor, who lived on a lot adjoining the Byrom farm and
sold to Jackson Carson, who lived on the farm until two years
ago, when he moved to the West. Col. Thomas Nickerson set-
tled about 1843, on a farm a mile west of the Military road.
Col. Benj. Rackliff had made a clearing on this lot and sold to
Col. Nickerson who made a large farm and lived here for many
years. He was a prominet citizen of the town, and had a large
family. His son, E. S. F. Nickerson, settled on what is now the
Tozier farm, where he cleared up a large farm upon which he
lived for many years and then moved to Houlton. He has
since engaged in starch manufacture in Minnesota and is now
living in California. After Col. Nickerson's death his son,
Frank C. Nickerson, took the farm and carried it on until 1881,
when he sold it to Mr. B. F. Bliss and moved to Houlton. He
was Deputy Collector of Customs for a number of years and
afterwards engaged in trade. He is now Kv"ng in Minnesota.

David Byrom was an early settler in the west part of the
town. He made a fine farm two miles west from the Corner,
upon which he lived until his death some six years ago. His

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 55

son, George Byrom, now occupies the farm. Wallace Fenlason
settled about 1845 about a mile west from Mr. Burleigh's and
has Lved there ever since. Mr. Daniel Howard came to Linneus
in 1845 and bought of Jeremiah Trueworthy the farm on which
he lived for many years and where he died in 1863. Mr. Howard
made the first clearmg in Letter A. Plantation, on the lot where
the Letter A. House now stands. He improved the farm in Lin-
neus and built a large house in which he kept hotel until his
death. His son, William H. Howard, succeeded him and con-
tinued to keep the hotel and carry on the farm, though he has
recently discontinued the hotel business. Mr. W. H. Howard
has improved the farm and built a large barn and stable and
has now one of the best farms in the town. Among the earlier
settlers is Mr. James Ruth, who came from Ireland and settled
in Linneus in 1835. He first took the lot where John Thompson
now lives, near the south line of the town, but soon moved to
the lot two miles farther north, where he now lives. This farm
he cleared from the forest and made a comfortable home. He
is now somewhat out of health and his son, Samuel S. Ruth,
carries on the farm. Daniel McMullen also came from Ireland
about the same time and settled on a lot a little more than a
mille south of the corner, where he cleared up a good farm.
He died in 1879 and his son, John H. McMullen, now occupies
the farm. Mr, Jesse Blunt was for many years one of the act-
ive citizens of Linneus. He settled on a lot a short distance south
of the Corner, on the west side of the road and was engaged
:n lumberng quite extensively. He moved to W'sconsin some
twelve years ago and died there. Mr. Willis H. Either now lives
on this farm and is the present town clerk of Linneus. Alexan-
der Gamble and Isaac Cochran were also early settlers, both
coming from Ireland and making good farms on the Military
road. Mr. John S. Taylor moved to Linneus in 1842 and took
a lot some three miles west of the Corner. Here he made a
farm, upon which he lived until his death in 1865. His son,
John Taylor, lived on the homestead until he was of age and in
1853 bought the farm some two miles or less north of the Cor-
ner, where he now resides. He was one of the selectmen of
Linneus for eleven years and collector of taxes for thirteen years.
Opposite Mr. Taylor, lives Capt. Nathaniel Young. Capt. Young
moved from Dover in 1842 and first settled on a lot about a
mile west of the Corner. He afterward made farms in different
portions of the town and some twenty years ago bought the lot
o;;pos'te Mr. Taylor's and built a neat set of buildings, where

56 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

he now lives with his son. The venerable Captain is now in
his 99th year, but is hale and strong and still walks about among
his neighbors. He is a pensioner of the War of 1812. Near
Capt. Young's is the comfortable home of Mr. Wm. D. Either,
one of the oldest living residents of the town. Mr. Either had
four sons in the Union Army and is a patriotic citizen. His son,
Mr. Charles 0. Either, has a handsome residence nearby. He
is one of the active citizens of the town and two years ago rep-
resented his class in the State Legislature. Mr. John H. Clough
was for many years a resident of Linneus. He was engaged in
the construction of the Military road and afterwards settled in
Linneus in the west part of the town. He is now an old men
and lives with a son in the village of Houlton.

Mr. Africa Buck, an early settler, took a lot west of Benj.
Either's, where he made a farm and lived upon it until his death
some twenty five years ago. Mr. John Hutchinson settled on
the east side of the Military road something over a mile north
of the Corner. His farm comprised the farms now owned by
John Taylor, Frank Hutchinson, John Stewart, Wm. D. Either
and Chas. 0. Either. Mr. Hutchinson lived on this farm some
twenty years and removed to Oakfield.

Mr. John C. Carpenter came from Corinna in 1841 and set-
tled in Haynesville. In 1848 he removed to Linneus and took
a lot some distance west of the Military road, where he made
a farm upon which he lived until 1869, when he removed to
Houlton, where he now resides. Mr. Carpenter was a member
of the Eoard of County Commissioners in 1873.

NEW LIMERICK

The township lying immediately west of the town of Houl-
ton now comprises two incorporated towns, the north half of
the township having been incorporated in 1864, as the town of
Ludlow, and the south half dating back as a town to 1837, when
it was incorporated as the town of New Limerick. This latter
half township was granted by the Massachusetts Legislature
to the trustees of Phillips Limerick Academy sometime previous
to the year 1810.

The first settler upon the territory now included in the
town of New Limerick was Mr. Samuel Morrison. Mr. Morri-

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK ^'5'

oon was born In the town of Wells, in York County, and at the
time of the Revolutionary War was old enough to serve as a
soldier. He served through the campaign against Burgoyne and
was present at the surrender at Saratoga. At the conclusion ol
the war he settled in the town of New Limerick in the District
of Maine, in which town people from Massachusetts commenced
to settle as early as 1775. Here he resided for many years and
accumulated some considerable property. After the grant by
the Massachusetts Legislature of the half township of land in
aid of Limerick Academy, Mr. Morrison purchased of the trus-
tees several lots in the grant. The half township was located
and surveyed by Major James Irish and was laid off in six par-
allel ranges running from east to west, each range being one
half mile In width. These ranges were lettered A. B. C. D. E. F.
beginning at the northeast of the grant and lettering south on the
east line. The lot lines were then run from north to south, di-
viding each range into twelve lots, thus making in the grant
seventy two lots, each one half mile square and containing 160
acres.

The first deed to Samuel Morrison was made in 1810 and
was given by "Wm. Swasey of Limerick, County of York and
Commonwealth of Massachusetts, physician, in the capacity of
secretary for and in behalf of the trustees." The deed declares
that "In consideration of $480 to said trustees paid by Samuel
Morrison of Limerick, in the county and state aforesaid, hus-
bandmen * * * do hereby sell and convey unto the said Samuel
three lots of land situated in the County of Washington, be-
tween the Schoodock waters and the River St. John, being lot
No. 1 in F Range, No. 2 in A Range, and No. 7 in E Range, con-
taining 480 acres, more or less, as laid down on the plan of sale."

In 1817 Mr. Morrison started with his family on their long
journey through the forest to their new home in the wilderness
of northeastern Maine. They came with their own teams, bring-
ing with them a sufficient supply of provisions to last until a crop
could be raised. The family arrived In Houlton in the fall of
1817. Houlton was then in Its infancy as a settlement, and con-
tained but few families, with small clearings in the forest. The
Morrison family remained for a time in Houlton, until a small
clearing was made upon the lot in the extreme southeast corner
of the town next to the Houlton line, being the lot described in
the original deed as lot No. 1, Range F. Mr. Morrison afterwards
acquired the lot adjoining this, being lot No. 1, Range E, and
upon this lot he built the large square two-story house, which is

58 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

still standing on the road running from the Military road tc
the Shaw Tannery in New Limerick, the farm being now owned
and occupied by Mr. Britton. Isaiah Morrison afterwards set-
tled upon Lot No. 7 Range E, now occupied by Mr. Hatfield.
Samuel Morrison afterwards purchased three more lots in the
half township and these lots, viz: Nos. 4, R. E., 4, R. F. and 3,
R. F., containing four hundred and eighty acres, were conveyed
to him by Wm. Swasey for $480, the deed being dated Jan. 31,
1818. The Morrisons remained in New Limerick for a number
of years and then removed to Linneus, where the descendants
of Samuel Morrison still reside.

In 1820 True Bradbury and Christopher C. Bradbury of
Limerick purchased a large tract of land in the Limerick Acad-
emy grant and True Bradbury soon afterwards came to the
grant and built a mill on the Meduxnekeag Stream. His bro-
ther, Christopher, went at the same time to New Brunswick,
where he was for a number cf years engaged in the business of
wool carding. The Bradburys did not move to New Limerick
with their families until 1828, when True Bradbury established
his home on the lot now occupied by Stephen Hunter, near
where the road from the tannery intersects with the "County
Road," so called. The large barn built by Mr. Bradbury is still
standing. Christopher C. Bradbury took the lot immediately
west of his, now occupied by Edward Hannigan. He lived
there for eight years and in 1836 removed to Hodgdon. Mr,
Jabez Bradbury, a cousin of True and Christopher, settled on
the lot north of Christopher, which lot is now occupied by C. C.
Bradbury, a grandson of True Bradbury, Jabez Bradbury was
engaged in building a mill in Hodgdon as early as 1829, but
retained his residence in New Limerick for a number of years
after that time.

True Bradbury remained in New Limerick and engaged in
farming and lumbering until his death in 1844. His son, Thomas
M. Bradbury, then came into possession of the estate and car-
ried on the farm and mill until 1861, when he removed to Houl-
ton, where he is now engaged in trade.

Another of the early settlers who was for many years a
resident of the town and was well known throughout the County,
was Capt. Moses Drew, who came from Limerick to the Acad-
emy grant in 1820. He first settled near where Mr. George
Smith now lives, where he made a clearing, built a house and
barn and lived for a number of years. He afterwards took the
lot immediately south of Christopher C. Bradbury, now occu-

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 53

pied by Rufus Piper. Here he lived upon this farm until the
iall of 1844. when he purchased the lot at the foot of Drew's
lake, where he continued to reside until his death m 1877. Mr.
Jonathan Hayes had made a small clearing near the lake where
the pine grove now stands and there was an old dam at the foot
of the lake built for driving purposes. Capt, Drew bu.lt a mill
at the foot of the lake and also cleared up a farm and built a
good set of buildings. He was also for many years engaged
in lime burning, the rock being procured in the adjoining town
of Linneus. In 1861 he built the mill which is now standing.
After the opening of the road from Houlton Drew's lake was for
many years a pleasure resort and Capt. Drew kept a house of
entertainment and also kept boats for the use of fishing parties.
This was before the passage of the Maine law and pond water
was by no means the only liquid required by the fishing parties
of those days. Capt. Drew was a man of large physique, of a
most kindly disposition and an inveterate joker. His son, Moses
Drew, now carries on the farm and mill. He has built a new
dam and enlarged the mill and in place of the old up-and-down
saw, now has a rotary, planer, clapboard machine, lath machine
and machine for planing and fitting clapboards. The mill is
nine miles from Houlton and the lumber is hauled to Houlton
station for shipment.

The town of New Limerick was organized April 15, 1837.
There were present at the organization. True Bradbury, his sons,
Ebenezer C, Aaron N., Moses and Cyrus K., Hall J. Bradbury,
son of Ebenezer C, John Dow, Moses Drew, Lemuel Drew,
father of Moses, Royal B. Colbroth, John Felch, Joseph Good-
enow, Oliver Gould, Jonathan Hayes, Samuel Morrison, Samuel
Morrison, Jr., Stephen Randall, Joseph Stimson, Charles Spoon-
er, Moses Philpot, Ira Webber and Ivory Webber. From the
valuation list of that year we find that there were 23 resident
taxpayers and 59 scholars. There were in the town in 1837,
119 acres of mowing land, 67 acres of pasturing, and 11 acres
of tillage. The tillage land was valued at $6.00 per acre and
wild land at $1.00. There were 15 horses in the town valued
at $30 each; 14 oxen at $20 each; 28 cows at $15 each; 7 head
of young cattle and 28 swine valued at $3 each. True Brad-
bury was the heaviest taxpayer. His entire valuation, includ-
ing one mill valued $10, and 1300 acres of wild land at $1.00
per acre, was $1426, and his tax was $12.27.

Of those who were present at the organization of the town
we have already spoken of the Morrisons, the Bradburys and the

60r. HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

Drews. Most of the others we have been able to trace. John:
Dow was a Maine man, a ship carpenter by trade, and went to^
New Brunswick about 1830 to work at that business. He can?.e
to New Limerick in 1836 and bought the farms of Christopher
C. and Jabez Bradbury. Mr. Dow resided upon the first named-
farm until his death in 1852. His son, Absolom S. Dow, has
been town clerk of New Limerick for many years. He reside. s-
on a small farm not far from Drew's Lake. Royal B. Colbrotb
came from Limerick soon after the Morrisons. He married
Samuel Morrison's daughter, Mehitable, and settled on the lot
adjoining the Morrisons near the New Limerick lake. The
farm is now occupied by Hiram Nickerson. Mr. Col^roth af-
terwards moved to Ludlow and died there. John L'-elch came
from Limerick and settled on what is now known as the Mullen
farm. Mr. Felch cleared up the farm and was for many years-
a prominent citizen of the town. He removed to Minnesota in
1856. Joseph Goodenow was an adopted son of Aaron Putnam,
one of the pioneers of the town of Houlton, and was living in
Houlton when the Morrisons arrived there in 1817. He soon
after married Miss Dolly Morrison and removed to New Lime-
rick, where he afterwards died. Oliver Gould came from Ber-
wick. He is taxed in 1843 with lot 9, Range D, which is the
lot next east of the Rufus Piper farm, and part of lots 9 and 1(?
Range E, north of Drew's Lake. Mr. Gould was the first town
treasurer of New Limerick. Jonathan Hayes came from Lime-
rick and made the first clearing on the Moses Drew lot at the
foot of Drew's Lake. Stephen Randall came from Limerick
and settled on the lot next north of the Drew farm. He cleared
up the farm and lived on it until his death some ten years ago..
Charles Spooner came from Limerick and settled on a part of
the lot upon which the tannery is now situated. Mr. Spooner
married a daughter of Samuel Morrison. He was the first col-
lector of taxes in the town. Simeon Lougee was one of the
early settlers and made a farm east of the tannery lot upon
which his son now resides. In 1841 Ephraim Nickerson and
Benjamin F. Nickerson of China came to New Limerick and
bought the Morrison farms. Benj. F. Nickerson afterwards pur-
chased considerable land in different portions of the to\^^'"and
was a prominent citizen. Daniel Cookson, James Mes^vy and
Daniel James came about 1840, and James Monahan and Pat-
rick Fleming in 1845.

The early settlers of New Limerick, like the pioneers of
the Houlton settlement, whose nearest neighbor they were.

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK Bl

-were subjected to many hardships and privations in their strug-
gles to make for themselves homes in this then remote forest
region. There were no roads passable by carriages and many
of the settlers were obliged to carry grain on their backs to
mill and bring back flour to make bread for the r families. The
first road opened into the town was the road now leading by the
tannery. This road was cut out soon after the settlers com-
menced to come upon the town, but was not pascable for car-
riages until long afterwards. In 1840 the "new county road"
so called, was opened. This road runs entirely across the town
from east to west on the line between Ranges B and C, and now
forms a part of the mail route from Houlton to Patten. The
establishment of the tannery at New Limerick has resulted in
building up quite a little village in the vicinity of that enter-
prise and has added much to the business of the town and to
its valuation.

In the spring of 1875 Messrs. C. and W. I. Shaw of Dexter
purchased the lot upon which the tannery now stands, compris-
ing 160 acres, and also 3000 acres of hemlock timberland in the
adjoining town of Linneus. The south branch of the Medux-
nekeag Stream runs through the tannery lot and the Messrs.
Shaw first commenced the construction of a saw mill in which
to manufacture the lumber for the extensive buildings O'f the
plant. They erected the tannery buildings the same year.

The road from Houlton to the tannery runs near New
Limerick Lake, or Nickerson Lake, as it is now called. This
is a beautiful little sheet of water some two miles or more in
length and perhaps a fourth of a mile wide. On the north side
of the lake the ground slopes gradually from the road to the
lakeside, while on the south it rises in an abrupt wooded bluff
to a considerable height, adding much to the beauty of the
landscape. This little lake furnishes a pleasant summer resort
for the citizens of Houlton and many fine cottages have been
erected on its shores.

New Limerick is exceptionally well watered and there are
pretty little lakes and swift flowing streams in nearly every por-
tion of the town. Drew's Lake, a handsome sheet of water
some four miles long and two miles wide, lies partly in the
southwest portion of New Limerick and partly in the town of
Linneus. From this lake flows a branch of the Meduxnekeag
River, which after running southward a short distance into Lin-
neus, turns again northward and re-enters New Limerick about
midway of the south line flowing up by the tannery and then

$2 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

turning to the east and flowing on to Houlton and beyond. In
the northwest corner of the town is Cochrane's Lake, the outlet
of which runs into Bradbury's Lake, a short distance farther to
the east, and from the latter lake a considerable stream flows in
a southeasterly direction, uniting with the Meduxnekeag branch
a short distance from the tannery.

SMYRNA

The town of Smyrna was originally Township No. 6, in the
third range of townships west from the east line of the State.
It is bounded on the north by Township No. 7, R. 3, on the east
by the southern part of Letter B, R. 2, town of Ludlow and the
northern part of Nev/ Limerick, on the south by Oakfield, and
on the west by Merrill Plantation.

The surface of the town in the southern portion is consider-
ably broken, and in some places high wooded ridges or bluffs
rise to a commanding height and can be seen from all the sur-
rounding towns.

Leaving the village of Houlton near the residence of Col.
B. H. Putnam, the stage road runs in a westerly direction across
the western portion of the town of Houlton, cutting through the
"horseback" and passing some very handsome farms in that
town. It then continues due west for about two thirds of the
distance across New Limerick, when it turns to the northwest
and skirting the foot of Cochrane's Lake, near Titcomb's mill,
leaves New Limerick at the extreme northwest corner of that
town and enters Smyrna about half a mile north of the southern
line of the town. The road continues across Smyrna in a general
westerly course, when it turns to the south and runs in a south
and southwesterly course across the plantation of Dyer Brook
to Island Falls.

The first settler upon the town of Smyrna was Mr. Nehe-
miah Leavitt of Royalton, Vt. who came to the town about the
year 1830. Mr. Leavitt had, previous to that time, received
from the State Legislature, a grant of the township on condi-
tion that he should place 100 settlers upon the town within five
years, build a saw mill and grist mill and four schoolhouses.

The East Branch of the Mattawamkeag runs in a southerly
direction entirely across the town near its western line Mr.

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 6S

Leavitt made his first clearing on a lot in the southwest part of
the town on the bank of the East Branch. He was a minister of
the Methodist denomination and induced a number of settlers of
that faith to come and make homes upon the new township.
Not having the required number of settlers at the end of five
years, he obtained from the State an extension of five years
more in which to comply with the conditions of his grant, and
near the expiration of this second term he sold his claim upon
the town to Messrs. Dunn and Jefferds. Mr. Leavitt continued
to live upon his farm until about 1846, when a Western fever
broke out, and he, with a number of the other early settlers left
for the West.

About 1841, Dunn and Jefferds built a sawmill on the east
side of East Branch, in which there was an up-and-down saw
and one run of stones. The mill run for a number of years,
but after the building of Gary's mill at Houlton it was aban-
doned and allowed to decay.

Among the early settlers of the town we have been able
to trace the following: John Marley came from England to
Boston, and in 1831 moved to Smyrna and settled on the lot
where his son, B. T. Marley, now lives. He cleared up the farm
and lived on it until his death twenty years ago.

Willard Corliss came from Lubec in 1833 and settled on a
lot next to the east line of the tov>;n. He cleared his farm and
lived on it until twelve years ago, when he moved to Wade
Plantation, near Washburn. He has been a hunter and trapper
in this region for many years. Elias Blodgett came from the
western part of the State and settled on the lot where Charles
Adams now lives. He afterward took the lot v/here John Rosie
now lives. He married a daughter of Nehemiah Leavitt and left
for the West with him. Franklin Blodgett, brother of Elias,
settled on a lot south of the Marley farm now on the Oakfield
road. He also removed to the West. Thomas Adams came from
Mirimlchi and settled near the east line of the town. He after-
ward moved to Linneus, where he lived for many years. Samuel
Drew came from Limerick in 1820 and settled In New Lime-
rick, where he lived until 1835, when he moved to Smyrna and
settled on a lot near the east line of the town. Mr. Drew was
a brother of Capt. Moses Drew of New Limerick and was a
local preacher of the Free Baptist denomination. He lived in
Smyrna until 1866, when he removed to Dyer Brook, where he
died some four years later. His son, Moses Drew, bought half
the lot south of his father's, where he cleared a farm and built

&4 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOKT

a set of buildings. He lived upon this farm until 1874, whem
he bought the lot upon which the Yerxa Hotel now stands. He
kept hotel here for twelve years and then bought a lot near the
East Branch, where he made a clearing and built the large
hotel which he has since kept. Mr. Drew's wife was a daugh-
ter of John Marley, and was the first child born in the town of
Smyrna. Johnson Frost came from Norway, Oxford County,
and settled near the east line of the town. He lived here a
number of years and then returned to Oxford County. Thomas
Hassett cam.e from Ireland and settled upon the lot upon a part
of which the Baptist meeting house now stands. He cleared a
large farm upon which he lived until his death, some seven
years ago. Alexander Herrick came from Norridgewock and
settled on a lot on what is now the Oakfield road. He left
the town many years ago. William Irish came from Buckfield,
in Oxford County, and settled on the lot where Mr. John Rosie
now lives. He cleared a large farm and lived upon it until about
1850, when he removed to Sherman. He afterwards went to
the West, where he died a number of years ago. Mr. Irish was
a man of considerable ability and force of character. He was
for many years a prominent citizen, was a representative to the
Legislature and was afterwards a senator from Aroostook
County.

Enos Leavitt was a nephew of Nehemiah Leavitt. His farm
was at Smyrna Centre. He has been dead a number of years.
Oramil Leavitt, a brother of Enos, had the farm where Edward
Estabrook now lives. He moved to Hodgdon and afterwards
to Sherman, where he died some years ago. Thomas S. Leavitt,,
with his father. Nehemiah Leavitt, Jr., had the farm upon
which Henry McGary now lives. He was a land surveyor and
in 1836 lotted the town of Smyrna and all deeds in the town
refer to his survey. He also went to the West with his father.

Luther Laughton settled on the farm upon which Augustus
Benn now lives. He did not remain long in the town. Michael
Lyon came from Ireland and settled on a lot north of the Centre.
He has been dead many years. Gideon Oakes came from Ar-
gyle and settled in the east part of the town on a part of what
is now the Hemore farm. His daughter is the wife of Dr. T.
S. C. Berry. He left the town about 1850. James Perkins
came from Parsonsfield and settled on the lot where Wm.
Sewall now lives. He cleared the farm and lived upon it for
many years. Jonathan Sleeper came from New Hampshire and
settled near the Centre. He moved to Sherman about 1850 and

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 65

died there. His sons, Moses, Daniel P., William T. and Jona-
than, Jr., all had farms in Smyrna in 1839. William T. Sleeper
became a clergyman of the Congregational denomination and
was for a time settled in Sherman. He afterward removed to
Caribou and for a number of years published the North Star at
that place. He is now pastor of a church in Worcester, Mass.
George Taylor came from New Hampshire and settled on a lot
near the Mills. He cleared a farm and kept hotel for many
years. He removed to the West about 1846. Mr. Charles
Wiers now lives on the farm.

Sheubael C. West came from Industry and settled on a lot
in the east part of the town, where he made a farm. He became
insane and was removed to the asylum at Augusta. William
Woods came from Rhode Island and settled on the lot now occu-
pied by Artemas Leavitt. He did not remain long. Elijah
Wiggin settled on the lot now occupied by Amos Noyes. His
brother, Ephraim Wiggin, Hived with him and was afterward
employed in the mill. They both went West with Nehemiah
Leavitt.

Thomas McGary came from Ireland and settled on the farm
where I. N, Robinson now lives. He afterward took a lot near
the Centre, where he cleared a large farm, upon which he lived
until his death some 30 years ago. Ira Webber came from
Limerick and lived on a part of what is now the Hemore farm.
He soon after removed to Bangor, where he has been a house
carpenter for many years. The above named are about all the
settlers who v/ere in the town at the time of its incorporation in
1839.

Mr. Osgood Pingry came from New Hampshire in 1840 and
settled at Smyrna Centre on the farm now occupied by Henry
Donlley. He was elected to the Legislature in 1841. He after-
ward lived at Smyrna Mills, where he kept a hotel for a number
of years. He was also a just'ce of the peace and was a prom-
inent man in the town. Mr. Pingry afterward moved to Island
Falls, where he died a number of years ago. Levi Berry moved
from Wilton, Franklin County, in 1841, and took the lot upon
which Mr. D. D. Hemore now lives. Samuel Dunn had made
a small clearing and abandoned it. Mr. Berry cleared this farm
and built the buildings now standing. In 1860 he bought of Wm.
Briggs the farm upon which Wellington Yerxa now lives and
remained upon this farm until his death in 1873. Mr. Berry
was for many years a prominent man in the town and was large-
ly engaged in lumbering and trading. He built the mills at

66 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

the foot of Cochran Lake now owned by F. W. Titcomb of Houl-
ton. His son, Andrew J. Berry, was a small boy when he came
with his father to Smyrna, where he has resided ever since.
When he became of age he bought the farm upon which Mr.
Chas. E. Lilly now lives. There was then but a small clearing
on the lot. Mr. Berry cleared a large farm and built a sub-
stantial set of buildings. He sold the farm six years ago, re-
serving a building lot upon which he built a neat and convenient
residence. He is now postmaster and does conveyancing and
pension business. Mr. Peleg Berry, a son of Levi Berry, was
for some years a merchant in Houlton and has now retired from
business on account of ill health. Dr. T. C. S. Berry, another
son, was for some years a physician in Houlton, and is now
living in the West.

Mr. Franklin Ham came to Smyrna about 1856. He first
traded for a time at Smyrna Mills and afterward built the East
Branch House, on the west side of the river, where he kept a
hotel until his death. Mr. Ham was a genial, kind hearted man
and had many friends in Aroostook County. He was for some
years a member of the board of County Commissioners, and
died in 1871, from the effects of exposure while in performance
of the duties of that office.

The northern half of the town of Smyrna is not settled and
is still in its wilderness state. For many years the town oi
Smyrna was in an unfortunate condition financially and this
fact gave it rather an unhealthy reputation. It is now, how-
ever virtually out of debt and the tax is but seventeen mills
on the dollar. We predict that with the opening of the railroad
Smyrna will take good rank both as an agricultural and as a
manufacturing town.

ASHLAND

The town of Ashland, formerly Number Eleven, Range Five,
lies due west from the town of Presque Isle, with two ranges
of townships between. The stage road from Presque Isle to
Ashland follows the curve of the Aroostook River and runs
through the northern portion of the towns of Mapleton and
Castle Hill, and thence in a southwesterly direction across the
corner of Sheridan Plantation to Ashland village. Though quite

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 67

hilly, this road extends through a fertile region for a large por-
tion of the way, and in many places the landscape scenery is
grand and beautiful. Through Sheridan Plantation not much
improvement has been made in the way of making farms, the
settlers along the road through this township being principally
French, and the buildings and surroundings being of rather a
primitive character.

Ashland has for many years been the headquarters of the
vast lumbering business of the upper Aroostook, and has played
a most important part in the business history of the county.
Its prominence as a lumbering centre, and the opportunities af-
forded for engaging in that business, have had a tendency to
retard its development as an agricultural town, though it is pos-
sessed of a fertile soil and is naturally an excellent farming
tov/n. Much more attention is now being paid to agriculture,
and the resources of the town in that direction are being more
fully developed each year. The soil along the Aroostook River
in this town is as fertile as any in the county, and there are
beautiful intervale tracts upon which large crops of hay and
grain are produced. The old stage route from Patten to Fort
Kent runs through the western portion of the town, and it is
along this road and in the vicinity of the Aroostook River that
the settled portion of the town Is found. Almost the entire
eastern half of the town is still covered with forest, much of
it being timberland, but a large portion being suitable for farm-
ing purposes.

The first settler upon the town was William Dalton, who
came to the Aroostook River some t"me about 1830 and settled
near the bank of the river upon the lot now included in the
beautiful estate of the Dunn Bros, on the west side of the
Aroostook, below the mouth of Big Machias. The ruins of the
timber house built by this pioneer settler of Ashland are still
standing and form an object of interest to the citizens of the
town. Dalton remained upon the lot until about 1844, when he
sold his improvements to Elbridge G. Dunn and John S. Oilman.
This lot is numbered "55" upon the town survey and no men-
tion is made of it in the report of the Commissioners who visit-
ed the Aroostook in 1844 to inquire into the claims of settlers
under the treaty of 1842. In their report made Dec. 25, 1844,
the Commissioners recognize the title of Solomon Soule to Lot
No. 15, of Thomas J. Page to Lot No. 17, of John S. Oilman
and Elbridge O. Dunn to Lot No. 19, and of Benjamin Howe to
Lot No. 44, as "purchasers from the State of Lots improved

68 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

before August 9, 1836. No mention whatever is made of Lot
No. 55. In the report of the second Commission, made March
6, 1855, the four lots mentioned above were granted as follows:
Lot No. 15 to George W. Smith; No. 17 to Josiah H. Blake;
No. 19 to John S. Gilman; No. 44 to Benjamin Howe, and in
the same report Lot No. 55, containing 184.30 acres is granted
to Elbridge G. Dunn.

Not many years after Dalton came to the town Thomas
Neal settled on the lot above the mouth of the Big Machias,
afterward the homestead of John S. Gilman, and Benjamin Howe
settled a few miles farther up the river near the foot of Bols-
tridge's Island. In 1838 a company consisting of George W.
Buckmore of Ellsworth, William D. Parsons of Eastbrook, James
McCaron of New Brunsv/ick, and others, was formed for the
purpose of building a mill near the mouth of the Big Machias
River. In that year a dam was built across that river some half
a mile above its junction with the Aroostook. In the spring of
1839 a high freshet carried the dam away, and in September
of the same year a new dam was built and a mill erected. This
mill contained an up-and-down saw and also a run of stones
and bolt. After a year or two James McCaron bought the mill
of the company and after running it some three years sold it
to E. G. Dunn and John S. Gilman, who a few years afterwards
sold to Fish and True. They operated a few years and sold
the mill to J. A. Flint and Ira D. Fish, who continued in pos-
session some six or seven years, when Mr. Flint became sole
proprietor and a few years later sold to C. W. Clayton, the
present owner. The mill formed the nucleus of a little settle-
ment here in the wilderness. Quite a number of those who came
to work upon it remained, and others were attracted to the town
for farming purposes. Luther Butler, one of the oldest living
residents of the town, came from Eastbrook, Hancock County,
in 1838. After working upon the mill until its completion, Mr.
Butler and Mr. Septimus B. Bearce, who came to the town in
the spring of 1839, bought of George W. Buckmore the lot upon
the east side of the Aroostook River where Mr. Bearce now
lives.

In 1840 Mr. Solomon Brown came from the town of Greene
and made a clearing on the lot next north of Bearce and Butler
and a short time afterward Mr. Butler bought his improvement
and went to work to clear up a farm, which he still owns.

Jabez Dorman and Elbridge Wakefield came in 1838 and
worked upon the dam and mill. Mr. Wakefield afterward took

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK , 69

up the lot where A. T. Mooers, Esq., now lives, and made the
first clearing on this lot. He afterward sold his improvement to
Sincla.r, Jewett and March, a firm of lumber operators who
cleared up a large part of the lot. Mr. Dorman took the lot
next south of the Wakefield lot, where he cleared up a farm
upon which he continued to reside until his death, which oc-
curred a few years since.

Micajah Dudley ol China came in the fall of 1838 and felled
some trees on the lot where R. G. Kalloch now lives. He did
not rema.n, however, and in the spring of 1839 Mr. Kalloch,
also from China, bought Dudley's improvement and moved in
upon the lot. There was then no road to the town, the Aroos-
took road at that time being built no farther than Masardis.
Mr. Kalloch came with his family by team from Bangor to
Masardis, where he made a raft of boards upon which they
floated down the Aroostook River to their new home. Mr. Kal-
loch has been an active citizen of the town ever since, and in
1842 represented the district in the State Legislature. He died
in 1891.

In the fall of 1839, the road was cut through from Masardis
to Ashland but was not made passable for carriages until some
years later. Not long afterward the road was cut through' to
Presque Isle and was then callled the Fairbanks road, as Fair-
banks' mill was about all there was of Presque Isle at that
time.

In 1839, Solomon Soule came in and cleared up the land
where Orcutt's hotel now stands, and built a house and com-
menced keeping a hotel. A large lumber business was at that
time done in the vicinity and the hotel had a good patronage.
Mr. Soule afterwards sold the hotel to Mr. George W. Smith,
who kept it until his death. His widow continued the business
for a number of years and then rented the house to Daniel W.
Orcutt, and a few years later to Samuel Jewett. Mrs. Smith
afterwards carried on the house herself for a year or two and
then sold it to Mr. D. O. Orcutt, the present proprietor.

Mr. D. G. Cook came to Ashland in 1839 and made a clear-
ing on the Winslow place a short distance south of Mr. Kalloch's.
The next year he moved to the corner of the Presque Isle road
and took up the lot on the north side of the road opposite the
lot now occupied by A. T. Moores. Here Mr. Cook made a
clearing and built a frame house in which he kept public house
for a number of years. The first deed of this lot was given to
Mr. Cook in accordance with the recommendation of the Com-

70 • HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

missioners in their report in 1855. In 1858 Mr. Cook sold the
property to Stephen P. Hews, and removed to Presque Isle and
settled on the Whitcomb farm, a short distance south of Presque
Isle village on the Houlton road. Mr, Cook was for many years
a prominent citizen of Presque Isle, where he held the office of
Trial Justice until his death, which occurred a few years since.

In 1840 Mr. Grindall Coffin settled on the lot where Dear-
born Bearce now lives, and Mr. Joseph Walker on the lot where
Leonard Ellis now lives. It appears by the report of the Com-
m ssioners that the north half of lots No. Seven and Ten, lying
on opposite sides of the road, was granted to Joseph Walker,
and the south half of the same lots to Josiah H. and Leonard
H. Ellis. Benjamin Hawes and his brother, Orric Hawes came
from Vassalboro about 1840 and took up a lot on the Presque
Isle road about a mile and a half from the corner. Orric Hawes
remained but a short time and returned to Kennebec County.
Benjamin Hawes was for many years engaged in farm'ng and
lumbering and was a prominent citizen of Aroostook County.
He was sheriff of the county at one time and also served as
a member of the Board of County Commissioners. Upon the
breaking out of the war he entered the service as Major of the
15th Regiment and soon after the close of the war removed to
Kansas, where he died a few years since. Mr. Joseph Brackett
was another of the early settlers of the town. He came about
the year 1840 and settled near the mill.

Soon after this Mr. Elbridge G. Dunn and Mr. John S.
Oilman, both from Mt. Vernon, came to Ashland and engaged
in lumbering and farming. Mr. Dunn afterwards settled upon
the Dalton farm on the east side of the Aroostook River, where
he made a very fine farm and built a handsome residence, which
his son, E. O. Dunn, Jr., now occupies. Mr. Dunn became weal-
thy in the business of lumbering and the purchase of timber
lands, and in 1870 removed to St. John, where he has since
been extensively engaged in the manufacture of lumber. Mr.
John S. Oilman was for some years engaged in the lumber
business with Mr. Dunn and afterwards with Mr. Hiram Brack-
ett. In 1843 he bought the lot opposite the mouth of Big Ma-
chias Stream, where he cleared up a large farm, building his
farm buildings near the bank of the Aroostook River. Here
he continued to reside until his death, and his widow still lives
on the old place with her daughter and son-in-law, Mr. Charles
E. Clark.

Mr. A. T. Mooers came from Vassalboro in the fall of 1842.

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 71

Mr. Mooers brought with him a stock of boots and shoes and
commenced trading in a building on Bearce's Flat. He after-
wards moved the store to a corner of the Presque Isle road and
sold it to J. Sinclair & Co., a firm doing a large business, and
went into their employ as a clerk. After a few years he formed
a co-partnership with Messrs. Jewett & March under the firm
name of A. T. Mooers & Co., which continued for ten years.
In the meantime he bought the farm where he now resides and
in 1863 built a large store with a hall overhead on the corner
of the Presque Isle road. Here he continued to trade until the
store was burned in August, 1890. Mr. Mooers has long been
very much interested in fruit raising and has done much for
its encouragement in his vicinity. He is the originator of the
Mooers' Arctic Plum, which has proved to be a most valuable
plum. The Arctic is a seedling from a plum which Mr. Mooers
bought in Quincy Market, Boston. After raising a number of
the trees, and proving the excellence of the fruit, he sold the
trees to Mr. Sharp of Woodstock, who has since propagated
them quite extensively, Mr. Mooers was appointed postmaster
of Ashland in 1845, and held the office until after the Cleveland
administration came into power.

Isaac Hacker came to Ashland from the town of Ch'na,
in 1843, and built a store near the saw mill, and a few years
later built the store on the corner of the Presque Isle road,
where W. P. Bridgham now trades. Mr. Hacker built a mill
on the Big Machias Stream, in what is now the plantation of
Garfield, adjoining Ashland. This mill contained an up-and-
down saw and a clapboard machine. He afterwards sold the
mill to Parker and Abner Weeks, who run it for a number of
years, when it was burned and has never been rebuilt. Mr.
Hacker also built a mill in 1844, at the mouth of the Little Ma-
ch'as Stream in Ashland. This was a grist mill, and also con-
tained a clapboard and shingle machine. After running a few
years, Mr. Hacker sold this mill to Mr. Charles Stewart, who
put in an up-and-down saw and operated the mill for a number
of years, when it returned to Mr. Hacker's possession. It then
passed through a number of hands, and was finally purchased
by Mr. J. A. Flint, the present proprietor. David Dudley was
for some time engaged in business with Mr. Hacker in those
early years, and was the first postmaster at Ashland.

Mr, J. A. Flint came from Bridgton in 1844 and worked for

Isaac Hacker upon the mill at the mouth of the Little Machias.

■ The road from Ashland to Fort Kent was cut through in the fall

72 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

and winter of 1839, but was hardly passable for teams until
about this time. This road as first travelled extended up the
east bank of the Aroostook River, by the Butler and Coffin lots,
and a ferry was maintained across the river below the mouth
of little Machias. In 1846, the bridge was built across the
Aroostook and the ferry was then discontinued, the route to
Fort Kent now crossing on this bridge and continuing up the
west side of the river, crossing the Little Machias near the mill,
where another bridge was built.

In 1844 Mr. Calvin P. Bartlett came from Mt. Vernon and
settled on the west bank of the Aroostook River a short dis-
tance above the mouth of Little Machias. Mr. Bartlett was
formerly engaged in lumbering and now has a very fine farm
and has paid much attention to raising good horses. He has
now some very fine colts in his stables and pasture.

Josiah Blake came from Farmington and bought the Thos.
J. Page lot about half a mile south of the village on the Mas-
ardis road. This farm is now occupied by Mr. Silas S. Gilman
and is one of the finest in the town. Rev. M. R. Keep came to
Ashland in 1846. Mr. Keep was born in Swanton, Vt., and was
brought up by relatives in Canada. He entered Middlebury
College, Vt., and afterwards became a student at the Bangor
Theological Seminary, where he graduated in 1846 and imme-
diately started out as a missionary to the wilds of northern
Maine. For many years he travelled on foot through these for-
ests, preaching at the little settlements, extending his journeys
away through the woods to Fort Kent and to the settlements
at St. Francis and farther up. the St. John. Mr. Keep is a man
of marked characteristics and of many eccentricities. He has
lived in close communion with Nature and cares little for the
conventionalities of society. His work has been done mainly
among those who had little to give him in recompense and his
incentive has been a desire to do good and to carry the consol-
ations of religion to those who were unable to purchase them.
He will die poor in this world's goods, but rich in the posses-
. sion of the affection of the many who have been aided by his
kindly counsels and tender ministrations in time of trouble.

Mr. Peter Dunn came to Ashland about 1849 and was for
a time engaged in the lumber business with his brother, Mr.
E. G. Dunn. He afterwards operated on his own account and
became a large owner of timberlands. About 1860 he bought a
fine farm on the west side of the Aroostook River, which he
very much improved and where he built a fine stand of build-
ings. Mr. Dunn studied law in his younger days and prac-

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK '73

ticed to some extent. He represented his district at one time
in the State Legislature and was for many years a prominent
citizen of Aroostook. His death occurred at Ashland in the
summer of 1889.

Mr. D. N. Rogers was formerly a prominent business man
at Ashland. He came to the town about 1851 as clerk for Isaac
Hacker. He afterwards bought the business and continued in
trade until his death, about the year 1872, His widow con-
tinued the business for a time, and then sold to Mr. C. W.
Clayton. Mr. Clayton has been engaged in the lumber busi-
ness in Aroostook for many years, having formerly lived at
Masardis. He came to Ashland in 1870, and bought the mills
on the Big Machias Stream. Here he has done a large busi-
ness in connection with his son, the firm being C. F. Clayton
& Co. In 1878 they built a starch factory near their mill at
Ashland, and in 1883 they built another on the Squa Pan Stream
in Masardis. In 1886 they built the steam shingle mill at Ash-
land. Their saw mill contains a rotary, clapboard machine,
planer, lath machine and barrel machinery. They saw about
500,000 feet of long lumber yearly for the local market. They
also manufacture 200,000 clapboards yearly, the shipping quali-
ties being hauled to Presque Isle and sent by rail to Boston.
Here also are made all the barrels used at their two starch fac-
tories. In their shingle mill they manufacture in some years
as many as three million shingles, the first qualities being
shipped by way of Presque Isle to Boston. The firm has opera-
tions in the woods every winter, cutting lumber to supply the
mills. Mr. Clayton is also largely engaged in farming, having
a large farm in the adjoining town of Garfield.

Mr. E. R. McKay came to Ashland in 1852 and has been in
the employ of the Dunns ever since; He carried on their large
farm for thirteen years and scaled in the woods during the win-
ter season. He has been chairman of the board of selectmen
for many years. Mr. McKay built the large two-story build-
ing on the comer opposite the hotel and uses the upper story
for a residence. The lower story is occupied as a lumber supply
store by Dunn Bros. This firm is largely engaged in lumbering
and cut from eight to twelve millions yearly on Aroostook wa-
ters. Mr. George B. Dunn, the senior member of the firm,
occupied the homestead for some time after his father moved
to St. John. He afterwards bought the handsome residence of
Hon. L. Powers in Houlton, where he has since lived. Mr.
E. G. Dunn, Jr., is now the occupant of the estate and is making

74 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

extensive improvements upon the farm and buildings. He
represented nis district in the Legislature of 1891.

As we approach the town of Ashland from Presque Isle we
first come to the large farm of Mr. Hazen Walker, situated
upon a beautiful ridge of land and consisting of a succession
of fine smooth fields extending away back to the forest growth.

After a careful examination of the town and its agricultur-
al capabilities, we do not hesitate to say that were the same
general attention paid to farming as in towns not so largely en-
gaged in the lumbering interest, Ashland wauld be one of the
best farming towns in the county. The town was incorporated
under the name of Ashland in 1862. In 1869 the name was-
changed to Dalton, in honor of its pioneer settler, but in 1876
it was changed back again to its original name. The popula-
tion of the town by the census of 1890 was 568, and the valua-
tion was $136,433. The survey of the branch of the Bangor &
Aroostook Railroad has been completed to Ashland, and when
this road is constructed it will largely increase the business of
the town and increase the population.

HAYNESVILLE

About twenty-five miles southwest of Houlton, on the old
Military road, is the village of Haynesville, situated near the
"Forks" of the Mattawamkeag, or the point where the east and
west branches of that river unite and form the main Mattawam-
keag River which flows in a southwesterly direction and empties
into the Penobscot at Mattawamkeag Point. The establishment
of the military post at Houlton in 1828 and the consequent trans-
portation of large quantities of suppllies for the garrison at Han-
cock barracks attracted settlers to the line of the route over
which these stores were carried. The Forks, or as it was spok-
en of by Major Clark, the officer in command at Houlton, "the
crotch of the Mattawamkeag," was an important point upon the
route from the beginning of these operations and the handling
of large quantities of supplies at times brought quite a number
of men to this point. It is pretty well settled that the first per-
marent settler in what is now the town of Haynesville was Mr.
William Wilson who came from Somerset Countv in 1828 and
settled a short distance east of the forks. His father, Mr. Jona-

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 75

than Wilson, came soon after and together they took up the land
now included in the farms of Mr. Wm. F. Wilson, Mr. H. G.
Tuck and Mr. Charles Irish. They cleared a farm and bu.lt
the house in which Mr. Wm. F. Wilson now Lves. Jonathan
Willson died many years ago, and his son, William Wilson,
continued to live upon the farm until his death in 1882.

Immediately upon settling at the Forks the Wilsons opened
a house of entertainment, or a stopping place for those whose
business callled them to this wilderness region. It was proba^
bly a very primitive style of hotel, but was without doubt the
iirst public house opened at the Forks. No road had at that time
been built in all this region, and the work of forward>ig sup-
plies to the garrison was one of much difficulty. Work was al
once commenced with the view of cutting a road through to
Houlton and was at first carried on by the soldiers. This finally
xesulted in the construction of the Military road, which was com-
pleted in the winter of 1832.

The opening of this road induced other settlers to establish
themselves along its line and to engage in farming and in sup-
plying the wants of those whom this new enterprise attracted
thither. Mr. Albion Haynes was one of the earliest settlers
who came to the Forks, and for him the town was afterwards
named. Mr. Haynes settled a short distance below the Forks,
near where the Pollard store now stands, and here he kept a
hotel for a number of years. Mr. Asa Smith afterwards kept
the hotel, but subsequently moved to Mattawamkeag. In 1832
Messrs Hall and Leighton built a hotel on the hill about two
miles below the Forks. They afterwards built a hotel near
where the Military road crosses the Mattawamkeag river, on
the lot where Mr. Wm. H. Chambers now lives. About the year
1840, Mr. Daniel Cummlngs came from Cape Elizabeth and
took the hotel on the hill below the Forks which he kept for
many years. In 1853, Mr. R. B. Campbell came from Boston
and took the Cummings' hotel and Mr. Cummings built a house
nearby, where he lived until his death some ten or twelve years
ago. Mr. Campbell also carried on a large farm in connection
with the hotel. He was a man of much energy and force of
character and was withal an intense Union man du/ing the war.
So strong were his sentiments in this respect that he has been
known to order guests from his house during the time of the
war for uttering disloyal sentiments and even to threaten them
•with forcible ejectment if they did not depart at once. Mr.
Campbell continued to keep the hotel until his death some

76 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOIC

twenty years ago. Mr. Jeremiah Blaisdell was in Mr. Camp-
bell's employ for many years and was well known to all patrons-
of the house. After Mr. Campbell's death his son, Frank Camp-
bell, continued in the house for a number of years, when it was
sold to Mr. E. F. Hillman, who died some five years ago. Mr.
L. L. Wiers now has the house.

In the olden time, before the era of the railroad, the old
Military road was the principal route for communication with
Aroostook County, and nearly all the supplies for this upper
country were hauled over this road. Large lumbering opera-
tions were carried on in its vicinity and great quantities of sup-
plies for the camps were hauled from Bangor. The road was-
also the mail route from Houlton to Bangor and passenger
coaches, always well loaded, ran upon the line. This large
amount of travel gave business to many hotels along the line
and for many years no better houses of entertainment could be
found in the State than were kept along the old Military road.

Mr. Reuben Ordway of Bangor was an early proprietor of
the mail route from Houlton to Mattawamkeag and in 1840 Mr.
Eben Woodbury came to Houlton and took charge of the line.
In 1847, the firm of Woodbury and Bailey was formed and this
firm owned the route until 1868, doing a large business, especial-
ly during the years of the war. In 1868 the route was sold to-
Mr. Asa Smith of Mattawamkeag, who in 1870 sold to the East-
ern Express Co. This company put on a fine line of coaches,
each drawn by four fleet horses, frequent changes being made,
and the running time being ten miles an hour. Upon the exten-
sion of the railroad to Houlton in 1872, the mails were trans-
ferred to the N. B. R. R. Co. Freight and passengers also
sought the same route and the glory departed from the old Mili-
tary road. Most of the hotels along the road have now been
abandoned and a way mail is now carried with one horse from
Haynesvllle to Kingman every other day. The road is now but
comparatively little used and a generation has grown up, to
wh"ch the busy scenes and immense traffic on ihls old highway
are now but matters of history and tradition.

Mr. L. D. Wyatt took the hotel at the Forks many years
ago and kept it for some time and afterwards built a new hotel
on the corner near Mr. John H. Brown's. This house was after-
wards burned. In 1853, Mr. Wyatt built the hotel now kept by
Mr. L. H. Whittier, and after carrying on the business for a
number of years sold to Mr. Gorham Rollins. This house af-
terwards passed through a number of hands and in 1880 was

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 77

purchased by Mr. Whittier, the present proprietor. Mr. Richard
Smith took the hotel near the bridge after Mr. Wyatt left it and
in 1865 sold to Wm. H. Chambers, who still owns the proper-
ty, but does not now keep the house open to the public.

Mr. Isaac Bradbury was one of the early settlers of the
town. He came from Saco and settled on the line of the Military
road a mile north of the bridge. He cleared a farm and lived
on it until his death some thirty years ago. Mr. J. C. Patcheil
now lives on a part of this farm and Mr. Simeon Irish has the
remainder.

Mr. Samuel Tuck came to Haynesville from Norridgewock
in the early days of the settlement. He first settled on the
Military road some two miles north of the bridge, on the farm
upon which Mr. Edwin Bedel now lives. He afterwards moved
to a lot a mile and a half from the corner on the ferry road,
where he lived until his death some twenty-five years ago.
Judge Tuck was a prominent man here for many years and was
"well known throughout southern Aroostook. He was a land sur-
veyor and also justice of the peace, and was for some time
judge of probate of Aroostook County. Mr. Albert Mitchell
now lives upon the old Tuck homestead.

Mr. Andrew Calkins was also an early settler who lived for
some time on the ferry road north of Judge Tuck's, but moved
away many years ago. Mr. Abner B. Hall was one ot the
pioneers of the town and first settled on the lot where Mr. John
H. Brown now lives. He lived upon this farm until 1847, when
he moved to a lot on the Military road, half a mile south of the
corner, where he lived a number of years and then moved to a
lot a mile and a half north of the bridge, where he lived until
his death some twenty years ago.

Mr. John H. Brown, now one of the leading citizens of
Haynesville, came when a boy with his father from China and
lived in Linneus for a number of years. In 1847, he came to
Haynesville, being employed by the firm of Woodbury and Bai-
ley, of Houlton, proprietors of the stage line, to take charge of
their horses at the Forks. In 1852 Mr. Brown purchased the
Abner B. Hall farm, upon which he has since resided. When
Mr. Brov^Ti bought the farm there was but little cleared upon it.
He has since greatly extended the clearings and improved the
buildings and now has a fine, smooth and well cultivated farm
and a neat and convenient set of buildings. The soil is of an
alluvial character, is free from stones and produces well. Mr.

tS- HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

Brown has been town clerk and treasurer since 1858, and post-
master since 1878.

Mr. Charles E. Oilman took the hotel at the Forks in 1847'
and kept it for three years, when he moved to a farm on the-
ferry road. He remained there a few years and then removed
to Houlton.

Mr. Watson D. Bean came from Bancroft in 1848 and built
a store opposite the Chambers' Hotel and was engaged in trade
a number of years. He afterwards moved to Passadumkeag,
where he died. Mr. Levi Ricker of Bangor took the Bean store
in 1853 and after trading there three or four years, returned to
Bangor.

Mr. Levi B. Pollard came to Haynesville about 1855, hav-
ing formerly kept the Ramsdell Hotel in Macwahoc. He after-
wards bought of Mr. Asa Smith the Albion Haynes place at
the Forks. Mr. Pollard was largely engaged in farming, trad-
ing and lumbering and was a prominent business man for a
number of years. He died at Haynesville some six years ago,

Mr. Samuel Hodgdon was at one time one of the leading
business men of the town. He came from Brewer about 186Q
and built a store near the hotel. He carried on a large business
in lumbering and trading for a number of years and afterwards
returned to Brewer.

Mr. William H. Chambers came from Chester about 1865
and bought the hotel of Mr. Richard Smith. The house was
burned in 1870 and Mr. Chambers at once rebuilt. He died four
years ago and his son, Mr. Alfred G. Chambers, now has the
property, but does not now keep a public house.

Haynesville formerly included Leavitt Plantation (No. 2,
R. 2) which lies immediately north, but this township was set
off in 1877 and now has no organization. The Military road en-
ters Haynesville near its northwest corner and runs in a south-
easterly direction parallel to and a short distance east of the
east branch of the Mattawamkeag. A short, distance below the
Forks the road turns at a right angle to the southwest, and,
crossing the Mattawamkeag, continues on in that direction
across the town. Above the Forks are some very good farms
along the Military road. In the northern part of the town the
land is somewhat rough and broken and difficult of cultivation,
but nearer the Forks it is much better adapted to agricultural
purposes.

The village of Haynesville is a neat and pleasant village
with a number of very handsome residences, and is very pret-

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 7S

lily located near the bank of the Mattawamkeag. The transfer
of the large carrying trade and extensive travel from the Mili-
tary road to the railroad has very much interfered With the busi-
ness of the town. The population of the town in 1890 was 280,
and its valuation was $68,684.

FORT FAIRFIELD

Fort Fairfield is one of the historic towns of the County of
Aroostook and its history dates away back to the stirring and
exciting times of the Aroostook War. Indeed what may be
called the "ancient history" of the town antedates that blood-
less struggle by many years. The town as now organized in-
cludes what was formerly Township D, Range 2, and also the
township immediately north of it known in the ancient annals
as Plymouth Grant. The earliest history of the present town of
Fort Fairfield has to do with this last named township. In the
year 1806 the good people of the town of Plymouth, Mass.,
wishing to build a breakwater to protect their harbor from the
surging waves of old ocean, applied to the General Court of
that good old Commonwealth for aid in their undertaking] The
State thereupon granted them a township of land to contain 36
square miles in the far-off wilderness of the District of Maine.

The resolve making this grant to the town of Plymouth was
passed on March 4th, 1806, and the deed was executed by the
authorized agents of the State of Massachusetts on December
19, 1807. In this deed the grant is described as "a. certain tract
of land lying in the County of Washington, equal to the contents
of six miles square as the same was surveyed by Charles Tur-
ner, Junior, Esquire, in the year eighteen hundred and seven.
Bounded as follows, viz.: — Beginning at a beech tree marked
S. E. C. P., standing on the eastern boundary of the District of
Maine, fifty five miles north of the source of the Schoodic Wa-
ters, and running north, thirteen degrees east, six miles to a fir
tree marked sixty one miles, thence running west, thirteen de-
grees north, six miles to a stake, thence running south thirteen
degrees west six miles to a maple tree marked S. W. C. P.,
thence running east, thirteen degrees south, six miles to the
beech tree first mentioned, together with all the islands in those
parts of the Aroostook River which are included within the

iO HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

aforesaid bounds, together with all the privileges and appurten-
ances thereto belonging, excepting and reserving for the use of
the Commonwealth, and as a common highway forever, the
main channel of the said River Aroostook, in its course through
the said Township, the said Township containing twenty three
thousand and forty acres, including the River Aroostook running
through the same, as will more fully appear on a Plan of said
Township, now lodged in the Office of the aforesaid Agents."

The deed conta.ned the usual conditions in favor of all set-
tlers who might have settled on the tract previous to January
1, 1784, (This provision was made necessary by the treaty of
1783.) and provided for the setting apart of lots for the first
settled minister and for the ministerial and school fund. It
also bound the grantees to "settle in said tract twenty families
within six years, including those now settled thereon." This
deed is signed by John Read and Wm. Smith, as agents for the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and witnessed by Geo. W.
Coffin and Moses Greenleaf.

It will be seen that the deed describes the township as
surveyed by Charles Turner, Jr. It appears, however, by well
attested documents that Park Holland also surveyed the town-
ship Nov. 6th, 1807, which was previous to the date of the deed.
Why the two surveys were made in the same year does not ap-
pear, but it is a fact well known to the older residents of the
town that there were tv/o well defined lines on the northern side
of the town, each of which was afterwards claimed as the true
line, and that important lawsuits grew out of this double line.
The courts decided that the southernmost of the two was the
true line.

When the boundary line between Maine and New Bruns-
wick was run, after the Ashburton treaty, it cut off a slice about
half a mile in width from the entire eastern side of Plymouth
Grant, as surveyed by Holland and Turner. The western line
of the Grant remains the same. Hence, when Township D.,
immediately south of Plymouth, was afterwards run out, measur-
ing six miles wide from the boundary line, it extended some half
mile farther to the west than Plymouth, which accounts for the
"jog" in the town of Fort Fairfield, where the two townships
join.

No authentic history that I can find places any white man
on the town now Fort Fairfield previous to this survey of Hol-
land's ir. 1807. The oldest settler on the town of whom we have
any reliable record was Michael Russell, who came up the river

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 81

from New Brunswick in 1823 and settled on the south side of

the Aroostook River a short distance above the falls, on the
Plymouth Grant. Other early settlers who came from New

Brunswick and settled along the Aroostook River in Plymouth
Grant, on the south side of the river, are the following:

Name Date of Settlement

Anthony Kean 1829

Daniel Turner 1832

William Turner 1832

William White 1829

Bernard McLaughlin 1829

William Bishop 1831

Amos Bishop 1831

Job Everett 1835

Thomas Bolier 1834

John Lovely 1837

Alfred Giberson 1837

John Twoddle 1838

Patrick Finlan 1839

George Murcheson 1840

David Ross 1841

William Everett ^ 1841

North side of river.

Peter Fowler 1827

Margaret Doyle 1827

William Lovely 1827

Samuel Davenport ^ 1829

Daniel McLfughlin / 1831

Thomas Wh.-.ttaker 1832

James Rogers 1833

Thomas Rogers 1833

Charles Walton 1834

Robert Whittaker 1835

Richard McCarty \ 1836

Joseph Davenport 1836

Thomas Armsden 1836

Justin Gray 1837

Thomas Gibney 1838

Henry Heard 1838

Samuel Farley ^ 1839

David Boober ' 1839

Charles Boober 1839

82 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

William Houlton 1839

Brinard Guigey 1840

Edward Gu'ggey 1840

Very early in the settlement came James Fitzherbert, af-
terwards famous in the history of the Aroostook War, and set-
tled at the mouth of Fitzherbert Brook, now called the Haines
Brook, in what is now the lowervillage. His home was in
Township D, as the Aroostook River here bends to the south for
a short distance, then turning northward again and entering the
Plymouth Grant, Fitzherbert v/as followed by John Dorsey
and Benj, Weeks, who also came from New Brunswick and
settled on the south side of the Aroostook River. Dorsey's log
house was near the river, a few rods below where the railroad
station now stands. Weeks' house was near the mouth of what
was then known as the Weeks Brook, on the spot where J. A.
Fisher's dwelling now stands, near the middle of the village.

A.bout 1830 also came David Burchell, J. W. White, an old
English soldier, and John Rediker. These settlers all made
homes at points near the river which was their only highway,
as there were then no roads and the whole country was a track-
less wilderness except where the logging roads of the lumber-
men led in winter to the river.

They m_ade small clearings and raised little in the way of
crops at first, depending mainly for support upon cutting the
shore timber and floating it to Fredericton, where they bought
supplies and boated them back up the river to their homes in
the forest. After a time they cleared sufficient land to enable
them to raise a few oats ,and small quantities of hay to sell to
the lumbermen who had operations in this vicinity. Up to this
time the settlement was a provincial colony and the settlers
acknowledged allegiance to the New Brunswick government.
The land upon which they had settled was a part of the dis-
puted territory, and New Brunswick claimed and exercised jur-
isdiction over it. The time was near at hand, however, when
this fair and fertile region was to become a part of Yankee
land, and when the American Eagle could soar in triumph over
the greenwood and perch undisturbed in the lofty forest trees.

In 1838, Gov. Fairfield sent an agent named Buckmore to
this region to ascertain what operations provincial lumbermen
were making on the territory claimed by Maine. As much tres-
passing was found. Sheriff Strickland and Land Agent Mcln-
tyre started with a posse to arrest or disperse the trespassers.

In February, 1839, the posse came down the Aroostook Riv-

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 83

er on the ice from Masardis, and camped at the mouth of the
Little Madawaska River in the present town of Caribou. Mc-
Intyre and a few companions came on down the river to Fitz-
herbert's to pass the night. A large number of the trespassers
had collected at Tobique (now Andover) and it is thought that
Fitzherbert sent them isformation that the Maine officers were
at his house, for during the night a squad of them came up the
river and captured Mclntyre and took him away to Fredericton.
Strickland fortunately escaped and started in hot haste for
Augusta, leaving the posse in command of Capt. Geo. W. Towle,
with orders to proceed across "the Reach" on the Aroostook
River in the present town of Presque Isle, near where Jacob
Weeks now lives. There were some sixty two-horse teams
loaded with men, arms and supplies. They went across the
portage as ordered, but instead of stopping at the Reach, as
soon as they struck the ice on the Aroostook they turned their
horses' heads up river and dashed on in hot haste and made no
stop of any length until, they were back in their old camp at
Masardis. A poet of the period thus describes this masterly
"advance to the rear" of the posse :

"Then shook the ice so smooth and even,
Fast rushed the teams past Number 'leven,
And ere the clocks had pointed seven

They halted at Masardis."

Col. McLaughlin, a provincial officer of high standing, and
warden of the disputed territory, proceeded to Masardis and or-
dered the posse off the territory, whereupon, in retaliation lor
the capture of Mclntyre, our brave troops placed him under ar-
rest and posted him off to Bangor. Fitzherbert was also arrest-
ed soon after and taken to Bangor. A part of the posse under
Capt. Towle soon afterwards returned down the river and estab-
lished a military post which they named Fort Fairfield, in honor
of Gov. John Fairfield. The detachment was under the com-
mand of Capt. Wm. P. Parrott of Massachusetts, until Novem-
ber, 1839, v/hen Capt. Towle resumed command. They built
two block houses, one on what is still known as Fort Hill, and
the other on a knoll about a quarter of a mile distant, near where
the covered bridge now is. They also stretched a boom across
the Aroostook River opposite this last named block house, for
the purpose of stopping and holding the timber cut by provin-
cial operators, whom the State of Maine regarded as trespass-
ers.

84 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

The Maine posse remained at Fort Fairfield until rel'eved
by United States troops in 1841, Capt. Towle having been in the
meantime succeeded in the command by Capt. John B. Wing.
In 1841, a company of United States Infantry came up from
Hancock barracks at Houlton, under command of Capt. Van
Ness, the second in command being Lieut. Ricketts, who after-
wards as Major General Ricketts, won fame in the War of the
Rebellion. General Ricketts now lies in an honored grave in
the National Cemetery at Arlington Heights. The other officers
were Lieut. Michaels, Lieut. McCall, Surgeon Coolidge and
Major Graham, Paymaster.

These troops built a stockade around the block house on
Fort Hill, within which they erected quarters for the soldiers,
and outside the enclosure they built a spacious and substantial
building for officers' quarters and several other buildings for
the Commissary and Quartermaster's Department, allso black-
smith, sutler's store, etc. Mr. W. Holman Cary was sutler of
the post. The stockade was built by standing timbers twelve
or fifteen feet long on end in the ground, and on the inside,
square timbers were laid horizontally one upon the other to the
height of four or five feet. Against these timbers, on the inside,
a thick embankment of earth was thrown up. All remains of
the block house and also of the stockade have since been re-
moved with the exception of the embankment, or parapet, which
still remains. It is six sided and is something more than one
hundred feet in length on each side. The building erected for
officers' quarters is still standing in a goo(i state of preserva-
tion. It is owned by Dr. Decker and occupied by himself and
other families as dwellings, and contains three tenements.

The company of regulars remained until 1849, when they
returned to Hancock barracks in Houlton. The attention of
the people of Maine was thus called to this fertile region, and
some of the original posse remained and took up land and made
themselves homes.

Mr. Joseph Fisher, an old and well-known citizen of Fort
Fairfield, who died on April 15, 1890, came with the company
of regulars in the capacity of waiter for the officers' mess. When
the troops left, Mr. Fisher remained, and lived at Fort Fairfield
until his death. ,

The clearings made immediately after the Aroostook War
were all on Township D, which is now the south half of the
town. In the meantime, the road from Presque Isle, or Fair-
banks, as it was then called, to Fort Fairfield had been cut

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 85

through by the State and settlers commenced to make clearings
along the road. J. Tucker came from Orono and took up a lot
near where the Union Meeting House now stands at the junction
of the Presque Isle and Houlton roads, then called "the two
mile tree," it being two miles from the river at Fort Fairfield.
George A. Nourse of Hallowell, now a lawyer in California,
took up the lot which is now the Rollins farm. William Whit-
ney and his two sons from Corinth made a clearing on what is
now called Whitney Hill, about three miles from the village,
taking up several lots. Levi Hoyt commenced a clearing about
the same time on the west side of the hill. B. D. Eastman and
his brother Otis settled on the lots next beyond, toward Presque
Isle, and one Bragdon from Corinth, settled on the farm now
occupied by Stephen Conant. D. G. Palmer and Jonathan Hop-
kinson from Kennebec County, took lots next to the Presque Isle
line, and Henry Currier commenced a clearing back in the woods
north of the Presque Isle road. These men all came soon after
the settlement of the boundary dispute and were the first Maine
settlers on the town, the earliest settlers having, as we have
said, all come up the river from New Brunswick. At about the
same time a settlement was commenced at what is now called
Maple Grove in the south part of the town, on what is now the
road from Fort Fairfield to Baine.

Sanford Johnson settled on what is now the Judge Cum-
mings farm, E. P. Whitney on the James Johnson farm, and
Hiram Stevens, who came in with the posse, cleared up what is
now the Thurlough farm. J. Wingate Haines came from Kenne-
bec County and took up the fine large tract now included in
the splendid farm occupied by his son, A. L, Haines, the present
member of the board of agriculture from Aroostook.

Freeman Ellis first took this lot and made a clearing and Mr.
Haines bought his improvement. Deacon Edward S. Fowler,
Addison Powers, Isaac Ellis, Leonard Spooner and Freeman
Ellis, all from Piscataquis County, took lots along south of Mr.
Haines, away to the south line of the town. Deacon Fowler,
Isaac F. Ellis, and Addison Powers moved their families to the
town in 1843. They, with Freeman Ellis, made a chopping of
forty-five acres in the adjoining corners of their four lots, eleven
acres on each lot, but all in one clearing. They built a camp
t7-erty feet square, in which the four families lived while sep-
arate houses could be built, and in this camp the Congregational
Church of Fort Fairfield was organized, in October, 1844.

Gen. Mark Trafton of Bangor was sent in by the U. S. Gov-

86 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

ernment in 1843 and established a Customs House at Fort Fair-
field, where he remained for about twelve years, and then re-
turned to Bangor. His son, John B. Trafton, then a young law
student, came in the spring of 1844, and opened a law office and
also engaged in lumbering and farming. Mr. Trafton has for
many years been one of the foremost citizens of the town and
also a well known member of the Aroostook Bar, as well as a
prominent man in the councils of the Democratic party. We are
indebted to him for much valuable information in regard to the
early settlement of the town. The settlement increased very
slowly for a number of years and was subjected to all the hard-
ships and privations incident to a pioneer settlement in the wil-
derness.

During the time the troops were here the settlers did much
of their trading at the sutler's store and after the dispute was
settled traded down the river at Tobique and Fredericton. W.
H. Cary, the sutler, remained and kept a few goods for a num-
ber of years and was the first postmaster of Fort Fairfield. He
afterwards sold out to R. & A. McBrien, who came from Houl-
ton and traded on a somewhat larger scale. They failed about
1850, and John McClusky, afterwards Colonel of the 15th Maine
Regiment, bought the store and employed A. L. Wellington to
carry it on. Mr. McClusky afterwards sold the store to John
Allen of Presque Isle. Mr. Allen sold to A. C. Cary who opened
a large stock of goods in 1863 and has ever since been one of
the principal merchants of Fort Fairfield.

Dudley F. Leavitt of Bangor, who accompanied the Maine
posse in the capacity of storekeeper, secured the passage of a
resolve in the Maine Legislature soon after the treaty, giving
him some ten or twelve lots of 160 acres each in aid of building
a sawmill. He afterwards sold out to Timothy Frisbee and S. B.
Pattee, who built a sawmill on the Fitzherbert Brook. A. P.
Heywaod of Houlton bought Frisbee out and continued in part-
nership with Pattee for several years, when he retired, and the
firm became Pattee — Hyde. Mr. Stephen B. Pattee was a prom-
inent citizen of Fort Fairfield. He was three times elected to
the Legislature and was local agent for State lands in Northern
Aroostook. He was appointed Deputy Collector of Customs at
Ft. Fairfield in 1849, and held the office four years. He was re-
appointed in 1861 and resigned after two years' service. He
died at his home in P'ort Fairfield March 2, 1866, aged 52 years.

The first grist mill was built about 1858 by Randall and
Foster from Montville. It was located on the east side of the

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 87

brook opposite the Pattee sawmill. This was burned a few
years ago and the privilege was sold to W. A. Haines, who
built a new mill which he still occupies.

The first school in town was a private school opened as
early as 1845 by a Miss Thompson, in one of the tenements va-
cated by the troops. Miss Polly Eastman also opened a private
school about the same time in the Maple Grove settlement. Miss
Heywood, a sister of Mr. A. P. Heywood, afterwards taught a
school in the block house on Fort Hill and was followed by
Miss Agnes Johnson, now Mrs. A. C. Paul, who taught in the
block house in 1848. The block house was also used in those
early days for holding religious meetings.

We have stated that all the earliest settlers of the town
came from the Province of New Brunsw'ick up the St. John and
Aroostook Rivers and settled along the banks of the Aroostook
River. Some of these settlers had grants from the British Gov-
ernment and many of them were squatters on what they sup-
posed to be British territory. After the treaty of 1842, there
was an uncertainty about the titles of these settlers who had
thus without being consulted been transferred from the jurisdic-
tion of the British Crown to that of the government whose em-
blem was the Stars and Stripes of free Columbia.

In February, 1843, when Edward Kavanagh was acting
Governor of Maine, the legislature passed "Resolves authorizing
the appointment of commissioners to locate grants and determine
the extent of possessory claims under the late treaty with Great
Britain." Under these resolves Gov. Kavanagh appointed Philip
Eastman, John W. Dana and Henry W. Cunningham as commis-
sioners. Similar resolves were also passed by the Legislature
of Massachusetts, and Samuel C. Allen, John Webber and Sam-
uel Jones were appointed as commissioners from that State.
After investigating the claims of settlers on the St. John River,
which was done partly in 1843 and completed in 1844, one com-
missioner from each State came to the mouth of the Aroostook
River on the 17th of October, 1844. Both States had, in the
February preceding, passed additional resolves extending the
powers and duties of the commissioners. The two who came to
the Aroostook proceeded through all the settlements along the
river as far up as Masardis, and carefully examined each settler's
c^.aim. Lots were set off to all settlers "whose improvements
had been commenced within six years before the date of the
Treaty of Washington," and also to those holding grants from
the British Government. As an instance of the red tape re-

88 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

quired in doing business when two governments are concerned
we may here state that as the commissioners wished to obtain
copies of the grants made by Great Britain, to aid them in their
work, one of them, in May 1843, went to Fredericton bearing
a letter from Gov. Kavanagh to the Lieut. Governor of New
Brunswick, requesting copies of the grants. The New Bruns-
wick governor declined to comply with the request coming from
the State Executive, but suggested that the application should
be made by the President of the United States, through the
British Minister at Washington. In June, 1843, Gov. Kavanagh
addressed a request to the Secretary of State at Washington,
by whom it was presented to the British Minister, and by him
transmitted to the home government in England. In July, 1844,
the copies were furnished to the Secretary of State at Washing-
ton and by him transmitted to the Governor of Maine, who sent
them to the commissioners. All this formal correspondence be-
tween two nations was required in order that an Aroostook set-
tler might have a valid title to his farm. The "metes and
bounds" were then set off and the settlers title was fully con-
firmed.

Very soon after the treaty the Plantation of Letter D. was
organized. This included all the settlers along the Aroostook
River in Township D, Plymouth Grant and Eaton Grant. Sub-
sequently Eaton Grant was organized as Eaton Plantation, and
Plymouth Grant as Sarsfield Plantation, Letter D alone retaining
the old organization. Thus they remained until 1858, when
"D" was incorporated as the town of Fort Fairfield, and a few
years later Sarsfield Plantation was annexed to it, forming the
town as it is today.

Settlers from different parts of the State began to come
into the town soon after the treaty. In August, 1844, Charles R.
Paul came from Solon and commenced blacksmithing in the old
government blacksmith shop. Mr. Paul is still alive at the ripe
age of seventy-two and is one of the sterling citizens of Fort
Fairfield. His wife, Mrs. A. C. Paul, is a prominent temper-
ance worker and an active member of the non-partizan W. C.
T. U.

The county settled very slowly until after the editorial ex-
cursion of 1858, when quite a tide of immigration set in. Many
lots were taken up in Fort Fairfield and adjoining towns and
new clearings were made in every direction. Many of these
new comers had not sufficient courage to stay and fight the
battle to a finish, but most of those who had the required "sand"

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOX 89

are today independent fanners with comfortable homes and
broad, fertile fields.

The first schoolhouse in the town was built in 1859, on the
liill about opposite the railroad stat'on and about the same time
the Union Meetinghouse at the junction of the Blaine and
Presque Isle roads was commenced.

During the three or four years immediately preceding the
"War the population of the town received quite an increase.
Many new farms were commenced which today are among the
finest in the town, new stores were opened in the village and
the outlook was most encouraging. But in the early sixties, when
the country called her sons to rally for the delence of the old
f\ag, many of these sturdy pioneers left their new homes and
"fell in" to swell the ranks of the "three hundred thousand
more" who hurried forth to answer the call of "Father Abra-
ham." The severe drain of the war was especially felt by these
new Aroostook towns and, during its continuance, a check was
put upon their growth and development.

This, however, was more than compensated for by the
good times that followed the return of peace, when a new im-
petus was given to immigration and during the decade from
1860 to 1870 the population of Fort Fairfield was more than
doubled. From that time to the present, its growth has been
steady and continuous. New business enterprises have been
started from time to time and the fine agricultural resources of
the town have been developed to a wonderful degree. Like the
other towns in the Aroostook Valley, Fort Fairfield received a
mighty impetus from the opening of the railroad. A branch of
the New Brunsw'ck ra'lv/ay was completed to the village in
1875, which entirely revolutionized the business methods of the
town and brought the producers of this fertile region into com
munication with the markets of the outside world.

Starch factories were erected and large tracts of rough,
stumpy land, hitherto used only as pasture, were cleared and
smoothed for the potato crop and then seeded down to broad
fields whose clean and even surface was fitted for the working
of farm machinery. Potato buyers for the outside market soon
discovered the excellence of the Aroostook tuber and thus the
bus'ness of shipping potatoes was established and today Fort
Fairfield is the most prominent shipping point for potatoes north
of Houlton.

The village of Fort Fairfield is mainly located on a high
intervale on the south side of the Aroostook River, though the

^(J HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK:

village corporation includes both sides of the river and quite
a number of citizens live upon the north side. The plain upon
which the business portion of the village is built is quite nar-
row, the land rising somewhat abruptly at a short distance from,
the river, and the frowning parapets of Fort Hill overlook the
main business street and remind us of the stirring times when
two great nat'.ons were arming for a war about their line fences.

Owing to the formation of the land the village extends for
about two miles along the banks of the beautiful Aroostook
River, nearly all the business houses being located on this one
main street. Although the buildings are nearly continuous for
the entire distance, yet the citizens speak of the upper and lower
village, the dividing point being perhaps about by the railroad
station, and Hair.es' Mill being the central point of what is.
spoken of as the lower village. The majority of the stores are
in the upper part of the town.

Hardly had this beautiful village got well started in the new
era of prosperity following the advent of the railroad, when it
was visited by a disastrous fire. In the spring of 1879, nearly
all of the business portion of the town was consumed by a con-
flagration which left only a heap of smoking ruins where a few
hours before stood a thriving and prosperous village. It was a
severe blow, but the citizens rallied at once and, in no way dis-
heartened or discouraged, commenced to rebuild in a more sub-
stantial manner.

A second fire occurred in 1883, which swept over nearly the
same territory and inflicted severe loss of property. Again the
citizens went to work with courage and energy and erected the
fine stores and blocks which now adorn this pleasant village.

In an agricultural point of view. Fort Fairfield is one of the
best towns in the Aroostook Valley. The southern portion of the
tov^m, formerly Township D, Range 2, is a solid block of ex-
ceptionally good farming land, with very little waste territory.
The surface of this tract is composed of swells of land, but is
not broken by abrupt hills to any extent. It is well watered
and is covered all over with large and well cultivated farms,
occupied for the most part by intelligent and progressive farm-
ers. The Fitzherbert Stream runs the entire length of this town-
ship in a northerly direction parallel with and a short distance
from the New Brunswick line.

The northern portion of the town, formerly Plymouth Grant,
and subsequently Sarsfield Plantation, lies for the most part on
the north side of the Aroostook River, although the river enters

"HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK &1

the township well up on its western side, whence it flows in a
southwesterly direction to the village, leaving quite a large cor
ner of the township on the south side of the river.

The town of Fort Fairfield was incorporated March 11,
1858. In 1860, the population was 901, whxh was more than
doubled in the next decade. In 1880, the population was 2807
and the valuation of the town was $468,471. The population by
the census of 1890 was 3526 and the valuation was $893,593.

Fort Fairfield has a splendid future before it and its en-
terprising and public spirited citizens are deserving of success.

PRESQUE ISLE

The present town of Presque Isle includes two entire town-
ships and is therefore twelve miles long and six miles in width
and contains seventy-two square miles. The south half of the
town was originally Letter F, Range 2, and the north half was
Letter G, in the same range.

Until 1883, Presque Isle comprised but one township — Let-
ter F, the north half of the present town, or Letter G, being
known for some years previous to that time as the good town of
Maysville.

The first settler who established himself permanently upon
Letter F township was Mr. Dennis Fairbanks, who cut the first
tree on the territory now included in the village of Presque Isle
-about the year 1828, Mr. Fairbanks was formerly engaged in
trade in the town of Troy, in Waldo County, to which place he
removed from Winthrop about 1825. His brother, Col. Joseph
Fairbanks, came to Farmington as early as 1793, and continued
to reside in that town until his death by a fall from a wagon,
on Sept. 12, 1831. Joseph Fairbanks was a prominent citizen
of the town, holding numerous military and civil offices and
twice represented his town in the General Court of Massachu-
setts. He was also a member of the Senate of Maine in 1824.

Soon after coming to Letter F, Mr. Dennis Fairbanks made
a clearing on the bank of Presque Isle Stream near the present
mill site, and afterwards obtained from the State a grant of a
mile square of land, running to the north line of the township,
on condition that he would settle upon the tract and buUd a saw
mill and grist mill upon the Presque Isle stream. He then

^'l msrORY OF AROOSTOOK:

moved his family to his new home and commenced the erection
of the mill. The machinery for his mill was loaded upon twc
batteaux at Old Town and two men poled each batteau up the
Penobscot to its head waters, hauled across the portage to the
Aroostook, boated down the Aroostook to the mouth of the
Presque Isle Stream and then poled up that stream to the mill
site.

Robert McCann, an adopted son of Mr. Fairbanks, helped
pole one of these boats. He made a small clearing on the hill
east of the village, on what is now known as the Henry Pierson
farm (now Charles Phair farm) and built the timber house now
standing on this farm. Mr. McCann afterward removed to what
is now Garfield Plantation, adjoining the town of Ashland.

Mr. Veranes Chandler came to the town in 1834 and is still
living a short distance from the village. At that time Mr. Story
Hooper lived in a log house at the mouth of Presque Isle Stream
in Letter G, on "the point" of what is now known as the Parsons
intervale. Mr. Chandler and Mr. Silas Blodgett, who came about
the same time, kept bachelor's hall in the house built by Robert
McCann, and in 1839, Mr. Chandler married Elizabeth, daughter
of Nehemiah Hooper, and sister of Story Hooper, and com-
menced housekeeping. Very few settlers had at that time made
their homes upon the town, though quite a number had made
clearings along the Aroostook River in the adjoining township
of Letter G. (Maysville).

The grist mill built by Mr. Fairbanks contained one run of
stones and the saw mill was a primitive affair, with an up-and-
down saw for sawing the lumber needed by the settlers in build-
ing. In the grist mill all varieties of grain raised in the vicinity
were ground in this one run of stones, and it may be easily con-
jectured that the flour from which these early pioneers made
their bread was not of the finest quality. To Mr. Fairbanks,
however, does not belong the honor of grinding the first flour
in Presque Isle, for, previous to the completion of his grist mill,
Mr. Joseph Ireland had a hand mill, turned by a crank, and
called by the settlers "Ireland's coffee mill," with which he
ground wheat land other grain.

As late as 1839, the road from Houlton was cut through no
farther than "the creek" in Monticello, nearly thirty miles south
of Presque Isle, then known as "Fairbanks." All north of that
point was an almost trackless wilderness, with the exception of
the lumber roads used in the winter's operations. In 1839, the
road was cut through by the State frorr Monticello tc Presque

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 9^

Isle and thence to Ashland and Fort Kent. The road from the
Aroostook River to the St, John River, now the mail route from
Presque Isle to Van Buren, was not cut through until 1843.

In 1840, Mr. Leonard Reed came down the Aroostook River
with his family and household goods on a ra.t, from Masard!s,
and built, on the site of the present Presque Isle Hotel, the house
in which Mrs. L. T. Manson now lives, and there kept a hotel.
His principal customers were the lumbermen going to and from
the operations in the woods, and other temporary sojourners
connected with the lumbering operations, which then constituted
the chief business of the County.

There was at that time no store in all this region. Mr. Fair-
banks kept a little tea, tobacco, rum, etc., at his mill, and sold
them for pretty round prices. Mr. Story Hooper sometimes kept
a few goods in his log house on "the point" over in "G."

In 1841, Capt. Moses Rose, Benjamin Whidden, Jas. Cloud-
man and Emmons Whitcomb came in and settled along the new
road cut through from Monticello. Mr. Whitcomb settled on
v^^hat is now the Cook farm on the Houlton road some two miles
south of the village.

The first clergyman who came to Presque Isle v;as Rev.
Mr. Pingree, a missionary of the Methodist Society, whose mis-
sion in those early years included Houlton, Patten, Masard's,
Ashland, Presque Isle, Maysville and Fort Fairfield. This cir-
cuit the good man made on foot through the forest, preachmg
at lumber camps and at the little detached settlements, traveling
m'any miles on snow shoes during the winter months, and suf-
fering many hardships. He first came in 1839 land remained
upon this wilderness circuit two years.

In 1842, the first mail came to Presque Isle. It was brought
■on horseback from Houlton once a week. Mr. Noah Chandler,
afterwards proprietor of the "Line store" at Houlton, was
Presque Isle's first postmaster.

In 1843 Mr. Fairbanks built the two-story house now known
as the Sumner Whitney house. About this time Mr. Eleazer
Packard bought out Reed's hotel and afterwards sold to Mr.
Sumner Whitney. He in turn sold to his brother, Jerry Whitney,
who moved the original house a few rods to the north and built
the hotel that was consumed in the fire that swept the village in
1884. Mr. Sumner Whitney afterwards bought the Fairbanks
house and there opened another hotel.

The little village now was so near the north line of the
town that its northern extension soon grew over the line and the

94 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

first store established was on the adjoining township of Letter
G. In 1842, or 1843,

Messrs. Geo. W. and William Towle built a store near
where Mr. Henry Dunn now lives. This, we are informed, was
the first store north of Houlton, though previous to that time a
few goods had been kept for sale in houses and outbuildings.

We have been unable to fix the exact date of the erection
of the first schoolhouse in Presque Isle, but it was in the early-
years of the settlement and was what was known for years as
the "Red Schoolhouse" on the Rackliffe farm, on what is now
the Centre Line road.

In 1849, a store was built by Sumner Whitney on the corner
where Perry's Opera House now stands and was occupied by
D. & A. W. Dudley. By this time settlers had gradually taken
up farms in the vic'nity of the village and quite a little settle-
ment had been made in the wilderness. The next store built was
what was known as the Winslow Hall store, which was built
by Dr. Edwin W. Dibblee, and was occupied by Mr. Hall and
afterwards by Mr. J. W. Hines. This store stood on what is
now known as Bolton's Corner on the west side of Main Street.
Next in order was the Dudley store, now occupied by A. M.
Smith & Co., which was built in 1855 by D. & A. W. Dudley,
and which was spared in the conflagration.

Dr. G. H. Freeman first came to Presque Isle in 1855.
There were then but three stores in town and the village includ-
ed some fifteen or twenty families. There was at that time a
small schoolhouse near where Mr. A. E. Wight's house now
stands. There were then no church buildings, but religious
meetings were held in the schoolhouses.

The business of the village was at that time almost wholly
connected with the lumbering operations. Agriculture was in a
very crude state. There were some very good farms, but no
particular system had then been adopted in farming operations.
As the little village was comparatively isolated, the people were
thrown upon their own resources almost entirely for social en-
joyment. Everyone was intimately acquainted with everyone
else in town and each knew all about his neighbor's business
and private affairs. They were a genial, good hearted, generous
people and enjoyed themselves exceedingly in such society as
they themselves made. This open, free-hearted, generous spirit
is still characteristic of the place. Nowhere can a stranger
sooner become acquainted and be placed at his ease and in no
village of equal size will a hat, passed around for a worthy ob-

- HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 95

ject, be more generously filled than in Presque Isle.

At that time (1855) J. B. Hall, Esq., was postmaster and
had a small apothecary store not far from where Dr. Freeman's
store now is. Messrs. Rowe and Freeman bought Mr. Hall out
and continued the apothecary business for some years.

In 1856 Mr. Hiram Brackett came to Presque Isle and
bought the Winslow Hall store and went into trade. He failed
soon afterwards and E. D. Jewett & Co. built the store owned
and occupied by G. H. Freeman & Co. at the time of the fire in
1884. Here Mr. Brackett commenced trading again, opening a
stock of general merchandise. In 1857 Messrs. Rowe & Free-
man built a new store on what is now Bridge Street, and Deacon
Nathaniel Gammon built for a harness shop the building after-
wards occupied as a store by Mr. Warren P. Pratt.

In 1857 the old Academy was built near where now stands
the residence of Col. C. P. Allen.

In the fall of 1857 the Aroostook Pioneer, the first paper
published in Aroostook County, was started at Presque Isle.
This enterprise was due to the exertions of Joseph B. Hall, Esq.,
who was at that time Secretary of the Maine Senate. He con-
ceived the idea while at Augusta during the previous winter,
and persuaded Mr. Wm. S. Gilman, then a printer and compos-
itor In the office of the Maine Farmer, to join him in the ven-
ture. An old hand press and a set of type formerly used in the
office of the Bangor Gazette were purchased and the paper was
started in an office over Winslow Hall's store and proved to be
a success. Mr. Hall continued to edit the paper until February,
1860, when he sold his interest to Mr. Gilman, who in 1868 re-
moved the paper to Houlton, where it has since remained. In
1860, Mr. Hall commenced the publication of the Aroostook
Herald at Presque Isle. In 1862 the Herald was discontinued
and the material was removed to Portland, where Mr. Hall and
others started the Maine State Press.

In 1858 came the first editorial excursion to which we have
alluded In a former chapter. The North Aroostook Agricul-
tural Society was then in its Infancy, but it had already com-
menced the good work of aiding in the development of Aroos-
took's resources. In which work It has been a factor of Increas-
ing importance ever since. The glowing accounts given by the
members of the press on their return from the Aroostook excur-
sion directed general attention to this section and Immigration
bega,n rapidly to increase. New buildings were erected in the

9^ HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK:

village of Presque Isle, and new business enterprises were
started.

About this time Mr. C. F. A. Johnson came to the town and
bought out Mr. Hiram Brackett and laid the foundation of the
business which afterwards increased to so great an extent un-
der the firm of Johnson & Judd and later that of Johnson & Phair.
The town of Presque Isle was incorporated April 4, 1859.
The census of 1860 showed a population of 723. This in 1870
had increased to 970 and in 1880 to 1305. In 1860 the total val-
uation of the town was $79,874. This considerably more than
doubled during the next decade, and in 1870 the valuation was
$180,786, and in 1880 it had increased to $339,325.

In 1860, the village met with its first disaster. On the 13th
of May of that year almost the entire northern part of the town
was consumed by fire. Nineteen buildings were burned .and the
loss was estimated by the Pioneer at $25,000. Nothing daunt-
ed, however, by this severe blow, the citizens went courageously
to work and rebuilt the burnt district and the business of the
town continued to increase.

During the war immigration to the County was almost whol-
ly stopped and Presque Isle, in common with the other Aroos-
took towns, sent a goodly number of her stalwart sons to fight
for the old flag. In the winter of 1863, the mills built by Den-
nis Fairbanks were burned. Some time previous to this Mr,
Fairbanks had sold the mills to Mr. John Allen and left the
town. He went some distance up the Tobique River, in New
Brunswick, where he continued to reside until his death. Mrs.
Fairbanks lived in Presque Isle and vicinity until about 1870,
when she died at the home of Mr. Columbus Hayford, of Mays-
ville, at the advanced age of 93 years.

In 1864, Mr. Sidney Cook purchased the mill privilege and
rebuilt the mills at an expense of $20,000.

In August, 1863, Mr. Daniel Stickney commenced the pub-
lication of the Loyal Sunrise at Presque Isle. Mr. Stickney was
an able and forcible writer, fearlessly and mercilessly opposing
any movement which he thought was wrong and courageously
supporting any measure which he regarded as right, without
considering whether his course was popular or otherwise. By
his energy and the vigorous and persistent manner in which he
presented the claims and advantages of Aroostook he did much
toward the development of this section of the County. In 1868,
Mr. Stickney sold the Sunrise to Messrs. Glidden & Rowell,
but continued to edit the paper for some time afterwards. In

HON. COLUMBUS HAYFORD,
A Prominent Pioneer Settler of Aroostook

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 97

1876 the Sunrise was moved to Fort Fairfield and its publica-
tion was soon afterwards discontinued. Mr. Stickney, though
now upwards of eighty years old, is still hale and hearty and
his occasional articles written for various Ma'ne papers give
evidence that his mental vigor is by no means impaired. He
i^ at present residing at Hotel Long in Buckfield, and is enjoy-
ing a vigorous old age.

After the close of the war, new settlers began to come to
the town and new business enterprises were established. Pro-
jects for a direct line of railroad, to connect with the European
and North American Railway at Mattawamkeag, now began to
be agitated and it was ardently hoped at the tune that the road
would be built, and the Aroostook Valley thus be directly con-
nected with the outside world. These hopes, however, were
doomed to be long unrealized, but the prospect is now very en-
couraging that a direct line of railroad from Bangor will be
completed in the near future.

In 1874, the first starch factory was built at Presque Isle
by Mr. Wheeler of New Hampshire. The factory was located
near the grist mill and was run by water power. The farmers
in the vicinity contracted to plant a satisfactory number of
acres for a term of five years and to deliver the potatoes at the
factory for twenty-five cents per bushel. The business was a
remunerative one for the proprietors of the factory, as starch
brought a high price that year, and the profit on the first year's
output paid the entire cost of the plant. It was also a profitable
business for the farmers and has so continued until the present
day.

The next year the Aroostook Starch Co., a stock company,
.at the head of which was the enterprising firm of Johnson &
Phair, of Presque Isle, built the Maysville factory at the Aroos-
took Bridge and large quantities of potatoes were raised for the
two factories. The business has continued to increase until
now Hon. Thos. H. Phair owns and operates seven factories in
this and adjoining towns, at which in some years he manufac-
tures nearly 1500 tons of starch. This industry gave a new im-
petus to business and not only largely benefited the farmers,
but aided to a great extent in building up the business of this
prosperous and growing villgae.

Early in 1881 the project of railroad communication by
means of connection with the New Brunswick Railway began
to be agitated. A narrow guage spur had already been run up
along the Aroostook River as far as Caribou and it was proposed
to continue this branch to Presque Isle.

9^8 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

Previous to this time the North Star, which was started at
Caribou in 1872 by W. T. Sleeper and Son, had been purchased
by F. G. Parker & Co. and moved to Presque Isle. This paper
was ably edited by Dr. F. G. Parker, who entered heartily into
the project of the proposed extension and aided much in awak-
ening public sentiment in its iavor. A proposition was made
by the New Brunswick Railway Co. to extend their line to
Presque Isle upon payment of $15,000 by the towns interested,
and also a guaranty of the right of way.

A railroad mass meeting of the citizens of the towns to be
immediately benefited was held at Presque Isle April 2, 1881, at
which the matter was fully discussed, with the general feeling
in favor of accepting the proposition. The result of the meet-
ing was that on April 8, 1881, the town of Presque Isle voted
$10,000 and on the following day Maysville voted $5,000 in aid
of the extension. Individuals in adjoining towns subscribed to-
wards the expense of the right of way.

On the 28th of May, 1881, Messrs. Isaac and E. R. Burpee,
Directors of the N. B. Railway, accompanied by F. A. Wilson,
Esq., of Bangor, as attorney for the Company, and Hon. Llewel-
lyn Powers of Houlton, as attorney for the towns, came to
Presque Isle, where the contract was completed. Work was at
once commenced and was energetically pushed, and on Thurs-
day, Dec. 1, 1881, the first train steamed into Presque Isle. The
Messrs. Burpee and other gentlemen interested in the road were
upon the train and were accorded a most hearty and enthus-
iastic reception by the large concourse of citizens assembled at
the station. On Jan. 8, 1882, the telegraph line was completed
to the town, and Presque Isle was connected with the outer
world both by rail and wire. A few years later the guage was
widened and the road bed improved and placed in excellent
condition and well equipped for the transportation of passen-
gers and freight.

New and expensive buildings were also erected at the sta-
tion in Presque Isle and every effort has been made to render
the road a first class line. The New Brunswick Railway has
since been sold to the Canadian Pacific Co. and is now a part
of that system.

As was said at the commencement of this article the north
half of the present town of Presque Isle was originally Town-
ship G, Range Two, afterwards the town of Maysville. This
is naturally one of the very best towns in Aroostook County
for agricultural purposes and the entire township is now covered

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 99

With excellent farms. The beautiful Aroostook River enters
this township from Washburn some two miles from its north-
west corner and flowing in a southeasterly direction, approaches
Avithin about a mile of the south line of the township. It then
■sweeps to the north and runs in that direction entirely across
the town, leaving it through its north line some two m.les west
of the northeast corner of the town. The whole course of the river
in the old town of Maysville is nearly twelve miles and, in ad-
dition to its picturesque beauty, it sweeps through as fertile
a tract of land as can be found anywhere in New England.

Upon the banks of the river in this township the first set-
tlement was made on the Aroostook River. As early as 1820,
Lewis and Charles Johnson and a Mr. McCrea came up the
river from New Brunswick and made a settlement a short dis-
tance below the mouth of the Presque Isle Stream. The smoke
of their clearing, as if curled gracefully upward above the lofty
forest trees, was seen by no other settler in all this region. All
around them for many miles in every direction was the mag-
nificent forest in which the deer, the moose and the caribou
roamed at will and through which the beautiful river flowed
placidly along, unvexed by the busy millwheel and undisturbed
by the industries of civilization.

They were soon afterwards joined by other settlers and as
early as 1825, there were seven families living upon the town-
ship. Previous to that time the wild lands of the State were
owned in common by the States of Massachusetts and Maine,
and in 1825 the lands upon the Aroostook River and southward
were surveyed into townships and divided, each State taking
alternate townships.

Mr. Joseph Norris, who made the survey in that year, says
in his report that he found Mr. Thomas W. Beckwith residing
with his family on Township Letter G., Range Two, and that he
was informed by him that there were six other families living
on the township, "two by the name of Bradley, a Mr. Arnold and
the names of the other three I do not recollect. I did not see
or hear of any other families residing on any of the other un-
divided townships, although a number of beginnings had been
made the past season with that view."

Among the earlier settlers, besides those already men-
tioned, were the following who received titles to their lots un-
der the provisions of the treaty of 1842, they having been in
possession "for more than six years before the date of the
treaty aforesaid," (viz.) : Isaac Morris, John Nichols, James

100 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

Nichols, Andrew Scott, William Pyle, Isaac Thomas, Olive Fen-
lason, Hector Sutherland, Daniel and William Chandler, John
Rafford, Jonathan E. and Ferdinand Armstrong, Thomas Fields,
Benjamin Weeks, William McDougal, John Benjamin, Susanna
Hooper (widow of Nehemiah Hooper), Thos. J. Hobart, Josiah
Towle, Solomon Parsons, Geo. W. Towle, Thomas W, Navay,
Ebenezer Oakes, Daniel Hopkins, Amos Heald, James F. Cur-
rier's heirs, Peter Bull.

The above list is taken from the report of the commission-
ers who visited the township to determine the titles of settlers
under the treaty of 1842. In their report they also mention
Lewis Johnstone, Thomas W. Beckwith and John W. Beckwith
and Lewis and Henry Bradley. Mr. Cyrus Pomroy was another
early settler who made a farm on the north side of the Aroos-
took, a mile below the mouth of Presque Isle Stream.

Messrs. Josiah and Geo. W. Towle and Solomon Parsons,
to whom were granted two hundred acres by these commission-
ers, were a firm of lumbermen who made a farm on a beautiful
intervale a short distance above the mouth of Presque Isle
Stream and on this farm raised hay and grain for their lumber
operations. The farm is now owned and occupied by Mr. Geo.
A. Parsons, a son of Solomon Parsons, and is one of the finest
farms in the town.

As we have said before, all the earlier settlers on the town-
ship came up the Aroostook River from New Brunswick and
settled along the river bank.

The first settler who came to Letter G "by land" and set-
tled on the higher land away from the river was Capt. Henry
Rolfe. Capt. Rolfe was a veteran of the Aroostook War and
was one of the party who under Capt. Alvin Nye occupied the
position at the mouth of Fish River in 1839. In June, 1840, he
settled upon the lot upon which he now resides, which is on the
road from Presque Isle to Caribou, about half a mile north of
the postoffice at Maysville Centre and some two miles north of
the Aroostook Bridge.

When Capt. Rolfe took up his lot it was in the midst of a
dense wilderness, with no road in all this region and nothing
but a spotted line to guide him on his way to the river. The
town then belonged to the State of Massachusetts and the few
settlers along the river were still living in their log houses and
did a large part of their trading in New Brunswick. The cus-
tom was to cut the timber which grew upon the bank of the
river and could be easily rolled into the water, drive it to Fred-

HISTORY OP AROOSTOOK 101

ericton and boat back the supplies purchased with the proceeds
of its sale. Capt. Rolfe used to carry his wheat on his back
two miles through the woods to the mouth of Presque Isle
Stream and boat it up the stream to Fairbanks' mill, where it
was ground and then boated down the stream to the Aroostook
River and carried on his back to his home in the forest. His
first clearing consisted of sixteen acres, one acre of which was
planted to potatoes, one acre sown to wheat and the remainder
to oats. At that time oats sold for 50 cts, potatoes 50 cis,
buckwheat $1.00 and wheat $2.00 per bushel. Hay brought $20
per ton and was purchased by the lumber operators.

Capt. Rolfe bought his first bill of supplies of Dennis Fair-
banks, paying $50 per barrel for pork, $20 for flour, $1.00 per
pound for tea and $1.00 per gallon for molasses. As he used
neither rum nor tobacco he does not give the price of those arti-
cles.

The first frame schoolhouse in Letter G was built by sub-
scription in 1844, after the road was cut through from the
Aroostook to the St, John Rivers, and was placed on the lot
where the Maysville burying ground is now located. Previous
to that time, however, a private school, the first in the town, was
taught in a log house near the river by Miss Susan M. Hooper,
afterwards Mrs. Daniel Duff.

Mr. John Allen came to the town in 1840 and made a clear-
ing on the farm now owned by Mr. Samuel C. Greenlaw, and
moved his family to their forest home in 1841. Mr. Allen ob-
tained possession of a large number of lots in the town, among
them being two treaty lots on the Aroostook River which were
awarded to him in the report of the commissioners. Mr. Allen
was for many years a prominent citizen of the town and amassed
a considerable amount of wealth. He died a few years since
at the home of his son in Riverside, Cal., and his remains were
brought to his old home for interment.

In 1843 Mr. Augustus Allen, a son of John Allen, took up
the lot which is now a part of the extensive farm of Mr. Colum-
bus Hayford and during the same year Mr. John Welts com-
menced a clear'ng on the farm now owned by Mr. Frank B.
Smith. After the State of Maine acquired possession of the
town it was lotted for settlement and the lots were sold to actual
settlers for the nominal price of fifty cents per acre, to be paid
in road labor. Along the road from Presque Isle to Caribou the
lots were soon taken up and the wilderness gave place to cul-
tivated farms. Roads were also opened in other portions of the

102 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

town and settlers came in and established their homes upon this
fertile township.

In 1858 a covered bridge was built across the Aroostook
River a short distance below the mouth of Presque Isle Stream.
This bridge was nearly four hundred feet long and cost $6,000.
The State appropriated $3000 toward its construction and the
balance was raised by individual subscriptions.

The town of Maysville was incorporated April 4, 1859, and
in 1860 the population was 665. It increased to 758 in 1870 and
1141 in 1880. Maysville was wholly an agricultural town and
though a town house and schoolhouse was built at a point on
the main mail route from Presque Isle to Caribou, yet there
was no village in the town, nor was there at the time of its in-
corporation any store or factory of any kind within its limits.
Its growth in wealth and population was due wholly to its fer-
tile soil. By the State valuation of 1876 the average amount of
property to every person in the town was about $200, which
consisted almost wholly in farm property.

Among the enterprising farmers who came to the town in
the years soon after its incorporation were E. E. Parkhurst,
George A. Parsons, Columbus Hayford, C. P. Ferguson, Simeou
Smith, T. M. Richardson, Silas Southard, Thomas Harris and
others who helped give to Maysville an enviable reputation as
an exceptionally fine agricultural town.

Mr. Daniel Duff was an early settler and a man well
known and highly respected. Mr. Duff's farm adjoined Capt.
Rolfe's on the south and his house was well known for its hos-
pitable entertainment in the early days of the town. Mr. Duff
was killed many years ago by a falling tree. Mr. Samuel C.
Bennett is another of the early settlers. His farm is on the north
side of the Aroostook River, his house being the first on the road
after crossing the bridge. Mr. Bennett has been a much re-
spected citizen of the town for many years and is still engaged
in the cultivation of his fine farm, though somewhat advanced
in years.

In the winter of 1882 petitions were presented to the Legis-
lature asking for the annexation of the towns of Presque Isle
and Maysville. The business of the town of Maysville was al-
most entirely transacted at Presque Isle village and the union
of the two towns was a most natural one. The necessary legis-
lation was secured and in March, 1883, the first annual meeting
of the consolidated towns was held.

A postoffice had been established in 1877 at Maysville Cen-

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK lOS

tre, three miles from Presque Isle village on the Caribou road,
with Mr. Edward Wiggin as postmaster. The name of this
postoffice has not been changed and still bears the name of
Maysville Centre, though now in the town of Presque Isle. By
this annexation the town of Presque Isle now extends from West-
field on the south to Caribou on the north, a distance of twelve
miles. It is bounded on the west by a portion of Chapman
Plantation, the town of Mapleton and a portion of Washburn,
and on the east by the town of Easton and the south half of Fort
Fairfield.

On the morning of the first day of May, 1884, the entire
business portion of the village was consumed by fire. The fire
broke out in the early morning in the second story of Johnson
& Phair's large store on the corner of Main and Fort Streets,
and, as there was a strong wind blowing and the means of ex-
tinguishing were wholly inadequate, it soon spread until it en-
veloped the entire business part of the town and as people came
in from the farming districts in the morning they beheld only
a heap of smouldering ashes where the night before had stood
a busy and thriving village. The citizens soon ralUed from the
shock of the great disaster and, before the ashes were fairly cold,
temporary places of business were erected and trade was again
resumed. The insurance companies were most liberal and the
losses were soon adjusted in a generous manner and the citizens
at once, with a cheerful courage, commenced the work of re-
building. In a remarkably short time every vestige of the fire
was removed, better buildings were erected, the streets were
much improved and soon everyone came to feel that on the
whole the fire was a blessing to the village.

In the spring of 1885 the town suffered from another disas-
ter, the covered bridge across the Aroostook River being car-
ried away by an ice freshet. The town immediately voted to
rebuild, and one of the best bridges in the County was built
during the summer, at a cost of about $10,000.

During all these years the town had been making steady im-
provement in its social, religious and educational privileges.
The first meeting house built in the town was the Congregation-
al Church building, which was commenced in 1863. Since that
time the number of church edifices have increased until there
are now seven handsome and commodious churches in the town
and each denomination is comfortably provided for.

As the town became more thickly settled, new school
houses were built and the present Academy building was erect-

104 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

ed to supply the place of the old house which was destroyed by
the fire of 1860. The trustees of the Academy had a fund from
the State, which in 1883 amounted to about $5,000. In the
spring of 1883, by a vote of the trustees, this fund was turned
over to Bishop Neely to aid in the establishment of a perman-
ent school of a high grade. Satisfactory arrangements were
made and the following year the pleasant and commodious build-
ings of St. John's Seminary were erected and the school was
opened in September 1884, with about eighty pupils. In 1888
the town voted to pay the tuition of the high school pupils at
the Seminary and appropriated $1000 for that purpose, to which
the State added $250 under the Free High School Act. A con-
tract was made with the school and upwards of ninety scholars
were sent as town pupils. This arrangement has been continued
to the present time (1892) and for the past two years the pupils
sent by the town have numbered over one hundred. The school
is a most excellent one and in it pupils are fitted to enter any
college in the land.

There are in the village three graded schools, primary, in-
termediate and grammar, and the number of pupils has increased
to such an extent that additional room must soon be provided.

There the twenty one suburban schools in the town, all of
which are now supplied with good schoolhouses.

After the annexation of Maysville, the town plan was adopt-
ed and the schools were for nine years under the supervision of
Mr. Edward Wiggin, during which time eight new schoolhouses
were built and the others thoroughly repaired.

The year 1887 was a busy one in Presque Isle village. Soon
after the fire of 1883, enterprising citizens, recognizing the need
of more adequate protection, agitated the project of introducing
a system of waterworks. A charter was obtained and the
Presque Isle Water Company was organized in April, 1887.
Contracts were made and the work of construction was immedi-
ately commenced. The supply was obtained from a clear spring
brook, the dam being built on the high ground about a mile
southeast of the village. The reservoir has a capacity of 25,000
gallons and is called Mantle Lake, from the name of the con-
tractor. The elevation of the dam above Main Street is about
one hundred feet, giving ample pressure for extinguishing fires
in all portions of the village. To guard against emergencies, a
pumping station was built near the railroad station and provided
with a Worthington pump, with quick steaming boiler. The cost
of the works was $30,000. Thus the village is supplied with

HISTORY OP AROOSTOOK 105

most excellent water, the analysis of the Secretary of the State
Board of Health placing it among the purest. A well organized
fire company followed the completion of the water works and
today Presque Isle is as well protected from fire as any village
in the State.

During the same year an electric light plant was estab-
lished, with the Edison incandescent system, and the lights were
turned on in December, 1887. A sufficient number of street
lights were provided and the village is now lighted at the ex-
pense of the town.

The fine Bank block was also erected the same summer by
the stockholders and C. F. A. Johnson Esq, It is a handsome
brick building costing about $15,000.

Hon. Joseph B. Hall, who, as we have said, discont'nued
the publication of the Aroostook Herald in 1862 and removed to
Portland, returned to Presque Isle in 1884 and again started the
Herald. In the meantime the North Star, which had been so
ably edited by the lamented Dr. Parker, had been sold to Mr.
George H. Collins, and Presque Isle now had two live newspa-
pers, each doing its best for the advancement of the interests of
the town and County. Both papers heartily advocated the build-
ing of the Northern Maine railroad, as Mr. Hall during his for-
mer residence in Presque Isle had ever worked for the building
of a direct line to Aroostook.

The history of the Northern Mame R. R. enterprise as well
as the other projects for a direct route to the County will be
found in the chapter on the railroad projects of Aroostook.

The First National Bank of Presque Isle was opened for
business on January 2, 1888, with a capital of $50,000, and is
doing a safe and prosperous business. Its president, Mr. James
W. Bolton, is one of the most reliable business men of the town
and the directors are all men of business capacity and integrity.

Soon after the completion of the bank building, Mr. C. F. A.
Johnson, who who had long been one of the principal business
men of Presque Isle, decided to remove to the West, and there-
fore sold his half of the building to Mr. George H. Collins,
editor of the North Star, and that paper was moved to the most
comfortable quarters of any newspaper in Maine.

Hon. Joseph B. Hall, editor of the Herald, died at Presque
Isle on July 5th, 1889. He had labored long and devotedly to
obtain direct railroad communication for Aroostook, but was
not permitted to live to see the fulfillment of his des're. Mr.
Hall was Secretary of State for three years, 1860, '61 and '62

106 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK:

and during his subsequent absence from the State he edited a
number oi newspapers in the West. He was faithfully devoted
to the interests of Aroostook and labored untiringly for their ad-
vancement. After Mr. HaU's death the Herald was purchased
by Mr. F. S. Bickford, now associate editor of the Brunswick
Telegraph. He retained it, however, but a short time, and then
sold it to Mr. Collins, who consolidated the two papers, and his
paper is now published under the name of The Star-Herald.

In the winter of 1890, a charter was obtained for the Mer-
chants' Trust and Banking Company of Presque Isle and the
company was organized with a capital of $50,000. During the
summer of 1891, a handsome building was erected and fitted
with every convenience for transacting the business, and in
January, 1892, the new bank opened for business. Col. C. P,
Allen, the first pres"dent of the Presque Isle National Bank, is
president of the com.pnay and the directors are all men of care-
ful business habits.

A number of other fine buildings were erected in the village
in the summer of 1891, among them being the extensive block
built by Mr. J. W. Bolton on the corner of Main and Fort Streets
and the handsome office of Hon. T. H. Phair, opposite the Bank.

Presque Isle is well supplied with hotel accommodations.
The Phair Hotel, kept by Mr. James H. Phair, is one of the
most comfortable and homelike hostelries to be found anywhere
In the country and offers superior inducements to those wishing
a pleasant home in a healthy climate during the summer months.

The Presque Isle Hotel, a fine three-story building on the
site of the first hotel ever erected in the town, is also a first-
class house in every respect and its landlord, Mr. Geo. F. Whit-
ney, Is well and favorably known to the traveling public.

The Brooklyn House across the bridge is also a well kept
hotel and is well patronized.

The village of Presque Isle Is now one of the most enter-
prising and thriving villages in the State. Its business men are
energetic and public spirited and are keenly alive to the best
Interests of the town.

After the consolidation of the North Star and Aroostook
Herald, a new newspaper enterprise was started at Presque Isle.
No Democratic paper was at that time published In the County.
A stock company was organized and the Aroostook Democrat
was started in the advocacy of the principles of that party as
well as the general Interests of the town and County. The pa-

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 107

per is now upon its second year and seems to have secured a
sure foothold.

Socially, morally, educationally and agriculturally Presque
Isle is a good town and has a promising future before it, when
the completion of the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad brings it
into more direct communication with the markets of the country.
The population of the town by the census of 1890 was 3,046
and the valuation $993,875, a greater valuation than any town
in the County with the exception of Houlton.

ORIENT

The town of Orient, another of the coast towns of Aroos-
took County, lies immediately south of Amity and is bounded
on the west by the town of Haynesville, and on the south in an
irregular line by the town of Weston. The Monument Stream,
flowing here with considerable volume in a southeasterly course,
forms the eastern boundary for some two miles and a half. This
stream then empties into North Lake, which becomes the
boundary for nearly a mile, the coast I'ne running nearly in a
southerly Erection until we come to the "thoroughfare," a narrow
passage some half mile in length connecting North Lake w'th
Grand Lake. The irregular coast of Grand Lake is then the
boundary to the south line of the town. To speak more accur-
ately, the channel of the lake is the exact boundary between
the two countries, but this channel has not yet been definitely
determ'ned. The road from Houlton to Calais runs in a general
southerly direction through the entire town, but the first settle-
ment in the town was made near the shore of the lake a number
of years before any road was built.

The first settlers who miade a clearing on the town were
William Trask, William Deering and James Lambert. These
pioneers came in 1830. William Trask was from Kennebec
County and he made his first clearing near the head of Grand
Lake, a short distance below the thoroughfare, on the farm now
owned by George Bubar. Mr. Trask made a farm here on the
lake shore and lived upon it until about 1856, when he moved
to Minnesota.

James Lambert came at the same time and settled on the
lot next west of Mr. Trask. He remained on the lot until 1856,

108 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

when with Mr. Trask, he removed to Minnesota.

W.lliam Deering moved from Hodgdon to Orient in 1830 and
Settled on the lot near the shore of the lake on which Mrs. Jacob
Peters now lives. William Ph'lbrook had made a small chop-
ping on the lot, but did not settle on it. This was in reality the
first choppng made upon the town. Mr. Deering cleared the
farm and lived on it until his death in 1842. Jacob Peters af-
terwards took this farm and lived on it until his death a year
ago. His widow still lives on the farm.

Mr. Abram Longley was one of the pioneer settlers of Ori-
ent and came from the town of Dover not long after the settlers
mentioned above. He settled on the line of the Calais road in
the southern part of the town. A small lake in the rear of his
let still bears the name of Longley Lake and discharges its wa-
ters through a brook :nto Grand Lake. Mr. Longley was a well
known resident of Orient for many years, and his house, after
the Calais road was built through the town, was a well known
stopping place for travelers and for teamsters upon the road.
The old house is still standing but is now unoccupied and is
one of the old landmarks along the road. Mr. Longley cleared
a large farm and planted an extensive orchard which still bears
quite abundantly. He died on the old place some twelve years
ago.

Jeremiah Fifield came from Lee in 1836 and made a clear-
ing in the extreme southern part of the town. He remained but
a short time and returned to Lee.

Thomas ai:d Robert Colyer were early settlers near the head
of the lake and came not many years after Mr. Trask. Tho^j-
Colyer settled on the lot on which Mr. Wm. H. McAllister nov/
lives, and lived upon it until about 1856, when he removed to
Wisconsin. Robert Colyer settled on the next lot north, where
he made a farm and lived upon it until 1856, when he with
Thos. Colyer, moved to Wisconsin.

Mr. Edwin Deering is one of the oldest settlers now living
in the town. He is a son of William Deering and in 1835 settled
near the shore of the lake on the lot now occupied by Daniel
Bartlett. Here he cleared a farm and after living on it seven
years m_oved to the lot near the thoroughfare, now owned by
Mr. George Bubar. Mr. Deering lived on this lot fifteen years
and then bought the Longfellow lot on the Calais road in the
south rart of the town, where he has since lived.

Mr. Marcus Peters came from New Brunswick about 1837
ar.d settled on the lot south of the "Horseback," near where the

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 109

road turns from the Calais road towards the head of the lake.
Mr. Samuel Newman of Amitj^ had made a small clearing on the
lot. Mr. Peters cleared the farm and lived on it untJ 1849,
when he moved to Amity, where he remained but two years,
and then returned to his old home in Orient, where he continued
to live until his death in 1878. Mr. Peters was a man of sterling
character and was well and favorably known throughout southern
Aroostook. He served as deputy collector of customs for six
years, and was a leading citizen of his town. His widow and
son Isaac Peters, still live on the old homestead.

Patrick Hodnet came from Mach^as in 1840 and settled on
the Calais road north of Abram Longley. He cleared a large
farm here and lived on it until some ten years ago, when he
moved to Danforth and died there. Mr. A. A. Robbins now
lives on this farm.

Mr. Israel Miller came from Nova Scotia about 1840 and
settled on the lot next south of Patrick Hodnet. He cleared
a farm and lived on it until his death in 1885. Mr. John Byers
then bought the farm and died on it last year. His widow still
lives on the farm.

Charles Longfellow came from Mach'as about 1840 and
settled on the farm where Mr. Edwin Beering now lives. Wm.
Hawkins lived on the place a short time before Mr. Longfellov^^
came. After living on the farm some eight or ten years Mr.
Longfellow removed to Kansas.

John Colyer came from Miramichi about 1840 and settled
on the lot near the thoroughfare upon which Mr. C. L. Packard
now lives. He afterwards sold the farm to Messrs. Gates and
Wentworth of Calais, and removed to New Brunswick, where
he died. John Colyer, Jr., settled on the lot on the Calais road
now occupied by Mr. Victor Peters and Mr. Fred Smart. He
made a clearing on the lot and lived on it a short time and sold
to William Deering and moved to the lot next north of Edwin
Deering's, where he lived many years. He then sold the farm
to Abram Longley and moved to Haynesville, where he now
lives.

Jeremiah Sprague came from Houlton to Orient in 1845
.and bought part of the Trask farm at the head of the lake. He
lived on this farm ten years and then removed to Houlton. He
afterwards returned to Orient and died at the home of his son,
William Sprague, on the Calais road. William Sprague first
came to Orient with his father in 1845. About 1860 he bought
the lot on the Calais road, opposite Mr. Fred Smart's. Mr.

110 HISTORY OP AROOSTOOK

Sprague cleared this farm and lived on it twenty-five years. He
then bought eighteen acres of Martin Longley near the turn of
the Lake road where he built a neat set of buildings and where
he now resides, but still owns the old homestead. Mr. Sprague
has been a prominent man in the town during his residence there
and held the office of postmaster for eighteen years.

As we enter the town of Orient in coming down the Calais
road, after passing through Amity, we very soon come to the
"horseback," upon which the road runs for a number of miles.
This is a peculiar formation and seems to have been placed here
by nature for the especial purpose of providing a roadway. It
is a natural embankment of gravel, with broad stretches of
low, swampy ground on either side for much of the way and for
a number of miles forms the only route upon which a carriage
road could be built.

Thomas Maxell was also one of the early settlers, and came
from Gray about 1831 or 1832. He cleared a farm and lived
upon it until his death in 1874. His son, S. P. Maxell, now has
the farm.

In the southwest corner of the town on what is called the
No. Nine road, are a few settlers and some quite good farms.

The town of Orient was formerly township No. 9, R. 1, and
was incorporated as a town in 1856. Much of the town is still
covered with forest and many of the farmers are more or less
engaged in farming. Though there are some good farming sec-
tions, yet the town as a whole would not rank as a first-class
town for agricultural purposes.

BRIDGEWATER

The original settlement of the County of Aroostook was in
a large measure due to the immense amount of valuable timber
found in its magnificent forests and along the many grand rivers
and streams flowing through every portion of this fertile region.
Years before any settler entered upon the northern portion of
the County for farming purposes, with the exception of the Aca-
dian refugees upon the upper St. John, the camp of the hardy
woodsman was built in the midst of these then almost intermin-
able forests, and in springtime large drives of timber were float-
ed down the many tributaries of the St. John which find their

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 111

source in this northern county. It was the valuable timber, cut
upon what was then disputed territory, that led to the troubles
that culminated in the famous Aroostook War which drew in-
creased attention to the rich lands of northeastern Maine. The
march of the "posse" that came hither in martial array to exter-
minate the Bluenose trespassers not only hastened the settle-
ment of the boundary dispute, but was also the forerunner of
that more peaceful march which has ever since been continued —
the march of the hosts of hardy pioneers who have come to this
fertile region to make comfortable homes for themselves and
their families.

One of the finest of the many beautiful streams by which
this great county is so plentifully watered is the Presque Isle
of the St. John. Having its head waters in Fort Fairfield and
the old town of Maysville, it flows southward through the towns
of Easton, Presque Isle and Westfield, then turning more to the
eastward it continues through Mars Hill and Blaine and enters
the town of Bridgewater some two and a half miles west of its
northeast corner and flowing across that corner, crosses the
boundary line into New Brunswick about a mile and a half
south of the above named point. Some three-fourths of a mile
before it reaches the boundary it receives the waters of Whitney
Brook, a strong 'flowing stream traversing nearly the entire ex-
tent of the town of Bridgewater in a northeasterly direction, and
a short distance below the junction of the tv/o streams is a valu-
able mill privilege. It was at this point that the first settlement
was made in what is now the town of Bridgewater.

The town comprises two half townships lying along the
boundary line, and is bounded on the north by Blaine, and on
the south by Monticello. On the west is the unsettled township
of Letter D., Range Two. The northern half of Bridgewater,
from which the town afterwards took its name, was granted by
the State of Massachusetts in aid of Bridgewater Academy, and
the southern half was granted in aid of Portland Academy.

In the year 1827, Nathaniel Bradstreet, with his sons, John
and Joseph, came from Palermo, in Waldo County, and pur-
chased the mill privilege spoken of above on the Presque Isle
of the St. John, a short distance west of the boundary line. The
Bradstreets came up the Penobscot and Baskahegan waters,
then crossed on the old trail to the St. John River, ascending
that river to the mouth of the Presque Isle, thence up the stream
to their new home in the wilderness. Here they at once pro-
ceeded to build a dam across the stream and during the two

Iff HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

years following built a mill in which they commenced sawing:
lumber in 1829.

Joseph Ketchum and James Thorncraft came from New
Brunswick in 1829 and took lots west of the mill lot and com-
menced clearing up farms. It is claimed that Mr. Ketchum cut
the first tree upon the town for farming purposes, though the
Bradstreets afterwards cleared up a large farm near the mill.
Mr. Ketchum cleared up about 75 acres on his lot and on the
24th day of May, 1832, sowed the first wheat ever sown in the
town of Bridgewater.

In the year 1835 Mr. Joshua B. Fulton came from New
Brunswick, and in 1840 bought a lot south of what is now
Bridgewater Corner, on the road now running from Houlton to
Presque Isle.

At the time Mr. Fulton settled on his lot there was no road
anywhere on the town, and his nearest neighbor on the north
was at Presque Isle, some twenty miles distant. The road from
Houlton was cut through soon after and Mr. Fulton and other
early settlers paid for their lands at $1.50 per acre in labor upon
this road. Here Mr. Fulton cleared up a fine farm and reared
a family of six sons and one daughter. Three of the sons went
Into the Union Army and all gave their lives to their country.
Another son, Charles K. Fulton, is the present landlord of the
Bridgewater Hotel, and John W. Fulton now resides in Gardiner,
Me. The daughter is now living in California. Mr. Fulton
still resides on the old place .and is a hale old gentleman, and
from him we received many reminiscences of the early settle-
ment of this border town.

In 1840 Dennis and Orrin Nelson came from Palermo and
took adjoining lots on the line of the Houlton road. Dennis re-
mained but a short time and sold his lot to Mr. Fulton. Orrin
Nelson cleared up the farm next south of Fulton's and re-
mained there until his death, and his widow and sons still live
upon the farm.

About this time Mr. John Young came to the town and set- .
tied near the mill and in 1846 removed to the town of Westfield,
where his widow now resides.

A few years after Mr. Fulton commenced his clearing, Jona-
than Loudon, John Burns and Thomas Kennedy came from New
Brunswick and settled along the Houlton road in the Portland
Grant, now the south part of the town. Mr. Loudon still lives
with his son on the old farm.

Samuel Cook, Esq., of Houlton, was then agent for the

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 113

trustees of the two academies and sold the land to settlers as
they came in for $1.50 per acre. In 1840, Mr. Joseph Ketchum,
who was then living upon his farm near the mill, bought 320
acres of land directly north of what is now Bridgewater Corner
and commenced making a clearing. Work upon the road from
Houlton to Presque Isle was commenced about that time and
Mr. Ketchum built a frame house upon his new lot and at once
started in the business of hotel keeping. James Thorncraft at
the same time left his home near the mill and went into the
wilderness some ten or twelve miles farther north on the line
of the Presque Isle road, where he took up the lot in the town
of Westfield now occupied by Mr. John N. Trueworthy. Mr.
Ketchum cleared up a farm of about eighty acres near the
hotel which he continued to keep until 1854, when he moved to
the next lot above and there made a large farm, upon which
he resided until his death in 1878. The hotel passed through
a number of hands and was finally destroyed by fire in 1861.

In 1842 Mr. Samuel Kidder came from Kennebec County
and took the lot next west of the Thorncraft lot, it being the
third lot west of the mill. Here he cleared up a fine farm upon
which he resided until his death in 1864. His son, James H.
Kidder, afterwards kept the hotel at Bridgewater Corner and is
the present efficient Register of Deeds at Houlton.

Mr. Cyrus Chandler came from Winthrop in 1844 and
bought the Thorncraft lot upon which he made an extensive farm
and built comfortable buildings. Mr. Chandler died about two
years ago, his estate now being owned by his son, Mr. A. L.
Chandler, the present Deputy Collector of Customs at Bridge-
water.

Soon after Mr. Chandler came to the town, Mr. David Fos-
ter, also from Kennebec County, came in and took up the lot
upon which is now the farm of Joseph C. Smith. This is now
one of the best farms in the town and has a very handsome set
of farm buildings.

In 1841 Messrs. Harvey and Trask bought the Bradstreet
■ mill, and about the same time Mr. Wm. Hooper and Mr. A. T.
Mooers commenced trading at the mill. Mr. Mooers remained
but a short time and removed to No. 11, now Ashland, where
he has since resided, and has for many years been one of the
principal business men of that town.

Mr. Charles Kidder, who has long been one of the prom-
inent citizens of Bridgewater, came from the town of Albion, Ken-
nebec County, in 1845 and worked one year for Mr. Cyrus Chan-

114 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

dler. The next year Mr. Jesse Moulton bought the mill of
Harvey & Trask and opened a store near the mill and Mr. Kid-
der went into his employ as clerk, remaining in his employ for
five years. Mr. Moulton built a clapboard mill which was af-
terwards carried away by a freshet. He continued to operate
the mills until 1851, when he sold the entire business to Mr.
John D. Baird, and the place is still known by the name of
Baird's Mills. Mr. Baird tore down the old mill and bu'.lt the
mill now standing, in which he put a gang saw and also a shin-
gle machine. In 1856 he bu'lt a grist mill with two run of
stones, one for wheat and another for buckwheat and feed. Mr.
Ba:rd also continued business in the store until 1876, when he
sold the mills and store to Mr. John E. Pryor. Mr. Pryor put
in' a rotary and another shingle machine and soon after sold to
Hon. Geroge W. Collins, the present proprietor. Mr. Collins
has made extensive repairs and additions to the mill and dam
and has put in a planer, groover and other machinery.

In 1850 Mr. C. F. A. Johnson came to Bridgewater and
commenced trading and buying shingles in a part of Joseph
Ketchum's house. He soon afterwards built the store in which
the postoffice is now located. This store was built near the
Corner and has since been moved farther down the road toward
the boundary line. Mr. Charles Kidder was employed as a
clerk for Mr. Johnson during the v/hole time of his stay at
Bridgewater. Mr. Johnson did a large business here and was
extensively engaged in lumbering. In 1856 Mr. Johnson re-
moved to Presque Isle, where for many years he did a very ex-
tensive mercantile and manufacturing business, forming a part-
nership at first with L. S. Judd, Esq., and afterwards with Hon.
T. H. Phair. The firm of Johnson & Phair were at one time the
largest manufacturers of potato starch in the United States. A
year or two since Mr. Johnson removed to Salt Lake City,
where he resided for a time and is now very pleasantly located
at Riverside, Cal., at which place he has purchased a large
orange grove with a view of making a permanent home.

Mr. Johnson sold his store at Bridgewater to Charles Kid
der and Jacob Jewell, who continued in business for four years,
when the store passed into the hands of Mr. Rufus Mansur of
Houlton, who soon after sold it to Hon. George W. Collins. Mr.
Collins moved the store to its present site and in 1861 built the
large store on the corner afterwards occupied by Mr. Bedford
Hume.

Mr. Hume commenced business in Bridgewater as clerk for

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 115

John D. Baird about 1853. He remained with Mr. Baird some
seven years and then purchased the Rideout farm opposite Mr.
Cyrus Chandler's. Here he commenced the business of farm-
ing and trading, being extensively engaged in buying and ship-
ping shingles. In 1865 Mr. Hume removed to Blaine and built
at the corner the store now occupied by Mr. John Bubar. Here
he continued in trade for a year or two, when he returned to
Bridgewater and purchased the Collins store in which he con-
tinued to tade until his death something over a year ago. He
was largely engaged in the lumber business, and also owned
starch factories in company with Hon. Geo. W. Collins in Mars
Hill and at Clark Brook in South Presque Isle.

Mr. Nathaniel Rideout came from New Brunswick in 1845
and purchased the lot opposite Cyrus Chandler's. He reared a
family of eighteen children, his son John remaining upon the
old farm until 1860, when he sold it to Mr. Bedford Hume.
Members of this family still reside in Bridgewater, and the
annual reunion of the Rideout family is an event always looked
forward to with much interest by the citizens of the town.

One of the most stirring and energetic business men of
Bridgewater is Hon. Geo. W. Collins, who is well known not
only throughout Aroostook County, but also in other sections
of the State. Mr. Collins came from the town of Ripley, in
Somerset County, in the fall of 1860, and settled at Bridge-
water Corner, where he leased the Johnson store and commenced
trading. He soon afterwards purchased the store and a large
tract of land adjoining. Here he built the new store and after-
wards sold to Mr. Hume. After selling the store, Mr. Collins
continued to do an extensive business of various kinds, being
largely engaged in buying cattle and carrying on the large farm
now owned by Mr. Fred Whited. He also had farms in Mars
Hill. In 1871 Mr. Collins left Bridgewater, though still retain-
ing much property in the town. He carried on business at a
number of places and in 1876 returned and built a saw mill on
Whitney Brook, at Bridgewater Centre. This mill had an up and
down saw and shingle machine and was run by water power.
He also built at the same place a tannery for the manufacture of
upper leather, but had just got it in successful operation when
it was entirely consumed by fire. He then sold the saw mill to
Mr. T. G. Huntington and in a short time afterwards that was
also burned. Mr. Collins then built a new mill near the site
of the one burned and afterwards sold it to Mr. C. P. Church.
He also built a new tannery for the manufacture of sole leather

116 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

and this too he afterwards sold to Mr. Church. In 1882 Mr.
Collins built a steam shingle mill at Bridgewater Centre, which
he still owns and operates. In 1878 Mr. Geo. Hibbard built the
starch factory at the Centre which three years later Mr. Collins
purchased and still owns. In 1886 Mr. Collins purchased the
Baird mills at the boundary line and here he still does a large
business.

As a farming town Bridgewater is naturally well up on the
list of good towns in Aroostook and only needs proper means
of communication with the outside world to make it a live and
prosperous town. The stage road from Houlton to Presque Isle
runs in almost a due north course through the middle of the
town and there are fine farms along this road for the entire dis-
tance. From the Corner a road runs east to Baird's Mills near
the boundary line. This is a very fine and well kept road and
runs through a grand farming section. A substantial bridge
some four hundred feet long is built across the stream above
the mill and after crossing this bridge the road continues on
away to the St. John River. A railroad is already in contempla-
tion from Woodstock to Baird's Mills on the New Brunswick
side and a subsidy of $100,000 has already been obtained from
the Provincial government. Should this road be built it would
be of great benefit to the town, but its value would be as nothing
compared with that of a road directly across our own soil to our
own markets. The road from Woodstock would make of Baird's
Mills virtually a Provincial village, while the building of a direct
line would infuse into it the Yankee push and enterprise needed
to make it a wide-awake place. Nature has done much for it,
and it only remains for the railroad across Maine soil, and the
business enterprises sure to be built up by Maine citizens to do
the rest. A large portion of the western part of the town is still
unsettled and is yet covered with its original forest growth. In
this section there are grand swells of fine farming land which
some day will be cleared up and made to support a much larger
population than the town has today. Throughout all this forest
tract there is still much good lumber and a large extent of this
portion of the town is still in the hands of proprietors. The
trustees of the academies held the land with the exception of
what was sold to settlers until about 1856 when the Bridgewa-
ter grant was sold by the State for taxes and was bought by
Isaac R. Clark of Bangor, who afterwards sold it to John D.
Baird. Of this tract Hon. George W. Collins afterwards bought
some 6,000 acres.

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 117

Bridgewater was incorporated as a town in 1858. The pop-
ulation increased from 143 in 1850 to 722 in 1880 and the recent
census makes it together with the very few settlers upon the ad-
joining township of Letter D., 030. The valuation of the town
last year was $148,354, and the rate of taxation fourteen mills
on the dollar.

CARIBOU

Caribou is one of the busiest and most thriving villages in
Maine. Its situation is picturesque and reminds one of a Swiss
village, as a large part of the thickly settled portion of the
town is located upon the sloping hills which rise from the river
and stream and give to the village a most beautiful background
as one views it on entering by the road from Presque Isle. The
village is situated on the Caribou Stream, a short distance above
the point of its confluence with the Aroostook. The town of
Caribou, like Presque Isle and Fort Fairfield, comprises two
full townships and embraces an area of twelve miles long by six
miles wide. The township in which the village is situated was
originally known as H., Range 2. The Aroostook River enters
this town on its southern border and flowing completely across
the town makes an abrupt turn near the line between H. and I.,
Range 2, and doubling upon itself forms one of the "ox bows"
so common on this tortuous river, and leaves the town on its
eastern line, flowing into Fort Fairfield and thence to the St.
John. A strip containing 10,000 acres on the east side of this
township, H., was years ago granted by the State of Massachu-
setts to Gen. Eaton of that State for meritorious services ren-
dered during the war with Tripoli, and this strip was known for
a long time as Eaton Grant, and was afterwards organized as
Eaton Plantation.

As the granting of this tract of land connects Caribou with
the early history of our nation, it will be interesting to give a
somewhat detailed account of the circusmtances which gave rise
to this action by the Massachusetts Legislature. Gen. William
Eaton was in command of the land forces sent to Tripoli to unite
with our fleet in bringing that piratical state to terms. Landing
at Alexandria, he succeeded in forming an alliance with Hamet,
the ex-bashan of Tripoli, who had been dethroned and expelled

118 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

by his brother, and uniting his forces with those of Hamet,
started from Alexandria on the 6th of March, 1805, on his west-
v/ard march of more than 1000 miles. This march was attend-
ed by almost unparalleled suffering, peril and fatigue, and on
the 25th of April Eaton and Hamet arrived before Derne, the
capital of a large province of Tripoli. In answer to General
Eaton's summons for the surrender of the place, the governor
returned the laconic reply, "My head or yours." On April 27th
Eaton assaulted the city, the American squadron having ar-
rived in the bay and taking part in the action. After a desperate
contest of nearly three hours the place was carried at the point
of the bayonet, the governor and many of his adherents fleeing
to the desert. This, together with other successful operations
on the part of Gen. Eaton, brought about the termination of the
war and the release of a large number of American prisoners.
On the 4th of March, 1806, the following resolve was passed by
the Legislature of Massachusetts :

"Whereas in a rising republic it is highly important to
cherish that patriotism which conquers a love of ease, of
pleasure and of v/ealth, which prompts individuals to a love of
their country and induces them to embrace every opportunity
to advance its prosperity and happiness, as well by ameliorating
the fate of those citizens whom the fortune of war has thrown
into captivity, as by cheerfully contributing to its support and
defence; And whereas the love of enterprise, when guided by
a just sense of propriety and benevolence, may become the par-
ent of many virtues and a state is sometimes indebted for its
safety to the virtues and undaunted courage of a single man; And
whereas the Senate and House of Representatives of this Com-
monwealth are desirous to perpetuate a remembrance of the
heroic enterprise of William Eaton, while engaged in the service
of the United States, whose undaunted courage and brilliant
services so eminently contributed to release a large number of
his fellow citizens, late prisoners in Tripoli, from the chains of
slavery and to restore them to freedom, their country and their
friends; Therefore, Resolved: — That the committee for the sale
of eastern lands be and are hereby authorized and directed to
convey to William Eaton, Esq., a citizen of this commonwealth,
and to his heirs and assigns a tract of land to contain ten thou-
sand acres of any of the unappropriated land of the Common-
wealth in the District of Maine (excepting the ten townships
on the Penobscot River). And be it further resolved, that His Ex
cellency, the Governor, be requested, as soon as conveniently

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 119

may be, to cause to be transmitted to the said William Eaton an
authentic copy of this resolution."

This tract of land was surveyed by Park Holland and was
conveyed to Gen. Eaton by deed dated January 28, 1808, and is
now a part of the town of Caribou.

In 1859, that part of "H., R. 2" lying west of the Aroos-
took River and comprising a tract six miles long and about three
miles wide was incorporated as the town of Lyndon, Eaton still
remaining a plantation. There was also a strip of land lying
east of the Aroostook River, between the river and the west line
of Eaton Grant, which was not included in either organization.
This territory was organized for election purposes, or, as some
of the old settlers used to say, "for electioneering purposes," as
the plantation of Sheridan. Township I, Range 2, lying north
of Lyndon, was also organized as the plantation of Forestville.
In 1869 the plantations of Eaton, Sheridan and Forestville were
annexed to Lyndon, thus making that town to include the two
entire townships of H. and I., Range 2, and comprising a tract
twelve miles in length by six miles in width. The name of the
town was subsequently changed to Caribou, by which name the
village had always been known.

The first man to make a settlement within the limits of the
present town of Caribou for the purpose of making a farm was
Mr. Ivory Hardison, who came from the town of Winslow, in
Kennebec Co., in the spring of 1839 and took the lot on the line
of the present road from Presque Isle to Caribou, now occupied
by his son, Oliver Hardison, and Mr. Henry Fish. After taking
up his lot Mr. Hardison returned to Winslow, and though he
came back in the spring of 1842 and made a clearing on his lot,
did not move his family and establish a permanent residence in
his now home in the forest until the spring of 1843.

In the meantime Mr. Alexander Cochran of New Brunswick
had made a small clearing at the mouth of Caribou Stream and
had erected a rude grist mill.

In 1843 Col. Harvey Ormsby came from Denmark, in Ox-
ford County, and took up four lots in the western part of the
town near the south line. He was a very eccentric man, but a
man of much energy and business ability. He engaged suc-
cessfully in farming and lumbering for a number of years and
then sold his property in Caribou and moved no one knew whi-
ther.

' In the spring of 1843 Messrs Winslow and Hiram Hall
came from Hartford in Oxford County, and settled a short dis-

120 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

tance south of Mr. Hardison. Hiram Hall cleared the farm af-
terwards known as the Tuck place, and built the large barn
now standing on the farm. He afterwards removed to Minneso-
ta. Winslow Hall cleared the farm now occupied by his G. C.
Hall, and after living upon it fourteen years, during a part of
which time he was engaged in trade, removed to Presque Isle.

In March, 1844, Hon. Samuel W. Collins and W. A. Vaughan
came from Calais and bought of the State four lots each, includ-
ing the present mill site and also the site of the Vaughan Hotel.
They paid for this land one dollar per acre, three-fourths of the
price being paid in road labor and one-fourth in cash.

A blacksmith by the name of Williams then had a chopping
of about four acres near where the village burying ground now
is, and David T. Adams had a small clearing on what is now
the Moses Thomas farm. There was also a small clearing near
the mouth of Caribou Stream. With the exception of these few
openings, the territory now comprised in the village and vicinity
was an unbroken wilderness. At that time Alexander Cochran
had a small mill with one run of stones at the mouth of Caribou
Stream. Winslow Hall lived where his son, Mr. G. C. Hall now
lives, and had ten acres cleared and a small log house built.
There was then no store nearer than Towle's at Presque Isle.

Immediately upon arriving and locating their land, Collins
and Vaughan commenced clearing away the forest near where
the grist mill now stands, and hewing the timber upon the spot,
before the snow was off the ground had the frame of the present
grist mill up and ready for boarding. As soon as the ice left
the river they towed a raft of boards up from Fort Fairfield and
finished the mill. They had two run of stones and a cleanser.
"They hauled one set of stones from Lincoln to Ashland, where
they placed them on a raft and floated them down the Aroostook
River to the mill. The other set was towed on a raft up the St.
John and Aroostook Rivers from New Brunswick. They com-
menced grinding in the fall of 1848. They also opened a store
gor, and afterwards bringing them in boats up the St. John and
Aroostook, the New Brunswick legislature having passed a law
in a room in the grist mill, at first hauling their goods from Ban-
allowing goods to come through in bond.

Among the first settlers who came after Collins and
Vaughan were George and Cephas Sampson and Mr. Watson
Starbird.

In 1845 Collins and Vaughan built on the site of the present
mill a large saw mill with one up and down saw and a clap-

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 121

board machine. This mill was burnt in the winter of 1848 and
rebuilt in the following year. In 1863 the mill was again de-
stroyed by fire and the present fine mill was built during the
same year.

The first school taught in Caribou was a private school
started in a log house in 1848 by Miss Mary Ann Hardison,
sister to Jacob Hardison and to Mrs. S. W. Collins. The "..irst
schoolhouse was built in 1851 on the spot where the present
village schoolhouse stands.

In 1852 Collins & Vaughan built a tannery on the Caribou
Stream below the grist mill. This tannery was operated by
William Farrell, who bought hides of the farmers and also of
the lumbermen who sometimes drove beef cattle into the woods
to be slaughtered. Mr. Farrell also manufactured the leather
into thick boots for the lumber trade. Collins & Vaughan also
built a blacksmith shop the same year and employed Benj.
Annis, who was the first blacksmith in the town.

They also built the first store in Caribou in 1855. The build-
ing is still standing and is now occupied by Mr. John Anderson
as a boot and shoe shop.

No meetinghouse was built until 1860, when the Union
house was erected, but religious meetings had previously been
held in the schoolhouse.

In 1858 Sylvester Washburn built a sash and blind factory
near where the present factory is located. It was afterwards
destroyed by fire and rebuilt. The next year Mr. Washburn
built the house afterwards occupied as a hotel by J. W. Gary
and Harry Small. This house was burned some seven years
ago, and has not been rebuilt.

The second store erected in Caribou was built by D. F.
Adams about the year 1860, soon after which another store was
opened by Mr. Nathaniel Bartlett. In 1862 John S. Arnold built
the store now owned by Mr. Alba Holmes, and in 1867 Sawin
& Teague started in trade. They first opened a store in the old
tannery building, and afterwards moved into the large new store
built by Mr. W. A. Vaughan and now occupied by Samuel Tay-
lor. Since that time the number of stores has increased until
there are something over thirty in the village today.

The first bridge across the Aroostook River at Caribou was
built in 1863. The State appropriated one-half of the cost and
the citizens contributed the other half.

In 1871 Mr. Alba Holmes started the first potato starch fac-
tory in Aroostook. The building was built by Mr. J. C. Barnes

122 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

of Fort Fairfield for a woolen mill, but was never used for that
purpose. A carding machine was run in the building until Mr.
Holmes purchased it and converted it into the largest starch,
factory in the United States if not in the world. Mr. Holmes
still continues the business of manufacturing starch, and dis-
tributes among the farmers a large amount of money each year
for potatoes. He also does a large business in the manufacture
of cedar shingles and his enterprise adds much to the business
activity of this thriving town. There are two other starch fac-
tories in the town, one owned by Howe & Taylor, and the other
by F. M. York, Esq., About 500 tons of starch was manufac-
tured in the three factories last year. This was a light make,
as the high price of potatoes for shipping prevented the factor-
ies from receiving as large a stock as usual.

In 1872 Rev. W. T. Sleeper commenced the publication of
the North Star at Caribou. Mr. Sleeper at once undertook the
work of making known the resources of the Aroostook Valley,
and seeing the need of some better means of communication with
the outside world, suggested the idea of building a narrow gauge
railroad up the Aroostook River from Andover, N. B., to con-
nect with the New Brunswick Railway which was then in pro-
cess of construction. Mr. Sleeper first suggested a road with
wooden rails, which idea was much ridiculed at the time. The
articles in the North Star, however, attracted the attention of
railroad men and the consequence was that the idea began to
be earnestly considered. The outcome of the discussion was
that a charter was granted by the Legislature in the winter of
1873, and the Aroostook River Railroad Company was incorpor-
ated. This company had the right to construct a railroad from
the boundary line to Caribou with wooden or iron rails as they
saw fit. The idea of the wooden rails was soon abandoned, and
the New Brunswick Railway taking hold of the project, a nar-
row guage railroad with iron rails was completed to Fort Fair-
field in 1875 and by the energy and enterprise of the people of
Caribou the road bed was made ready for the rails and the
track continued to Caribou in 1876.

From that date the growth of the town has been steady,
healthy and continuous. The citizens of Caribou are an enter-
prising, energetic people and are always awake to any move-
ment which promises to add to the business of the town or to
increase its social or educational advantages. The town has an
air of business push and the men of the town have that off-hand,
breezy energy more often seen in the new towns of the far
West.

mgTTORY OF AROOSTOOK 123

Like other thriving villages in Aroostook, Caribou depends
for its support and for the sure basis of its bus ness upon its
grand outlaying agricultural region and upon the immense supply
of cedar and spruce lumber growing upon all the lands in its
vicinity.

No abandoned farms are found in this s3':tion, and a stran-
ger riding through the country would at once pronounce it the
home of a peaceful, happy and prosperous people.

That part of the old township H., R. 2 which lies on the
west side of the Aroostook River, and wh'ch once formed the
town of Lyndon is a solid block of fine farming land with hardly
a waste lot upon the whole tract.

The road from Presque Isle to Caribou runs through this
tract on a line nearly parallel with the Ariostook River, the
farms on the east side of this road having a iiontage on the road
and stretching away back to the river. Hardwood Creek crosses
this road about a half mile north of the Presque Isle I'ne and
flows down into the Aroostook River. A saw mill is built upon
this creek, which is a great convenience to the settlers in the
vicinity. Something over two miles from the 'Presque Isle line
on this road Is a post office which still bears the name of Lyn-
don, the name of the old town. The office is kept by Mr. G. C.
iHall, a son of Mr. Winslow Hall, who was one of the original
settlers of this region.

The mail runs from Presque Isle to Caribou every morning
and back at night for the accommodation of all the residents
along the road, another office being established at Maysville
Centre, three miles from Presque Isle village. The through mail
between the villages is carried upon the train.

The land included in the "ox-bow" formed by the Aroos-
took River as it bends, and turning upon its course, runs south-
ward again through a part of what was formerly Eaton Grant
is splendid farming land. About midway in this bend of the
river, on a beautiful elevation, is the farm of N. S. Lufkin, Esq.,
one of the oldest settlers on the tract. When Mr. Lufkin set-
tled here he could look down upon the village of Caribou and
could see but five lights, and they made by tallow candles,
while now of an evening he can look upon a thriving village with
its streets and business houses lighted by electricity and the
bright lights flashing from hundreds of windows of comfortable
homes.

The population of the section now included In the town of
Caribou was in 1860 about 800. In 1870 It had Increased to

124 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

1410; in 1880 to 2756, and in 1890 to 4087, being the largest
population of any town in the County. This large increase in
population is in a great measure accounted for by the fact that
the northern portion of the town is almost entirely inhabited by
French settlers who are a very prolific people. The valuation
of Caribou in 1880 was $337,388, and in 1890 $780,439.

We append the following personal reminiscences of Mr.
Jacob Hardison, one of the earliest settlers of the town. Mr.
Hardison died at Caribou March 27, 1891. He was a valued
citizen and was widely known as a man of sterling integrity
and sound judgment:

"In the spring of 1839 my father, Ivory Hardison, and my-
self, then a boy 15 years old, with one or two other men, left
our home in the town of Winslow, Kennebec County, Maine, to
seek a new home in the wilderness of Northern Aroostook.

"As there was no road from Houlton to Presque Isle at that
time, our only way was to take the Aroostook road leading from
a point in the military road from Mattawamkeag to Houlton,
about seven miles north of Mattawamkeag through Patten to
Township 15, Range 5, and from there to Ashland there was
only a winter road.

"Over these roads we managed, with no little difficulty, to
haul our scanty supplies. We at last reached Masardis, the
end of the road, having been five days on the way from Patten,
a distance of thirty seven miles. Here we stopped a few days
with the few settlers who had collected on the bank of the
Aroostook River to rest and look for settling lands.

"We soon decided to go further down the river, so sending
our team back to Patten, we constructed a raft and packing our
supplies on it, set adrift to seek a place that suited us better.

"With the swift current of a spring freshet we reached the
mouth of the Presque Isle Stream in one day. Here we met
Mr. Cunningham, who was surveying on letter H., R. 2 (Cari-
bou) about 12 miles below, and who advised us to go down
with him. Following his advice we floated on down the river,
landing at an old lumber camp located on the east side of the
river on what was afterwards known as the Hall farm, which
the English had occupied the winter before, but on hearing the
clanking of arms and the tread of the State militia had fled to
safe quarters, leaving timber cut in the woods, throwing logs
from their sleds and leaving tons of fine timber on the landings,
and even leaving their cooking utensils in some instances. On
the landing just below their camp on the lot afterwards occu

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 12^

pled by father, was to be seen a large pile of pine timber that
they left, which after the Ashburton Treaty, they were allowed
to run down the river to St. John, by paying stump age to the
State.

"We remained at this camp till a location was settled upon,
which was soon done. Going about half a mi.e west of our camp
we built a bark shelter and commenced to clear on the lot now
occupied by my brother, Oliver, and Henry Fish.

"Later we joined the surveymg party and helped finish the
survey of the township and locate the road as now traveled from
Caribou to Presque Isle.

"In the fall we returned to Winslow, and in the spring of
1842 father and I returned to Aroostook. During our absence
a road had been partly constructed between Houlton and Presque
Isle and we came that way, but before reaching Presque Isle
the road was so bad that we were obliged to leave our wagon
and pack our scanty supplies, including a little corn and two
bushels of wheat on our horses. Upon reaching the Aroostook
Kiver in Maysville we followed it down to our new home.

"We then set to work burning and clearing the chopping we
ihad made, and planting our wheat and corn.

"During the first four months of our stay we saw no one,
but in the fall Harvey Ormsby and John T. Pike, who were also
seeking homes for themselves, came and stayed w.th us several
weeks. We had already commenced to build a log house, and
our visitors helped us finish it. It was of squared timber and
in one end had a huge stone fireplace that would burn wood four
feet long.

Having harvested our small crop of corn and wheat and
hauled a large supply of wood to our door, we, in December,
started for China, Me., where our family then was.

"On Februray 14, 1843, we started again for Aroostook with
our family and household effects. The family consisted of fa-
ther, mother and seven children.

"As no road had been opened from Presque Isle to Caribou,
upon reaching the Aroostook River, we drove down it upon the
ice. On February 28, 1843, we reached our new home, and if
ever there was a happy family we were one that night. Mother
cried for joy. We were "monarchs of all we surveyed."

"We had no neighbors within four miles. Soon after our
arrival the snow became very deep, and as we had no snow
shoes it was impossible for us to get out of our clearing. Our
supplies began to run short but we had the Canada corn which

I2tf HISTORY OP AROOSTOOK:

we had raised the year before. For six weeks the bread, which
was our only food, was made from meal ground in a small coffee
mill. On the crust, in the spring, we boys hauled our first grist
of corn on a handsled to the old Cochran mill, which stood at
the mouth of the Caribou Stream. The original Cochran mill
was a very primitive affair, consisting of one run of stone, which
were split from a granite boulder on the bank of the river and
rafted down. The bolt for separating the flour from the bran
and hull was made of narrow strips of wood set up edgewise and
set at an angle of 40 degrees so the flour would pass through
and the bran and hull would pass down under the mill, where
he kept a few hogs on the bran at the expense of his neighbors,
who were ignorant of its quality. Mr. Cochran made the first
opening in this town in order to get a mill site.

"We made the first break in the forest of this town for the
purpose of making a farm. On one occasion the Cochran boys
went hunting and struck the trail of a caribou. Their dogs took
the trail and run the caribou down the river on the ice. The old
man at the mill heard the barking of the dogs and went to the
river bank, and with an old fowling piece managed to wound the
animal so that the dogs caught and killed the caribou as he
turned up the creek, and from that event originated the name of
Caribou Stream.

"In March, Harvey Ormsby returned with his family and
settled in the western part of the town some three miles from
our place. They, for a year, were our nearest neighbors.

"During the summer the State grubbed the road as now
traveled from the Aroostook River in Maysville (it having been
built to there before) to Caribou Stream. In the winter of 1843
Hiram and Winslow Hall, with their families, moved from Ox
ford County and settled within half a mile of our place.

"In the spring of 1844 our worthy townsman, S. W. Collins,
and his partner, W. A. Vaughan, commenced to erect a grist
mill which has since been remodeled, and is still standing upon
the old site.

"They also erected a saw mill which was afterwards burned
and the one now owned by Mr. Collins was erected on the old
site.

"Our town grew fast and soon nearly every settling lot
was taken. It was incorporated as the town of Lyndon in 1859,
and afterwards changed to Caribou, which name the village and
stream always bore."

J. HARBISON.

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 127

WASHBURN

The main stream of Salmon Brook rises in a beaut'ful lit-
tle lake in the northern part of the town of P'^rham and flowing
in a southeasterly course enters the town of Washburn near its
T.orthwest corner. The east branch of Salmon Brook rises in
the eastern part of Perham and flowing southeasterly across the
southwest corner of the town of Woodland, enters Washburn
through its northern border, about a mile and a half from the
northwest corner of the town. These two fine streams flowing
in a southerly direction through the eastern part of the town of
"Washburn, gradually converging, unite in one strong flowing
stream about a mile above its junction with the beautiful Aroos-
took R'ver. On the western bank of this stream is a lovely
plain rising gradually as it recedes from the water until it ter-
minates in a gringe of green forest at the top of the gentle
slope. On the eastern side of the stream, below the mouth of
the east branch, the land rises somewhat more boldly, but by no
means steep, and presents a clean, smooth, verdant slope, as it
is seen from the opposite side. On the beautiful plain upon the
■west side of Salmon brook is situated the principal part of the
pleasant village of Washburn, though the recent growth of the
village has extended across the stream.

The town of Washburn was formerly known as Township
No. 13, R. 3, W. E. L. S. It is a single township, six miles
square, and is bounded by Woodland on the north, Caribou on
the east, Wade Plantation on the west, and has Mapleton for
its neighbor on the southern border.

The first settlers on the township, like those of nearly all
the towns along the Aroostook River, came up the river from
New Brunswick many years ago and settled along the river
bank.

The oldest settler of whom we can obtain any account and
probably the first white man who made a home in what is now
the town of Washburn was Nathaniel Churchill who came with
his family from New Brunswick in 1826, and settled on what is
now called the Stratton flat near the mouth of Salmon Brook. He
remained there some five years, when he moved farther down
the river and settled on Oakes' island. He continued at this
place until 1833, when his wife died and he returned with his
children to Brunswick. In 1839, having married again, he ';ame

128 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

back up the river with his family and settled on the lot where-
his son. Job Churchill, now lives, some four miles down the
river from the town of Washburn. When Mr. Churchill returned
a number of settlers had taken up lots along the river and he was
no longer alone in the wilderness.

In 1837 Thomas McDonald came from Miramchi and set-
tled on the north side of the Aroostook about a mile below the
mouth of Salmon Brook. His son, Mr. John L. McDonald, still
resides upon the lot which is now a handsome farm with com-
modious buildings and fertile fields.

Soon after that Wilder Stratton settled on the lot first taken,
up by Nathaniel Churchill and his children still occupy the
farm, having a beautiful residence on the height some distance
back from the river. Mrs. A. W. Stratton, an accomplished
writer and a well known contributor to numerous publications,.
IS at present living there.

The first settler in what is now the village of Washburn,
and the pioneer business man of the town, was Isaac Wilder,,
who came to Aroostook from the town of Pembroke in Wash-
ington County, about the year 1840. Mr. Wilder remained for
a time at Fort Fairfied where he worked on the barracks as a
carpenter, then pushing on up the river he built a saw mill in
the dense wilderness on the banks of Salmon Brook. At tliat
time the only settlers upon the town were the few who were
located on the Aroostook River in the southwest portion of the
township. As late as 1844, in the report of the Commissioners
of Maine and Massachusetts who in that year visited this sec-
tion to adjust the settlers' claims, we find mention of but twelve
of these settlers along the river bank in 13, R. 3, now Wash-
burn. These were Peter Bull, Nathaniel Churchill, Jabcz S.
Currier, Joshua Dunn, John Hicky, Lawrence Farrel, Wilder
Stratton, Elizabeth, widow of William Mumford, Joshua Chris-
tie, Job Churchill, Stephen Harris and Ebenezer Esty.

The State of Massachusetts then owned the town, as the
mother State still held each alternate township in this eastern
wilderness.

At the time of Mr. Wilder's coming there was no road in
in the township, the river being the only thoroughfare. The mill
contained an up and down saw and clapboard machine. The
boards and other long lumber were rafted in the water, and upon
these were piled the clapboards, and the rafts were floated down
the stream to the Aroostook River, thence down to the Aroos
took Falls, where the lumber had to be taken from the water.

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 129

hauled by the falls, rafted again below and thence floated out
into the St. John and down the river to Fredericton.

With Isaac Wilder, came his brother, Charles Wilder, who
settled and commenced a clearing near the mouth of the stream.

In 1843, Charles 0. Stoddard came from Perry, in Wash-
ington County, and settled on the bank of the Salmon Brook
stream a short distance below the mill. In the same year Robert
Wilder, brother of Isaac, came from Pembroke and made a
clearing next above Stoddard, and with him from the same town
came Samuel Bugbee, who settled on the adjoining lot below
Stoddard.

In 1843 also came Hiram Braddock. who moved from Cal-
ais and made a home on the north bank of the Aroostook, about
half a mile below the mouth of Salmon Brook. Soon after these
settlers came they cut the road through from the mill to the
Aroostook River at the mouth of the brook. This was for some
years a road through the woods, hardly passable for teams in
summer, and was not turnpiked until 1846. In 1845 the road
was cut through from the south bank of the Aroostook, opposite
the mouth of Salmon Brook, to what was then called the "State
Road," leading from Presque Isle to Ashland. By fording or
ferrying across the Aroostook, the settlers near Wilder's mill had
communication by means of this road with Presque Isle where
much of their trading was then done.

In the winter of 184-1 — 45 the township was organized as
the plantation of Salmon Brook and the same year a school was
established in the house of one of the settlers. Some three years
later a schoolhouse was built near where the village cemetery is
now located. In this house religious meetings were held from
time to time and occasionally a faithful missionary penetrated
these wilds and preached to the settlers.

In 1850 a road was commenced from Wilder's mill toward
Caribou. Later on this road was continued to Caribou village
and is now a fine smooth turnpike running through a magnificent
farming section.

In 1850 Gould Crouse and his sons, Jerry, Abram and Wil-
liam, came from New Brunswick and settled on the Aroostook
River in what is now known as East Washburn.

Joshua Dunn, a brother of Elbridge Dunn, Esq., of St. John,
then lived on the lot which is now the beautiful homestead of
Mr. Jerry Crouse, and sold the lot to the elder Crouse.

In 1852 Mr. Theodore Wilder came from Pembroke and
commenced the farm now owned and occupied by Mr. S. W.

130 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

Tabor, on a fine swell of land some two miles northeast of the
village.

Settlers came slowly for a time, a few making clearings on
the nev/ road toward Caribou, and quite a number coming after
the Editorial Excursion in 1858, the reports of v/hich made the
country better known to the outside world.

Isaac Wilder kept a few goods for sale at his mill, but no
store was built in the town until 1860. In that year Chauncy
Harris built a store, and in 1861 rented it to Mr. Nathan Perry,
then from Bangor, who traded in it for a short time and then
moved to Presque Isle. In 1865, Benjamin Wilder, a son of
Robert Wilder, built another store where he traded until 1871,
when he sold out to Nathan Perry, who still continued his busi-
ness at Presque Isle, his sons attending to the branch store at
Salmon Brook. In 1880 Mr. Perry sold out the business to
Farnham Bros., who are today the principal merchants and resi-
dent business men of the town.

Isaac Wilder continued to own and operate the mill until
1879, during which time it was twice burnt and rebuilt. In
1879 Mr. Wilder sold the property to Messrs. Johnson & Phair
of Presque Isle, and died not long afterward. This firm and the
branch firm of E. J. Johnson & Co. continued to operate the mill
and increase the business until the firm of Johnson & Phair was
dissolved some three years ago and the property came into the
hands of Hon. T. H. Phair, the present owner.

The present village of Washburn has been mainly the
growth of the last ten years, though the settlement received quite
an impetus from the establishment of two starch factories, built
by Mr. Miller of New Hampshire, the one at the village about
1875 and that at East Washburn a few years later. Both of
these factories are now the property of Hon. T. H. Phair.

The town of Washburn was incorporated in 1861 and was
named for Gov. Israel Washburn, from whom the town received
a present of a library of two hundred choice volumes. By the
census of 1880 the population of the town was 809, and by that
of 1890 was 1097. The valuation of the town was $100,243,
which in 1890 had increased to $215,341.

Adjoining Washburn on the west is Township 13, R. 4,
organized as Wade Plantation, but generally known as Dunn-
town. The Aroostook River flows across the southeast corner
of this township, and there are numerous settlers along the river
on either bank. The road from Washburn to Perham crosses
the northeast corner of the township. Farnham Bros, pur-

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 131

chased 10,000 acres in the northern part of this township some
years ago and have a tract four miles long by one wide, along
the Perham line already lotted for settlement, and a road run-
ning through the middle of the tract on the line between the
tiers of lots. These are all first class settling lots, and there are
fifteen lots on the tract still unsold. They will soon run out an-
other tract into 48 lots of most excellent settling land. They
sell these lots for $3.00 per acre to settlers and make no reserva-
tion of timber. Settlers are required to pay $50 down and are
allowed all needed time on the balance if interest is paid. The
southern part of this town is owned by the Dunns. The Aroos-
took River runs for a distance of about five miles through the
southeast portion of the township and on each side of the river
are roads leading to Washburn village. The lots along the river
are all taken and there are already some excellent farms. There
are two schoolhouses in this part of the plantation and one has
already been established among the settlers on the Farnham
block. With the exception of the lots along the river and the
Farnham lots the township is still in its wilderness state and is
for the most part excellent settling land. In the southeast por-
tion of the township on lots number 23 and 24 lying south of
the Aroostook River is the deposit of iron described in the re-
port of the scientific survey of the State of Maine. Should a
railroad ever run in the vicinity these lands would probably be
valuable for the iron ore, which could then be profitably worked.
Wade Plantation was first organized in 1859. In 1862 it
lost its organization and was not reorganized until 1874. The
population by the census of 1890 was 158.

SHERMAN

The southern portion of Aroostook County comprises an
area of five ranges of townships in width from east to west and
extending about fifty-five miles northward from the County of
Washington and the eastern shoulder of Penobscot. At the
northern extremity of this strip, the county extends three ranges
of townships farther to the west along the the northern border
of Penobscot, and two townships farther north the southern line
of the county extends across the entire State. The towns along
the western border of this southern portion of Aroostook are

132 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

watered by tributaries of the Penobscot, and it was the vast lum-
ber business of the Penobscot that first induced settlers to en-
ter upon the fertile lands of this part of the County, Lying
along the western border of Penobscot County, the fourth town-
ship north from the extreme southern line of Aroostook, is the
goodly town of Sherman, one of the most enterprising as well
as one of the best in an agricultural point of view of the southern
Aroostook towns. The old West Aroostook road branches off
from the Military road in the town of Molunkus, near the south-
ern border of Aroostook and continuing northward through Mo-
lunkus, the wilderness township of No. 1, R. 5, Benedicta and a
portion of Sherman, then veers to the westward into Penobscot
County and runs up through the towns of Staceyville, Patten
and a portion of Mount Chase, re-enters Aroostook about m'd-
way of the town of Hersey and extends away north to the St.
John River at Fort Kent. The lergth of this road from the
"mouth of the road" in Molunkus to its terminus at Fort Kent,
is upwards of 125 miles and it is. now the longest stage route in
the State. As early as 1832, this road was cut through nearly to
the south line of Sherman, then known as No. 3, Range 5.

In that year Mr. Alfred Cushman of Sum^ner, Oxford County,
the pioneer settler of Sherman, came in and took up a lot on the
west line of the town some two and a half miles north of the
southwest corner. The town then belonged to the State of Mas-
sachusetts and Mr. Cushman bought 200 acres of land, paying
$1.75 per acre in cash and taking a deed from the Land Agent
of Massachusetts. Mr. Cushman's lot was in the midst of a vast
wilderness, the fair town of Patten and all the country for many
miles northward being at that time covered with its original for-
est growth and the country untenanted save by the crews of
hardy lumbermen who had their winter camps along the rivers
and streams which traversed this grand forest tract. Having
made a small clearing and built a primitive habitation, Mr.
Cushman next year moved his family to their new home. The
road from Molunkus v;as then hardly passable for teams ex-
cept in winter and Mr. Cushman and his wife and three children
walked in from the mouth of the road, he carrying the fourth
child, an infant, in his arms for a distance of eighteen miles-

The lot upon which he settled was a beautiful slope of fine
productive land and he at once went to work to clear away the
forest and make a farm. iHis market was at the lumber camps
nearby, and his hay and grain sold for remunerative prices. His
first crop of hay brought him $25 per ton and the price for

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 133

grain was in proportion. Mr. Cushman tells of enormous crops
raised upon his farm in these early days, having one year 210
bushels of ears of handsome corn on an acre, and raising 77
bushels of fine wheat from one bushel of seed. The old gentle-
man is still living upon the old farm, which is now in the midst
of a beautiful cultivated section, with broad and fertile fields
extending in every direction over the slopes that were covered
by the greenwood trees when he first made his settlement here
in the forest. Four stalwart sons did faithful service in the
Union army and this old pioneer is now enjoying the twilight
of life, tenderly cared for by his children and enjoying the re-
spect of the community in which he has lived so long

The year following Mr, Cushman's settlement the road was
cut through nearly to Masardis, and in 1834 Mr. John Cram from
Lowell, Mass., came in and took the lot south of Mr. Cushman's.

In 1836 — 37 Mr. Cushman built the tavern stand near his
house and here he put up travelers for about two years, when
he sold to one Lewis and he in turn to Mr. Theodore Trafton,
who kept the hotel until some twelve years ago. Mr. Cush-
man gives as the reason for his going out of the hotel business
that it was expected in those days that all innkeepers would
keep a supply of liquor for customers, and as he could not con-
scientiously do this he abandoned the business.

Among the other early settlers of the town upon the old
Aroostook road were Mr. Spaulding Robinson, who came from
Sumner, Oxford County, about 1840, and made a farm near Mr.
Cushman's and also engaged largely in lumbering and trade.

Mr. Luke Perry and sons who came about the same time and
settled near the south line of the town, and Mr. Richard Boyn-
ton, who came from Alna a few years later. In 1850, Mr.
Boynton built a hotel at the mouth of the road leading to the
east branch of the Penobscot, which he continued to keep until
his death and which is now kept by his son, W. H. Boynton.
This hotel is about half a mile from the south line of the town
and in spring and fall is filled with crews of lumbermen going
to and returning from the woods, and does a large business.
There are a number of stores and shops in the vicinity of the
hotel, but the business centre of the town is now the village of
Sherman Mills, something more than a mile farther to the east.
In the northeastern portion of the town is a magnificent swell
of land known as Golden Ridge, upon which are now some of
the finest farms in this portion of the County.

The first to enter upon this grand ridge of land was Mr.

134 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

Samuel Chandler, who made a chopping in 1840. He did not
remain, however, but sold his lot to Mr. Wesley Caldwell, who
took possession the following year. Mr. Caldwell was a native
of Paris, Oxford County, and moved to Lincoln in 1824, being
one of the pioneer settlers of that town. He removed to Sher-
man April 11, 1841, and commenced clearing up a farm on
Golden Ridge. He raised his first crop in 1842 and the next
year moved his family to their first home, which they reached
on July 4th, 1843. They came across from Cushman's to their
log house by a spotted line through the woods, as there was
then no road in the township with the exception of the West
Aroostook road, which had been recently built-
in 1843, Mr. Joseph Dolley came from Lincoln and took
a lot next to Wesley Caldwell's. Horace Morse and John Hale
also came in 1843, and in 1845 Daniel Emery, John Scudder and
George Davidson moved in on the Ridge. In the meantime a
settlement had comm.enced at what is now Sherman Mills, and
in 1843 the road from the Mills, running over Golden Ridge to
Island Falls, was laid out by the State of Massachusetts. Very
few additions were made to the settlement upon Golden Ridge
until 1849, when Moses Perry, Charles H. Jackman and Joseph
Morrison came in and in 1850 Daniel and Jonathan Sleeper
took lots on the Ridge.

In 1851, Mr. George W. Webber moved into the new set-
tlement. Mr. Webber first came to Aroostook from New Hamp-
shire in 1829 and lived for a number of years in the town of
Linneus. He continued to live upon his farm on Golden Ridge
until 1870, when he removed to the Mills, where he has ever
since been engaged in trade. He was town treasurer of Sher-
man for many years and is one of the oldest and most respected
citizens of the town.

The first Sabbath School in the town was the Union Sab-
bath School, which was organized by the few settlers on Golden
Ridge in May, 1844, and has held its meetings continuously un-
til the present time, never having lost its organization. In those
early years, before any school was established in the town, the
children of the settlers were taught to read in this Sabbath
school.

The history of the settlement at Sherman Mills commences
with the year 1840, in which year Mr. Morgon L. Gary, from
Hingham, Mass., made a chopping of twenty acres- In 1841,
he burned and cleared part of the land and built a mill near
where the grist mill now stands. During the same year the

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 135

road from the Aroostook road to the mill was cut through.
Gary's mill which was built upon the Molunkus Stream and
contained an up and down saw, was burned in 1846 and Mr.
Gary immediately rebuilt, putting into the new mill in addition
to the saw, what the settlers called a "coffee mill," or a small
mill for grinding grain. This mill he continued to run until
about 1856, when he sold to Mr. Spaulding Robinson. In 1862,
Mr. Robinson took down the mill and the firm of Robinson &
Bean' built the grist mill now standing, in which are three run
of stones. In 1863, the same firm built a new saw mill, with an
up and down saw, lath saw and planer.

Mr. Gary built the first frame house at the Mills in 1848.
This house is still standing in good repair, and is occupied by
Mr. E. A. Jackman as a public house. The postoffice at Sher-
man Mills is also located in this, building. The next house at
the Mills was built by Spaulding Robinson in 1861.

The growth of the village was slow during the years of the
war, but with the revival of business at its close a new impetus
was given to this new settlement. In 1867, Mr- Leonard C.
Caldwell opened the first store at Sherman Mills in a store for-
merly occupied by Spaulding Robinson on the Aroostook road,
the building having been moved to the Mills.

About the same time the parsonage was built and the houses
of John W. Caldwell, Mrs. Perry, Mr. Gary and others. In 1868,
the Town House was built on the east side of the stream and
in 1869 the handsome Congregational Church building was
erected. This church was organized in 1862 and Rev. W. T.
Sleeper, now of Worcester, Mass., was its first pastor. In 1870,
a Lodge of Free and Accepted Masons was organized at Sher-
man Mills, a hall having been finished for their use in the sec-
ond story of the grist mill. In 1872, the store now occupied
by L. E. Jackman was built. The second story of this building
is now used as a residence by Mr. George M. Frye.

In 1876 the death of Mr- Spaulding Robinson occurred. Mr.
Robinson had long been one of the principal citizens of the town
and had occupied many public positions. He at one time repre-
sented his district in the Legislature of Maine and was for many
years local agent for State lands. His son, Mr. A. T. Robin-
son, succeeded to his business, and until quite recently was en-
gaged in trade at the Mills. He was a soldier in the 8th Maine
Regiment and for ten months and a half was a prisoner at
Andersonville.

Another of the old settlers of the town was Mr. Isaiah B.

136 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

Foster, who came from Dover in 1844 and settled about a quar-
ter of a mile from the Mills on the road to Golden Ridge.

In 1877, Messrs. Merrill, Piper and Libby of Colebrook,
N. H., built a starch factory at the Mills. Mr. George M. Frye
afterwards purchased Libby's interest and he and Mr. Piper
bought out Mr. Merrill. About the same time Mr- B. H. Towle,
from Lee, built a tannery near the Mills. This tannery was
operated uptil 1888, when it was destroyed by fire and has not
been rebuilt.

Previous to 1858, the entire southeast quarter of the town
was still in its wilderness state, no settler having entered upon
that portion of the town. In that year Mr. John Burnham set-
tled on what is known as the East Ridge, taking the lot now
occupied by Mr. John Scanlon at Woodbridge's Corner. With
Mr. Burnham came George W. Durgan, Granville Franks, An-
drew and Frank Sinclair and Albert Osgood, all from Bluehill,
Hancock County. This party arrived at Trafton's on the Aroos-
took road. May 20, 1858, and on the 22nd procured a guide and
proceeded through the woods to the southeast part of the town,
where they selected adjoining lots and, having built a camp in
which they all lived together, went to work making a clearing.

In the fall of 1858, Mr. Burnham brought his family to
Sherman, but did not move to his lot until the spring of 1860,
when he commenced housekeeping in a log house on his new
farm. In 1868 Mr, Burnham sold his farm and bought the farm
half a mile west of the Mills, where he now resides.

Later in the year 1858, a number of other settlers came and
selected lots in this part of the town, made small choppings and
went out, returning the next year to clear up the land. Among
these were Mr. J. W- Ambrose from Wells, York County, Benj.
L. Sanborn, Ole Hanson, Ezra Curtis, Lysander Robinson, Daniel
D. Cox, A. C. Verill, Deacon Thomas Ball, Cyrus Daggett, and
a number of others.

Most of these settlers moved to their lots in 1859. Mr. Am-
brose took a lot in the extreme southeast corner of the town
and in January, 1860, moved his family to the town, taking up
temporary quarters in a little log house at the mill. Having
made a small clearing and put up a log house, in the fall of
1860 he placed his family and all his household goods upon an
old sled, and with a yoke of oxen hauled them through the
woods four miles to their new home. After paying the expenses
of getting his family to Sherman he found himself possessed
of just $33 and an old horse which he exchanged for a cow.

HISTOHY OP AROOSTOOK 1^7

"He has now a fine farm of over 300 acres, with 80 acres cleared
and under good cultivation. Mr. Ambrose has served for many
years on the board of County Commissioners, has represented
his district in the State Legislature and held various town of-
fices.

Mr. John W. Perry and James F. FariTier, sons-in-law of
Mr-' Ambrose, took up lots in the adjoining township of Silver
'Ridge and these two lots were afterwards annexed to the town
of Sherman in order that these settlers might have the benefit
of schools. The settlers in this part of the town immediately
commenced to open the road, which was run directly east from
the Mills to Woodbridge's Corner, and thence in a southerly
direction to the south line of the town. This is now a fine,
srnooth road and runs through a good farming country.

Taken as a whole the town of Sherman is a grand agricul-
tural town, nearly all the waste land being in the extreme north-
west corner.

We neglected to make mention of Hon. Wm. Irish, who
came to Sherman from Oxford County in 1869, and was fof
years a prominent citizen of the town. Mr. Irish was a member
of the House in 1871, and of the State Senate in 1872. He
died In Dakota about a year ago.

The town of Sherman is justly proud of its war record.
The population of the town in 1861 was 486, and the town fur-
nished during the war 113 soldiers, actual residents of the town
and all volunteers except twelve. Thirty-four were killed or
died in service and the term of actual aggregate service of the
soldiers of the town was 220 years. A handsome soldiers'
monument stands In the village cemetery, having been erected
at a cost of $1000, and dedicated July 4th, 1882.

The township was at first organized with Benedicta, after-
wards with Island Falls and then as a separate plantation under
the name of Golden Ridge. The town was incorporated Jan.
28, 1862, and was named for Senator John Sherman of Ohio.

WOODLAND

The task of opening up a new town in the wilderness sec-
tion of Northern Aroostook is one of greater magnitude than
many imagine, and the labor, hardships and privations attending

138 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

the work of hewing a home out of the wlldwood and at the same
time providing the means of support for a family are such as
are calculated to put to a severe test both the physical and men-
tal vigor of the man who undertakes it. The idea of making the
wilderness blossom as the rose is a very pretty and poetical
one when someone else does the work, but he who essays the
task must make up his mind that between the wilderness period
and the advent of the rose era there must be many weary days
of toil and a brave and manly struggle which only a man of grit,
energy and persistence can bring to a successful term-ination-
Hard though the task may be, however, and severe and trying
as are the hardships incident thereto, yet many sturdy men have
fought the battle through to a happy issue and are today en-
joying the fruits of their toil in the way of a pleasant and com-
fortable home and a fertile and productive farm, the income
from which renders them comparatively independent.

The close of the war seems not so far away to many of us,
.and yet there are many sections in the Aroostook Valley where
may now be seen broad, smooth and productive fields and fine
houses and other buildings, where at the time of the muster
out the original forest covered all the hills and vales, and the
grand old woods had never been invaded save by the sturdy
lumberman, or the adventurous hunter.

Other towns there are where the first few pioneers came just
before the commencement of the war, and, though seemingly
"out of humanity's reach," yet the bugle call to arms penetrated
even the far northern forest, and the patriot left his axe to rust
in the cleft of the huge maple, while he marched away to fight
his country's battles.

Such a town as this is the present prosperous town of Wood-
land, which is today covered all over with beautiful farms and
upon all the roads are the comfortable homes of a happy and
contented people. "Where are your peasantry?" inquired a dis-
tinguished foreigner, as he looked upon the comfortable homes
of the laboring class in some of the more thickly settled por-
tions of our country. Well indeed might he ask this question
could he visit the homes of many of the farmers in these new
towns of Aroostook, and see the evidences of comfort, and also
of culture and refinement there presented. None of the cring-
ing humility of the European peasant here, but each man the
peer of his fellow, and all on an equal footing before the law
as free citizens of this grand republic. Surely it is worth a
struggle to make a home in such a land as ours, and in all its

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 139

broad extent there is no portion where a man possessed of the
requisite muscle, pluck and energy can sooner surround himself
with a generous 'share of the necessaries and comforts of life
than in this Garden County of Northern Maine. Those of the
early pioneers of these new towns who are now living upon
fine smooth farms, as they look back upon the period betvveen
the v/ilderness and the rose, will tell you with a flush of pride
that the struggle was a hard one and that they hardly know
how they came through, but that somehow or other they man-
aged to live until the farm yielded a support, and many will
aver that the days when they were clearing their farms and
rearing their new homes were the happiest of their lives. Too
much credit and honor cannot be given to the wives of the hardy
settlers upon these forest tracts. Many of them were women
who had been brought up in comfortable homes and accus-
tomed to a moderate share at least of the luxuries of life. With-
out complaining, they followed their husbands to the new home,
leaving behind them the comforts and pleasures of society, and
bravely faced the privations of pioneer life. Many a man here
is proud to admit that his success is largely due to the help and
encouragement of the good wife who shared and lightened the
toil of all these early years. The first settlers of nearly all
these towns were men of small means, and what money they
had was usually exhausted in reaching their new home and
they were left with no capital save their strong arms and stout
hearts. They were usually, however, men of courage and pluck
and not easily frightened by difficulties or hardships. Here,
as elsewhere, the law of the survival of the fittest held good,
and those who had not the requisite sand gave up the fight when
the hard pinch came and returned to the older settlements.
Those who held on succeeded and are now enjoying the fruits
of their toil.

The town of Woodland, formerly known as Township No.
14, Range 3, was surveyed for settlement by Lore Alford, of
Old Town, in 1859, and was divided into lots of 160 acres each.
The township is bounded by New Sweden on the north by
Caribou on the east, Washburn on the south and Perham on the
west- At the time when the first clearing was made in Wood-
land, both Perham and New Sweden were wilderness town-
ships and had not even been lotted for settlement. The low
price at which the State offered these new lands to actual set-
tlers attracted the attention of men who wished to make homes
for themselves and families, and they were not long in the mar-

140 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOKT

ket before the sturdy blows of the pioneer's axe were resouncf-
ing through the forest and clearings were cominenced in differ-
ent portions of the town.

The first to make an opening in the new town was Mr..
Frederic E. Lufkin of Caribou, who as early as 1858, before
the town had been lotted, made a chopping of six acres in the
north part of the town.

In 1859 Enoch Philbrick came from Buckfield, in Oxford
County, and made a chopping near Mr. Lufkin's. Both these
choppings were burnt on the same day in the summer of 1859,
fire being set to Mr. Philbrick's first.

In the same year Charles E. Washburn, B. F. Thomas and
Moses Thomas came from Oxford County and took lots in the
north part of the town, and T. L. Jennison, Carlton Morse and
Charles Carlton came from North Dixmont and settled near
the centre. None of these brought their families that year, but
after building their log houses and making small clearings,
went out and returned with their families the next year.

The first settler who brought his family to the town and
remained was Mr. Ephraim Barnum, who came from Ware,
Mass., in 1860 and took a lot in the southeast part of the town.
Other settlers who came in 1860 were Jonathan Sawin from
Westminster, Mass-, John G. Thayer and Luther Robbins. E. A.
Cunningham had arrived during the previous year. In 1861
L. B. Mclntire came in and settled near the centre of the town
and a few years later sold his lot to R. A. Sanders. In the same
year came George E. Ross from Kennebec County, Willard
Glidden from Etna in Penobscot, and John Eddy from Ware,
Mass., who settled on the lot adjoining Ephraim Barnum's.

Most of the above named settlers are still residents of the
town and have fine smooth farms and large, comfortable houses
with spacious barns and outbuildings.

The township was organized as a plantation in 1861, and
in April of that year the first legal meeting for choice of officers
and other business was held. At this meeting John G. Thayer
was chosen Moderator, E. A. Cunningham, Qerk, and T. L.
Jennison, Luther Robbins and Charles Carlton, Assessors.

A few more settlers came during that year but the outbreak
of the war put a check upon immigration and hardly any new
settlers came until after its close. It is the proud boast of this
town that every citizen except two, who was fit for service, went
to the army, either as a volunteer or as a conscript. This neces-
sarily placed a check upon the growth of the town, but at the

■HIST:'0RY OF AROOSTOOK 141

close of the war immigration was resumed and the town began
to increase in population-

The first male child born in the town was Ernest Thayer,
son of John G. Thayer, who was born in 1861, and the first
female child was Julia E., daughter of Charles Carlton, born
in 1862.

The first school in the town was taught by E. A. Cunning-
liam in his own house in 1863. A log schoolhouse was built
during the next year and Miss Maria Adams of Caribou taught
the first school in the new house.

The first minister who held service in the town was Rev.
W. P. Ray, a Methodist clergyman stationed at Caribou in 1861,
who held meetings once a month in Woodland. The meet'ngs
were held in private houses until the log schoolhouse was built.

In 1872 all the unoccupied portion of the north part of the
town was resurveyed and lotted into 100 acre lots and granted
to the Swedes who could not be provided for in New Sweden,
and they now form the larger portion of the citizens of this
part of the town. As early as 1880, every lot in the town con-
sidered fit for settlement was taken up, and the remainder,
comprising about 1000 acres, was sold by the State to Messrs.
i^rnold and Dunn, who have s'nce sold it to settlers. In the
original survey a block of 1000 acres in the south part of the
town was reserved for school purposes. This block was after-
wards sold to Messrs. Johnson and Phair of Presque Isle, and
the money placed at interest for the support of schools. This.
land has since been sold to settlers. There are now no lots in
the town owned by the State and very few by non-resident pro-
prietors-
Soon after their settlement in the north part of the town
the Swedes built a mill on a small brook running into the east
branch of the Caribou Stream. This was the first mill built in
the town and was a steam mill with one shingle machine. For
some reason this mill did not prove to be a profitable one and
after running a year the machinery was removed and the mill
abandoned.

Some six miles from the village of Caribou, on the road
running through Woodland to New Sweden, is the steam mill
of Messrs. Goodwin and Hackett. This mill was built in 1878
by York and Merrill and forms the nucleus of what is to be the
village of Woodland.

As an agricultural town Woodland ranks among the best
of the many good towns in Northern Aroostook, and, as the

142 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

center of the town is but about six miles distant from Caribou
station, the farmers are provided with a convenient outlet for
their potatoes and other surplus produce.

Though a new town, there are now good roads in all parts
of the town and the character of the soil is such that they are
easily kept in good repair. Previous to 1860 there was no road
anywhere in the township, and only a logging road leading from
Caribou to the east line of the town. In 1860, a road was laid
out by the County Commissioners running from Caribou through
the towns of Woodland and Perham and away on through the
wilderness until it struck the road leading from Ashland to Fort
Kent in Township 14, R. 6. The road v/as built across the two
towns named, but was never continued farther than the west
line of Perham, owing to the opposition of the proprietors of
the wild lands in 14, R. 5 and 14 R. 6, who succeeded in defeat-
ing it. This road runs nearly through the centre of the town
of Woodland and there are fine farms with broad, smooth fields
along its entire length.

The northern part of Woodland is for the most part occu-
pied by Swedes and as late as 1870 was nearly all wilderness-
It is now covered with fertile farms and on all the roads are
good, comfortable houses and most of them well built and neat-
ly kept in all their surroundings. These Swedish settlers are
good citizens and have been quick to adopt the manners and
customs of their Yankee neighbors. The first tax was assessed
on these Swedish citizens of Woodland in 1872, and this they
■ refused to pay, as the colonists in the adjoining town of New
Sweden were exempted by the State from taxation for five years
from the date of their" arrival. The tax collector of Woodland
attempted at one time to drive away a Swede's cow, whereupon
the owner appeared with his gun and drove the collector off his
premises. For this the Swede was arrested and taken to Houl-
ton, but was released without any punishment. For three years
in succession the Swedes in Woodland refused to pay their tax
and it was finally paid by the State. Since that time they have
been prompt taxpayers and good, law abiding citizens.

Rev. Andrew Wiren, the Swedish pastor, settled among the
people in this part of the town and built a handsome residence.
He afterwards married a daughter of Mr. W. A. Vaughan, of
Caribou, and removed to Florida, where he died some two
years ago.

Woodland was incorporated as a town March 5, 1880. The
population in 1870 was but 174 and In 1880 it had increased to

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 143

679. In 1890 the population was 885. The valuation of the
town in 1880 was $77,539 and in 1890 was $170,612. The rate
of taxation was 017.

There are many enterprising farmers and business men in
the town and when the completion of the Bangor & Aroostook
Railroad shall have given its added stimulus to the business of
the County, Woodland is sure to become one of the most pros-
perous towns in Northern Aroostok-

LUDLOW

The half township now incorporated as the town of Ludlow
lies immediately west of the north half of Houlton which was
the grant to Williams College. This half township (Ludlow)
was granted by the general court of the Commonwealth of Mas-
sachusetts to the trustees of Belfast Academy by a resolve
passed Feb. 29, 1808. John Reed and William Smith were ap-
pointed by the general court as agents to deed the grant to the
trustees of the academy. The half township was surveyed by
Park Holland in the month of September, 1809, and was deeded
to the trustees on Dec. 6, 1809. The grant is thus described in
the original deed: "Beginning at the southwesterly corner of a
township granted to Williamstown College, at a hard maple tree,
thence west, thirteen degrees north six miles to an ash tree,
thence north, thirteen degrees east three miles to a maple tree,
thence east, thirteen degrees south six miles to a cedar, thence
on Williamstown College westerly line south, thirteen degrees
west, three miles to the first bounds and containing eleven
thousand five hundred and twenty acres, etc."

The conditions of the deed bound the trustees to "lay out
and convey to each settler who settled on said tract before the
first day of January, 1784, one hundred acres of land to be laid
out so as best to include his improvements and be least injuri-
ous to the adjoining lands." As no settler had entered upon this
wilderness region previous to 1784, this provision was really su-
perfluous. The trustees were also bound to "settle on said tract
ten families in six years, including them now settled thereon."
They were also to lay out three lots of 160 acres each, "one lot
for the use of the ministry, one lot for the first settled minister
and one lot for the use of schools."

Ui HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

The condition in relation to placing ten settlers upon"
the tract within six years must have been extended, for the
settlement was not made until some ten years after the expira-
tion of that limit. We find upon the records the following cer-
tificate: "Land Office, Boston, 29th March 1826. This certifies
that I have received of the trustees of Belfast Academy a cer-
tified list containing the names of ten settlers who are now set-
tled on the half township of land in the County of Washington
and State of Maine lying northwest from Houlton Plantation,
granted to said Academy and is satisfactory evidence that the
condition for placing settlers upon said grant is seasonably com-
plied with. Attest, Geo. W. Coffin, land agent."

On September 1, 1835, the trustees deeded all the unsold
lands, comprising 7264 acres, to Henry P. Bridge of Boston, for
$7264. He paid one-fourth, or $1816, down and gave his notes
for the remainder in three equal annual payments- September
4, 1835, Mr. Bridge deeds his purchase to Samuel H. Blake of
Bangor. Various deeds of lots in the grant were given by the
trustees until 1835. On November 22, 1853, they deeded to
James White of Belfast, for $2000, "al the unsold lands in said
half township, together with all debts, dues and demands be'
longing to said trustees for any lands sold in said half township,
he paying all claims against them for the services of their
agents heretofore accruing." So much for the documentary his-
tory of the grant to the time when the trustees of the Academy
made a final sale of all their interest in the half township.

The first settler on the grant was Gen. John Cummings (or
Comings, as the name was then spelled) who on the 8th day
of October, 1825, made his way through the woods to the lot
about two and one-half miles west of the Houlton line, where
Mr. William Hand now lives. The woods were at that time
filled with the dense smoke from the Mirimachi fire. Gen. Cum-
mings with his party camped near where Mr. Hand's watering
tub now stands by the roadside, and the General chose this lot
for his new home. Here he cleared up a large farm upon a
beautiful elevation from which he could overlook all the settle-
ments upon the adjoining townships. Houlton was then but a
small settlement and there were openings in the forest in
Hodgdon, Linneus and New Limerick, the smokes from which
could be seen from the elevation upon which General
Cummings built his home. He was for years the prin-
cipal man in the new settlement, and was agent for
the trustees of Belfast Academy for the sale of lots

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 145

and location of settlers. He lived on this farm until his death
in 1849. His son, John M.. Cummings, continued to live upon
the old homestead until about 1870, when he removed to Wis-
consin- Bradford Cummings, another son of the General, came
at the same time and settled on the lot where David R. Small
now lives. Mr. Cummings was a land surveyor and in October,
1826, lotted the half township and in all subsequent deeds refer-
ence is made to his plan and survey. He built a mill on the
stream which flowed across the southwest corner of his lot and
which has ever since been known as Mill Brook. The mill con-
tained an up and down saw and sawed lumber for the settlers.
It was afterwards rebuilt by Daniel Small, who run it for a num-
ber of years, when it was abandoned and has decayed and
fallen' down. Bradford Cummings subsequently removed to
Houlton, where he remained for a short time and then moved
to Fort Fairfield, where he resided for many years on a farm
a short distance from the village, and where he died a few years
ago. Judge Cummings, as he was known for many years, was
a man well known and respected throughout Aroostook County.
He served as sheriff of the county and also as judge of probate
and was an Influential citizen for many years.

Among the ten original settlers besides John and Bradford
Cummings, were John Stuart, Lewis Wright, Robert Blaisdell,

Barrows, Cyrus Hutchings, James H. Stevens and Alfred

Marshall. Who the tenth man was who completed the list we
have been unable to determine.

Miss Ruth W. Cummings taught school in the grant in the
summer of 1830. Her bill for teaching eleven weeks at $2.00 per
week and boarding herself, approved by John Stuart, school
agent, is still preserved. Miss Cummings afterward married
Jacob Pickard and lived in the town until her death in the sum-
mer of 1891. She was a well educated lady and was much be-
loved and respected by all who knew her.

John Stuart settled on the lot next adjoining John Cum-
mings on the east, where he cleared up the farm upon which
the Widow Ingraham now lives- He lived here until his, death
some twenty years ago.

Lewis Wright took the lot opposite John Stuart. He made
a small clearing and put up a log house and soon afterwards
sold to Isaac Dickson, who cleared up the farm and lived upon
it for many years, then sold to George Howe and removed to
New Brunswick.

Robert Blaisdell settled on lot No. 7, Range 2, where Free-

146 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

man Small now lives. He cleared up a large farm and built the
house in which Mr, Small now lives. He afterward sold to
Thomas Small and moved to Wisconsin, where he remained a
short time and then went to Minnesota and invested in lands.
The rise in value of these lands made him wealthy. He died
some four years ago.

Mr. Barrows took the lot where Mr. Peter Moore now lives.
Here he made a small clearing but did not live on the lot. He
was a nephew of Mrs. Cummings and resided with that family
during his short stay in the settlement.

Cyrus Hutchings took the lot next west of Barrows on the
south side of the road. He cleared up the farm and lived on it
some twenty years, when he removed to Minnesota. The farm
is now owned by Mr- I. B. Rideout, who lives opposite.

James H. Stevens took the lot upon a part of which the
Baptist Church and parsonage now stands. Here he lived until
his death, some eight years ago. His son, Judson Stevens, now
lives on the farm.

Alfred Marshall took the lot on the north side of the road
opposite where Daniel Barker now lives. He afterward moved
to Fort Fairfield.

Mr. John Chase was one of the earliest settlers of the town
but was not one of the ten included in the certified list. He came
from New Brunswick in 1826 and settled on the lot where Cyrus
K. Bradbury now lives. He lived there some twenty-five years
and sold to Stephen Morrison. He afterwards lived on a num-
ber of different lots and ten years ago moved to the farm near
the west line of the town, where he now lives. He is now eighty
one years old, but is hale and strong. His son Abner carries
on the farm.

Mr. Jesse Oilman came from Norridgewock about '1828 and
took the lot north of Bradford Cummings. Here he cleared up
a large farm which he afterward sold to Henry G. Allen and
moved to Houlton. His son, Charles C- Oilman, cleared up the
farm next east of his fathers, on which John Oreen now lives.
He also moved to Houlton and built the brick house a short dis-
tance north of the village on the Presque Isle road. He was for
a number of years engaged in the manufacture of brick in Houl-
ton and removed to California a year or two since.

Zebediah Barker came from Norridgewock in 1838 and set-
tled on the lot where his son, Daniel Barker, now lives. He
was one of the active citizens of the town. Some twenty-five
years ago he moved to Fort Fairfield, where he died. His son,

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 147

Amos Barker, lived with his father until he became of age, when
he bought the lot upon which he now lives with his son, Kelsey
A. Barker. It was a new lot with no clearing when Mr. Barker
took it. He cleared up a large farm and built comfortable build-
ings. Isaac Barker also came from Norridgewock and cleared
up the farm where John McCormick now lives. He afterwards
sold to Wm. Chase and went to California, where he remained
some time, and returned to Houlton, He has been for many-
years one of the principal farmers of Houlton and was for three
years a member of the State Board of Agriculture.

Henry G. Allen came to the town about 1838 and bought the
Jesse Gilman farm which he afterwards sold to Melzer Drake.
Mr- Drake lived upon the farm until his death some ten years
ago. He was engaged largely in the lumber business and ac-
cumulated a considerable property.

Israel Dodge was also an early settler who came from
Strong and made a farm north of the main road. He afterward
moved to Easton and died there. His brother, Daniel Dodge,
lived on a part of the same lot.

Mr. Joseph Goodenough, an early settler of New Limerick,
came from there to the Belfast Grant previous to 1843 and lived
on the farm opposite the Thompson farm in the east part of the
town. His son, Elias Goodenough, afterward moved to Dyer
Brook, from which place he enlisted and died in the service.

Mr. George Howe lived on the farm north of the one on
which Mr. J. B. Rideout now lives. He sold his farm to Mr.
Rideout and moved to Monticello, where he died.

Silas Hilton lived on a lot north of Mr. David Small's farm.
He built a small grist mill on Mill Brook near his home many
years ago. It has long since decayed and fallen down-
Mr. John Tabor was a blacksmith in the town in 1843. He
enlisted in the army, and after the war, worked at his trade in
Houlton, He has been dead a number of years.

Mr. Royal B. Colbroth cleared up the farm where Mr.
Henry Lamb now lives, in the west part of the town. His son,
Matthew Colbroth, lived on the farm opposite.

Mr. Wm. Farwell, who was plantation clerk in 1840, had no
farm, but worked in the lumber woods in winter and for farmers
during the summer. He afterwards removed to Patten and died
there.

The Belfast Grant was organized together with New Lim-
erick as a plantation in 1831. In 1837, New Limerick was incor-
porated as a town and the Belfast Grant seems to have had no

148 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

organization until 1840. The warrant for the meeting to organ-
ize the new plantation was issued by Hugh Alexander, County
Commissioner, Oct. 17, 1840. The meeting was held on the 26th
of October- John Cummings was chosen moderator, Wm. V.
Farwell, clerk, and Bradford Cummings, George Howe and Silas
Hilton, assessors. There were 37 voters upon the list in 1843,
most of v/hom we have noticed above. The main road, running
through the town on the line betv/een the first and second
ranges, was cut out soon after the first ten settlers came to the
town, but was not made passable for carriages until long after-
wards. It is now a well built turnpike and runs through a very
good farming section. Coming up from Houlton village we turn
to the west from the Presque Isle road either at Col. Black Hawk
Putnam's or near the Oilman homestead, the two roads coming
together a mile and a half further west, and crossing the western
portion of the town of Houlton, in which are many fine farms
and handsome farm buildings.

In the northern portion of the town the land is for the most
part owned by non-resident proprietors. There is much good
settling land in this part of the town, interspersed with tracts of
timber land.

Ludlow was incorporated as a town in 1864 and is a farming
town exclusively, having no mill, manufactory or store. The
town has good schools, with comfortable school buildings, is
free from debt and has a small amount in the treasury.

The town is abundantly supplied with water, having numer-
ous brooks and streams nearly all running in a southeasterly
direction and emptying into the Meduxnekeag.

The population of the town in 1890 was 375 and the valua-
tion $114,247.

MARS HILL

Directly south of the town of Easton, and lying along the
boundary line between Maine and New Brunswick, is the fertile
town of Mars Hill. The history of this town takes us away back
to Revolutionary times, and the original plan of the town is in-
scribed, on nearly every lot, with the names of the heroes who
In the days that tried men's souls, fought for the independence
of our country. In the year 1804 this township was surveyed

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 149

by Charles Turner, Jr., and lotted into blocks containing 200
acres each. By a resolve of the Massachusetts legislature these
lots were granted to the soldiers of the Revolution who were
citizens of that State. The plan of the original survey as "drawn
by Charles Turner, Jr., surveyor, September, 1804," lies before
us as we write, while from the window of a hospitable home at
the foot of Mars Hill can be seen the steep, wooded side of that
beautiful eminence, flooded with the light of the full moon on
this lovely July night- St. Paul as he stood in the midst of Mars
Hill of old did not look upon a landscape half so fair as can be
seen from the summit of this grand Aroostook mountain. Ris-
ing abruptly from a beautiful plain to the height of nearly 2000
feet above the level of the neighboring stream, its top overlooks
the fair and fertile Valley of the Aroostook, while with the aid
of a glass the village of Houlton and the towns in its vicinity
can be distinctly seen. Hilltop and valley, fertile farms and
dense forest, glassy lakes and meandering streams, with here
and there the clustered buildings of some neat village are the
varied features that go to make up a landscape view of inde-
scribable beauty.

The original plan is entitled "Plan of Mars Hill Township
as lotted by order of the General Court of Massachusetts for the
soldiers of the late Continental Army who enlisted for during the
war as a part of this State's quota of said army and served three
years under this enlistment." The starting point of the survey
of the township was from a hemlock tree in the southeast corner
of the town, which a note of Turner's on the wide margin of the
plan informs us was "marked S. E. C. S. T., being 37 miles due
north from the monument at the source of the Schoodic Waters."
This monument was the point of departure for all those old sur-
veys, as it marked the northernmost point to which the boundary
line between Maine and New Brunswick had been agreed upon.
This hemlock tree, probably the first tree marked with the axe
in what was intended to be the township of Mars Hill, has since
been cut by some rapacious Bluenose, for when the boundary
was established by the Treaty of 1842 and the line between the
two countries was finally run, it sliced off a strip a half mile
wide from the entire eastern side of the town and left the town-
ship but five and a half miles in width from east to west. Every
lot in the town with the exception of four lots on the top of the
mountain, lot 115 in the extreme northwest part of the town and
the lots reserved for ministerial and school purposes, was grant-
ed to some Revolutionaly soldier and his name is upon the lot

i50 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

on this old plan. Lot No. 54 in the centre of the town is marked
"For first settled minister," and the lot immediately adjoining
on the north is marked "Ministry Lot," while lot No. 33 is
marked "For Schools." This shows the interest the good old
commonwealth took in the religious and educational advantages
of her citizens. The names on most of the lots are good old
familiar English names, while here and there one shows that the
soldier was a son of the Emerald Isle. As in every good work
since names were invented, "John Smith" took an active part. We
have here the record that he served his country at least three
years in the old Continental Army, for lot No- 46 bears his hon-
ored name. The name of Isaac Dyer appears upon a lot next
to the boundary line and we may thus conjecture that from this
good old Revolutionary stock the gallant Colonel of the 15th
Maine may be descended.

Three miles north from the southeast corner of the tov/n,
on what was supposed to be the boundary line, is marked on
the plan the "40 mile tree" and a note informs us that from this
tree a "lane was marked and bushed out to the St. John River"
some four miles distant.

Quite a number of the lots are marked as deeded to the wid-
ow, heirs or assignees of the soldier to whom they were granted,
but very many of them were not deeded and these are simply
marked with the name of the grantee. The name of Samuel
Cook appears upon Lot No. 61 as the original grantee, while
quite a number of lots bear besides the name of the grantee the
note "Deeded to Samuel Cook assignee." Samuel Cook was
one of the early settlers of the town of Houlton and his old title
to these lots in Mars Hill had much to do with the subsequent
history of the proprietorship of that town. It came about in this
wise. After this township, in common with all the other land
in Aroostook came wholly under the jurisdiction of the State
of Maine, the lots upon which unpaid State and County taxes
had accrued, which indeed includes nearly the whole township,
were advertised by the State as for sale for the taxes due.

The town as well as other towns in like condition in Aroos-
took, was purchased by John Hodgdon, J. C. Madigan and Jere-
miah Trueworthy, who took what is known as tax titles from the
State. Subsequently an arrangement was made between these
gentlemen by which Jeremiah Trueworthy became sole propri-
etor of Mars Hill township under this tax title. Mr. Trueworthy
proceeded to open the town for settlement and to give to the
settlers bonds and deeds for their lots. Roads were opened

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 151

throughout the town and Mr. Trueworthy gave to the settlers
land at the rate of one acre for every rod ot road built. Some
land at the rate of one acre for every rod of road built.

Some early settlers who had tor some time been squatters
upon the town disputed Mr. Trueworthy's title and refused pay-
ment to him and in some instances retained their lands without
payment. This state of things remained for years, until Mr.
Joseph Chandler obtained from the heirs of Samuel Cook the
lots which in the olden time had been deeded to him by Massa-
chusetts. These lots were at the time of Mr- Chandler's pur-
chase in the possession of parties who held them under titles
given by Mr. Trueworthy, Mr. Chandler commenced suits to
obtain legal possession of the land. The cases were carried to
the full bench of Maine and in 1885 were decided in Mr. Chan-
dler's favor, thus invalidating Mr. Trueworthy's title to the
town. Those of the settlers who had been twenty years upon
the town held their lots by possession, while in other cases
various arrangements were made to give valid titles. It was
found also after the town was mcorporated that Mr. Truewor-
thy had given deeds of the school lots and that settlers were
then living upon them and making farms. In order to give
these settlers as little trouble, the town authorities, thinking
Trueworthy's title good, made an exchange with him by which
they released their claim to the original school lands and took
from him deeds of other lots to an equal amount. These lots
the town sold to settlers and a sum of $1065 dollars was re-
ceived for them, which was invested for the credit of the Minis-
terial and School Fund.

When the court decided adversely to the claim of Mr.
Trueworthy it became evident that the deeds given by him to
the town were worthless and the town was obliged to make good
the warranty they had given to parties who had bought these
lots. They therefore decided to hire of. the trustees of the
school fund this $1065 at six per cent for fifty years, and with
this money the titles to these lots were made good to the set-
tlers and the town is simply raising an additional sixty dollars
for school purposes each year.

We have been thus particular in describing these events in
regard to the history of the proprietorship of the town as they
seem to be of more than local importance and will be of interest
to readers in all portions of the State. We will now endeavor
to trace the story fo the opening of the town and of its develop-
ment to the present time. As in the case of all the towns in this

152 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

portion of the county lumber parties had invaded the town long
before a tree was cut upon it for farming purposes. Many a
grand old "pumpkin pine" had been cut and floated down these
streams to the St. John River and a market years before any pio-
neer thought of making a home upon the town-

The first settlers to make an opening upon the town foi
farming purposes were John H. Bridges and John W. Ruggles,
who in 1844 made a chopping in the southeast corner of the
town on what is now the road from Houlton to Presque Isle.

The farm upon which the first tree was cut by John H.
Bridges is now owned by Mr. Benj. F. Jones of Blaine. Bridges
and Ruggles were at the time living in the adjoining township of
Deerfield (now Westfield) and did not remove to Mars Hill
until four years later.

In 1844, Mr. Moses Snow commenced a clearing in the
same vicinity and the next spring moved with his family to the
new home, thus being the first actual settler to establish a resi-
dence in the town. About the same time John Akeley came with
his family and commenced making a farm in this neighborhood,
and soon after came James McDonough.

All the above named settlers were originally from New
Brunswick and as this was previous to the sale of the township
for taxes, were simply squatters upon the town. Akeley re-
mained but a year or two and his lot was afterwards taken by
John Banks.

At that time the entire township with the exception of the
small clearings made by these few pioneers, was an unbroken
wilderness, penetrated only by the hardy lumberman and the
adventurous hunter.

The first chopping made upon what is now the mail route
from Fort Fairfield to Blaine was made in 1852, by David
Tewkesbury, who fell twenty-five acres of trees upon the farm
now occupied by John J. Hill, ' who two years ago repre-
sented the district in the State Legislature. Mr. Tewkesbury
did not clear the land, however, and some three years later it
was cleared up by Mr- Jeremiah Trueworthy, who built a barn
upon the farm and in 1859 sold it to Benj. Whitehouse, who lived
upon it for a number of years and then sold it to John J. Hill,
a worthy veteran of the war of the Rebellion, who now resides
upon it.

Henry Wilson removed from the town of Easton about 1856
and took a lot on Rocky Brook in the south part of the town,
a short distance east of the Fort Fairfield road.

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 153

Upon this lot was a good mill privilege and Mr. Wilson at
once proceeded to budd a mill with an up and down saw and
afterwards put in a shingle machine. Here Mr. Wilson made a
good farm, upon which he resided until his removal to Houlton
some two years ago. During Mr. Wilson's residence in the town
he was one of the leading citizens. He was for years Mr. True-
worthy's agent and did much for the interest of the town.

In 1856, James Shaw and family came from New Bruns-
wick and settled on the lot adjoining Mr. Wilson. Members of
this family are still among the prosperous farmers of the town.

In 1859 Mr. Sewall N. Pierce came from Auburn and bought
a lot on the line of the Fort Fairfield road some four miles from
Blaine Corner. Mr. Pierce has long been one of the leading
citizens of his town and has done much for its religious and
educational interests as well as for its industrial development-

In 1859 quite an extensive opening was made upon what
is called the West Ridge, though there was no road there at
that time. In that year Joel Howard, Warren Preble, Lucius
Smith, Hazen Hill, Wm. D. Graves and Nathan Oakes made
large choppings in that part of the town. Some of these, how-
ever, did not settle in the town, but sold their improvements.
Joel Howard and Wm. D. Graves are now prominent citizens
of the town of Presque Isle.

In the same year, 1859, Warren L. Boynton came from Lib-
erty, Waldo County, and bought 400 acres on the west side of
the mountain and of this he has made a fine productive farm.

In 1861 Mr. Benj. F. Jones came to Mars Hill and bought
about 160 acres of land on the Fort Fairfield road. Here he
cleared up a good farm, upon which he lived for seven years,
when he removed to the town of Blaine, where he now resides.

The breaking out of the war and the uncertainty in regard
to titles to the land, both had- the effect to retard the growth of
the town, and in 1863 diphtheria raged with fatal violence, and
in that year there were twenty-five deaths in the town. In spite
of all these drawbacks, however, the town continued to increase
and new settlers came each year.

The township was organized as a plantation in 1866, and
at the first plantation meeting Henry O. Perry, B. F- Jones and
S. A. Rhodes were chosen assessors, and Sewall N. Pierce,
clerk.

H. 0. Perry came to the town about the time of the war,
but left to join the Union Army in which he did faithful service.
Upon his return he settled in Mars Hill and engaged in farming

154 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

and was twice elected to represent the district in the State
Legislature. Mr. Perry removed to Blaine about 1870. He has
served upon the Board of County Commissioners, and is now
serving a second term as Deputy Collector of Customs at Fort
Fairfield.

In the early days of the settlement religious meetings were
held in private houses until schoolhouses were built. The first
clergyman was Rev. J. G. Ricker, who came from Boston in 1859
and bought a lot and commenced to build a house. He remained
but a short time, however, and for some time Rev. Elbridge
Knight of Fort Fairfield preached in the town. Meetings are
still held in the schoolhouses, as no church building has yet been
erected, though one is now in contemplation.

Private schools were early established and immediately af-
ter the organization of the plantation a tax was assessed for the
support of public schools, and upon the passage of the Free
High School law a High School was at once established. The
town has now nine district schools, which are all supplied with
schoolhouses. Mrs. Lizzie York is the present superintendent
and the schools are prospering under her careful management.

In 1877 Messrs. Collins and Hurrie built a starch factory
at Mars Hill village. This factory is now owned and operated
by Hon. Geo. W. Collins of Bridgewater. Soon after the open-
ing of the starch factory Mr. Bedford Hume built the first store
at the village. This store is now occupied by B. F. Pierce. Soon
after this Mr. George Stewart built the store now occupied by
Mr. Howard Safford.

The village of Mars Hill is situated in the south part of the
town upon the Fort Fairfield road. The line of the Bangor &
Aroostook Railroad runs directly through the village and the
building of that road will no doubt make this one of the most
prosperous villages of Northern Aroostook.

MASARDIS

Masardis is one of the historic towns of Aroostook, and
many are the incidents of the Aroostook War related by its old-
est citizens. It was here that the troops of the heroic Mclntyre
and the redoubtable Rines entrenchd themselves and here the
brave Strickland bade defiance to the power of Britain. From

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 155

behind their breastworks on "the point" where the St. Croix
joins its waters with the noble Aroostook, they sallied forth on
their grand advance on Fort Fairfield, and it was to these same
breastworks that they made their masterly retreat of seventy
miles in a day after the capture of Mclntyre and others at Fitz-
herbert's tavern in Fort Fairfield.

One cannot help being patriotic at Masardis, so closely is
the place connected with the history of those warlike days. Here
we are shown the site of the old "commissary." Yonder is the
point on which the troops of Maine camped behind their breast-
works, their four-pounders and six pounders pointing down the
Aroostook River. Ere we have been half a day in the town we
are presented with a rusty old six pound cannon ball as a relic
of the war.

But Masardis is older than the Aroostook War, and we must
first give the history of the town in its ante bellum days and let
the events of the war come in their order.

In 1833 Thomas Goss came to Masardis with his family and
settled on a beautiful intervale on the west bank of the Aroostook,
opposite the mouth of the St. Croix Stream. Mr, Goss was orig-
inally from Danville, Me., but previous to his settlement at Mas-
ardis he lived upon the Pyles farm, now the Hutchinson farm,
a short distance north of the Aroostook bridge in the present
town of Presque Isle. He remained at Masardis until 1840, when
he moved to the mouth of the Little Machias River in Ashland,
where he lived for some time and then took up his abode in the
wilderness away out on the road to Fish River.

The next man with a family who settled in the town was
John Knowlen, who came from Passadumkeag in 1835, with his
wife and three children and settled near the St. Croix Stream,
about half a mile above its mouth. They left Passadumkeag in
January, with one single team and a double team to haul their
household goods. Five miles north of Patten they found the road
so narrow and snow so deep that the double team could go no
farther, so they piled their goods up in the woods and covered
them with bark and boughs, intending to send back for them as
soon as the road would permit. The snow increased so that they
could not get out to them and were obliged to leave them there
until the next winter. From Mrs. Knowlen, who is still living in
the town, a smart old lady of 83, we learned many particulars of
these early days. The first two years the frost killed their crops
and they raised nothing to eat. The river and stream was full
of trout and the woods of berries and this helped out their living

156 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

in the summer time and in the winter Mr. Knowlen worked in
Patten and got provision for the family. In 1836, Roswell T.
Knowlen was born, he being the first child born in Masardis.

These pioneers were subjected to many hardships during
the early years of their settlement in the new town. Mrs.
Knowlen relates that in the summer of 1839 they got out of pro-
vision and her husband started with a boat to go down the river
to Presque Isle, then called Fairbanks, to obtain a supply. She
was left with four children and had only one pint of Indian
meal in the house. She had a farrow cow that afforded milk
for the little ones, and the oldest boy caught fish from the river.
She says that for three days she ate nothing but boiled wild
chocolate root. A neighbor, Mr. Wm. Cowperthwaite, who had
recently moved in there, learned her situation and brought her
a little flour and tea. Mr. Knowlen could get no flour at Fair-
banks and was obliged to go to the mouth of the Aroostook,
where he paid $22.00 for a barrel of flour and $18.00 for a bar-
rel of herring. He was gone ten days and the old lady says
they were sad and anxious days to her and the little ones, but
from that time they never lacked for bread.

Mr. Joseph Pollard came from Old Town to Masardis in
1837. Mr. Pollard formerly lived in Cornville, where all -his
children were born. Mr. Pollard moved to Old Town and for
some time was employed by lumbermen and land owners to look
up timber and attend to various interests in the forests of Nor-
thern Maine. He thus became acquainted with the Aroostook
country and, believing that it would at no distant day be opened
to settlement, he decided to build a mill and take up a lot for a
farm on the upper Aroostook. Late in the winter of 1838, Mr.
Pollard left Old Town with five tons of supplies loaded on sleds
for the far off Aroostook. The West Aroostook road was pass-
able for teams at that time as far as the Knowlen place, where
the road turns off to go down through Smyrna to Houlton. Ar-
riving at that place, Mr. Pollard sent his teams back and with a
crew of eight men made hand sleds with wide runners and went
to work to haul the supplies through to Masardis. This was a
work of much magnitude, and was performed in this way: Load-
ing the hand sleds the crew would start in the morning and pro-
ceed through the woods all day, camping at night. They would
then return and haul another load to this camp, and when all was
up proceed another stage, and in this way they continued until
all the goods were up to a camp some four miles from Masardis,
where the road now turns off to the Oxbow. It was now late

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 157

In March and finding a good sugar berth at this place, the party
camped here and made 300 pounds of maple sugar and then
proceeded to haul their goods to Masardis.

Making his headquarters at Masardis, Mr. Pollard built a
mill on the St. Croix Stream about nine miles from its mouth,
in Township No. 9, R. 4. The mill contained an up and down
saw and a run of stones and bolt. At the same time he took up
a lot of 160 acres on the hill, a short distance south of the junc-
tion of the St. Croix with the Aroostook, and immediately com-
menced clearing up a farm, but did not move his family to the
new home until October, 1840. The family came by team as far
as Mr. Daniel Smith's, who then lived on what is now called the
Cliff place, about fourteen miles from Masardis. Mr. Smith was
the father of Hon. Oramandel Smith and it was here in the wil-
derness of Northern Aroostook that the genial Secretary of
State first saw the light. This road being impassable for car-
riages from that place, Mrs. Pollard and her five children, the
oldest being eleven and the youngest seven, walked fourteen
miles through the woods to her forest home. The old lady is
still living at Masardis with her son, Mr. J. F. Pollard, and is
bright and active at the age of 87. From her we received many
incidents concerning the hardships of their pioneer life.

They were obliged to leave all their goods at Mr. Smith's
until snow came, and the old lady says that for three months
she had no pillow to lay her head upon and was subjected to
many discomforts.

Mr. Pollard continued to run the mill on the St. Croix for
five years, when he sold It to Leonard Jones of Bangor. It af-
terwards passed through a number of hands and was burned
about 1855. In 1843 Mr. Pollard built a frame house on his
own land, the family having previously occupied a log house
built by Leonard Reed, who moved to Presque Isle and kept a
hotel there In the early days. In his new house Mr. Pollard
commenced keeping tavern, and having bought a tract of land
on the west side of the road opposite his original lot he there
built a large house in 1866. This house was burned In 1884.
Mr. Pollard and his wife were alone in the house when the fire
broke out, and she lay in bed with a broken leg. Neighbors
finally came and carried her out, but not until the fire had come
uncomfortably near her bed. The house was rebuilt during the
next summer. Mr. Pollard died in February, 1888. being almost
90 years old. His son, J. F. Pollard, was a soldier in the 1st
D, C. Cavalry and afterwards in the 2d Me. Cavalry.

158 HISTORY OF AIROOSTOOK

Sanfield D. Reed came in with Mr. Pollard in 1838. There
were then at Masardis, besides the Goss and Knowlen families,
Samuel Leavitt, a young man who came about the same time that
Mr. Goss came, Benj. Howe, Geo. Fields, Sanford Noble, Wm.
Cowperthwaite and a man named Dow.

In the winter of 1839 we first begin to catch glimpses of
the Aroostook War, and in that winter a number of new settlers
came to Masardis. Wm. Fitzgerald came with Mr. Pollard in
1838 as a millwright and having finished the mill, settled at
Masardis in 1839. He built the house in which Mr. Quincy now
lives and kept hotel there for a number of years. He was also
engaged in trading and lumbering and moved to Presque Isle
about 1870. During the same winter, 1839 — 9, Alexander
Woodward and Samuel Fogg came from Old Town. Mr. Wood-
ward was for a number of years a prominent business man at
Masardis, where he engaged in lumbering and trading until 1854,
when he moved to Minnesota. Abel McAllister came from Mont-
ville the same winter and lived at Masardis some ten years.
Isaiah Pishon came from Passadumkeag and settled near the
mouth of the St. Croix Stream.

In February 1839, the famous posse under Sheriff Strick-
land and Land Agent Mclntyre arrived at Masardis and built a
building called the "Commissary" a short distance north of Mr.
Pollard's. On the point where the St. Croix enters the Aroos-
took, they built a fort or breastwork, behind which they sta-
tioned their artillery, consisting of four and six pounders, and
here the troops camped in tents. In a few days the advance was
made to the mouth of the Little Madawaska above Fort Fairfield,
and immediately after that the hurried retreat of the posse to
their breastworks on the point. Mrs. Knowlen describes the ar-
rival of the posse after the retreat and says that many of them
came to her house in the night, and that teams loaded with sol-
diers were coming all night long. All was excitement at Mas-
ardis, as it was expected that a body of British troops would
follow on up the river for the purpose of capturing the Yankees.
Videttes were placed down the river to give the alarm on the
approach of the enemy. One day a man from the outpost came
rushing in and reported that the British were coming. All was
confusion and consternation at the little settlement as the of-
ficer notified the settlers to be ready to leave their homes at
once. It was soon learned, however, that the dreaded Britist
were only some loads of hay coming up the river.

As much of old history is preserved in the form of ballads.

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 159

I here insert some rhymes written by a lady at Masardis during
these stirring times. It will thus be seen that history and the
ballads of the period agree as to the incidents of that bloodless
war.

"Come all ye noble Yankee boys, come listen to my story.
I'll tell about those Volunteers and all their pomp and glory.
They came to the Aroostook their country to support,
They came to the St. Croix and there they built a fort.

They started down the river some trespassers to find,

They came to Madawaska Stream, and there they formed a line.

But Mclntyre and Cushman they thought it too severe

To lodge with private soldiers; to a tavern they did steer

They came to one Fitzherbert's at eight o'clock at night.
Where these poor weary officers expected much delight.
But instead of taking comfort, as I think you all will own.
They were taken by an Irish mob and hauled to Fredericton.

Then on parole of honor these gentlemen went home.

And never to Aroostook were they again to come.

When Rines and Strickland heard the news they knew not

what to do.
Their heads were quite distracted, their hearts were full of woe.

Strickland turned unto his men and to them he did say,
"We'll retreat back to Masardis; we can do it in a day."
They came to Col. Goss's, they halted on the shore;
Such a poor distressed company you never saw before.

Some with empty stomachs and some with frozen feet.
This is a feather in Rines' cap, this seventy miles retreat.
Now they've gone across the river, a breastwork for to built.
For fear the British would come up and they would have to yield.

Tis built of spruce and many a cedar tree.

So neatly framed together is this famous battery.

And now we defy the British Queen and all her red-coat crew

To beat our noble Yankee boys, let them try what they can do."

During these troubles there was much anxiety among the
families in this new settlement, but fortunately the disputes
were settled without bloodshed, and the cloud of war passed by.

160 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

In April 1839, the State troops went through to Fish River. Mr.
Sanfield Reed, now living at Masardis, went as a teamster with
a company of men under Captain Nye. They went with teams
down the river from Masardis to Ashland, thence up the Little
Machias to Little Machias Lake, thence across through the
woods some two and a half miles to Portage Lake, and followed
down through the chain of lakes and Fish River, to the mouth
of the river, where a block house was afterwards built called
Fort Kent.

Immediately following the departure of the troops, new
settlers began to come to the town. On the 21st of March, 1839,
the town was incorporated.

In 1840 William Ellis came from Dexter and settled a short
distance south of Mr. Pollard, on the lot afterwards occupied by
John Knowlen. Mr. Ellis remained but a few years, and moved
to Ashland.

Mr. Eben Trafton came from Newfield in 1841, and settled
near the north line of the town. Mr. Trafton taught the first
school ever opened at Masardis. He has for many years been
one of the prominent citizens of the town, and at one time was
largely engaged in lumbering, but for a number of years has
given his whole attention to his large farm.

William Cowperthwaite, a son of the pioneer settler, came
in 1841, and settled on his father's lot about a mile north of the
St. Croix. Mr. Cowperthwaite remained one of the principal
citizens of Masardis until his removal to California some two
years ago, and was at one time a member of the legislature.

In 1842 Amasa Coding came fram Corinna and bought the
farm of Thomas Goss. This is now one of the finest farms in
the town, and is occupied by Mr. Llewellyn Coding, a son of the
original settler.

In 1854 Charles W. Clayton came to Masardis and bought
the property of Alexander Woodward. Mr. Clayton engaged
largely in lumbering and farming, and was for years the principal
business man of the town. In 1870 Mr. Clayton moved to Ash-
land, where he has since resided. Mr. S. D. Reed purchased
the Clayton farm, and now lives upon it. In 1883, Mr. Clayton
built a starch factory on Squa Pan Stream in Masardis, and two
years later Mr. Walker built the grist mill on the opposite side
of the strea.m

Unmistakably Masardis Is an excellent farming town as Is
evidenced by the indications of prosperity seen on every hand.
The buildings are large, neat and tidy, the fields broad and level

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 161

and free from stone and there are but two or three mortgaged
farms in the town. The town is abundantly watered by the
Aroostook and its tributaries, and all the people here seem to
add to their prosperity is a railroad to the outer world.

MONTICELLO

Twelve miles due north from Houlton is the pleasant vil-
lage of Monticello, located upon the banks of the north branch
of the Meduxnekeag Stream. The town of Monticello is one of
the best of the border tov/ns of Aroostook and contains many
beautiful farms and fine and attractive residences. The soil
throughout the greater part of the town is fertile and productive
and is easy of cultivation. The road from Houlton to Presque
Isle runs in a due north course upon the centre line of the town,
thus dividing it into two equal parts. The eastern half of the
town, lying between the County road and the New Brunswick
line, has been longer settled and perhaps contains the greater
portion of good farming land. In the western half, however,
there is much very fine farming land, though in some portions
the farms seem newer and not yet under cultivation like the east-
ern section. Monticello is bounded on the north by Bridgewater
and south by the town of Littleton. Its eastern boundary is the
New Brunsv/ick line and on the west lies the wilderness town-
ship of Letter C, Range 2.

The town shows evidence of having been settled earlier
than the towns in the Aroostook Valley. Occasionally may be
seen an old dwelling whose style and general appearance tell of
its having been built nearly a half century ago, but in most in-
stances the old dwellings have been either taken down or mod-
ernized and the grounds around them handsomely arranged and
attractive. Upon the older farms the general aspect is one of
thrift and prosperity, though the great need of this, as of the
other Aroostook towns, is a better and more direct connection
with the outside world by means of a railroad running upon our
own soil to the great trunk lines of the State.

Gen. Joel Wellington of Albion, Me., bought the township
about the year 1828, and it was formerly known as Wellington
Township. By the conditions of the deed from the State of
Maine, Gen. Wellington was required to make certain improve-

162 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

merits upon the township, among them being the building of a
mill, opening roads, building a schoolhouse and other necessary
improvements to make the tract available for settlement. In

1829 he came through the woods from Houlton by a spotted line,
bringing with him a crew of men and commenced felling trees
and clearing land on the high land south of the Meduxnekeag
Stream, near where the Wellington homestead now stands. He
cleared up most of the land upon v^^hich the present village is
located and built a mill upon the stream.

Soon after Gen. Wellington entered upon the town, settlers
commenced to come in and take up lots, clear away the forest
and make homes for themselves and families. Among the first
was George Pond, who came from the town of Thorndike in

1830 and took a lot near the present village on the east side of
the road. The first frame house built in the town was built by
Mr. Pond in 1835 and in this house Mr. Pond kept hotel for
nearly twenty years. Mrs. Pond was a very useful woman in
the new settlement, there being no doctor nearer than Houlton,
and her services were often required as a nurse for the sick.
Hr daughter, Mrs. Isaiah Gould, who now lives in the old Pond
homestead, relates many interesting stories of the experiences of
this good woman in traveling through the woods on horseback
and up and dov^n the stream in a boat, sometimes in time of
freshet at the risk of her life, to visit patients who required her
services.

Gen. Wellington continued to make his home in Monticello
until his death, which occurred at the residence of his son Albion
at Fort Fairfield in 1865, and his remains were brought to Mont-
icello for interment. On the same day Mr. George Pond died
at Monticello in the house he built in 1835, and these two pioneer
settlers of the town were buried on the same day.

In 1831, Clo. Nathan Stanley came to the town and settled
about a mile and a half south of the stream on the line of the
Houlton road and the same year William Cowperthwaite came
from New Brunswick and bought a lot of 120 acres on the Me-
duxnekeag Stream some three miles below the mill. The old
gentleman, now 76 years old, is still living and resides with his
son near the old place where he first made his home.

Among the early settlers of the place were also Mr. Jerry
Lyons, the Stackpoles, Wadlias, Jewells, Lowells and others.
Mr. Wadlia came from Castine in 1832 and bought a lot half a
mile west of the County road. In 1833 Peter Lowell came from
Dixmont and settled upon a beautiful ridge of land half a mile

HISTORY OP AROOSTOOK 163

south of the stream. In the same year Mr. John Hayward came
from New Brunswick and settled in the east part of the town
near Mr. Wadlia.

The road from Houlton to Monticello was cut through in
1833 and did not continue farther north until 1840, when it w'as
extended to Presque Isle and became the thoroughfare for the
trnasportation of supplies to the new settlements in the Aroos-
took Valley.

The hotel so long kept upon the high land on the south
side of the stream was built by Mr. Jesse Lambert in 1846. In
1861 it was purchased by Isaac Archibald, and afterwards passed
through a number of different hands until six years ago it was
bought by W. S. Howe, who kept it until last fall, when it was
destroyed by fire and has not been rebuilt. Another well known
hotel was the old Gould stand, on the hill a mile south of the vil-
lage. This house was long kept by Deacon Hiram Gould and
was also burned a number of years ago and has not been rebuilt.
Dea. Gould now resides in the village and is quite infirm.

The village of Monticello is very pleasantly located upon
the high ground south of the Meduxnekeag Stream and within
a few years has extended across the stream and is now thickly
built up as far north as Stitham's Corner. A handsome school
house adds much to the looks of the place and gives evidence
of the interest taken by the citizens in the education of their
children. On the hill west of the main street is the Union meet-
ing house, a very handsome church building erected some years
ago, and on the beautiful plain on the bank of the stream east
of the village is the cemetery.

The town was incorporated July 29, 1846, and in 1850 had
a population of 227. In 1880 the population has increased to
965, and today it is well up to 1200.

LITTLETON
Adjoining the town of Houlton on the north is the flourish-
ing town of Littleton, through which the County road from Houl-
ton to Presque Isle runs in a due north course on the centre line
of the town. The south half of this town was originally granted
by the Massachusetts Legislature to Williams College and the
north half to Framingham Academy. The Meduxnekeag Stream
enters the town a little over a mile west from the southeast
corner and flowing north for nearly three miles, turns abruptly
to the east and crossing the boundary flows in a suotheasterly

164 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

direction until it finds its way into the St. John at Woodstock.
The principal tributary of the Meduxnekeag in Littleton is John-
son Brook, which enters the town near its northwest corner and
flowing diagonally across the town in a southeasterly direction,
empties into the Meduxnekeag some two miles from the south
line. The western half of the town contains a number of high
ridges and the surface in this portion is considerably broken,
not enough, however, to interfere with farming operations as the
soil is fertile and productive. The peculiar formation known as
the "horseback" extends in a northerly direction through this
portion of the town. The eastern half of the town contains no
very high ridges but in portions is somewhat broken, though less
so on the whole than the western half. Limestone forms the
underlying ledge in this town, and the soil is enriched by its
gradual disintegration. Its porous character also affords natural
drainage. The town was originally covered with a mixed growth
of the hard and soft woods natural to this region and contained
much valuable timber.

The first settlements made in the town were along the line of
the present County road from Houlton to Presque Isle and in
the southern portion of the township.

All the original settlers of the town having now passed
away, it is quite difficult to trace its early history or to determine
who first entered the wilderness to make a home in what is now
Littleton. It is quite certain, however, that among the very
earliest, if not the first, settlers who came to the town to remain
and make a home was Mr. Thomas Osborne, who came from
Belfast, Me., in 1835 and settled on a lot in the extreme southern
part of the town adjoining the Houlton line. This lot had been
taken a short time previous by Mr. Daniel Jones, who came from
Bath and had made a small clearing upon the lot. Mr. Jones
sold his improvement to Mr. Osborne and removed to Hodgdon,
where he was for many years a valued and influential citizen,
and where he continued to reside until his death. Mr. Osborne
was a tanner by trade and worked at this business in Houlton
a portion of the time during the first years of his residence in
Littleton. After his death his son, Stephen A. Osborne, came
into possession of the farm and is still residing upon it. He
continued to improve the farm and in 1862 built a large house
and stable with the intention of keeping a hotel, which plan he
* afterwards abandoned. Mr. Osborne was one of the conductors
on the freight trains which in the early days ran from Aroos-
took County to Bangor and which consisted of four and six

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 165

horse teams, their down freight being usually shingles and the
return cargo a general assortment of supplies. He now devotes
himself wholly to farming, his farm at present consisting of 163
acres of fertile land, with nearly 100 acres cleared,

Mr. Lewis DeLaite was also one of the earnest settlers of
.the town. He came to Littleton from Piscataquis County about
the year 1840 and settled on the west side of the County road,
one lot south of the center of the town. Here he made a farm
upon which he resided until his death, and was succeeded by
his son, Lewis DeLaite, who for many years was one of the
active citizens of the town. He also drove team on the Bangor
route for a number of years and was engaged in trade in Little-
ton. Mr. DeLaite removed with his family to Minneapolis some
few years ago and his farm is now occupied by Mr. Jerry Har-
rigan. About the time that the elder Lewis DeLaite settled in
Littleton, the lot immediately opposite was taken by a Mr. Ham-
ilton, who was a blacksmith and worked a part of the time at
that trade in Houlton. Mr. Hamilton moved from Littleton
about 1850 and his farm is now owned and occupied by Mr.
Jerry Harrigan. At about the same time Mr. Staples settled upon
what is now the Wright farm next south of the DeLaite farm,
and the lot opposite, afterwards the Tozier farm, was taken by
Philip Keene, who remained but a few years and sold to Mr.
Tozier, who came to Aroostook from Miramichi, N. B. His son,
James Tozier, is now a merchant in Ashland, having formerly
been engaged as a scaler of lumber upon the Aroostook and St.
John waters. Another son, Edward Tozier, is a farmer in New
Limerick. The Tozier farm was afterwards owned by Mr. C. A.
Stevens and is now occupied by Mr. Robert Hone.

In 1843 Martin Johnson came from Readfield and took the
lot next south of Staples. Robert Williams had made a small
clearing upon the lot and sold to Mr. Johnson, who also bought
the lot opposite and cleared up a large farm upon which he lived
until his death in 1856. His son, Lewis B. Johnson, then came
into possession of the homestead farm upon which he made
many improvements. He was also for some years employed in
teaming to Bangor and was engaged in trading and lumbering,
and built the first mill in the town. Mr. Johnson sold the farm
in 1868 to Mr. J. T. Drake and moved to Houlton, where he
was for some years engaged in trade and is now one of the prom-
inent and substantial citizens of Houlton. He held the office
of County Treasurer of Aroostook for six years and was after-
wards sheriff of the County for a term of six years. He is now

166 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

president of the Farmers' National Bank of Houlton.

Another of the early settlers of this portion of the town
was Noah Furbush, who came in 1843 and took the lot next
south of Mr. Johnson's. He lived there some ten years and
moved to Lynn, Mass., where he still resides and is engaged in
the soap business.

Major Abner True came to Littleton from Lincoln about
1845 and took the lot next to the center line of the town. Here
he m.ade a clearing, built a house and opened a hotel which he
kept for many years. Major True died nearly 20 years ago and
is still remembered as one of the pioneer settlers of the town.

In the portion west of the County road one of the earliest
settlers who remained to make a home was Mr. William Wiley,
who moved from Massachusetts to New Brunswick in 1825 and
in 1849 came to Littleton and bought of a Mr. Rollins a lot half
a mile west of the County road and south of the centre line.
Some ten acres were cleared on the lot when Mr. Wiley pur-
chased it. He made a good farm here and lived upon it until
his death in 1863. His son, David Wiley, now lives on the old
homestead, having made additions to the farm which has now
about 100 acres of cleared land. David Wiley was a good sol-
dier in the old Sixth Maine Battery and is a respected citizen of
Littleton.

On the South Ridge one of the earliest settlers is Mr. Peter
McGlynn, who emigrated from Ireland in 1848 and in 1850 came
to Littleton and took a lot in what was then the wilderness por-
tion of the town, a mile and a half west of the County road.
Mr. McGlynn has now a fine farm with 70 acres cleared and has
a good set of farm buildings. A good road now runs by his
place and he is in the midst of a pleasant and prosperous neigh-
borhood with fine fertile farms, all of which he has seen hewn
out of the forest since he has settled on his lot.

Among the first to settle east of the stream were Samuel
Adams, Francis Watson and John Little. They came about 1840
and have now all passed away. Mr. Joseph Henderson, the
earliest living resident in this portion of the town, came from
Ireland and settled in Littleton in 1843, taking a lot east of the
Meduxnekeag and next to the New Brunswick line. The three
settlers named above were the only ones in this portion of the
town when Mr. Henderson came. Their only outlet was an old
lumber road which let out to the road from Woodstock to Houl-
ton and over this they took their grists to Cary's mill in Houl-
ton in those early years.

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 167

This section now contains some of the finest farms in the
town, occupied by substantial, independent farmers with neat
and handsome buildings. Mr. Josiah Little of Portland had pre-
vious to 1840 acquired possession of the Williams College Grant
and of him these early settlers purchased their land. Mr. Hen-
derson wrote to his friends in Ireland of the opportunity for
making a home in this new country, and in 1845 his four bro-
thers, William, Nathaniel, John and Thomas Henderson came
and settled on lots near Joseph. Of these all but William are
now dead. The others left children who now occupy the old
farms and are in comfortable circumstances.

On the west bank of the Meduxnekeag is the fine farm of
Mr. James McClay, who came here from New Brunswick in
1850 when there were but few settlers in his vicinity, John Wat-
son, James McBride and Charles Perry came from New Bruns-
wick about the same time and settled on lots near Mr. McClay
and all have made handsome farms.

Among the prosperous farmers east of the Meduxnekeag,
besides the Hendersons already mentioned, are Mr. John Craw-
ford, whose farm is the southeastern lot in the town.

The town is well provided with roads in all sections and a
general appearance of prosperity is noticed. Large quantities
of farm produce are hauled from Littleton to Houlton to be
shipped and the farmers are now hopeful that the building of
the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad will soon give them better
■facilities for exporting their produce.

The two half townships originally granted to Williams Col-
lege and Framingham Academy were incorporated as a town
on March 18, 1856, and the new town was named Littleton, after
Mr. Josiah Little of Portland, a former proprietor. It is a pros-
perous and growing town with many good farms and pleasant,
comfortable homes.

FORT KENT

Along the nrothern border of Maine for many miles flows
the beautiful St. John, the grandest river of all this northern
land. Broad and fertile intervales are along its banks and beau-
tiful islands are dotted here and there throughout its course.
Away from the river the land rises in broken ridges in many
places and the scenery is the finest to be found in Maine. Fish
River flows southward through a magnificent chain of lakes and

168 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

becomes a noble river before it pours its volume into the St.
John. At the confluence of Fish River with the St. John is the
old town of Fort Kent. The situation is naturally picturesque.
Lofty hills rise at a distance from the river banks while near the
water the land lies in gradually receding terraces of fertile soil.
The village of Fort Kent is located on the level plain along the
river and extends to the higher land on the banks of Fish River.
At the point where Fish River enters the St. John is the old Block
House, around which clusters the early military history of the
town. This old structure is still in a good state of preservation
and has recently been purchased by the State, and measures
will be taken to keep it from destruction as it is a valuable mon-
ument of the history of Maine and should be most carefully
preserved. Fort Kent has until quite recently been regarded
as a remote point away on the northern frontier, separated from
the rest of the State by a long distance and looked upon almost
as a foreign country. Since the extension of the New Bruns-
wick Railway to Edmundston, however, and the completion of
the new road "through the woods" from Caribou, Fort Kent has
been brought nearer to the outside world and has come to be
known more as a part of the State of Maine. Passenger trains
now run to Edmunston, N. B., but twenty miles below, and the
extension of the Temiscouta Railroad will soon allow of railway
travel to the station immediately opposite the town. By the-
opening of the new road by way of the "thoroughfare" between
the Lakes, Fort Kent is brought within about forty miles of
Caribou and the ride is an easy and very pleasant one. From
Caribou village the road runs through Woodland to New Sweden
and crossing that town enters the wilderness township of 16, R.
3. Soon after entering that town it crosses the Little Mada-
waska River and running into 16, R. 4, skirts along the beauti-
ful Madawaska Lake.

Here the "citizens of Caribou have erected a handsome
club house on the shore of the lake and the place is much fre-
quented as a summer resort by the people of that enterprising
village. After passing the lake the road runs for a long dis-
tance through the forest, though there are small clearings at in-
tervals for the entire distance.

The history of Firt Kent dates away back to the time of the
Aroostook War with the events of which controversy it was in-
timately connected. There were settlers upon the town long
before that memorable conflict, as will be seen by reference to
the chapter on the early Acadian settlement along the upper St.

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 169

John. The present article will deal more particularly with the
history, development and present business of the good town of
Fort Kent.

The first settler upon the territory now included in the town
was Mr. Joseph Nadeau, who v/as born some twelve miles far-
ther down the river in what is now the town of Frenchville. Mr.
Nadeau is wont to relate that in his boyhood came the cold
year, now remembered by but a very few aged settlers, but a
matter of tradition with all this people. The season opened
unusually early and April was warm and sunny. Nearly all the
seed was put into the ground in that month. In May a heavy
frost came and killed all the crops which were just sprouting
from the ground. The people re-seeded the ground and had still
a prospect of a good crop, but in June a heavier frost succeed-
ed which killed everything and made a cfrop impossible for that
year. Much suffering ensued among the French settlers along
the river and as the snows of the following winter came on many
of them made the journey through the woods to Canada and
sought refuge among the French settlers along the St. Law-
rence. Mr. Nadeau related that his mother, who at the time had
a nursing infant, was placed upon a sled and hauled by dogs
through the woods to Canada. At the house at which she found
refuge was another infant which Mrs. Nadeau nursed. This
child grew to be a stalwart man and in after years became Mrs.
Nadeau's second husband.

Many other interesting reminiscences and traditions of
these early times along the river are related by the older people
and their descendants, but we have not space to record them
here.

Mr. Joseph Nadeau came to what is now Fort Kent in 1829
and built a log house on the land included in the farm now own-
ed by Mr. Samuel Stevens. He was then unmarried and his
nearest neighbors were at Baker Brook, some seven miles below
on the opposite side of the river. He lived alone for two years,
when he married and continued to reside upon his little farm,
to which he made additions by clearing new land each year. In
1836 his brother, Sefro Nadeau, came and settled on the point
at the mouth of Fish River, where he remained until the Maine
troops came down to the point, when he removed to the thorough-
fare at the foot of Long Lake on the road from Ashland to Fort
Kent, where he continued to reside until his death in 1873, and
where his son, Joseph Nadeau, still lives.

Not long after Mr. Joseph Nadeau settled at Fort Kent, or

17(J HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

at Fish River ,as it was then called, Mr. Daniel Savage built a
mill on Fish River, something over a mile above its mouth, on
the site of the present mills. Mr. Savage came from the town
of Anson about 1827, and settled first at Baker Brook on the
northern bank of the St. John River. A number of years after-
wards he moved to Fish River and built a small mill. Mr. Fred
W. Hathaway of Fredericton had a grant ot this mill lot from
the British government and this title being afterwards confirmed
by the commissioners under the treaty of 1842, Mr. Hatheway
took possession and Mr. Savage moved some eight miles farther
up the river to a beautiful island now in the plantation of St.
John. Here he continued to live until his death and his children
are still residents of this section.

Lumbering parties from Maine and New Brunswick were
carrying on operations in the forests of this section and soon
arose the difficulties in regard to the disputed boundary. Both
governments claimed the land and many troubles and complica-
tions arose in regard to the timber and the rights of operators.
In April, 1839, the first armed party appeared at the mouth of
Fish River. As we have related in a former chapter, this com-
pany of about sixty men came down the Aroostook River upon
sleds hauled by horses from Masardls to the mouth of Little
Machias River in Ashland, then went up that river to Little Ma-
chias Lake, crossed the "portage" some three miles through the
woods to Portage Lake, from which place their route was down
the lakes and Fish River. The company made their first stand
a number of miles above the mouth of Fish River at what is
now called Soldier Pond, but afterwards came down to the point
at the mouth of the river where they extended a boom partly
across the St. John' River. Farther out in the river at the head
of the island a pier was built and the boom extended to this
pier. The current setting toward the southern shore brought
the logs coming down the St. John into this boom, where they
were detained by Capt. Nye and his company, on the ground
that they were cut by Provincial trespassers upon Maine terri-
tory. Capt. Nye also commenced the erection of a block house
on the point for the protection of this boom, as its destruction
was threatened by the Provincial authorities.

In the fall of 1839 Capt. Nye's company returned to their
homes, being relieved by a company under Capt. Stover Rines
of Old Town. In the summer of 1840 the block house was com-
pleted by Capt. Rines' company and was named Fort Kent in
honor of Governor Edward Kent, who was that year elected

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 171

Governor of Maine. Capt. Rines' company remained at Fort
Kent until September, 1840, at which time a company of United
States troops under Capt. John H. Winder came to Fort Kent
and took possession of the post. Capt. Winder afterwards ob-
tained an unenviable notoriety as Maj. Gen. John H. Winder of
the Confederate army and commandant at Libby Prison.

Upon the arrival of the regular troops work was at once
commenced upon the construction of buildings for the proper ac-
commodation of the post. The place selected was upon the high
ground a short distance above the mouth of Fish River and here
a handsome parade ground Vv^as constructed. A large building
was erected for the barracks and two large double tenement
houses for the accommodation of the officers. The other build-
ings consisted of a hospital, commissary store, stable, blacksmith
shop, etc., all of which were most thoroughly and substantially
built. The only one of these buildings now standing entire is
the residence of Major William Dickey.

One of the officers' houses was for many years occupied as
a residence by Col. Davis Page and after his death by Deputy
Collector Edward Wiggin. It afterwards became the property
of Mr. B. W. Mallett, v;ho has removed it and erected a very
handsome modern dwelling. The other house which stood upon
the site of Deputy Collector I. H. Page's present residence was
burned as was also the hospital. The stable and commissary
building entered into the construction of Mr. Page's barn. A
lofty flag pole was erected on the corner of the parade ground
and remained standing for many years after the departure of
the troops. It was finally decided to cut it down, as if] had be-
come somewhat inclined, and it was feared that it might be de-
cayed and fall. It was found, however, to be sound and solid to
the core, being a beautiful stick of white pine. One of the old
French settlers relates that he assisted in raising this pole and
that a tin box containing historical records, the officers' names,
some coin, etc., was buried beneath the pole. It would be in-
teresting to excavate this box, as the spot is still known, and
examine its contents.

These years during the military occupation of Fort Kent
were lively years for this little frontier settlement. A number
of those who came with the Maine posse remained and took up
farms and others were attracted hither by the large lumber oper-
ations then carried on. French settlers also came to the town
and the number of inhabitants considerably increased.

The firm of Jewett & March of Bangor were carrying on

172 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

large lumber operations here during those years, their business
being the making of pine timber which was then abundant in
this vicinity. Shepard Gary was also operating further up the
river and had a store at Fort Kent.

Mr. Moses Rines, who came with his brother, Capt. Stover
Rines, remained for a time after the departure of the Maine
troops and purchased Mr. Joseph Nadeau's improvement. Mr.
Nadeau then moved to a lot a short distance farther up the
river, where he built a house and kept a hotel for many years.
Mr. Nadeau was long one of the prominent citizens of Fort
Kent, and was a man of much natural ability, though lacking
the advantages of an education except to a limited extent. He
was a man of genial temperament and is remembered by all as
an honest, kind and hospitable citizen. His death occurred in
January, 1885.

In the fall and winter of 1839 the road was cut through
from Ashland to Fort Kent. This work was under the direction
of Col. Charles Jarvis of Ellsworth and his book of accounts
with the men employed serves us as a desk as we write these
lines upon the banks of the beautiful St. John. The work seems
to have commenced in September 1839 and to have continued
through the winter. The wages paid the men was $18 per month
for common laborers or choppers and a higher rate for special
services. Upon this book appear the names of several who
have since been known as prominent citizens of the County.
The building of this road also brought much business to Fort
Kent and a number of the laborers remained in the town.

Messrs. Jewett and March bought of Mr. Rines the farm
upon which Mr. Nadeau originally settled and about 1844 built
the hotel afterwards kept for many years by Mr. Samuel Stev-
ens. They also built the store opposite the hotel and traded
there for a number of years.

About the year 1843, the firm of West & Niles bought of
Fred W. Hatheway the mill privilege on Fish River and the
land connected with it. They removed the old mill built by
Daniel Savage, rebuilt the dam and built a large mill. This
mill contained an up and down saw, two clapboard machines
and two shingle machines. The mill was built upon the east
side of Fish River and the lumber was rafted and run down
the river to Fredericton and St, John. In 1852 Mr. Silas Niles,
of the firm of West & Niles, died and the firm became West &
Jenkins. In the spring of 1854 the river cut around to the east
of the mill and washed away about three acres of land, together

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 173

-with two houses, a large barn, a store, blacksmith shop and
boathouse. The bridge which had been built two years pre-
vious was also carried away. The mill was upon a ledge and
■was not carried away, but the river now flowed in a new chan-
nel around the end of the dam. During the same summer the
dam was continued across the new channel and a large new
mill was built for the manufacture of deals for the English mar-
ket. This mill had a gang of six saws and contained very power-
ful machinery. The firm continued to run these mills until 1866,
"when they were sold to Mr. Asa Smith of Old Town, who very
soon afterwards sold them to Mr. George Seely. In 1868 these
mills, together with a large amount of lumber, were burned,
and the mills were never rebuilt.

. Mr. Samuel Stevens first came to Fort Kent in the year
1845 as clerk in the hotel for Jewett and March. Mr. Joseph
Nason of Bangor was then clerk in the store. At that time Mr.
E. D. Jewett remained most of the time at Fort Kent, taking
charge of the business there and Mr. Carlostin Jewett had charge
of the operations in the woods. The operations at that time were
upon the Allegash River and a large number of men and teams
were employed. In 1848 Mr. Stevens bought the hotel and store
and commenced trading on his own account, the firm of Jewett
& March giving him their large trade. Mr. Stevens continued in
trade until 1860, when he was appointed Deputy Collector of
Customs. He held this office six years, when he was succeeded
by Thomas B. Reed of Bowdoinham. Since that time Mr. Stev-
ens has been engaged in farming and keeping the hotel. He
"was also postmaster for some time.

In 1847 Mr. C. K. Bodfish of Gardiner and Col. David Page
of Waterville bought of West and Niles that part of the mill
lot lying on the west side of Fish River, together with one half
of the dam and privilege. Upon this they built a saw mill con-
taining an up and down saw, clapboard machine and shingle
machine, and commenced manufacturing lumber on an extensive
scale. In 1848 Major Wm. Dickey came from Gardiner and
bought the Page & Bodfish mill and continued in the business
of manufacturing and shipping lumber until 1854, when he sold
the property to Mr. Levi Sears. Mr. Dickey had in the mean-
time built a grist mill which also became the property of Mr.
Sears, who a short time previous had married the widow of Mr.
Silas Niles. Mr. Sears continued to run the saw mill until it "was
burned in 1878. He immediately rebuilt the saw mill and made
extensive repairs upon the grist mill and was largely engaged in

m HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

trade and manufacturing and shipping lumber. In 1887 another
washaway carried off the eastern portion of the dam and about
an acre of land. The next year the dam was rebuilt and a new
and substantial bridge was built above the dam, the State giving
$1000 in aid of the bridge. Mr. Sears died in 1886 and Mr.
Silas Nlles carried on the business for the heirs a number of
years with great success. The mills are now in possession of
Asa M. Pinkham and Cassius Sears.

Soon after the treaty of 1842 Mr. James C. Madigan came
to Fort Kent to establish schools in the Madawaska territory.
Mr. Madigan came from Damariscotta Mills and was a friend
and neighbor of Hon. Edward Kavanagh, then senator from Lin-
coln County, and afterwards Governor of Maine. Mr. Madigan
had previously been assistant clerk of the lower branch of the
Legislature of Maine. He was afterwards appointed Deputy Col-
lector of Customs at Fort Kent, succeeding Mr. Hook, who came
to the office immediately after the treaty. He continued in this
office until about 1848, when he removed to Houlton and formed
a partnership with Hon. John Hodgdon in law business and also
in the business of purchasing timber lands. His successors in
the office of Deputy Collector at Fort Kent were Col. David
Page, Mr. C. K. Bodfish, Major Wm. Dickey, Samuel Stevens,
Thomas B. Reed, Edward WIggin, John Nadeau and L H. Page.
Until 1869 Fort Kent was in the Castine Customs District, but
in that year the Aroostook District was formed, since which time
the office has been connected with the Houlton Customs House.

Mr. John L. Turner was one of the business men of Fort
Kent in the early times. In 1845 he was clerk here for Shepard
Cary, who then had a store near where Mr. W. H. Cunliffe's
house now stands. He afterwards built the store west of the
hotel, where Mr. I. H. Page afterwards traded. Mr. Turner
vhere did an extensive business for some ten years, when he
removed to Fredericton, where he aftrwards died.

Mr. Wm. H. Cunliffe first came to Fort Kent in 1846, in the
employ of Shepard Cary. He continued in Mr. Cary's employ
in the lumber operations until 1857, when he went into the lum-
ber business on his own account. He soon afterwards bought
the Cary property at Fort Kent, where he established a perman-
ent residence. In 1865 he formed a partnership with W. H.
Cary, a brother of Hon. Shepard Cary, and the firm of Cary &
Cunliffe carried on an extensive lumber business upon the upper
St. John and Its tributaries. In 1873 Mr. Cary withdrew from
the firm and removed to the West and Mr. Cunliffe took as a

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 175

partner, Mr. S. Walter Stevens. The new firm of Cunllffe &
Stevens continued the business on a still more extensive scale,
cutting one year as many as twenty-two million feet of logs. Mr.
Cunliffe was also at the same time a partner in the firm of B. W.
Mallett & Co., who carried on an extensive business in trading
and buying shingles, having a large store on the New Bruns-
wick side of the river opposite Fort Kent. In 1876 came the
disastrous Jewett failure which carried down both the above
named firms. Mr. Cunliffe gathered what he could from the
v/reck and has since established a successful business in lum-
bering and trading in connection with his sons, G. V. Cunliffe
and W. H. Cunliffe, Jr.

Mr. Harrison Knowles came from Bangor about 1854 and
bought one-half of the land owned by the U. S. Government.
He built the house afterwards occupied by Mr. George Seely
and now by Mr. L H. Page. Mr. Knowles also built the store
opposite the barracks, now occupied by B. W. Mallett. He was
engaged in trade and in the lumber business until 1862, when
he sold his property to Mr. George Seely and returned to Ban-
gor. Mr. George Seely, who was for many years one of the
principal business men of Fort Kent, came to the St. John River
many years ago as clerk for John Glazier, who had a store on
the English side some ten miles above Fort Kent. He was af-
terwards employed as clerk for John S. Gilman, who did busi-
ness for a time at Fort Kent and also for Mr. Robert Savage.
In 1862 Mr. Seely bought the Knowles property and went into
trade and lubmering on his own account. In 1866 he bought
the mills on the east side of Fish River and at the same time
purchased Township 18, R. 6, one-half of 17 R. 6 and half of
17 Range 7. The mills were burned the next year and were not
rebuilt. Soon after purchasing the mills Mr. Seely formed a
partnership with Mr. I. H. Page and the firm of Seely & Page
carried on a large business in trading, lumbering and buying
and shipping shingles. The partnership continued until the
death of Mr. Seely, which occurred in 1874. Mr. Seely was a
man of strict business integrity, a gentleman of much culture,
a warm-hearted, whole-souled, honest man. His death occa-
sioned a serious loss to the whole community, by whom he was
regarded with great respect and affection.

The United States troops who came in the fall of 1840 re-
mained four years, leaving the post in 1844 after the boundary
disputes had been fully settled.

The country upon the upper St. John is a most interesting

176 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOKT

portion of the State of Maine and, though heretofore but com-
paratively little known, is yet destined to become a most im-
portant factor in the industrial record of the State and to be de-
veloped into one of the principal business sections of Maine.
Could this country be connected with the great markets of the
United States by a direct line of railway communication, and
could the special lumber lav/ be repealed and mills for the man-
ufacture of lumber be established on the upper St. John, an im-
mense business would then be built up, greatly to the advantage
of the State of Maine.

From its situation upon the beautiful plain near the mouth
of Fish R.ver, Foit K.ent prom.ses to be one ot the most import-
ant points upon our northeastern frontier. The railroad will soon
be completed to Clair Station, immediately opposite Fort Kent,
and thus by means of the lerry the town will be supplied with
railway communication, although through a foreign country. Al-
ready pork and flour and all western produce can be laid down
at Fort Kent cheaper than at Presque Isle, or Houlton even, and
thus the days of high prices on account of the difficulty of trans-
portation have passed away for that locality. Although the
great business of piie timber making which built up the town
in the old days has now become a thing of the past, and the
large operations, now principally confined to cutting spruce and
csdar, have moved further up the river, yet Fort Kent is still the
center of a vast lumber business and from this source much
money Is brought into the town.

Mr. B. W. Mallett, now one of the principal merchants and
lumber operators residing at Fort Kent, first came to the town
in j^.pril, 1853. He came from the town of Lee, in Penobscot
County, and was in the lumber business four years at Portage
Lake before coming to Fort Kent. During the summer of 1853
he was employed by Major Dickey in the mills on Fish River
and in the fall of the same year moved to the mouth of Negro
Brook, a few m les below the mouth of the Allegash River. Here
he bought of Isaac Hacker the mill built in 1845 by Hale and
McGu're of L'ncoln and by them sold to Mr. Hacker. He also
built a house end store and for two years traded and manufac-
tured clapboards at this place. In 1855 Mr. Mallet moved down
to St. Francis, v/here he purchased a farm and built the house
■n which Mr. Angus Sinclair afterwards lived. He also built a
store at St. Francis and farmed and traded here for six years.
In 1861, he v/ent into the employ of the Aroostook Land Co.,
and for five years was employed in scaling logs and looking after

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 177

wild lands. In 1866 he moved again to Fort Kent and bought
a house on Main Street nearly opposite Mr. W. H. Cunliffe's.
He formed a partnership with Mr. Cunliffe, under the firm name
of B. W. Mallett & Co., and the firm built a large store on the
New Brunswick side of the river immediately opposite Fort
Kent. The firm of B. W. Mallett & Co. did a large business in
trading and buying and shipping shaved cedar shingles, which
at that time was an immense industry upon the upper St. John.
Many millions of shaved shingles were at that time bought and
shipped annually by the merchants of Fort Kent and other
points along the river, and nearly the vv^hole French population
of that section was employed in their manufacture. The shingles
were floated in immense rafts down the river to Grand Falls,
where they were taken from the water, hauled by teams around
the falls and again rafted in the basin below. They were then
floated to Fredericton, where they were loaded in vessels and
shipped to Boston and other markets. The shingles were made
both on the American and Provincial sides of the St. John and
the duty on Provincial shingles formed the principal source of
revenue at the Fort Kent custom house at that time. The firm
of B. W. Mallett & Co. continued to do an extensive business
until 1875, in which year came the disastrous Jewett failure, in
consequence of which the firm v/ent by the board. It is fair to
say here that both Mr. Cunliffe and Mr. Mallett came out of
this failure with their reputation as honest business men unsul-
lied and with the respect and sympathy of the entire community.
In fact, their business integrity and experience was about all
the capital left them from the general wreck, but upon this they
have since both built up comfortable fortunes. After the failure
Mr. Mallett was employed as a scaler for a number of years
and in 1880 entered into partnership with I. H, Page, Esq., in
the business of trading and lumbering which was extensively
carried on by the firm until 1888, when Mr. Mallett purchased
the entire business together with the house and land comprising
the estate of Col. David Page, v/ho died at Fort Kent in the fall
of 1869.

Mr. I. H. Page came to Fort Kent when a boy with his fa-
ther. Col. David Page, in 1847. In 1856 he went to Houlton as
clerk for Mr. Rufus Mansur and afterwards for Mr. Patrick Col-
lins. From Houlton he went to Fort Fairfield to clerk for Hon.
Isaac Hacker, remaining there two years and then taking charge
of Mr. Hacker's store at Van Buren for a year and a half. He
was afterwards for two years in the employ of Mr. C. F. A.

178 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

Johnson of Presque Isle. In 1864 he was appointed to a clerk-
ship in the quartermaster's department of the army in Virginia,
where he rerna-ned a year and in 1865 returned to Fort Kent
and went into the employ of his brother-in-law, Mr. George
Seely. In 1866 he entered into partnership with Mr. Seely and
the firm of Seely & Page carried on an extensive business until
the death of Mr. Seely in 1874. Mr. Page continued to carry on
the business under the firm name for two years, when he pur-
chased the entire business, in which he was engaged on his own
account until 1880, when the firm of Page & Mallett was formed.
In 1888 Mr. Page sold his interest in the business to Mr. Mal-
lett and in May 1889 was appointed Deputy Collector of Cus-
toms at Fort Kent, which office he now holds.

On the "hill," as it is called, or the slight elevation near
the bank of Fish River, is a handsome square, formerly the
parade ground of the United States troops. On the north side of
the square are located Mr. Mallett's store and the Custom House,
on the east and west sides the residences of Mr. Mallett and Mr.
Page, while on the south side is the residence of Major William
Dickey, formerly the old barracks building. This building Maj.
Dickey has repaired and modernized to a considerable extent
and has finished the interior into a most comfortable residence.
Mr. Cyrus H. Dickey, a son of the Major, also makes his home
here when not engaged in the woods or upon the river. Mr. C.
H. Dickey was for a number of years a member of the firm of
Eaton & Dickey, doing business at Frenchville, twelve miles be-
low Fort Kent, but has latterly carried on an extensive lumber
business on his own account, his operations being upon the St.
John River a long distance above Fort Kent. Major William
Dickey, one of the oldest settlers at Fort Kent now living, is
well known throughout the state of Maine. The Major is now
upwards of eighty, but is still hale and vigorous and will repre-
sent his district in the Legislature the coming winter with his
usual ability and success. He was first elected to the Legisla-
ture from the town of Strong in 1841 and has been a member
of twenty legislatures. He has a pleasant home with everything
needed for comfort and is quietly passing his declining years
surrounded by his affectionate children and grandchildren.

From the northwestern corner of the square the street de-
scends slightly to the beautiful plain upon which a large part
of the village is situated. As we descend to the lower ground
we come first to the large building on the right, owned by A. G.
Fenlason, Esq., the village lawyer. This building was built

HISTORY OP AROOSTOOK 179

some years ago by Mr. Levi Sears and was intended for a
store. After the death of Mr. Sears it was purchased by Mr.
Fenlason, who first came to the town nearly tv/enty years ago
as teacher of the high school. He afterwards studied lav/, and
having married a daughter of Major Dickey, established his
residence at Fort Kent. He is nov/ doing a successful business
being engaged in a number of enterprises outside of his profes-
sion, and is accumulating property.

In those old days no gayer place could be found in all the
State than Fort Kent, and none where money was more plenti-
ful, or was spent with a freer hand for everything that pertained
to social enjoyment. Far removed as the town then was from
the more populous portions of the State, its citizens were com-
pelled to rely on their own resources for enjoyment and the large
amount of money coming to them from the prosperous lumber
business in which most of them were engaged gave them ample
means for gratifying every desire for social pleasure. Fine
turnouts were the order of the day and some of the best horses
in the State were then owned at Fort Kent. Roadsters that could
make their hundred miles in a day were not uncommon, and in
winter season a race course was kept cleanly swept upon the
icy surface of the St. John, and here many notable contests were
engaged in between the fast steppers of the town. Those days
of exceptional business prosperity and of easy money making
have long since passed away and with them many who were
then active business men in the town, but the warm social at-
mosphere still remains and in no town in the State will a visitor
worthy of attention be received with more generous hospitality
than in the Fort Kent of today.

The Fort Kent Training School, when first established by
the State, held alternate terms at Van Buren and Fort Kent,
and each town furnished the building for its temporary accorii-
modation. A few years ago the school was permanently located
at Fort Kent and a building was erected by the State. The school
building is very pleasantly located and the grounds are spacious
and well kept. The school was instituted for the purpose of
training the native teachers and also to afford the means of^ a
practical education to all the youth of this region who were dis-
posed to avail themselves of its advantages. The school has
from its foundation been under the instruction of Vital Cyr,
B. A., a graduate of Orono College, as principal, and for most
of the time Miss Mary Nowland of Ashland, has been assistant
instructor. Mr. Cyr is peculiarly adapted to his position, being

180 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

a native of Fort Kent, of French parentage and thoroughly ac-
quainted with the language and institutions of his people. Un-
der his management the school has been a marked success and
has greatly benefited the youth of this vicinity. Much of the
success of the school is also due to the efficient work of Miss
Nowland, the accomplished assistant teacher, who possesses
superior qualifications as a teacher and is wholly devoted to the
good of her pupils. In company with Major Dickey, to whose
efforts the school is largely indebted, we recently spent a half
day in this school and were much pleased with the methods of
instruction and the advancement made by the pupils. We were
pleased to see that the stars and stripes float over the building
and that the pupils are taught that they are American citizens.
The town of Fort Kent includes the most of the two town-
ships of 18, Range 6 and 18, Range 7, and has the St. John River
for its entire northern boundary. There is much good farming
land in the tov^^n and this is being cleared and brought under
cultivation. With the exception of the village almost the entire
population of the town are of French descent, and of the Roman
Catholic faith. Much interest in education Is now being taken
by the French citizens and a marked improvement is noticed.
The population of the town in 1890 was 1826.

UPPER ST. JOHN RIVER COUNTRY

In the northern part of Aroostook County is a large French
population, a part of whom are descendants of the old Acadian
refugees and a large portion emigrants from Canade and their
descendants. These people, though American citizens and con-
stituting a portion of the permanent population of the State, are,
nevertheless, in many respects a distinct and separate commun-
ity and v/ill remain so to a great degree for many years to come.

The Scandinavian colonists of Aroostook have been in the
County twenty years, and a stranger now riding through New
Sweden will see very little to remind him that the town was
settled by a foreign colony and another generation will find this
people wholly Americanized and merged into the general, hom-
ogeneous mass of the population of this section. This is account-
ed for from the fact that the Swedes are of kindred blood with
us and, in common with us, are members of the old Anglo Saxon
stock.

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 181

With the French it is entirely different. They are not only
of another nationality and with language, manners, customs and
traditions different from ours, but they are of a different race
also. They are of the Latin race which is not readily grafted
upon Anglo-Saxon stock and hence they are not readily merged
into the general mass of the population of this region. There
are of course instances more or less frequent of intermarriage
between the French and native Americans and in some cases
the distinctive characteristics seem in a great measure to dis-
appear in the next generation, but as a rule the lines of race are
as distinctly marked amid the general population of the County
as are the lines of the Gulf Stream in the midst of the waters
of the Atlantic.

For many years the French have been inhabitants of Can-
ada, but they are still a separate people and the Anglo-Saxons
have not as yet been able to absorb them into a common nation-
ality. The manners, customs, traditions, dress and language of
the people along the St. Lawrence are still largely those of
France, rather than of England or America, and such they will
continue for many years. So when we reach the banks of the
beautiful St. John in the northern part of Aroostook County, we
can in many places readily imagine ourselves in a foreign coun-
try. It is true a considerable change has taken place in the last
ten years even, in regard to the conveyances, the agricultural
implements and the methods of farming among this people and
many American ideas and customs have been accepted. Schools
in which the English language is taught and the literature of our
country introduced to a certain extent are having their influence,
and some idea of the fact that they are a part of the State of
Maine and of the United States is beginning to make itself
manifest especially among the younger portion of the popula-
tion. Notwithstanding this, the old traditions remain and the
institutions and religious ceremonies of Catholic France still
exert a controlling influence among this people. With them the
New England Thanksgiving day is almost unknown, and Christ-
mas is not the "Merry Christmas" that we enjoy. Their holi-
days are distinct from ours to a great extent. New Year's day
is particularly a day of feasting and merriment, while "Mardi
gras" is the chief holiday of the year. Others there are but they
are those handed down in the traditions of the Catholic Church
and of foreign lands and have little to do with our distinctive
American institutions. Fourth of July is little of thought of
among this people and it will be long before Concord and Bun-

182 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

ker Hill, or even Gettysburg and Appomattox will have much
significance in the minds of our French fellow citizens. These
remarks are made in no disparaging sense, nor with the least in-
tention of unkind or adverse criticism upon this interesting and
kindhearted peaple. They are simply introduced to note the
difference between separate national characteristics and the dif-
ficulty of ready amalgamation between the Latin and Anglo-
Saxon races.

The people of Madawaska, as this whole upper country set-
tled by the French is called ,are a simple minded, light hearted,
pleasure-loving class, of kindly and most hospitable manners
and peaceable and law-abiding in their general deportment. Their
tastes are simple and their wants comparatively few and appar-
ently easy to be supplied. They are a peculiarly social people
and love to assemble in large numbers for the enjoyment of
their innocent pastimes, or for the celebration of their religious
fetes. Music and dancing have great charms for them and they
are naturally pleased with gay colors both in dress and in the
pictures with which they love to adorn their houses. Their diet
is simple and they are in no way given to extravagance in the
matter of food and drink. Though apparently caring only for
the needs and pleasures of the passing hour, yet many of them
have snug little sums, largely in specie, safely stowed away in
some old chest or other chosen repository, to be drawn upon
only in case of actual emergency. In their intercourse with
strangers they are polite, kind and hospitable to a degree most
noticeable by all who have lived or journeyed among them, and
in no section of our land will the traveller, meeting with any
mishap, or needing rest or refreshment, be more kindly and cor-
dially cared for than in Madawaska. The "dry plank" and the
best bed are ever at the disposal of the stranger guest who may
be compelled by circumstances to throw himself upon their good
offices and no amount of pains or personal inconvenience is
spared to render all possible assistance in case of mishap. In
a number of instances, when travelling in a winter night and
forced by the storm to call for shelter, have we been placed in
the warm bed, just vacated for our comfort by the host and host-
ess, while they sought for themselves other quarters, probably
far less comfortable. They are of the Roman Catholic faith
and are devotedly attached to their church and scrupulously
faithful in religious observances. Upon this point they are pe-
culiarly sensitive and readily resent anything approaching ridi-
cule or opposition to their cherished religion. Thus held to-

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 183

gether by the strong bond of religious unity, which permits no
sectarian divisions or discussions among themselves, and look-
ing with extreme disfavor upon anyone of their number who
presumes to desert the church, or even to neglect attendance
upon her ordinances, they more naturally remain a distinct peo-
ple and are less readily absorbed in the general mass of the pop-
ulation of the country.

Their methods of agriculture are generally of a somewhat
crude and primitive sort, as they are extremely conservative and
in this, as in other matters, are slow to adopt new innovations,
preferring rather to cling to old usages.

Since writing the above lines, giving our personal impres-
sions In regard to the natural tendency of our French fellow
citizens to remain a distinct people, our attention has been called
to a French work, written by M. Rameau more than a quarter
century ago, entitled "La France aux Colonies." This author
particularly emphasizes this point and even goes farther than
facts of subsequent occurrences would seem to warrant. We ven-
ture to translate a few passages, hoping they may not be void of
interest in this connection.

After speaking of the increase of the number of Acadlans
in Nova Scotia during the present century, and of their com-
plete separation from the English residents of that province, M.
Rameau says : "All authors virtually agree in bearing witness
to the preservation of their language, of their national character,
and to the vigilant care which they have given to these matters.
Notice what Halliburton, who was a judge in Nova Scotia, wrote
in 1829: 'While the Germans tend to merge themselves in the
mass of the population, the Acadlans remain distinct as much
as possible, preserving their religion, their language and their
peculiar customs; they never marry with their protestant neigh-
bors. Among themselves they speak French, but It is mixed
with some words derived from the Indian and from the English.
The men, however, generally know English, but few of the
women understand that language. The Acadlans have a pecu-
liar attachment for their language and their customs, and al-
though their business often brings them among the English, they
never marry with them, never adopt their manners and never
quit their villages.' "

These words of Judge Halliburton, quoted by the French
writer, may have been strictly true of the Acadlans of Nova
Scotia at the time when they were written and may continue to
be so today, but they are not altogether true of their fellow

184 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

countrymen in Madawaska. There, though as a rule they marry
among themselves, yet marriages with Americans are not infre-
quent and will probably become less rare as the younger people
become better educated and the number of Americans increase
in that locality. Again says Rameau, in speaking of the Aca-
dians of Madawaska, in which number he includes all the French
population on both sides of the upper St. John and which he
places in 1861 at about 12,000 : "Communication is becoming now
more and more frequent with Lower Canada, and probably all
the commercial relations of that country (Madawaska) will take
place in the future through the little town of Trois Pistoles on
the St. Lawrence. There is then reason to hope that the suprem-
acy of the American merchants will gradually disappear from
these villages and that in consequence an end will be put to
the introduction into the language of the Acadians of Anglicisms
which have crept into it during the last thirty or forty years.' "

Despite the solicitude of this ardent French writer, his
dream of a permanent Acadia upon the upper St. John, with
manners unchanged and language uncorrupted as when the an-
cestors of this people peacefully enjoyed their quiet homes "on
the shores of the basin of Minas" is hardly destined to be ful-
filled. To a great extent they will remain a distinct people for
many years to come, but their manners, methods and language
will gradually become more and more like those of the Amer-
ican residents in their midst. Communication with Canada is
indeed becoming more easy and frequent, but the iron horse now
courses away across that country, and, harnessing to his load
from the grain elevators and flouring mills of our own great
western cities, bears it back and lays it down at the doors of the
French habitans on the northern border of Maine.

The vast lumber operations upon the upper St. John, car-
ried on for the most part by Americans, either from Maine or
New Brunswick, employ large numbers of the French popula-
tion and thus their young men are brought Into Immediate con-
tact with our business men and business methods. For these
reasons some might predict that though no hostile military force
should come with fire and brand again to disperse this quiet
people, yet the onward march of events in the development of
the country, the opening up of new railroads through our own
county and the establishment of new and varied Industries might
In time accomplish the same results to a considerable extent.
Yet could our French prophet, whom we have quoted above,
visit the Madawaska region today, he might with truth say to

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 185

US something like this: "Look upon the condition of things
.among this people a half century ago and compare it with that
of today. Then all the business of the country was done by
American residents, while the simple Acadian, with no education
and very little ambition in that direction, contented himself with
•raising his scanty crops and caring for his little flocks and herds.
Now there are native French merchants at every point where
business is carried on. The American settlers have decreased
in numbers, while the French have increased to a wonderful ex-
tent. Not many years ago a large number of American mer-
chants were doing business at Van Buren, Grand Isle, Madawas-
ka, Frenchville and Fort Kent. Today the number at Van Buren
and Fort Kent is very much diminished, while those at the other
points mentioned have alomst entirely disappeared and their
places are occupied by French merchants and business men.
Starch factories were built throughout the district by Americans
from Maine or New Hampshire. Now nearly every one of them
is owned by Frenchmen who have added to the number new fac-
tories at different points. Mills have been built at various
places by Frenchmen and are now being successfully operated.
Young men of the same nationality have been educated as law-
yers and as physicians and have almost entirely supplanted the
Americans in those professions. Fifty years ago the French
settlements were confined to a narrow strip along the river with
a vast wilderness in their rear. Now they have extended through-
out nearly the entire portions of the towns originally occupied
and have pushed their settlements through from Van Buren to
Caribou, from Fort Kent to Portage Lake and are fast encroach-
ing upon the lands between Fort Kent and New Sweden. New
parishes have been formed in places then covered by the wil-
derness and large churches, filled each Sabbath with devout
worshipers, now stand where stood the forest then. In all this
country upon the upper St. John with its immense lumber busi-
ness, carried on for many years and with Its fertile soil there
is today but a handful of American residents, not so many as
fifty years ago, while the children of the Acadians have multi-
plied many fold and are becoming a dense population in all this
region. At Van Buren only is there any Protestant church build-
ing, and that a small chapel built by the Episcopal bishop, with
a pastor but a portion of the time, and this field will probably
soon be abandoned for want of support. Upon the entire extent
of the St. John River in Maine there is no clergyman of the
Protestant faith and the services of that church are nowhere

186 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

maintained. The country is French and such it is destined to
remain."

Certainly the view of the situation outlined above is largely
warranted by the facts in the case and it would be indeed in-
teresting could one visit the Madawaska region fifty years hence
and note the effect of another half century upon the language,-
manners and customs and religious faith of this people.

From Caribou village the road runs northward for six miles
across the north half of the town of Caribou, and continues on
in the same direction across Township K, Range 2, Cyr Planta-
tion and a corner of Van Buren to the St. John River.

The large mills of the Van Buren Shingle Co., located on
the main river, and the long train of cars steaming alnog on the
New Brunswick shore give a business aspect to the picture and
indicate that all is not rural quiet and pastoral simplicity in this
other Acadia. There are two other saw mills in the town, both
located on Violette Brook. These are the Hammond mills, con-
taining two shingle machines, and the Souci mill, with two shin-
gle machines and a rotary. Mr. Fred B. Violette has a grist mill
and carding mill. Mr. W. C. Hammond was for many years the
principal business man at Van Buren and was formerly ex-
tensively engaged in trade and in the business of cutting and
manufacturing lumber. He also had a fine farm a short dis-
tance below the village. His sons were also engaged in busi-
ness here, but all save one have now moved to the far West and
Mr. Hammond, having retired from active business, contem-
plates joining them. Mr. C. F. Hammond is now the only Amer-
ican resident who has been in business here for any considerable
time. He is a relative of W. C. Hammond and is the principal
merchant of the town. Mr. Hammond is also deputy collector
of customs at Van Buren, and his daughter, Miss Margaret Ham-
mond, is the village postmaster. P. C. Keegan, Esq., is the prin-
cipal lawyer, and Drs. T. H. Pelletier and J. C. Upham are the
physicians.

The town of Van Buren is nearly in the form of a right
angled triangle. 'of which the west line, some eight miles in
length, is the perpendicular, the south line of six miles the base,
and the St. John River the hypotenuse. The settlement along the
river is continuous for the whole distance across the town and
there are large settlements back from the river in various por-
tions of the town. The population of Van Buren is 1168.

The French are a remarkably prolific people and large fam-
ilies are the rule among them. They are also a home loving

HISTORY OP AROOSTOOK 187

race and for this reason, as sons grow up and marry, the pater-
nal estate is divided and the children are settled near the old
home. All along the river the farms are divided into narrow
strips, each having a front on the river and running far back
upon the higher land in the rear. Thus the dwellings are brought
near together and along the road on both sides of the river a
continuous settlement extends for many miles.

For nearly ten miles the road runs through the northern part
of Van Buren and then enters the town of Grand Isle. This
town is named after the large and fertile island in the St. John
within the limits of the town, and has a population of 964.

In establishing the boundary the channel of the river was
made the dividing line, hence all islands lying on the south of
the channel are in the State of Maine, and those on the north
are in the Province of New Brunswick. The land in that portion
of Grand Isle which borders upon the river is productive and
easy of cultivation, but farther back the soil is not so good, and
the town is not so thickly settled away from the river as many
of the other towns.

Twelve miles above Van Buren we come to the large estate
of Dennis Cyr, a son of Paul Cyr, one of the early residents of
the town. The Cyrs are of old Acadian stock and the different
branches of the family are quite numerous in all this region. Mr.
Cyr's house is a very large two-story building with broad ver-
andas and is situated on a handsome plain some distance from
the road and near the bank of the river. Mr. Alexis Cyr, who
died some years ago, resided near here and was one of the prin-
cipal citizens of the town. He was a brother of Dennis, and
both received a good English education at the old Houlton Acad-
emy. Alexis Cyr represented his district in the State Legisla-
ture a few years before his death and was a man of consider-
able ability. Mr. Remi Plourd, another prominent citizen of the
town, has a good English education and has been in trade here
for some years.

On the hill near the Cyr estate is the fine large church of
Notre Dame de la paix, a large white structure with a lofty
spire. In matters pertaining to religious worship the people of
these French towns have this marked advantage over the set-
tlers in other Aroostook towns — they are all of one religious
faith and hence by uniting their contributions are able to build
one large church in each town and to give a generous support to
a permanent pastor. Up to 1869 this whole Madawaska country
on both sides of the St. John River was a part of the diocese of

ISS HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

Chatham and its religious affairs were under the control of that
bishop. In that year, however, a division was made, and all the
parishes on the American side were attached to the Portland
diocese, now under the pastoral care of Bishop Healey, who once
in two years makes a visit to all these churches. The visit of
the bishop is an event of much importance to the people of these
tov/ns, and great preparation is made for his reception. Small
trees are cut down and planted on both sides the road at short
distances apart, making a continual grove of bushes for more
than fifty miles. At each church handsome arches are built
across the main road and many elaborate decorations are made.
The influence of the priests over the people is very great, and
in most cases is exerted in favor of temperance, sobriety and
good citizenship. Formerly the priests influenced the people in
regard to their political action much more than at present. Now
the priests as a rule do not take so active a part as political
partisans and the action of the people in this respect is becom-
ing more independent.

Madawaska is one of the largest, as well as one of the most
fertile of the river towns. Nowhere are the intervales and plains
along the river so broad and extensive, or so smooth and un-
broken, and nowhere are there more beautiful landscape views.

The town of Madawaska is composed of parts of townships
18 Range 4, and 18 Range 5. It has a river front of about nine
miles, and extends back from the river nearly ten miles, includ-
ing a large part of Long Lake, the northernmost of the magnif-
icent chain of lakes which extends through the northern part of
the 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th ranges of towns, and finds an outlet
into the St. John by way of Fish River at Fort Kent. There are
many roads in this town and many settlers on the lots back from
the river. The population is 1451.

Leaving Madawaska, we next come into the town of
Frenchville. Here the road, which for some distance has run
nearly west as we travelled up the river, turns abruptly to the
south and continues in that direction for nearly three miles, until
we come to the great bend in the river known as Chataucoin,
when it turns again and continues in a westerly course across the
town. A short distance above the bend we come to the village of
Frenchville at the mouth of the road leading out to Long Lake.
Here there are a number of stores, a starch factory and some
very handsome dwellings. This factory was built a number of
years ago by Mr. J. W. Bolton, the present sheriff of the county,
and Hon. Geo. W. Collins of Bridgewater.

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 189

Frenchvillle is a large tov/n and has much good farming
land. Its population is larger than that of any other town upon
the upper St. John, being 2560 by the late census.

Next above Frenchville we come to the town of Fort Kent,
and here we find that the high bluffs approach nearer the river
and the land along the road becomes more broken. In one place
the road runs along the base of a high mountain and the settlers
along here do not see the sun until late in the day. Some twenty
years ago a land slide occurred here, an area of many acres
breaking loose from the high land and pushing out in a mass
into the river. An abrupt break was made in the main road,
that part which crossed the "landslide" being thrust over toward
the river some eight or ten feet. A chasm of considerable depth
and about ten feet v/ide was m.ade on the side of the wooded
hill back from the river and so abrupt was the break that trees
were riven for seme distance up the trunk and left standing
astride the crevasse.

A^bout three miles above Fort Kent village is the farm of
Mr. Daniel Harford, one of the best farms in the town. A broad
and fertile intervale stretches along the river front and the high-
er land in the rear is level and smooth. Mr. Harford is the son
of John Harford, one of the earliest American settlers on the
river. Mr. John Harford came from Saco about 1818 and first
settled at the mouth of Baker Brook, some five miles below Fish
River on the New Brunswick side. There was at one time quite
a number of American settlers at that place in the early days
when the question of the boundary was in dispute, and the little
settlement played quite an important part in the history of that
period. A_bout 1820 Mr. Harford moved about eight miles
above Fish River and settled on the A_m.erican side in what is
now the plantation of St. John. Here he cleared up a farm and
was for many years engaged in farming, hunting and lumber-
ing. His latter years were spent with his son, Daniel Harford,
on the farm in Fort Kent.

Continuing on up the river we soon enter the plantation of
St. John, and find the road here running somewhat south of west
across this town. This township is not much settled except
along the river road, where there is some very good land and a
number of fine farms. A fev*^ miles above the tov/n line we come
to what was formerly the Savage estate, comprising a large
tract of land on the main land and a very large and fertile island
in the St. John River. Mr. Daniel Savage, who built the first
mill on Fish River at Fort Kent, took up this tract of land many

190 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

years ago and lived upon the island, where he reared a large
family of children. In company with his son, Gilman Savage,
he afterwards built the large house on the mainland oppos'.te the
island and lived here until his death in 1854. The property was
then divided and Mr. Robert Savage owns the east half of the
large island. Mr. Gilman Savage afterwards moved to Fort
Kent and engaged in trade, still retaining his interest in this
property, and died at Fort Kent about twenty years ago.

A few miles above here we come to the large estate of Mr.
Jesse Wheelock, upon which is one of the finest and most pro-
ductive intervales upon the river. Mr. Wheelock is the son of
Mr. Jesse Wheelock, who was for many years one of the promin-
ent business men of this section. He came from Northborough,
Mass., to the city of St. John, N. B., many years ago, and en-
gaged in business there, owning largely in vessel property.
About 1830, he removed to the upper St. John, settling first at
Baker Brook. Soon afterwards he removed to what is now St.
John Plantation and settled on the large intervale now owned by
his son. A small stream, knovv^n as Wheelock Brook, enters the
river near here, and upon this the elder Wheelock built a grist
mill and also a saw mill for the manufacture of clapboards and
shingles. He engaged in farming and lumbering here until his
death in 1837, when his son, Jesse J. Wheelock, took the proper-
ty and continued to operate the mills for a year, when the estate
was divided and Mrs. Duncan Sinclair, a daughter of Mr. Jesse
Wheelock, came into possession of the mill property. Mr. Dun-
can Sinclair, who now carries on the mills, is a son of Mr. John
Sinclair, who came from Restigouche, N. B., about 1840, and
settled at the mouth of Little Black River. Ten years later he
moved to a farm in St. Francis, where he lived until his death
in 1884. Mr. Sinclair was of Scotch parentage and though a
naturalized citizen of the United States, never lost his feeling of
loyalty to Great Britain. When nearing his death he requested
Mr. Robert Conners to procure a British flag in which his body
might be enshrouded for burial. This wish Mr. Conners com-
plied with and the old man's body now rests enveloped in the
flag of the country he loved so well.

Opposite Mr. Wheelock's, on the New Brunswick side, is
the store and fine establishment of Mr. Robers Conners, one of
the largest lumber operators on the upper St. John.

The present survey of the Temiscouata Railroad terminates
near Mr. Conners' store, but the line will probably be continued
further up the river. Continuing up the river on the American

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 191

Side, we pass the farm of Mr. Samuel Russell, who came from
Kennebec many years ago and who alvv/ays has a yoke of noble
big oxen, and come to the Hunnewell farm on the line between
St. John and St. Francis. Mr. Barnabas Hunnewell came from
Solon, in Somerset County, to St. John, N. B., about 1820. He
afterwards removed to Baker Brook and in 1830, came up the
river and settled on the large island now known as Hunnewell's
Island, and included in the plantation of St. John. He also took
up a tract of land on the main land, where he afterwards built
his house and carried on a large farming and lumbering busi-
ness. The country in this section was covered with a heavy
growth of pine and the manufacture of pine timber was a most
profitable business at that time. "Squire Hunnewell," as he was
always called, was a justice of the peace for many years and
was a man of much ability. His death occurred in 1868 and his
widow still resides upon the old farm with her daughter and
son-in-law. The Hunnewell residence is in the plantation of
St. Francis, though the island and a large part of the farm is in
St. John Plantation.

Continuing up the river road through St. Francis, we pass
the farm of the late Mr. John Sinclair and soon come to Mr.
Charles McPherson's, one of the oldest residents of the town.
He came here with his father sixty-one years ago, and has lived
at St. Francis ever since. His father, Mr. Charles McPherson,
was born in Rhode Island, whence he removed to Restigouche,
N. B., and came to St. Francis in 1829. He lived here some
twenty years, and then removed to Mattawamkeag. His son
Charles, the present proprietor of the farm, remained at St.
Francis, where he has ever since been engaged in farming and
lumbering and is one of the principal citizens of the town. He
is now seventy years old but is hale and hearty.

Opposite the mouth of the St. Francis River which enters
the St. John about fifteen miles above Fort Kent is the large
estate owned and occupied for many years by the late Martin
Savage, Esq. This estate consisted of three large and very
handsome islands and a large farm on the main land. The house
is a handsome two story building, built and finished in the most
thorough manner and conveniently arranged in every part. On
the opposite side of the road are a number of large barns and
stables In which Mr. Savage always kept a fine stock of horses
and cattle. Years ago, when Mr. Savage was living and his
family circle was unbroken, this was one of the pleasantest
homes in Aroostook. Here unbounded hospitality reigned and

192 HISTORY OF ARCOSTOOIC

friends were always sure of a cordial and warm-hearted welcome.
Many merry parties have gathered around that ample boa-d ar.d
joined in social pleasures within those spacious and handsome-
ly furnished rooms. Mr. Savage was the son of Daniel Savage
and moved to St. Francis about 1850. He engaged extensively
in farming and raised large crops of grain which found a read)'
market in the lumber woods. He also carried on lumber opera-
tions to a considerable extent and was for many years engaged
in trade at St. Francis. He also owned an interest in the starch
factory at Frenchville and at the time of his death, which oc-
curred in 1888, was possessed of a large property. After liis
death the estate at St. Francis was sold by the heirs, and his
widow and three daughters, all that remain of a large family,
are now living in the State of Washington. That part of the
farm lying upon the main land is now owned by Mr. Neal Mc-
Lean, an old resident of the tov/n who has long been engaged
in lumbering operations upon the upper St. John. The islands
have been purchased by parties living upon the Provincial side
of the river.

A short distance above Mr. McLean's the road runs along
the summit of a high "horseback" formation thrown up to a con-
siderable height from the midst of a beautiful plain. The view
from this point is very fine, and as one looks down the river
from this "horseback" the landscape scenery, consisting of
river, islands and large cultivated fields, forms a picture of rare
beauty. Aroostook is full of grand views and beautiful land-
scape pictures, but nowhere are they more beautiful than upon
the upper St. John.

Above the mouth of the St. Francis the St. John is wholly
within the State of Maine. The St. Francis is the boundary
river from that point to the extreme northern point of the State,
which is the northwestern corner of "Big Twenty," that town-
ship running entirely across the State and being bounded on
three sides by Canadian territory. The plantation of St. Fran-
cis comprises Township 17, Range 9, and is thickly settled along
the river, but has few settlers upon other parts of the town.
There is much good land along the river but the land further
back is not so fertile. Not far from Mr. McLean's is a deposit
of slate of fine quality and lying so as to be very easily quarried.

The Catholic Church of St. Charles is located in this planta-
tion and was build by Father Sweron in 1870. The population
is 461, a majority of v/hom are French.

The Allegash Plantation above St. Francis is still another

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 193

organized plantation and there are many fine farms with large
and costly buildings both upon the main river and upon the Alle-
gash. Though these farmers are far distant from the business
centers and their products cannot be shipped to outside markets,
yet the large lumber business carried on in their immediate
vicinity creates a demand for all their surplus products and
brings a good cash market to their own doors. On this account
their business has been a prosperous one and many improve-
ments have, within the last few years, been made in the farms
and farm buildings of this section. A large extent of country,
including the Allegash and Little Black settlements, has been
organized as Allegash Plantation and thus the settlers are per-
mitted to exercise the right of suffrage and also to raise money
for school purposes and to draw their proportional part of the
State stipend. This plantation has a population of 83, a large
majority of whom are of English descent.

The turnpike road road extends up the river some four
miles above the mouth of the St. Francis, and beyond that point
the travel in summer is wholly by boats upon the river. The
road has been laid out, however, by the County Commissioners
as far up as the mouth of the Allegash; and justice to the set-
tlers in this upper country demands that it be opened for travel.
In the winter a good road is kept open on the river as far up as
Seven Islands and large quantities of supplies are hauled up
the river to the lumber camps above. A few miles from the
mouth of the St. Francis, if we cross to the north bank of the
St. John, we find a "portage" which leads through the woods
some two miles to Fall Brook. This is a rough and noisy little
stream flowing in a northeasterly direction across Township 17,
R. 10, and emptying into the St. Francis a mile or two above the
mouth of that river. The portage strikes the stream at the
falls where the water dashes down over steep ledges, foams
and rushes among large bowlders so near together that we can
leap from one to another and cross the brook to a fine camping
ground on the other side. Here, we think, may be found today
a tall pine stump hewn smooth on its sides and inscribed with
the names of a merry party of some forty men, women and chil-
dren who camped here for two nights twenty years ago. Six
miles above the falls on this stream is a small lake in which
trout are found in great abundance.

The Allegash River enters the St. John from the south some
twelve miles above the mouth of the St. Francis. It is a large,
strong, flowing river fed by numerous lakes, and with its many

194 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

tributary streams drains a large timber producing region.

At the mouth of the Allegash is a large farm where many
years ago lived Mr. Samuel Bolton, father of the present sheriff
of Aroostook County. Here Mr. Bolton raised large crops of
hay and grain for the lumber woods and his house was a place
of entertainment for lumbermen on their way to and from the
camps. ■ ■

Three miles above the mouth of the Allegash we come to
the mouth of Little Black River, which rises away up in Canada
and flowing in a southeasterly course enters the St. John on its
northern side in Township No. 17, R. 11. The country in the
vicinity of the Allegash and Little Black has been considerably
improved within a few years and the good farms and substan-
tial farm buildings give evidence of the prosperity of the set-
tlers upon the newly organized Allegash Plantation.

Formerly the larger portion of the supplies for the lumber
camps and also for the stores along the river was boated up the
river from Fredericton. The boats used were large, flat bottomed
scows with a cabin built upon the after end in which the boat-
man ate and slept, and upon the top of which the helmsman
stood and steered the boat by means of a huge rudder. Some
of these boats are capable of carrying two hundred barrels of
pork, and are drawn up the river by horses. Two horses are
attached to each boat by a long warp and are guided by a rider
on the back of the near horse. The horses travel upon the
beach whenever a "tow-path" can be found, but are often
obliged to wade in deep water and in many places to swim the
river as the tow-path changes from side to side. In the late
fall when ice begins to form it is cold work for men and horses.
Since the extension of the railroad to Edmundston supplies have
been forwarded to that point and they will now come to Clair
station opposite Fort Kent, and thus the tow-path will be very
much shortened. Many supplies for the camps on the upper
St. John are also brought by the Grand Trunk to LTslet and St.
Jean Port JoH on the St. Lawrence and thence hauled through
the woods to Seven Islands and from there to the different camps.

Further on up the river, above Big Rapids we come to the
Simmons farm on the north bank of the St. John. This farm
was cleared many years ago for the purpose of raising hay and
grain for the lumber woods, but latterly it has not been so well
cultivated. A few miles further on brings us to Seven Islands.
We are now some seventy miles above Fort Kent, but find the
St. John nearly as wide here as at Woodstock. Seven Islands

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 195

has for many years been the most important point in all this
forest region and has long been the depot of supplies for large
lumbering operations. The old Gary farm is situated on the north
bank of the river and includes also the islands which give the
place its name, some of which contain many acres of fertile land
and produce large crops of hay and grain. Many years ago
Hon. Shepard Gary of Houlton carried on an immense lumber
business on the St. John and Allegash and cleared up this farm
for the purpose of producing supplies and also to serve as a
depot for his extensive operations. The house is a large story
and a half structure standing near the river bank and containing
a number of ample rooms, the largest of which is the big dining
room, with its long table, at which many hungry men have been
fed. In the kitchen is a huge stone fireplace with its long iron
crane upon which are hung the big pots in which many a tooth-
some meal has been cooked. There are a number of large barns
upon the farm, the boards with which they are covered having
been sawed with a whipsaw from the clearest and soundest of
pine lumber. Upon the main land above the house is a large
tract of level land of great fertility and under good cultivation..
This large farm was for many years the property of the firm of
Gary & Gunliffe, and afterwards of the firm of Gunliffe & Stev-
ens, during which time large numbers of fine blooded animals
were kept upon the farm. The estate now belongs to Mr. Arthur
DeGhaine, a former resident of Ganada, who is extensively en-
gaged in farming and lumbering.

On the opposite side of the river is the large farm of Mr.
Frank Gurrier, which consists of many acres of fine, productive
land and has commodious and well constructed buildings. Mr.
Currier has lived here for many years and has engaged quite
extensively in farming and lumbering, in which business he
has been very successful. There are a number of other farms
in the immediate vicinity, making quite a little settlement, the
farthest from tide water on the upper St. John. The settlers
were at one time organized as the Plantation of Seven Islands,
and for a number of years the returns from Seven Islands were
anxiously looked for before the result of an election could be
formally declared. The present proprietor of the "Big Farm"
not being an American citizen, the plantation a number of years
ago lost its organization and Allegash now has the honor of be-
ing the farthest up river precinct to which politicians devote
their attention. From Seven Islands a good road leads out
across Black River to the Canadian border and continues on to

196 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

the St. Lawrence, the distance from Seven Islands to L'Islet
being about forty miles.

Should we continue our journey up the St. John we should
find that we have left behind us the last settlement in Aroostook
County in this direction, and must conclude that at last we are
in the woods. We may yet push on for more than twenty miles
by the river before we reach the confines of Aroostook, for our
course is now a southerly one, and when we cross the County
line we find ourselves in the northern part of Somerset County.
A few miles farther on we come to the forks, where the two
branches of the river unite, and if we continue on up the St.
John the boundary between Maine and the Dominion of Canada
but now upon the western instead of the northeastern border of
the State.

As we have reached at Seven Islands the Ultima Thule of
Aroostook settlements upon the St. John we will return and
make our way up the Allegash and see what we can find there
in the way of cultivated improvements. The Allegash for some
distance above its mouth is a rapid, noisy, strong flowing river
during the open season, but we have travelled alone on its
glassy surface in winter, when the bright sun of a quiet Sabbath
morning was just tinting the tree tops on its rugged banks, and
when hardly a sound was heard to break the stillness of Nature's
grand solitude. At such times we were always reminded of
Cooper's matchless tales and we think it must have been from
just such scenes as can here be found that he derived much of
his grand inspiration.

Twelve miles above the mouth we come to the falls, where
the river dashes and tumbles over a rocky precipice and sends
great islands of foam floating down the swift current below. On
the face of the rock visitors have cut their autographs, one
bearing date as early as 1833. Above the falls a number of
settlers have made clearings and have comfortable homes. Jos-
eph Gilbert, Thomas Moore, Thomas Larry and George McKin-
non have here made openings in the forest and established their
homes far from any road except in winter. Away to one side of
the beaten track these families lead a quiet, peaceful life, while
the busy, noisy world with its weary strife and endless contests
moves on all unheeded and uncared for.

Three miles above the falls we come to the farm of Mr.
Finley McLellan, who settled here many years ago and has now
a good farm and comfortable buildings. It is a hospitable home
and the traveller on reaching here is always sure of a kindly wel-

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 197

come. Being the last house for many miles it is a landmark
in this section and distances are reckoned as so many miles from
"Finley's," as from a point of departure.

We passed the mouths of numerous small streams and
twelve miles above the falls came to the mouth of the Musqua-
cook, a river of considerable volume flowing northward into the
Allegash from a long lake which extends away down into
Piscataquis County. Large lumber operations are carried on
upon this stream and many logs are driven from it every spring.
Mr. S. Walter Stevens has cut about seven millions upon Mus-
quacook each year for a number of years and will this winter
cut about the same quantity. Mr. W. H. Cunliffe's operation
this winter will be upon the Allegash on Township 14 and 15,
Range 11 and 12, 13, 14 and 15 R. 12. Both these operators
have a large number of men and horses already in the woods,
and with a favorable winter will have large drives.

LIMESTONE

Directly north of Fort Fairfield in the tier of townships
lying along the boundary line lies the flourishing town of Lime-
stone. Unlike many of the comparatively new towns in Aroos-
took County, the first opening made upon this forest township
was for manufacturing instead of agricultural purposes.

In the year 1845 Gen. Mark Trafton of Bangor, then Custom
House Officer at Fort Fairfield, conceived the idea of building
la mill upon the forest tract to the north of that town for the
purpose of manufacturing clapboards to be shipped to Boston
market. The township was then known as Letter E, Range 1,
and was wholly in its original wilderness state. A strong flow-
ing stream ran through the township and emptied into the Aroos-
took River a short distance above its junction with the St. John.
In the report of the Scientific Survey this stream was denomin-
ated Limestone Stream, from the geological formation near its
mouth, and was so named on the Maine charts, though known
in New Brunswick as Little River.

Gen. Trafton associated with himself Mr. B. D. Eastman
of Washington County, who was at that time living at Fort
Fairfield, and having previously obtained from the State Legis-
lature a grant of 1600 acres of land in aid of building the mill.

198 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

commenced in June, 1845, to clear a tract of land on the bank of
Limestone Stream, upon which it was proposed to erect the mill.
Mark Trafton, Jr., a son of Gen Trafton, was also admitted as
a partner in the enterprise, and the new company was called
the Limestone Mill Company. With a party of axe men to
clear the way through the forest, and with one pack horse to
carry their provisions, they crossed the Aroostook River at Fort
Fairfield and travelled through the forest in due north course
until they struck the Limestone Stream. A large clearing was
made during that summer and the next year, the summer of 1846,
the new mills were built. A substantial dam was built across
the stream and upon this dam was erected the saw mill con-
taining an up and down saw, clapboard machine and shingle
machine, and also a grist mill with one run of stones. The
shingle machine was a Muzzy machine built in Bangor and
hauled by ox team to Houlton, thence across to Woodstock,
whence it was boated up the St. John and Aroostook Rivers to
Fort Fairfield and hauled through the woods to the mill. The
grist mill was built because the company had faith that the town
would soon be settled and that then the mill would be needed.
In the fall of 1846 the mill was completed and the business of
sawing clapboards was commenced. A road was cut through
the woods from the mill to the St. John River at a point called
Merritt's Landing, about ten miles below Grand Falls, and over
this road the clapboards were hauled during the following win-
ter, and in the spring of 1847 they were rafted and floated down
the river to Fredericton, whence they were shipped to Boston.

In the following year the road was made passable for wag-
ons in the summer time. In 1847 the Traftons sold their in-
terest in the enterprise to Mr. George A. Nourse, a son of Dr.
Nourse of Bath, who had come to the forest of Aroostook for
the benefit of his health. In 1848 the new firm of Nourse &
Eastman built another small clapboard mill about a mile up-
stream from the original mill, and in 1849 undertook the haz-
ardous experiment of driving bunches of clapboards down the
stream with the intention of taking them from the water when
the drive reached the St. John River and there rafting them.
They turned 400,000 of pine clapboards in bunches into the
stream and started to drive them down the stream as they would
a drive of logs. The experiment proved unsuccessful and re-
sulted in the loss of nearly the entire lot of clapboards. This,
with other misfortunes, caused the failure of Nourse & Eastman

HISTORY OF AR0O3,T00K - 199

In 1851, and for a number of years not much business was done
at the mlils.

In 1847 the township was lotted and opened for settlement.
In that year Andrew Phair took up a lot on the hill near the mill
and Bernard McLaughlin took a lot some two miles distant, at
what is now known as the "Four Corners." They were the first
settlers who came upon the township for the purpose of farm-
ing, although some crops had already been raised by the Mill
Company on the tract of land cleared near the stream. In the
same year Orrin Davis took up a lot on the road opened from
the mill to the St. John River, about a mile distant from the mill.
At that time lots were sold to actual settlers for $1.25 per acre,
50 cents of which was to be paid in money and the remainder
in road labor.

After the inauguration of Gen. Taylor as President, Gen.
Trafton retired from the custom House at Fort Fairfield and was
elected as a representative to the State Legislature and it was
largely through his influence that a change was made in the
law relating to settling lands. The price of land was that year
reduced to 50 cents per acre to actual settlers, the whole amount
to be paid in road labor. A number of the earlier settlers who
had already performed the requisite amount of road labor under
the old law, but who had not made the required cash payment,
now took certificates under the new law and again paid for their
lots in road labor at 50 cents per acre.

The years immediately following the failure of Nourse &
Eastman were hard years for the little settlement. No business
was done at the mill and the greater part of the settlers left the
town. Mr. Albion Whitney, foreman in the mill, removed to
Minnesota, where, being unsuccessful in business, he removed
to California, where he amassed great wealth in trade.

In 1857 Ephralm Osborn and Daniel LIbby obtained pos-
session of the mills and business at once revived. During the
next four years there was a large immigration to the town and
many lots were taken up. In that year Daniel Libby was ap-
pointed local agent for the town and he at once proceeded to
lay out roads in different parts of the town for the convenience
of the new settlers. Among those who came to the town in the
years 1857 — 61 (which was a most important period in the his-
tory of the new settlement) and who remained to become prom-
inent citizens of Limestone, adding much to its wealth and in-
fluence, were I. W. Kennerson, J. E. Spear, L. G. Morris, Josiah
M. Noyes, Hosea Webster, Josiah Ward, R. B. Chase, Charles

200 * HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

Stetson, P. B. Sayward and James Edgecomb. Mark Trafton,
who had previously married a daughter of Daniel Libby, came
to the town in 1857 and bought a lot of land on the tract granted
to the Mill Company, about a half mile from the mill on the
road to the St. John River. Here Mr. Trafton made a fine farm,
upon which he continued to reside until 1888. In connection
with his farming operations, Mr. Trafton commenced trading
in 1863, and in 1876 established a store at the mills, where he
and his son, Charles W. Trafton, have continued to trade until
recently, Mr. Trafton retired from the business and his son
is now sole proprietor. In 1889 Mr. Trafton built a beautiful
mansion on the high ground east of the mill and fitted it up with
much taste and elegance, and with all the modern conveniences.

Messrs. Osborne & Libby continued to operate the mills
until 1866, when they sold to Mr. Dennis Getchell. Mr. Getchell
at once put in a large rotary and planer and made many other im-
provements. In 1877 the mills were destroyed by fire and about
the same time Mr. Getchell died. His sons proceeded at once
to rebuild the mills and have since continued the business under
the firm name of Getchell Bros.

The history of Limestone during the war is much like that
of many other of the new towns in Aroostook County which
were at that time in the early stages of development. The
breaking out of the war found the town with nearly every avail-
able lot taken, and small clearings were being made in all parts
of the town. Many of the younger protion of the settlers, who
had just commenced the work of clearing their new farms,
went into the army and a large portion of them never returned
to the town. Since the war the growth of the town has been
gradual and no great number of settlers have come in at any
one time. The soil proved to be as fertile as any in Aroostook
and, being free from stone, was easy to clear and to bring under
cultivation and there are now in this town some of the finest
farms to be found anywhere in the county.

In 1876 a starch factory was built at the mills by the firm
of Eustis & Aldrich of Boston, and Mr. Alfred Levering of Cole-
brook, N. H. The establishment of this enterprise at once gave
a great impetus to the business of the town and was of immense
benefit to the farmers. They at once went to wrok to smooth
up their fields and to fit them for the working of farm machin-
ery and for the easy cultivation of the potato crop on a more
extensive scale. The business also brought much ready money
to the farmers of the town and thus enabled them to improve

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 201

their farms and build better buildings. Hardly a log house is
now to be seen in the town and one is struck with the number
of fine farm buildings, neatly finished and painted, to be found
in all parts of the town. The mills and starch factory served as
a nucleus around which has grown up a handsome little village
which is destined to grow and become one of the handsomest
country villages in Maine.

The starch factory is now owned by Mr. C. W. Trafton,
who last year manufactured nearly 250 tons of starch. About
1885 Mr. Josiah M. Noyes bought the privilege where the second
clapboard mill was built by Nourse & Eastman, about a mile up
the stream fro tmhe village. Upon this site Mr. Noyes erected
a large new mill which is a model of its kind.

The village of Limestone is beautifully situated in the
valley of the stream, the land rising gradually upon either side
and broadening out in every direction into large and well cul-
tivated farms, with smooth and fertile fields. The houses in the
village are neat and the grounds around them tidy and well
kept, and the whole aspect of the place is one of thrift and
enterprise. There is very little waste land in the town, and
nearly every lot could be made into a good farm. There is
still considerable vacant land in the town belonging to proprie-
tors, though every State lot is taken up. It is safe to say that
there is hardly a lot in the County fit for settlement now be-
longing to the State, This shows how much more quickly the
resources of Aroostook might have been developed, and her
forests converted into fertile farms had the State retained pos-
session of all townships suitable for settlement, and lotted them
out for the benefit of those who wished to make homes for them-
selves and families. Mr. Jerre Hacker of Fort Fairfield owns
a large tract in the northern part of the town, which he is offer-
ing to settlers at a reasonable price. Other proprietors are alse
willing to sell good land upon fair terms.

The Plantation of Limestone was originally organized in
1848, but subsequently lost its organization and was reorgan-
ized in 1858. In the early days of the settlement of the town,
schools were supported by private subscription, and after the
organization in 1858, schools were established and supported
by taxation. The town was incorporated in 1868 and at once
adopted the town system of schools, which has been maintained
ever since and has given general satisfaction. The schools of
the town are now in good condition and are generally supplied
with comfortable schoolhouses.

202 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

The population of Limestone in 1880 was 655 and its valu-
ation $76,583. In 1890 the valuation was $149,938, and its popul-
ation was 933. The rate of taxation is .916.

Limestone has a fertile soil, grand water power and favor-
able location, and we see no reason why the town has not a
grand future before it when its resources shall be fully de-
veloped.

DYER BROOK

Though the development of Aroostook County has thus far
Tbeen more rapid in the two tiers of townships lying next to the
eastern border, yet there are in the western part of the county
many fine agricultural towns with strong, fertile and productive
soil and grand natural resources, only awaiting the opening of
adequate means of transportation to develop into populous and
prosperous communities. Of these western townships the plant-
ation of Dyer Brook is naturally one of the best. This town-
ship was formerly known as No. 5, R. 4, and has Merrill Planta-
tion on the north, Oakfield on the east. Island Falls on the south
and Hersey on the west. The stage road from Houlton to Pat-
ten runs through the entire length of the township in a south-
erly and southwesterly direction near its eastern border. The
surface of the town in this section is rolling and somewhat hilly,
but not sufficiently broken to interfere with easy cultivation. In
the western portion of the town are broad stretches of more level
land still in its forest state and containing much fine farming
land.

The first settlement was made upon the town about the
year 1844, as nearly as we have been able to trace it. In that
year Mr. Orrin Laughton came from Smyrna and took the lot
near the northeast corner of the town, upon which Mr. J. E.
Tarbell now lives. Mr. Laughton made a clearing upon the lot
and built a log house. After living on it a number of years he
sold to a Mr. McMonagal, who died a few years after purchas-
ing it. Mr. Oliver Dow then took the place, but abandoned it
after a few years and the lot reverted to the proprietors of the
town. In 1857 Mr. J. E. Tarbell took the place and cleared up
a large farm and built a handsome set of buildings.

Benjamin Gerry, the second settler upon the town, came

w
o

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 203

from Smyrna soon after Laughton and took the lot in the ex-
treme northeastern part of the town, adjoining Mr. Laughton's.
Here Mr. Gerry cleared up a fine farm, upon which he still
lives.

The next man who made a settlement on the township was
Moses Leavitt, also from Smyrna, who settled in 1850 on the
lot next west of Laughton's and bordering on the north line of
the town. The "State road" runs on the north line of the town,
dividing Dyer Brook from Merrill Plantation, and continuing
west on the line between Hersey and Moro, intersects the stage
road from Patten to Ashland, some two miles from the western
line of Hersey. This road was cut through at the time that Mr.
Leavitt settled upon his lot, but was not made passable for car-
riages until several years afterwards. It is now a good turnpike
road and runs through a fine agricultural section for much of
the way.

The road from the East branch through Dyer Brook to
Island Falls, now a part of the stage route from Houlton to
Patten, was opened in 1860, and in that year Mr. Jonathan
Sleeper of Smyrna took the lot south of the Tarbell farm on the
Island Falls road. Mr. Sleeper made a clearing on the lot, built
a house and barn and after a few years moved to Sherman. Mr.
John Heald then took the farm and extended the clearing. After
living upon it a few years he sold to Mr. Seward Clough, who
now lives upon the farm.

Mr. Asa R. Hall and Mr. John Gerrish came to Dyer Brook
twelve years ago and bought in company a wild tract of 170
acres, to which they have since added 84 acres more. They
commenced at once at once to clear up a farm and now have
nearly one hundred acres of cleared land, divided into meadow,
pasture and tillage. After passing the Hall and Gerrish farm
we again descend to lower ground and after crossing a brook
ascend to a handsome ridge of land, one of the finest in the
town. On the west side of the road is the farm of Mr. Eben D.
Townsend, who came from Limerick, York County, 29 years
ago and bought this lot of Messrs Baldwin and Thompson of
Bangor, who were at that time proprietors of the town. There
was no clearing on the lot when Mr. Townsend came to it and
after clearing eight acres and building a log house and log barn,
he enlisted in the 7th Maine Regiment and went South to fight
for his country and was wounded at Fort Steadman. At the
close of the war he came back to the little farm in the woods
and has since made a large and very handsome farm. The old

204 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

log buildings have given place to a good frame house and barn.
Mr. Townsend is now unable to do much hard work and his son
has the active management of the farm.

On the east side of the road, opposite Mr. Townsend, is
the farm of Mr. W. G. Drew, a son of Samuel Drew, who was
one of the early settlers of the town of Smyrna. Mr. Drew and
Mr. S. C. Philpot formerly carried on the business of farming
in company, but divided their land a number of years ago. Mr.
Drew has a very fine farm, with about eighty acres of cleared
land handsomely located. Mr. S. C. Philpot is located next
south of Mr. Drew on the east side of the road. Mr. Philpot came
from New Limerick twenty-seven years ago and took a lot on
this beautiful hardwood ridge. He was a soldier in the 16th
Maine Regiment.

Next south of Mr. Townsend on the west side of the road
is the farm of Mr. James I. Meserve, who came from Liming-
ton to Aroostook County in 1839, and lived seven years with
Mr. True Bradbury in New Limerick. He then returned to Lim-
ington and in 1862 came to Dyer Brook and bought this lot,
upon which Mr. John Downs had made a clearing of a few acres
and built a small house and log barn. He now has about 120
acres of good land, with fifty acres cleared and under good cul-
tivation.

Mr. F. M. Stevens has a good farm on the east side of the
rOiad opposite Mr. Meserve's, and beyond him are the farms of
O. A. Lougee, James Clark and Mr. A. Keith. Passing these
farms the road runs through a very handsome tract of green
wood, the tall trees growing close to the road on either side and
making a very pleasant drive on a summer day. Near this
south line of the town, a road turns to the east from the stage
road, and crossing the east part of the town a short distance
from the line between Dyer Brook and Island Falls, continues
on through Oakfield to Linneus Corner. Turning into this road
we first come to the farm of Wm. C. Alward. This lot was
taken up in 1858 by Mr. Charles Moore, who enlisted in the 8th
Maine Regiment and died in Andersonville Prison. Mr. Alward
came from New Brunswick thirteen years ago and bought the
farm. It is somewhat hilly and broken but the soil appears to
be productive. Beyond Mr. Alward's we ride through a beau-
tiful piece of forest for a mile and a quarter, when we come to
the farm of Mr, J. W. Edwards on the shore of Pleasant Lake.
Mr. Alfred Moore came from the town of Gouldsboro in 1859
and took up this lot and cleared about twenty-five acres before

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 205

the war. He then went into the 18th Maine Regiment and after
the close of the war lived upon the farm a short time and then
sold it to Mr. Albert Kelso, Mr. Edwards came from Searsport
in 1879 and bought the place of Mr. Kelso. Mr. Edwards was
a soldier in the 19th Maine Regiment. A short distance beyond
Mr. Edwards's house the road again enters the beautiful green-
wood, through which we ride for a mile and then emerge into
the opening in which is the farm of Mr. Cornelius Lane. Mr.
Lane came from Freeport in 1858 to find a home in Aroostook.
He had in his mind the ideal of the location he wished to find
and when shown this lot he desired to go no further. Although
in the midst of a dense forest he saw what might be made of
it and purchased it at once and went to work to make his home.
He had cleared about twelve acres and built a small house,
when his country's call sounded and he went to the war in the
ranks of the 2d Maine Cavalry. He was not mustered out of
the service until December, 1865, when he returned to his wood-
land home. He has now 175 acres of land with 65 acres cleared.

Beyond Mr. Lake's there is no opening in the forest until
we reach the clearings at Oakfield. All the eastern part of Dyer
Brook is still virtually an unbroken wilderness invaded only by
the hardy lumberman, the adventurous hunter and periodically
recurring incursions of the surveying party locating the still
mythical Aroostook Railroad. It is a fine timber tract, but
there is so much good land suitable for farms and were it the
property of the State and opened for settlement on the same
terms that other towns have been would soon be occupied by
thrifty settlers.

The township was first organized as a plantation in 1863,
but afterward lost its organization and was again organized on
July 14, 1880, at which time there were 41 voters. It was in-
corporated as a town by act of the last Legislature, but has not
yet held a meeting as provided by that act.

The war record of Dyer Brook is an exceptionally good one.
At the breaking out of the war there were twenty-five men living
in the plantation, seventeen of whom were subject to military
duty. Every man of the seventeen went to the army and five
of them never returned.

As an agricultural town Dyer Brook will take high rank
when an impulse is given to its development by the opening of
the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad. The population in 1890
was 221 and the valuation $35,582.

206 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

:uz::"r.['\ ". ^ ISLAND FALLS

In the whole of Aroostook County there is no more pictur-
esque town than Island Falls and none where the natural scenery-
is more beautiful. It is a sportsman's paradise and is becoming
noted as a pleasant, healthy and beautiful summer resort. Its
lakes, rivers and wooded hills add much to the attractiveness of
the town, and nowhere is there a purer air or a more comfort-
able summer temperature than here.

The west branch of Mattawamkeag River enters the town
near the northwest corner and, after flowing south for nearly
two miles and being enlarged by the confluence of Fish Stream,
sweeps madly through a rocky gorge and dashes over precipitous
ledges, forming one of the finest falls in the country. Midway of
the falls is a small island, its rocky sides rising abruptly from
the water and dividing the swift current. This little wooded is-
land in the midst of the falls gives the name to the town of
Island Falls. After leaping the falls the river continues in a
course a little south of east for nearly three miles, when it emp-
ties into Mattawamkeag Lake, a beautiful body of water which
covers a large portion of the eastern part of the town.

Previous to 1842 no white man had pitched his habitation
in this picturesque region. Indians from the Penobscot and Pas-
samaquoddy tribes were accustomed to spend a part of the year
hunting and fishing in this vicinity and had their camps near
the falls. They even continued their visits for some years after
the white man invaded the region and during the first years of
the little settlement, while the hardy pioneer was felling the for-
est trees and clearing up fertile tracts of land near the banks
of the dashing river the crack of the Indian's rifle woke the
echoes in the surrounding forest, and the gentle dip of his pad-
dle parted the waters of the river and lake as he glided along in
his light birch canoe.

In 1842 Levi Sewall and Jesse Craig came from Farming-
ton to search for a chance to make a home in the forests of
Aroostook. Coming to Patten, they turned eastward through the
town of Crystal and after traveling a few miles came to the end
of the road. They then followed the streams down to the West
Branch, in what is now the town of Island Falls. As soon as
Mr. Sewall discovered the falls he at once saw that here was a
valuable water power which might at some time be improved
and utilized for manufacturing purposes. He therefore deter-

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 207

mined to look no farther, but to make this place his home. He
at once went to work and felled five acres of trees near the falls
and then returned to Farmington. The town was then the pro-
perty of the State of Massachusetts and Mr. Sewall bought a
tract one mile square, including the falls. In March, 1843, he
returned to Aroostook with two two-horse teams and one single
sleigh, bringing with him his family, which consisted of his
wife and six children. Leaving his wife and the younger chil-
dren at Mr. William Young's in Crystal, Mr. Sewall with his
two sons, David and Samuel, came down the stream to the falls,
cleared up the five-acre chopping, built a log house and on the
first day fo July, 1843, the family came to their new home. Mrs.
Sewall was brought down Fish Stream and West Branch in a
boat, and the girls walked in through the woods by a spotted
line.

The family were now settled in the midst of a vast forest
with no road on the west nearer than Crystal Mill and none on
the east nearer than Smyrna Mills on the East Branch. Their
first crop was necessarily put in somewhat late and though
everything grew abundantly and promised a bountiful harvest,
a heavy frost on the night of the last of August killed every-
thing aiKl nothing whatever was harvested from this first crop.
The prospect looked dark, but the family had the courage need-
ful for all successful pioneers. The forests abounded in game,
and the river with fish, which ensured them against suffering
from hunger and the boys worked at Patten and Crystal and
earned bread enough to supply the family until another crop
could be raised. The next year an additional clearing was made,
a good crop was raised and after that there was no lack of
bread.

Mr. Jesse Craig, who came with Mr. Sewall in 1842, took
160 acres of the mile square block taken by Mr. Sewall, and he
also made a five acre chopping that year and returned to Farm-
ington in the fall. In the spring of 1843 he went back and clear-
ed up his five acres and felled five acres more, living with the
Sewalls that summer and returning to Farmington in the fall.
Mr. Craig did not bring his family to Island Falls until the win-
ter of 1844; when they were brought in on a sled drawn by oxen.
Mr. Craig cleared up a large farm on the north side of the West
Branch and kept a hotel here for many years. He was for years
the only justice of the peace in the town and was treasurer and
clerk of the town for a long term. He also held the office of
first selectman much of the time after the organization of the

208 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

township. He was well known as a man of the strictest honor
and integrity and was much respected by all his fellow towns-
men. Mr. Craig lived to see a flourishing village spring up
around him and died at a good old age five years ago.

In 1843, David Lurvey came from Woodstock, Oxford
County, and settled on a lot north of the West Branch and next
below Mr. Craig's. He cleared some twenty acres of land,
built a frame house and barn and then moved to Patten, and
afterwards to the mouth of the Aroostook road, where he kept
a hotel for a number of years and then returned to Oxford
County, where he died a number of years ago.

Charles W. Harding came from Windham in the spring of
1844, and settled on the south side of the stream, opposite Mr.
Sewall's. Here he cleared a farm and built a house and barn,
and afterwards returned to Windham and died. Charles Han-
son came with Harding and made a small clearing near his, but
did not remain long.

The above named were all the settlers in the town in 1844
and of these only the Sewalls and Craigs remained permanent-
ly. No other settler came to join them for eight years. In the
meantime Mr. Sewall and his sons continued to enlarge their
clearing and were also engaged in lumbering in the winter sea-
son. Levi Sewall was for many years a prominent man in this
section and died at his home in Island Falls, in 1866. His
widow, three sons and one daughter still reside at the Falls.

The next settler who came to Island Falls was Mr. Isaac
Robinson, who came from Oxford County, and after living for
some time in Crystal, came to Island Falls in 1852 and settled
on the ridge a mile east of Mr. Craig's. Here he cleared a farm
upon which he lived until his death in 1858. His son, George
F. Robinson, then took the farm. He afterwards went into the
army and gained a national reputation by being instrumental
in saving the life of Secretary Seward on that terrible night of
April 14, 1865. He is now a paymaster in the United States
Army. The Robinson farm is now owned by Mrs. Mary Dow.

In 1853 Mr. Stephen Thorn came from Freedom and set-
tled on the lot next to Mr. Robinson's. He made a clearing and
built a log house and barn and then moved to Crystal, where
he died some twelve years ago. Mr. John B. Hathorn now owns
this farm.

A number of settlers came about this time, very few of
whom remained. Among those who stayed was Mr. Jacob Man-
uel, who settled in the north part of the town and made a farm,

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 209

upon which he lived until his death. About the same year
(1853) Mr. Cyrus Barker and family came from Kennebec
County. With him came his son, Addison Barker, and family.
Mr. Cyrus Barker took four lots for himself and sons on one of
the most beautiful ridges of land in Aroostook County. It is
still known as Barker Ridge, though none of the family are now
living on the tract. Mr. Barker made his first clearing near the
homestead so long occupied by his son, Capt. Rodney C. Barker.
He cleared up a large farm and was for many years a prominent
man in the town. Cyrus Barker died in 1886. His son, Rodney
C. Barker, then took the farm and made it one of the finest in
the County. He was largely engaged in lumbering and trading
and was a prominent business man. He also served in the
Union Army and received a pension for injuries received in the
service. He built the first steamboat on Mattawamkeag Lake
in 1882 and commanded it until his death. The steamer was
used for towing logs across the lake and also in the summer
season for excursion parties. Capt. Barker had cottages and
boats on Norway Island in Mattawamkeag Lake for the use of
pleasure parties, and it is still a most beautiful summer resort.
Capt. Barker was a man of much push and energy, had strong
friends and strong enemies, as such men generally do, but we
remember him as a genial, whole souled man, a kind husband
and father and a good friend. He died at his home some five
years ago and his widow did not long survive him. The Barker
estate, one of the finest in Aroostook, is now owned by Geo. E.
Cutler, Esq., of South Framingham, Mass. Mr. Addison Bar-
ker, who lived on the farm adjoining, was killed by a falling
tree a year or two after coming to the town.

Up to the year 1854 Island Falls was the property of the
State of Massachusetts. In that year it came into the owner-
ship of the State of Maine and the same year was lotted by Mr.
Daniel Cummings and opened by the State for settlement. Set-
tlers now began to come in and take up lots, but the State af-
terwards most unwisely sold the town to proprietors, by which
action its settlement has been very much retarded.

Capt. Daniel Randall, a man well known throughout Aroos-
took County and indeed throughout the State, came from Port-
land to Island Falls in 1859. He was a retired sea captain and
was for some time city marshal of Portland. Capt. Randall
bought a farm on Fish Stream, on the road from Island Falls
to Patten, one mile from the Falls. Here he built up a large
farm and built a handsome two-story house and good barn. He

210 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

at once took an active part in the business and also in the poli-
tics of the county. He engaged in lumbering quite extensively
and also paid good attention to his farm, which he made pro-
ductive and profitable. He served two terms as a member of
the State Legislature and also served as sheriff of Aroostook
County. He afterward returned to Portland, where he died
some years ago. He was a man of massive build, weighing 325
pounds, but active and full of energy. He was a genial, good
natured man and had many friends.

Dr. Isaac Donham came from Readfield to Patten in 1858,
and in 1860 moved to Island Falls and took the lot next to Capt.
Randall's. He was a druggist and physician in Readfield and
also practiced medicine in Patten and Island Falls. In 1862
he entered the service in the 1st Me. Heavy Artillery, and af-
terwards re-enlisted in the 31st Inf. and died in the hospital
at City Point, Va., in 1864. His son, Mr, George H. Donham,
now owns the farm, which consists of 160 acres of land, with
fifty acres cleared and a good set of buildings. Mr. Donham
was formerly engaged in trade at Island Falls, but three years
ago sold his business to Eemrson Bros, and went into the print-
ing business. He has two presses and does all kinds of job
printing. He is also chairman of the board of selectmen, town
clerk, supervisor of schools and trial justice, and may be called
a fairly busy man.

In 1861, Mr. Levi H. May moved from Lowell, Mass., and
took a wild lot in the north part of the town, where he made a
good farm, upon which he lived until his death six years ago.
His son, Levi H. May, now lives on the farm.

Mr. David A, Sewall, the eldest son of Levi Sewall, has
long been a prominent man at Island Falls and is well known
throughout the county. He was largely engaged in lumbering
for many years. He has been for years an officer of the town
and was a member of the board of county commissioners for
eight years. He has a fine residence on the south side of the
stream and is now living quietly and happily, farming some in
the summer and sometimes scaling in the woods winters, just
to keep his hand in. Mr. Samuel Sewall, the second son, has
a very handsome set of buildings on the north side of the river.
In company with his brothers he attends to the business of the
farm, for Levi Sewall's land has not been divided, but his sons
carry on the farms together and seem to own all things in com-
mon. The large homestead built by Levi Sewall in 1861 is
occupied by the youngest son, Mr. Wm. W. Sewall, and with him

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 211

live his aged mother and only sister, Miss Sarah E. Sewall,
who holds the commission of postmaster of Island Falls. Mr.
Wm. W. Sewall was the first white child born at Island Falls,
and he is a white man in every respect. He has for years been
a friend and companion of Theodore Roosevelt of New York,
who formerly came to Island Falls every summer for a few
weeks' outing. A few years ago Mr. Sewall went with Mr.
Roosevelt to Dakota and for two years took charge of a large
cattle ranch for that gentleman. Mr. Sewall also having an
interest in the business.

The township was organized as a plantation Sept. 6, 1858.
At the first meeting Levi Sewall was chosen moderator, Jesse
Craig, clerk, D. A. Sewall, Cyrus Barker and Nathan Thorn,
assessors. The town was incorporated in February, 1872.

We have visited few towns where there is so general a
community of feeling and such a genuine each-help-the-other
spirit as in this town of Island Falls. Every man says his
neighbor is the best fellow in the world, and I think they all
tell the truth.

MOLUNKUS AND BENEDICTA

Two miles west of the village of Macwahoc the Military
road enters the township of Molunkus, now an unorganized
plantation with the exception of the little hamlet at the mouth
of the Aroostook road. This township is in the extreme south-
west corner of Aroostook County and is bounded on the north
by the unsettled township No. 1, Range Five, on the east by
Macwahoc, on the south by Mattawamkeag in Penobscot Coun-
ty, and on the west by Medway in the same county. The entire
township, with the exception of a comparatively small tract
near the mouth of the Aroostook road and a few clearings far-
ther north upon that road, is still covered with forest growth
and is owned by non-resident proprietors.

The old Aroostook road starts from Molunkus and con-
tinues northward through No. One, Benedicta and Sherman to
Patten, and thence on to Fort Kent, at the mouth of Fish River.
The intersection of this road with the Military road at this
point made Molunkus an important business center for lumber-
ing operations and for the moving of supplies to the country
away to the north.

212 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

Soon after the opening of the Aroostook road, a hotel was
built at Molunkus, the first house of entertainment as near as
we can determine, having been erected by Mr. Richard Libby,
who had previously kept the hotel for a number of years at
Macwahoc. After remaining some years at Molunkus, Mr. Libby
removed to Mattawamkeag. The hotel was afterwards kept for
some time by Mr. Samuel Crocker, who was succeeded by the
Burnham Brothers of Lincoln, who remained some five years.
Messrs. George and Joseph Libby then had the house for one
year and were succeeded by Mr. E. H. Davis, who kept it two
years. In 1865, Mr. B. F. Coburn came from Lincoln and
bought the hotel of Mr. Davis and continued in the house until
last spring, when he leased it to Mr. F. A. Wing of Mattawam-
keag.

In the souhtwest portion of the township is Mattawamkeag
Lake, a fine body of water some two miles long and half a mile
wide. Two streams flow southward and empty into this lake,
the West Mattesunk being near the west line of the township
and the East Mattesunk flowing in the more central portion. A
portion of Molunkus Lake is in the northeastern part of the
township, the northern portion of the lake being in Number
One and the southern portion in Macwahoc. The Penobscot
River skirts the southwestern corner of Molunkus and the Mat-
tesunk Lake discharges its waters into that river.

The Molunkus Exchange is seven miles distant from the
railroad station at Mattawamkeag and daily stages run from
Mattawamkeag to Patten, stopping at this hotel for dinner.

Molunkus has now no plantation organization and has but
a small resident population for a point of so much business im-
portance. The population of Molunkus in 1890 was 77.

Leaving the Molunkus Exchange and journeying northward
on the Aroostook road, after passing a number of primitive
habitations erected by new settlers, we enter the forest, through
which we ride for nearly ten miles with only an occasional
opening in the wilderness. A ride of a little more than four
miles from Molunkus brings us to the north line of the township
and here we enter Number One, Range Five, a timber township
lying along the border of Penobscot County. Five miles from
Molunkus we come to the farm owned by Mr. Melville Johnson
of Macwahoc. Two miles farther on, or seven miles from Mo-
lunkus, is the farm and hotel of Mr. Peter Millmore. Mr. Ste-
phen Cobb made a clearing and built a house here more than

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 213

fifty years ago and, after keeping public house for a number of
years, moved to Michigan.

The town of Benedicta comprises the western half of town-
ship No. 2, Range 5.

Nearly sixty years ago Rt. Rev. Benedict Fenwick, Catholic
Bishop of Boston, conceived the idea of settling a Catholic col-
ony upon the cheap lands of northern Maine and also of erect-
ing and maintaining a Catholic college in connection with the
colony. The project of establishing the colony was carried out,
but the idea of the college in northern Maine was afterwards
abandoned and the proposed institution was located at Wor-
cester, Mass. The half township selected was then the proper-
ty of the State of Massachusetts, and on the 7th day of July,
1834, Bishop Fenwick made his contract for the land. The
township had been surveyed by Joseph C. Morris and Andrew
McMillan in 1825. Though Bishop Fenwick purchased the tract
he did not receive his title to it until March 31, 1846, on which
date it was deeded to him by George W. Coffin, agent of the
General Court of Massachusetts. Soon after purchasing the half
township in 1834, Bishop Fenwick commenced to take measures
to carry out his project of establishing a colony upon it. The
township was in the midst of an almost trackless wilderness,
but it consisted of good land, and large lumber operations were
being carried on in its vicinity. Midway of the town from north
to south, village lots were laid out, and in course of a short
time a church was built, also a parsonage and nearby a tract
of land was set apart for a college farm. The erection of build-
ings for the proposed college was commenced, and one large
college building was nearly completed, when this part of the
project was abandoned. This building remained unoccupied for
a number of years, and was finally taken down. The Bishop
also built a mill on the Molunkus Stream, near the east line of
the town. This mill contained an up and down saw and shingle
machine, but was afterwards abandoned and allowed to decay.

The first settlers came to the town in 1834. The Bishop
charged the settlers $2 per acre for land upon the line, of the
main road and $1.50 per acre for land farther back, giving them
all necessary time to make payment for their farms.

The first settlers upon the town are said to have been David
and Joseph Leavitt, but whether these men were a part of the
Bishop's colony or squatters who had come previous to his
purchase, we have not yet been able to determine. Among the
first of the Catholic colony to settle upon the town were Nich-

214 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

olas Broderick, Timothy Dorsey, Martin Qualey, Philip Finne-
gan and John Millmore, who came in 1834. Patrick Brade,
Chris. Keegan, John Byrne, Francis Smith and John Perry were
early settlers, as also were Henry Rivers and Martin Lawlor.
These settlers were all Irish emigrants who had worked for some
time in the cities of Massachusetts. Nicholas Broderick, one of
the earliest settlers, settled in the south part of the town on the
lot where Fenton McAvoy now lives, and died there some fifteen
years ago. Timothy Dorsey settled a mile and a half north of
the church and cleared the farm on which Daniel McDonald

In 1838 and 1840 quite a number of settlers came in. John
D. Rush came in 1838 and settled opposite where the church
now stands, that edifice not having been erected until 1843.
now lives.

The Catholic Cemetery is neatly enclosed and carefully
kept and nearby is the Catholic Church, a comfortable and corn-
short distance from the church is the parsonage, a neat, two-
modious edifice of sufficient size for the needs of the parish. A
story residence now occupied by Father Kearney, who has re-
cently taken charge of the parish. The college farm, so called,
is not now cultivated, but is devoted to pasturing and is a part
of the church property.

Benedicta may not perhaps be classed among the best half
townships in Aroostook County for agricultural purposes, but
it has a good soil, the land lying in a succession of easy swells
and not very stony. The many good farms and neat and com-
fortable homes in the town give ample evidence of what a col-
ony of thrifty and industrious Irish emigrants can accomplish
under even quite unfavorable circumstances at the beginning of
their settlement, and the improvement here made bears witness
to the wisdom and philanthropy of the good Bishop in planting
this colony here in the wilderness.

The town was incorporated in 1872 and was named Bene-
dicta, in honor of its founder, Bishop Benedict Fenwick. It is
bounded on the north by the town of Sherman, on the east by
Silver Ridge, on the south by No. 1, Range 5, and on the west
by Penobscot County. Its citizens are nearly all Catholics of
Irish descent and are a thrifty, industrious and prosperous com-
munity. In 1890 the town had a population of 317 and a valua-
tion of $57,849.

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 215

SILVER RIDGE

The half township now known as the Plantation of Silver
Ridge was originally the east half of Township No. 3, Range
5, the west half of the same township being now the town of
Benedicta.

In 1857 the county commissioners of Aroostook County
were petitioned to locate a road from Benedicta through Silver
Ridge to Haynesville. At that time the half township was en-
tirely covered with forest in which no clearing had yet been
made for settling purposes. The commissioners viewed the route
and decided not to locate the road as asked for, but the partial
survey called attention to the excellent land owned by the State
and lying unimproved. During that year (1857) a number of
settlers came in and made clearings on the half township, al-
though it had not yet been lotted and of course these settlers
were merely squatters upon the land. Francis Smith, Thomas
Millmore, Thomas McAvoy and Fenton Seals all from the ad-
joining town of Benedicta, made clearings that year.

Silver Ridge lies immediately south of Sherman and the
mail route from Island Falls to Kingman runs through that
plantation. Nearly every lot on the road through Silver Ridge
is settled and there some very fine farms and handsome res-
idences, which would seem to show that the people are pros-
perous, have comfortable and convenient homes and are making
a good living.

The settled portion of the town is confined to the two
ranges of lots bordering on the main road. The remainder of
the town is now owned by non-resident proprietors and is not
generally good land for settling purposes. The plantation of
Silver Ridge was organized in 1863 and since that time it has
made a marked increase in the appearance and value of its
farms and residences, although it has decreased somewhat in
population during the last decade.

HERSEY

The, town of Hersey lies along the border of Penobscot
County and, though yet but partially settled, is naturally one
of the best townships in western Aroostook for agricultural pur-

216 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

poses. The town is bounded on the north by Moro, on the east
by Dyer Brook, south by Crystal and west by Mt. Chase in
Penobscot County. The old Aroostook road, now the mail route
from Patten to Ashland, runs diagonally across the northwest
corner of the town and the State road from Smyrna Mills runs
on the line between Hersey and Moro and intersects the Aroos-
took road some two miies from the northwest corner of Hersey.

The first settlers upon the town of Hersey, then called
Number Five, Range Five, were Samuel Huston, Timothy Hale,
Nicholas Cooper and Daniel Cooper.

Samuel Huston came from Plymouth in Penobscot County,
in 1839 and settled on a lot on the Aroostook road six miles
from Patten. Here he cleared up a large farm and was for
many years one of the leading men of the town and his de-
scendants are among the prominent citizens. Mr. Huston lived
upon this farm until a year ago, when he moved to Patten, but
still retains possession of the farm.

Mr. Timothy Hale came from Plymouth in 1839 and settled
on the north half of the lot on which Mr. Seth Allen now lives,
near the Penobscot County line. Mr. Hale felled fifteen acres
on this lot, but did not clear the land and after living in the
town a year or two removed to the West. Mr. Harvey Houghton
then took the lot and made a small clearing and after remaining
a year moved to Oxford County.

Nicholas and Daniel Cooper came from Plymouth in 1839
and settled on part of the Seth Allen lot and also had a lot in
the adjoining town of Mount Chase in Penobscot County. Mr.
Nicholas Cooper built the buildings next north of Seth Allen's,
where he lived for some twenty years, then moved to Ashland
and afterward to Moro, where he died. Daniel Cooper did not
remain in the town.

James Brown came from the town of Wilton, in Franklin
County, in 1840, and settled on the lot next north of Nicholas
Cooper. He cleared a large farm and lived upon it until 1868,
when he moved to Patten and died. Mr. Brown was a premin-
ent citizen and was well known throughout this section.

Nathan Fish came from Jefferson, Lincoln County, in 1840
and settled near the Mt. Chase line, a short distance from the
Aroostook road. Here he made a farm upon which he lived
until about 1859, when he returned to Jefferson and died soon
afterwards. He was unmarried, and the farm is now unoccupied.

Daniel Darling came from Hartland, in Somerset County,
in 1840 and settled north of Samuel Huston's on the farm now

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 217

occupied by William Monteith. Mr. Darling cleared some twenty
acres on this lot, and after living on it four years, moved to the
adjoining town of Moro.

Seth Allen came from the town of Sumner, in Oxford Coun-
ty, in 1842 and two years later bought the lot on which he now
lives, on the Aroostook road five and one-half miles from Pat-
ten. Mr. Allen cleared this farm and has lived upon it ever
since, and is now the oldest settler living in the town. Mr.
Allen is a veteran of the Civil War, and has always taken an
active and prominent part in the affairs of his town. Though
now advanced in years, he is still a hale and hearty man, and
has not yet given up active work upon the farm.

Lewis Sargent came to Hersey in 1843 and settled upon part
of the lot now owned by Seth Allen. He made a clearing and
lived upon the lot until 1858, when he moved to Mount Chase,
where he died.

Columbus Bragg came from Plymouth in 1844 and settled
on a lot a mile and a half north of Seth Allen's. He cleared
a portion of the lot and lived on it a few years and moved to
Stacyville, where he died ten years ago. Josiah Bates came
from Palmyra in 1845 and settled on the Aroostook road a mile
south of the mouth of the State road. He made a large clearing
and lived here two years and moved to Moro. This farm has
been unoccupied and has grown up to forest again.

Hon. Wm. W. Thomas of Portland owned the township
when the settlers first came to it. He afterwards sold it to
Messrs. Hall and Lewis of Cherryfield, but obtained possession
of it again soon after and subsequently sold it to Gen. Samuel
Hersey and Mr. George Stetson of Bangor.

In the north part of the town, along the State road, a set-
tlement was made later and on this road are now some of the
best farms in the town. The earliest settler in this portion of
the town was Mr. John R. Blynn, who came from Garland, in
Penobscot County, in 1852, and settled on the lot where Wil-
liam H. Bates now lives. Mr. Blinn cleared something over
twenty acres on this lot and lived on it some four years, then
moved to Bangor and afterwards engaged in peddling. He sold
the farm to Mr. Stephen P. Bates, who enlarged and improved
it. Mr. Bates went into the army and was killed near Spottsyl-
vania. Mr. George L. Bates moved to Hersey from Moro in
1854 and took the lot where Solomon Bates now lives. In 1861
he joined the 8th Maine Regiment and after two years service
was discharged and returned to Hersey and died.

218 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

Mr. Joel P. Jameson came from Lee in Penobscot County
in 1860 and bought the west half of the lot east of Solomon
Bates. Mr. Jameson cleared some thirty acres on the lot and
lived on it eight years. He then sold to Mr. Solomon Bates and
moved to Lincoln. Mr. David L. Lowell came from Lee in
1860 and settled on the east half of the Jameson lot. He cleared
some ten acres and then went into the army, where he lost an
arm, was discharged from the service and died soon after re-
turning home. The farm passed through a number of hands
and is now owned by E. E. Kennedy.

Mr. William Campbell came from New Brunswick in 1860
and settled on the lot next east of Mr. Lowell. He felled some
ten acres and then went into the 8th Maine Regiment and served
through the war. He was promoted to a lieutenancy and did not
return to Hersey. Mr. James Palmer now has this lot.

Mr. James Hall came from Garland in 1861 and settled on
the lot next but one west of Wm. Bates. Mr. Hall cleared fif-
teen acres on this lot, lived on it some three years, then sold
to Mr. John Doe and moved to Moro. John McGibney now
lives on this farm.

The tov/nship was originally organized as Dayton plantation
and was incorporated as a town January 25, 1873, and named
for General Samuel F. Hersey of Bangor, the principal owner
of the township. The land throughout the town is comparatively
level, having no abrupt elevations, but containing a number of
swells of very fine land.

The West Branch of the Mattawamkeag runs for something
over three miles across the northeast corner of the town and
Alder Brook, a tributary of the West Branch, runs diagonally
in a southeast course across the entire township. In the south-
west portion of the town is Crystal Lake, a pretty little sheet
of water, from which Crystal Stream flows southward and emp-
ties into Fish Stream in the town of Crystal. Huston Brook
also runs across the southwest quarter of the town and empties
into Crystal Stream a short distance below the lake.

The land in this town can be purchased of the proprietors
at a very reasonable rate and its excellent quality offers ex-
ceptional inducements for settlers desiring cheap and fertile
lands in a good town. The population of Hersey in 1890 was
151, and its valuation $63,783.

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 219

BLAINE

Not every agricultural section will bear as close inspection
as will the fertile County of Aroostook, As one rides along the
main highway from Houlton northward, he is surprised and de-
lighted with the number of fine farms and handsome farm build-
ings along this road in the several towns through which the
road passes, while the view on either hand is most beautiful.

Some twenty-five miles north of Houlton on the road to
Presque Isle, and at the point of intersection with the road
through Mars Hill and Easton to Fort Fairfield, is situated the
thriving little village of Blaine. It is a busy little inland village
with neat and handsome residences, and with a beautiful out-
lying farming district on every hand.

The town of Blaine includes but a half township and ex-
tends but three miles north and south and six miles east from
the boundary line. The first clearing was made upon the town
nearly fifty years ago, just after the conclusion of that blood-
less struggle which has passed into history as the famed Aroos-
took War.

In 1842, the year in which the Ashburton Treaty was con-
cluded, Mr. B. W. Chandler came from the town of Winslow and
cut the first tree upon the town for farming purposes. The spot
chosen by Mr. Chandler for his new home was the beautiful
ridge of land just north of the present village and upon the farm
now occupied by Mr, R. W. Lowell. With the exception of the
winter lumber roads, there was then no road in all this section
and the home of this hardy pioneer was miles from any neigh-
bor, and in the midst of an almost boundless wilderness. Some
six miles further north could be seen the smoke from the log
cabin of James Thorncraft, built the year previous on what is
■ now the Trueworthy farm in Westfield, but the entire township
pf Mars Hill, and indeed the township of Easton, next beyond
on the north, was at that time covered with its original forest
growth as yet unbroken by any clearing.

During the few years following a number of other settlers
came upon the town and when Mr. Joel Valley came in 1847
and commenced a clearing upon the spot where the village is
now located there were about ten settlers upon the town. To
one who looks about this busy little village, with its business
industries and its many indications of lively enterprise, it seems
hardly possible that the man who cut the first tree upon the
village site is still one of its active business men and that all

220 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

this development has been the work of about forty years.

In the fall of 1847 Mr. Valley came from New Brunswick
and took a lot which included all the land contained in the
present village on the east side of the road and extending back
to the Mars Hill line. He commenced his clearing and built
his log house nearly upon the spot where the present hotel is
located.

Mr. B. W. Chandler was then living on what is now the Low-
ell farm and Benjamin Bubar had a small clearing on the west
side of the road a short distance below. William Freeman and
Sherman Tapley then lived in a double log house which stood
on the line between what are now the farms of Mr. Tapley and
Deacon Noble. Freeman had a small clearing on the east side
of the road on the present Noble farm, and Tapley had a clear-
ing on the farm where he now lives. Half a mile below Tapley's
one Rideout had a clearing on the west side of the Houlton road,
with a log house on the opposite side.

A short distance below where the road crosses Three
Brooks, James Clark had a log house and small clearing on
the west side of the road and William Rideout had commenced
an opening and built a cabin on the east side opposite Clark's.
James Oilman lived on the east side of the road in the extreme
south part of the town next to the Bridgewater line, most of his
clearing being in that town.

About a half mile west from where Blaine Corner now is,
William Roake and Charles DeMerchant had small clearings.
These settlers were all who were upon the town in 1847 and the
clearings were then very small and very little improvement
had been made in the new settlement.

With Mr. Valley came Joseph Bubar, who settled on the
west side of the road about three-fourths of a mile south of
Blaine Corner.

In the spring of 1848, John Bell came from New Brunswick
and settled on the west side of the road near the Corner and
during the same year George Monroe and George Hotham set-
tled on opposite sides of the road, south of Sherman Tapley's,
and in the fall Thomas Bell came and bought half of John
Bell's lot. In 1850 Samuel Brown took a lot about half a mile
southwest from Blaine Corner. Nearly all the settlers named
above came from New Brunswick, but later families from dif-
ferent parts of the State of Maine began to come in and settle
upon the town. Levi F. Preble came from Chesterville in 1859
with other settlers who made their homes in Mars Hill. Mr.

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 221

Preble with his family settled in Blaine, where he lived many
years.

Blaine, then known as Letter B, Range One, was a half
township belonging to the State of Massachusetts and the land
was sold to settlers for $1,20 per acre, payable mostly in road
labor. A few of the early settlers received deeds from the
State of Massachusetts, but the greater part of them did not
complete the payment for their lands until after the town had
passed into the possession of the State of Maine. Samuel Cook,
Esq., Or Judge Cook, as the settlers called him, one of the pio-
neer settlers of Houlton, was agent for Massachusetts and at-
tended to the sale of the lands and the location of the new-
comers. When the State of Maine came into possession of the
town the price of the land was reduced to fifty cents per acre
in road labor and the settlers were credited with the work al-
ready done under the Massachusetts agent.

Mr. Joel Valley cleared up the land on the east side of
the road in the present village and in 1856 built a frame house
on the spot where the hotel now stands. There he at once com-
menced keeping public house, as there was at that time much
teaming upon the road, and his house was a convenient stop-
ping place for teamsters and other travelers going to Presque
Isle and the country above. He continued in the business un-
til 1864, when a disastrous fire occurred which swept away every
building at that time standing at Blaine Corner. In 1866 Mr.
Valley built the present hotel and the next year sold it, together
with the farm, to Mr. Joseph Joy. Mr. Joy afterwards sold to
Stephen Lake, he to Daniel W. Orcutt and he to Jonathan Her-
som, the present proprietor. Mr. Valley was the first trader in
the town, though in the early years he had no store but kept
goods for sale in his house, and when he built his frame house
he used the old log house for a store.

The first store at the corner was built by Messrs. Sherman
and Perkins of Augusta on the site of the present Jones store.
Perkins soon after sold out to his partner, Lewis Sherman, who
continued to trade in the store until it was burned in 1864. Af-
ter the fire Mr. Sherman sold out to Bedford Hume, who built
the store now standing and continued in business for about a
year, when he sold to Charles F. Collins, a son of Hon. Geo. W.
Collins, of Bridgewater. Mr. Collins traded in the store some
two years and then sold to Stephen Lake, who in 1868 sold to
Benj. F. Jones. Mr. Jones continued in trade and at the same
time carried on a large lumber business until three years ago,

222 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

when he sold the store and stock to Mr. John Bubar, the present
occupant. Mr. Jones still continues to reside in Blaine, though
a large part of his business is at his mill in Mars Hill, only
about a mile distant.

In 1866, Messrs. Jackson and Oakes built the store in which
R. E. McFarland now trades. After trading a year they were
succeeded by Henry O. Perry, Esq., who shortly after removed
to Fort Fairfield and Orlando Robinson occupied the store for
about two years, when he closed his business and for some
years the store was vacant. In 1884 Mr. A. O. Nutter, former-
ly of St. Albans, commenced business in this store, where he
continued until 1889, when he moved into the store where he
is now located, and his place was taken by R. E. McFarland of
Cambridgeport, Mass.

In 1873 Stephen Lake built the building in which Mr. S. H.
Hussey now trades. Mr. Lake continued in trade a few years,
when he sold the building to Mr. Frank Levine, who resided in
it but did not trade in the store.

In 1874 Mr. Joseph Chandler built a mill on the Presque
Isle of the St. John about half a mile from the village. He
still owns the mill, though it is not at present in operation.

In 1859 Mr. Wm. Robinson came to Blaine and purchased
260 acres of land in the south part of the town a short distance
above the junction of Three Brooks with the Presque Isle
Stream. Upon this land was a fine mill privilege, and in 1864
Mr. Robinson built a mill which contained one shingle machine.
Mr. Robinson died in 1873 and the business was continued by
his sons, H. O. and F. C. After a short time Harrison O. Rob-
inson sold out to his brother and removed to Presque Isle,
where he is now engaged in trade. The business has since been
conducted by Mr. Fred C. Robinson and has been much en-
larged and extended.

For some years after the first settlers came upon the town
the road from Houlton to Presque Isle was the only road in the
town and it was a long time before this was in a passable con-
dition for travel. It was then so badly cut up by the heavy
teaming in spring and fall as to render it a most uncomfortable
highway and it was not until after the extension of the New
Brunswick Railway to the towns in the Aroostook Valley that
it became a smooth and easy road for travel. As the heavy
teaming is now in a great measure discontinued the road is
kept in fine condition through the town. In 1858 the East road
was opened, connecting with the East Ridge road in Mars Hill

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 223

and running in a southerly direction across the town and con-
tinuing on to Baird's Mills on the boundary line.

The next road opened was the new County road, which
starts from Blaine Corner and runs directly south across the
town on the lot lines connecting with the Houlton road about a
half mile south of the line between Blaine and Bridgewater.
This road was laid out in 1858 for about half the distance
across the town, and some ten years later was laid out for its
entire distance by the County Commissioners and was built by
the town.

The half township was formerly included in a plantation
organization with Bridgewater which joins it on the south, but
when IBridgewater was incorporated as a town in 1858, it was
organized as a plantation and known as Letter B, Range One.

In 1860, when a postoffice was established, the name was
changed to Alva, which name it retained until 1874, when it
was incorporated as a town and named in honor of Hon. James
G. Blaine. Mr. Dennis Getchell was the first postmaster, but
he soon resigned his commission and was succeeded by Mr.
Joel Valley, who held the office until 1872, when he resigned
and H. O. Perry was appointed. When Mr. Perry removed to
Fort Fairfield, Mr. Valley was reappointed and held the office
until 1885, when Mr. F. E. Brown was appointed and was soon
after succeeded by Mr. A. 0. Nutter.

Upon a pleasant eminence a short distance west of the
Corner is the village schoolhouse, a handsome two-story building
surmounted by a bell tower. The schools in this building are
graded and there is also one term of free high school each
year. The schools are under the supervision of Mrs. Sophia
M. Tapley, a lady of much ability and herself a practical school
teacher.

On the Houlton road there are fine farms with good sub-
stantial buildings throughout its whole length through the town.
Here are seen large, smooth fields, clear of stumps and stones
and in fine cultivation. In every portion of the town we find
good farms, though of course in the newer sections the stumps
are not yet all out. The soil, however, is of the very best and
in a very few years these newer farms will show broad, smooth
meadows and the scythe and cradle will give place to the mow-
ing machine and reaper. Blaine will class with the best of the
farming towns in Northern Aroostook and is one of which the
illustrious statesman for whom it is named has no reason to be
ashamed.

224 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

NEW SWEDEN

The question of making some attempt to attract Scan-
dinavian immigration to the State of Maine was discussed in
this State as early as 1861, and in that year His Excellency,
Gov. Israel Washburn, Jr., at the suggestion of Hon. Geo. F.
Talbot, called attention to the matter in his inaugural address
and recommended that some steps be taken by the Legislature
to locate Swedish colonists upon the unsettled lands of Aroos-
took County. The work of raising, equipping and forwarding
soldiers to the Union Army occupied the attention of the State
for the three or four years following to the exclusion of almost
everything else, and no measures were formulated to bring
about the result contemplated in Gov. Washburn's message. In
1869, the Legislature resumed the consideration of the subject
and more definite action was taken. As a result of this action,
Hon. W. W. Thomas, Jr., was appointed a commissioner of im-
migration, with instructions to proceed to Sweden, collect a col-
ony, accompany the colonists to Maine and settle them upon
a township in Aroostook County set apart for that purpose.
Mr. Thomas was the one man in the State of Maine peculiarly
fitted for this work, he having served as United States Consul
at Gothenburg, and during his residence in Sweden having ac-
quired the language and made himself intimately acquainted
with the manners and customs of the people.

The details of the enterprise were largely left to the dis-
cretion of the commissioner, and the faithful and successful
manner in which he executed the work proves the appointment
to have been a most wise and fortunate one both for the colon-
ists and for the State.

The tract set apart for the settlement of the Swedish immi-
grants was Township 15, Range 3, and the State engaged to give
to each head of a family a lot of one hundred acres, to fell five
acres of trees and build a comfortable log house upon each lot.

Mr. Thomas sailed for Sweden in the spring of 1870 and
upon his arrival proceeded at once to recruit his colony. He
exercised great care in the selection of emigrants, accepting
only such as he was satisfied were honest, industrious men,
and of this class only those who were possessed of sufficient
means to pay the expense of passage for themselves and fam-
ilies. No contract or written agreement of any kind was made
with the colonists, all they had to depend on being the simple

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 225

■word of the commissioner, supported by the authority he had
received from the Legislature of his State. As Mr. Thomas
has himself expressed It, they left their homes "without the
scratch of a pen by way of contract or obligation, but with
simple faith in the honor and hospitality of the State of Maine."

All arrangements having been completed, the little colony,
accompanied by Commissioner Thomas, sailed from Sweden on
the 25th of June, 1870. The company consisted of fifty-one men,
women and children who thus consented to leave their native
land and journey across the ocean to find new homes in what
was to them the unknown wilderness of Northern Maine. Their
:falth and trust in Mr. Thomas was complete and the faithful
manner in which he redeemed every promise made to them is
shown by the respect and affectionate regard expressed toward
him by every citizen of New Sweden today.

On the 23rd of July, 1870, the colony arrived at their new
selves to their new and strange surroundings. Strangers in a
selves to their new and Strang surroundings. Strangers in a
strange land, wholly unacquainted with the manners and cus-
toms of our people and nearly all of them unable to speak or
understand a word of the language, unaccustomed to the work
of clearing up the forest and contending with the hardships of
pioneer life, it may be surmised that the first settlement of
these "children In the woods" was attended with many misgiv-
ings and frequent heart yearnings for the old home over the
sea. With cheerful courage and a determination to overcome
every obstacle they went manfully to work and in every direc-
tion the the forest resounded with their sturdy blows.

Mr. Thomas remained with them and not only superintend-
ed the work of this first summer, but pulled off his coat and
worked with them, encouraging them by word and example to
clear up their lots and prepare the land for a crop. His task
was a hard one from the first, and there were not lacking busy-
bodies In our own State who by their continual interference and
captious criticisms rendered his position still more uncomfort-
able. The many incidents of this first summer, some of them
amusing and some otherwise, including a hurried trip which the
Commissioner was obliged to make to Augusta to quiet appre-
hensions raised In that quarter by foolish meddlers, are among
the events of the unwritten history of the colony.

Having planted the colony In the wilderness it was neces-
sary that they should be supplied with provisions and with Im-
plements until a crop could be harvested, and Mr, Thomas

226 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

adopted the plan of selling them the required supplies to be paid
for in work upon the roads. The amount of State aid thus fur-
nished was about $25,000, nearly all of which was paid for
within three years from the time of the arrival of the colony.

Upon an eminence in the southern part of the town a large
and substantial two-story building .was erected by the State,
the upper story to be used as a place for religious meetings
and public gatherings of the colonists, and the lower story serv-
ing as a store, where all needed supplies were kept for sale.
This building was called the Capitol, and has played quite an
important part in the history of the colony.

During the next year and the years immediately following,
large accessions were made to the colony, and every available
lot in New Sweden being taken, lots were surveyed in the nor-
thern portions of the adjoining towns of Woodland and Perham
and upon these many Sv/edlsh settlers were located. It soon
became apparent that these colonists were an honest, industrious
people, and their steady application and frugal economy gave
promise of assured success. The visitor to New Sweden fifteen
years ago saw much to remind him that he was in the midst
of a people whose language, manners and customs were those
of a foreign land. The arrangement of their houses and their
mode of living, their manner of doing farm work, more espe-
cially of harvesting their grain; the single ox harnessed to the
rude cart, the big, wooden shoes in common use;- these and many
other things betokened that the newcomers had not yet "caught
on" to the ways and methods of the people among whom they
had made their homes. All this, however, has now almost en-
tirely passed away and anyone riding through New Sweden
today would hardly know but that the dwellers upon these
beautiful farms, and in these neat and comfortable residences
were "to the manner born," so completely have they adopted
the ways and appliances of their Yankee neighbors. Occasion-
ally, even now, may be seen a pair of oxen with the light Swed-
ish yoke and harness, attached to a cart, or even at times to a
mowing machine, but for the most part these farmers have good
horses and are well supplied with all the various kinds of farm
machinery in use among their neighbors upon the older settled
towns.

New Sweden is bounded on the east by Connor Plantation
and also partly by Caribou, on the south by Woodland, and on
the north and west by the wilderness townships of 16 R. 3, and
15 R. 4, respectively. These latter townships are owned by pro-

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 227

prietors, but a number of Swedish settlers are already located
upon those portions of each of them adjoining New Sweden,

A short distance from the Capitol in New Sweden is the
Lutheran Church. Farther to the west is the church building of
the Baptist Society, while on the higher ground east of the Cap-
itol is the Advent meeting house. In the rear of the Capitol is
the little cemetery where lie the remains of those of the colony
who have passed to their final rest. Directly opposite the Cap-
itol and fronting on the Caribou road, is the handsome resi-
dence of Mr. F. O. Landgrane, who came to New Sweden three
years ago and bought the farm, upon which there was then very
little improvement. Though much interested in his farming
speculations, Mr. Landgrane is a skilled mechanic, having been
for a number of years master mechanic of the city railroads of
San Francisco. He is also the inventor of several street car ap-
pliances, including a fare box, change gate, bell, safety brake,
etc., which are in use in many of the cities of the United States,
and from the manufacture and sale of whcih he derives a com-
fortable income. He has a partner, and their manufactory is
located at 1804 Mission Street, San Francisco. Mr. Landgrane
intends to make his home in New Sweden, but makes period-
ical trips to San Francisco.

Directly east of the Capitol is the farm of Mr. John G.
Uppling, who was a man of means in the old country and came
to New Sweden in 1871 and bought the lot next the Capitol of
its original proprietor. Capt. N. P. Clase, one of the original
colonists, was of much assistance in the early days of the
settlement, as he was the. only member of the colony who could
speak English, and upon h-'m Mr, Thomas relied very much
during these first years. We remember attending a banquet
at his house years ago upon the occasion of the visit of Gov.
Perham and his Council to New Sweden. The place has changed
wonderfully since then and the Captain begins to show the marks
of advancing years.

There are six good schools in the town, three of which were
taught during the present summer by young ladies born in the
town and graduates of the Caribou High School. Each school
is doing good work under the supervision of Mr. A. F. Ulrich.

New Sweden may be ranked as one of the prosperous
towns of Northern Aroostook, Its citizens are industrious and
frugal and have the faculty of saving and adding a little to
their possessions each year. They are an honest and religiously
inclined people, yet have a keen sense of humor and are gener-

228 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

ally intelligent and well informed. They have for the most
part adopted the manners and customs of their Yankee neigh-
bors and all the men and children speak good English. There
are very few of the original log houses left in the town, nearly
all having been replaced by neat frame buildings. The im-
provement made upon this wilderness town in twenty years is
very creditable to the thrift and energy of these worthy people
and the addition thereby made to the valuation of the State
proves the wisdom and success of the enterprise.

New Sweden was organized as a plantation in 1876 and in
1880 had a population of 517 and a valuation of $22,041. In
1890 the population had increased to 707 and the valuation to
$107,832.

The first birth in the New Sweden colony was a boy in the
family of Mr. Nils Persson, on the 12th of August, 1970, the
21st day from the arrival of the colonists. The babe was
christened by the name of William Widgery Thomas Persson,
in honor of the founder of the colony. A few v/eeks afterwards
Mr. Thomas presented his young namesake with a silver cup,
on which was engraved :

WILLIAM WIDGERY THOMAS PERSSON

The first child born in New Sweden,

August 12, 1870.

From

W. W. THOMAS, JR.

The first marriage was performed on Sunday, August 21st,
1870, when Mr. Jons Persson was united in marriage to Miss
Hannah Persdotter, by W. W. Thomas, Jr., Esq. The ceremony
was in the Swedish language, but after the American manner.

The first funeral was on the next day (Sunday) after the
arrival of the colonists. A child of Mr. Nickolaus P. Clase,
only a few weeks old, died just above Woodstock on the way
up the St. John River. The remains were brought to New
Sweden and there buried. The funeral services were conducted
by Rev. Mr. Withee, a Methodist clergyman of Caribou.

The following are the names of the heads of families who
were settled upon lots in New Sweden and Woodland in 1870,
with the number of their lots:

New Sweden

Name Number of Lot

Wllhelm Hard 75

Per J. Jacobson 96

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 229

Eric Ericsson ^" ^

Nils P. Jansson ^'

John Borgesson ^^

Carl Voss Hl/^

Per O. Julen H^

Gottlieb T. Pilts 114

Oscar G. W. Lindberg 114 /^

Nils Ohlson US

Jons Persson

Nils Persson

116

Svens Svensson H'

Karl G. Harleman 118

Anders Malmquist 121

Jans L. Lundvall 12'/2

Truls Persson 123

134

Nickolaus P. Clase 135

Olof C. Morell 135 '/a

John P. Johnson 136

Anders Johansson 13'

Anders Svenson 138

Olof Ohlson 138Va

Laurentius Stenstrom 99^2

Per Persson 112

Mans Mansson 131

Anders F. Johansson 130

Woodland

Per Petersson A

Solomon Johansson B

Jonas Boden C

Jonas Boden, Jr. D

Frans R. W. Planck E

Jacob Johansson F

Anders Wesbergren 32
At the close of the year 1870, the colony numbered 114
Swedes, of whom 58 were men, 20 women and 36 children. A
number of the original colonists afterward emigrated to other

parts of the United States and their lots were taken by later
arrivals.

OXBOW

In all this fair northland no fairer river sends its waters
to the sea than the beautiful Aroostook, and no river of all the

230 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

land flows through a grander or more beautiful country. Along
the banks of its upper waters are not only immense tracts of
valuable timber land, but through all its tortuous course from
source to mouth it flows through a section as fertile and produc-
tive as any in New England. Broad, smooth intervales, easy
of culture and rich in all the elements of plant life are along
its banks, and, swelling back from these, are grand ridges of
fertile upland, which, when cleared of their forest growth, are
easily converted into fair and productive farms, upon which
are the homes of a peaceful, happy and prosperous people.
Many strong flowing streams, draining immense timber sections,
add their waters to its larger volum.e and upon all these are
valuable water pov/ers, capable of turning many busy v^^heels
and adding to the industrial resources of this great county.

In the valley of the lower Aroostook the forest has given
place to the fertile farm, whole townships have been brought
under cultivation, handsome villages have been built up, and
from this section immense quantities of food products are sent
out to feed the thousands of hungry tollers in other portions of
the land. Fort Fairfield, Caribou, Presque Isle, Washburn, Ma-
pleton and Castle Hill, all lying on the Lower Aroostook, are
towns whose exports are mainly cultivated and manufactured
products, while still farther up, Ashland and Masardis are well
maintaining their claim to be classed as agricultural and manu-
facturing towns.

As we ascend the river still further we begin to find our-
selves in the midst of the "forest primeval" and to leave be-
hind us the larger settlements, and penetrate into Nature's love-
liest retreats. Now standing upon some sightly eminence, we
look away towards the north and v;est, and as far as the eye can
reach behold an unbroken forest, with its mountains and valleys,
its rivers and streams, and in these mild October days, its daz-
zling richness of color, ranging from the darkest green of the
spruce and fir to the most gorgeous crimson of the maple, a sea
of heaven-tinted beauty, an ocean of enchanting loveliness.

Such was the beautiful picture spread before us as we
stood upon the grand swell of cultivated land in the little set-
tlement of Oxbow Plantation, the farthest inhabited township
upon the upper waters of the Aroostook.

Leaving Masardis, we ride southward on the old Aroos-
took road some four miles or more, half the distance being in
Township No. 9, Range 5, when we come to the mouth of the
Oxbow road. Here we turn to the west and continue on for

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 231

nearly five miles through the unbroken wilderness of No. 9.
The soil in this township is quite stony and in that portion
through which the road passes, hardly suitable for cultivation,
though in other parts of the town there are some tracts of good
farming land. Crossing Houlton Brook and Trout Brook fur-
ther on, we come to the town line and all at once emerge from
the wilderness, and find ourselves upon a handsome ridge of
cultivated land, with a beautiful prospect before us of some-
thing over four m'les of field and meadow lying along the Aroos-
took River. Broad farms and fertile fields stretch away on
either side of the road, the clearings terminating at the river on
the north and at the grand old forest on the south. Standing
upon this fertile slope and looking over the smooth fields and
comfortable residences we can hardly realize that vv^e are in the
heart of a vast wilderness and that as far as cultivated improve-
ment is concerned we are at the end of the road v,/hen we pass
the last farm in sight. The forest is cleared away to such a
breadth on either side the road, the fields and pastures are so
well fenced, the houses and barns so comfortable and all the
evidences of prosperous agriculture so apparent that it does not
at first occur to one that alter leaving this settlement he could
strike out into the edge of yonder woods and travel through
unbroken forest for days without coming upon a human habita-
tion until he reached the Canadian settlements upon the far-off
St. Lawrence.

Looking westv/ard along the road we can see at the foot of
the cultivated slope the Umcolcus Stream whxh rises In Umcol-
cus Lake down in the southwest corner of No. 8, Range 5, and
flowing northwesterly across fhe corner of Penobscot County,
enters Oxbow Plantation through its south line and flov/s north-
ward into the Aroostook. A half mile to our right is the Aroos-
took River winding among beautiful Intervales and making here
the "ox bow" from which the town takes its name. After cross-
ing the Um.colcus the road ascends the slope on the other side
through a cultivated section for some two miles, v/hen it enters
the forest and is lost in the mazes of the grand old woods. Look-
ing beyond the little settlement we see forest to right of us,
forest to left of us, and almost interminable forest in our front.
Across the long f.tretch of gorgeous autumn blazonry, directly in
our front rise the v/ooded peaks of the Mooseleuk mountains,
extending for some distance from north to south. Farther to the
north are rugged heights of the Machlas mountains, these being
more distant and less clearly defined. Av/ay to the southwest.

232 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

high above all and grander than all, towers grand old Katahdin,
seeming now like an old familiar friend, we have looked upon
his rugged features so often of late, and from so many differ-
ent standpoints. Lesser hills appear on every hand, all wood-
covered and autumn-tinted, and everywhere forest, and forest
glorified by Nature's matchless limning, and all illuminated by
the splendor of the mild October sunlight.

We are on the Upper Aroostook now, but still the head
waters of its tributary streams are many miles away. Some
ten miles above Oxbow the Sapomkeag, a small stream rising
in Penobscot County, flows into the Aroostook from the south,
and two miles above, the Mooseleuk enters from the north. This
latter is a stream of considerable volume and large quantities
of lumber are driven from it every spring. It heads away over
in Piscataquis and flows in a southeasterly direction into the
Aroostook. Some six or eight miles above the mouth of the
Mooseleuk the Munsungun and Millinocket streams unite and
form the Aroostook. The Munsungun is the northerly branch
and flows from a lake of the same name in the northeastern
part of Piscataquis County. The Millinocket flows out of Mil-
linocket Lake also in Piscataquis, and the two unite in Penob-
scot County a short distance from the northwest corner of that
county.

Though the Oxbow settlement is away to one side of the
world's busy centres and is surrounded on all sides by forest,
yet it is by no means a solitary or unfrequented locality, but
is on the contrary in winter season one of the busiest points in
the county. It has been for many years the headquarters and
point of departure for the vast lumber business in this section
and on that account has been a most important point.

In the days of the great pine timber business many thou-
sands of dollars were yearly brought to the town and fortunes
were made and lost in operations of which it was the centre.
The Aroostook War, which came so near embroiling two great
nations in a sanguinary struggle, was the means of attracting
attention to this fertile region and many who marched in with
the posse to fight the British trespasser remained to battle with
the wilderness and to make farms and homes in this new coun-
try. It also demonstrated to others not of the martial force that
the country was accessible and quite a tide of emigration fol-
lowed.

In September, 1839, Elias H. Hayden and Samuel Hayden
came from Madison Centre, in Somerset County, to spy out the

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 233

land in the far-off Aroostook. They came up via Patten to Mas-
ardis, where they took a boat and went down the river to
Presque Isle, which at that time contained but little beside
Fairbank's mill on the Presque Isle Stream. The road from
the Aroostook River to Caribou had then been spotted out, and
they followed the line through, looking for a location to suit
them. At that time there was no opening in the wilderness
after leaving the Aroostook River at the point where the bridge
now crosses in Presque Isle, until they arrived at the chopping
of Ivory Hardison in Lyndon, and from there to Caribou the
forest was unbroken. Not deciding to settle in this region, they
returned to Presque Isle and poled their boat up the river to the
Oxbow. Here they found Surveyor Henry W. Cunningham lot-
ting the town, which was Township No. 9, Range 6, and here
they concluded to make their future home. Selecting lots on
the south side of the Aroostook River, near where the river
makes its abrupt bend, they returned to their homes and in June,
1840, came back and commenced felling trees upon their lots.
A few small choppings had been made during the previous year,
but all had been abandoned and the Haydens were the first
settlers who came to stay.

In 1842 Mr. Samuel Hayden moved his family to Oxbow,
being the first family to come to the town. He remained until
about 1860, clearing up a good farm and building comfortable
buildings, and then removed to Minnesota.

Mr. E. H. Hayden was unmarried when he came to the
town. He built a log camp on his lot and went to work to clear
up a farm. In 1842 he built a barn which was the first frame
building in the town. The plank and boards for this barn he
procured at Pollard's mill on the St. Croix, running them down
that stream to Masardis and then poling them in a boat up the
river to Oxbow. Mr. Hayden says that at one time he poled
500 feet of green plank in a batteau from Masardis up to Oxbow
without assistance. In 1843 Mr. Playden married a daughter
of Thomas Goss, and brought her to his log camp on his forest
farm. After the boundary dispute was settled by the treaty of
1842, the lumber business improved and a ready market was
afforded for all the produce raised in this vicinity. Thus becom-
ing more independent, Mr. Hayden, in the fall of 1843, built
him a comfortable log house in which he lived until 1849, when
he built a frame house and commenced keeping a hotel, in which
business he continued in connection with farming, until some
six years ago.

234 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

The next settler to come to the town was Mr. John M. Wins-
low, who came from Freedom, Waldo County, in March, 1842,
and settled opposite Mr. Hayden's. He cleared up a farm and
also engaged in the lumber business. He was the first clerk of
the plantation after its organization. He remained until 1862,
when he removed to Minnesota, where he afterwards died.

Mr. Thomas Goss, Jr., son of the pioneer settler of Masardls,
came with his family to Oxbow in April, 1842, and settled on a
lot in the extreme west of the town. He remained but about
three years, when he removed to Masardls and afterwards to
the Fish River road. About 1870 he returned to Oxbow and
settled in the east part of the town where he remained until his
death in 1875. His widow is still living In the town with her
daughter, Mrs. I. L. Junkins.

Aaron Scribner and family moved from Lincoln In 1843
and settled on a lot on the Umcolcus Stream, where he made
a farm and lived about twenty-five years, when he removed to
Patten.

William Bottin came from Madison in 1843, moving his
family to the town the next year. He took up a lot on a beau-
tiful ridge west of the Umcolcus, v/here he made a fine farm
on which he still lives.

In 1843 Ira Fish & Co. of Patten, built a sawmill on Umcol-
cus Stream a short distance above the present bridge. In aid
of this enterprise the company received from the State a grant
of a block of land near the mill, a large part of which grant
has since been made into productive farms. The mill at first
contained only an up and down saw, but in 1845 a run of stones
was put in. In 1852, Shepard Boody, of Old Town, bought the
mill property and the land connected with it. Mr. Boody was
largely engaged in the lumber business, having exteinsive opera-
tions upon the headwaters of the Aroostook. Pine timber being
at that time much higher in Bangor than in St. John, Mr. Boody
for a number of years drove his lumber to the mouth of the
Munsungun, where he took it from the water with teams and
derricks and hauled it across to Sebois Lake on the Penobscot,
and drove it to Bangor. He employed a large number of men,
sometimes continuing his operations during the entire year. He
moved his family to Oxbow, where he made the headquarters
of his large lumber business and here also he engaged in farm-
ing. He cleared up m.ore than two hundred acres of land and
raised large crops of hay and grain for his lumber operations.
iMr. Boody failed in 1864, and removed from Oxbov/, living at

«IS*?

m

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 235

various places in Aroostook County, devoting much of his time
during his later years to preaching the gospel according to the
Methodist faith. He died at Moro, on the Patten road, some-
thing over a year ago. Those who knew him as a business man
speak of him as an honest man, kind and generous to the poor,
but unfortunate in his business operations. After Mr. Boody's
failure the mill property passed into the hands of Mr. George
Sawyer of Masardis, who operated it for a number of years,
when it was sold to Mr. C. C. Libby, who came from Newfield
and married a daughter of Mr. Eben Trafton, of Masardis.

Mr. Abram H. Currier came from Maysville in 1854 and
for a number of years had charge of the Boody farm. In 1862
he bought the lot on the west side of the stream, where he now
resides.

Samuel Willard moved from Old Town in 1854 and settled
a mile east of the stream on the farm now owned by Stephen
Ellis. He lived there until 1862, when he moved to the Winslow
farm v^^here he resided for a time and then moved to Presque
Isle. In 1879 the Winslow farm passed into the possession of
Mr. Eben Trafton of Masardis, who made many improvements
and raised large crops of hay and grain. Mr. Trafton never lived
in the town and afterwards sold this farm to Mr. Julius J. Jun-
kins who now lives upon it.

James Anderson came from New Brunswick about 1860
and bought the Samuel Hayden farm, where he has lived ever
since. Robert Purvis came from New Brunswick about 1854.
He married a daughter of Mr, Samuel Hayden and in 1858 set-
tled on the lot where I. L. Juriklhs now lives in the east part of
the town. John McLean came from Nova Scotia in 1861 and
bought the William Day farm a short distance west of the
stream. Mr. McLean was killed in the woods by a falling tree,
and his widow afterwards married James Smith, who carried on
the farm until his death a few years since. Mrs. Smith is now
living with Mrs. Joseph Pollard at Masardis. Thomas Fleming
came from Nova Scotia in 1854. He afterwards married a
daughter of William Bottin and settled on the lot east of Mr.
Bottin's, where he now resides.

The township vv^as first organized in 1848 and as Oxbow
Plantation in 1870. There are two schools in the town and the
people are intelligent and prsoperous.

236 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

GLENWOOD

After passing through Haynesville we come to the Planta-
tion of Glenwood, the southeast corner of which is crossed by
this road.

The first settler upon this township was Mr. Seth Spaulding,
who came from Dover and in 1833 settled on the lot on which
Mr. Charles H. Jenkins now lives at the mouth of the road
which now leads to the mill on Wytopitlock Stream. Mr.
Spaulding previously made a chopping on the lot at Happy Cor-
ner in Reed Plantation, but did not remain upon the lot. He
cleared the farm in Glenwood and lived on it until his death in
1844. At the time of Mr. Spaulding's settlement his home was
in the midst of a dense forest, his nearest neighbors being
Messrs. Hall and Leighton, who had just completed the hotel
in Haynesville on the hill two miles below the Forks. After
Mr. Spaulding's death Mr. Samuel Tobin, who came from
Blanchard in 1845, bought the possession. Mr. Tobin lived on
the place a number of years and then moved to Lee, where he
died. The farm then passed through a number of hands and
about 1860 was purchased by Mr. N. Twombly, who lived on it
until his death some ten years ago. His son, Mr. Horace Twom-
bly, now owns the farm.

Mr. Jonathan L. Plummer came from the town of Wales in
1835 and built a log house opposite Mr. Spaulding's and took
up a lot a mile west of the Military road. Here he cleared a
farm and built a frame house and barn and in 1844 moved with
his family to the lot. He lived upon this farm some six years
and then removed to Levant in order to secure for his children
the privileges of an education which were denied them in their
wilderness home.

Mr. Asa Straw came from Newfield about 1836 and settled
on a lot west of Mr. Spaulding's, where he made a clearing and
built a log house in which he lived a few years and then moved
to the Clifford settlement in Reed Plantation. He lived there
a number of years and then moved to Lincoln Centre.

Mr. Joseph Lane settled on the shore of Wytopitlock Lake
in 1837. He cleared a farm and lived upon it until his death
about a year ago. Mr. Lane was unmarried and devoted much
of his time to hunting. Mr. Gardner Lane, an adopted son of
Mr. Seth Spaulding, cleared a small farm adjoining Mr. Jonathan
Plummer's. He afterwards removed to Arkansas, where he now
resides.

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 237

At the time of the first settlement a large amount of lum-
bering was carried on in the vicinity and the early settlers
raised a little hay to sell to the lumbermen, which was about
the extent of their farming operations. Hunting was the main
dependence for supplying the meat barrel and working in the
woods in winter was the principal source from which money
was obtained.

In 1865 Mr. Lafayette Tuck and Mr. Peter Moulton built a
mill on the VVytopitlock Stream in the southwest corner of the
town, about t^vo miles and a half west of the Military road,
Mr. Elisha Gilpatrick of Danforth afterwards bought this mill.
It contains a rotary, two shingle machines, a clapboard machine
and lath machine.

Mr. Robert Jenkins, who lives on the Military road a short
distance below the mouth of the mill road, came from Wales
to Molunkus in 1836 and worked at his trade of shoemaking a
number of years. In 1861 he moved to Perham and from there
enlisted in the 16th Maine Regiment. He was taken prisoner
near Centreville, but was paroled and afterwards discharged.
He then enlisted in the 31st Maine Regiment and served until
the close of the war. In 1865 he came to Glenv/ood and settled
op the lot formerly occupied by James Oliver, where he now
lives. His son, Mr. Charles H. Jenkins, in 1879 built a house
and store at the mouth of the mill road, where he is now engaged
in trade and also keeps the postoffice.

Glenwood lies directly west of Haynesville and north of
Reed Plantation. On the north and west it is bounded by un-
settled townships. In the western part of the township is Wy-
topitlock Lake, a beautiful little sheet of water some two miles
long and something more than half a mile in width. From this
lake Wytopitlock Stream flows in a southerly course and emp-
ties into the Mattawamkeag River in the southern part of Reed
Plantation. The greater part of the town is still covered with
forest and as a whole the town is not well adapted to farming,
though there are some tracts of very good land. The population
of Glenwood in 1890 was 183.

BANCROFT

Directly west of the town of Weston and lying along the
Washington County line is the good town of Bancroft, named
in honor of the great historian whose brother was at one time
the proprietor of the town.

238 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

The township is somewhat irregular in form, having no two
sides parallel, its northeast corner projecting away beyond the
general northern line of the town almost as far as the north line
of Weston. Like many of the towns in Aroostook County, it
was originally considered a timber town and many of the first
settlers were attracted thither by the opportunities for engaging
in the lumber business. A considerable portion of the town has
been cleared of its forest growth and converted into fertile
farms, but the lumber industry still furnishes employment for
many of its citizens and there are few farmers who are not to
some extent engaged in this business.

The first settler upon the township was Mr. Charles Gel-
lerson, who came from the town of Brighton, in Somerset Coun-
ty, and settled in the extreme northeastern portion of the tov/n,
near the Weston line and a short distance south of where the
ferry now crosses the Mattawamkeag River. Mr. Gellerson had
a large family of sons, some of whom settled and made farms
in the adjoining town of Weston, the others making their set-
tlement in Bancroft. Upon coming to the town Mr. Gellerson
purchased a block of 300 acres of good land lying along the
Mattawamkeag River. This tract he afterwards divided into
smaller farms, reserving 100 acres for his own homestead. Here
he cleared a good farm and for a number of years after commg
to Bancroft was engaged in lumbering. He lived upon the farm
until his de:ith in 1854.

Mr. James Dunn then had the farm for three years, when
it was purchased by Mr. Shubael Kelley and his son Lorenzo
Kelley, who owned and occupied it until 1867. Mr. William
Gellerson, Jr., then bought the farm and after living on it some
six years exchanged farms with Mr. Charles Case, who still
lives on the old Gellerson homestead, where the first clearing
was made in the town.

Mr. Josiah Gellerson, a son of Charles Gellerson, came with
his father to Bancroft and took 100 acres of the block pur-
chased by him. He was largely engaged in lumbering and
after living in Bancroft fourteen years moved to the adjoining
town of Haynesville. Mr. Atwell Gellerson, another son, set-
tled on the north hundred acres of his father's block. He
cleared a farm and was engaged in farming and lumbering un-
til his death in 1862. Mr. Samuell Gellerson then bought the
farm and has lived upon it ever since.

Mr. Shubael Kelley came from Brighton in 1833. With
him came his two sons, Albert and Lorenzo, and together they

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 239

settled on a lot adjoining Mr. Charles Gellerson's on the east.
Here they cleared a farm upon which they lived together
until 1857. Mr. Shubael Kelley and his son Lorenzo then
bought the Charles Gellerson farm, upon which they built a
new house, in which Shubael Kelley resided, Lorenzo living in
the original farmhouse. They carried on the farm together.
Mr. Lorenzo Kelley was also engaged in the business of lum-
bering. Shubael Kelley died in 1865, and his son Lorenzo in
1867. Mr. Albert Kelley remained upon the old homestead
after the removal of his father and brother to the Gellerson farm,
and was for many years one of the principal citizens of the
town. He was for years largely engaged in lumbering, which
he finally abandoned, and for a time was employed in the in-
surance business. He died at his home in Bancroft in 1881. He
was a man of kindly disposition, of a most cheerful and com-
panionable temperament and had many friends throughout
Aroostook County. His son, Mr. George Kelley, now has the
homestead farm and is largely engaged in lumbering.

Mr. Joseph Rollins came from Brighton in 1833 and settled
on the lot next south of the Kelley lot. Here he cleared a good
farm upon which he lived until his death in 1840. Mr. Albert
Kelley, Jr., now lives on this farm.

Mr. Joseph E. Shorey was for a number of years engaged
in lumbering in Weston and Bancroft before making any per-
manent settlement. He came from Kennebec County in 1835
and settled in Bancroft on a lot a short distance south of Mr.
Joseph Rollins. Here he made a farm and was engaged in lum-
bering for many years. Mr. Shorey was a prominent man in
the town and was a man of much ability. He was a trial justice
for many years and was well known throughout southern Aroos-
took. He died in Bancroft some ten years ago and his farm is
now owned by Mr. Albert Sellers.

Mr. Daniel Bean came from Cumberland County in 1834
and settled near the mouth of Baskahegan Stream. Here he
built a mill containing an up and down saw and also a grist
mill. Mr. Bean carried on quite an extensive business in lum-
bering and farming until about 1850, when he sold the property
to Mr. John Pomroy and removed to Haynesville, where he died.
Mr. Pomroy carried on the farm and mills until 1862, when he
recruited a company which was mustered into the 11th Maine
Regiment as Company I, Mr. Pomroy receiving a captain's
commission. At the expiration of his military service Capt.
Pomroy returned to Bancroft and for a number of years was

240 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

extensively engaged In lumbering and trading. He afterwards
removed to Minnesota, where he now resides. He is remem-
bered in Bancroft as a man of much energy and business ability
and as a leading man in that vicinity for many years.

Mr. Simeon Irish came to Bancroft about 1834 and settled
on the west side of the Mattawamkeag River, a mile below the
mouth of the Baskahegan Stream. Mr. Irish cleared a large
farm and was quite extensively engaged in farming and lum-
bering until his death, some thirty years ago. His son, James
Irish, now owns the farm.

Mr. Jeremiah Thompson came from Kennebec County in
1837 and settled on the lot next south of Joseph Shorey. He
made a clearing and lived on the place some ten years, when
he moved to Glenwood Plantation, where he afterwards died.
Mr. Andrew Collins then bought the farm and lived upon it
until his death some twenty-three years ago. Mr. William Ouim-
by then bought the farm and still resides upon it.

Mr. Leonard Smith came from Sidney about 1838 and set-
tled on the lot south of Mr. Joseph Rollins. Here he cleared a
farm and after living on it a few years removed from the town.
This farm then passed through a number of hands and was then
purchased by Mr. James Burns, who came from New Bruns-
wick. . Mr. Burns lived upon the farm until his death some fif-
teen years ago and his son, Mr. Simeon Burns, now occupies it.

Mr. Jonathan Quimby came from Kennebec County about
1840 and settled on the lot near where the Kelley road now in-
tersects the Baskahegan road. Mr. Quimby cleared this farm
and lived upon it until his death some fifteen years ago. Mr.
John Warman now lives upon the farm.

Mr. Robert Hinch, who was for years one of the prominent
business men of Bancroft, came to the town in 1840 and settled
on the east side of the Mattawamkeag River, a short distance
above the mouth of Baskahegan Stream. Mr. Hinch cleared a
large farm and was for many years extensively engaged in
farming and lumbering. He was for some time in company with
Mr. John Pomroy in the lumber business and this firm carried
on large operations for a number of years. Mr. Hinch died
some five years ago. He was a worthy man, of much business
ability and was highly esteemed by all who knew him. His son,
John W. Hinch, now owns the homestead, but resides in Dan-
forth.

Mr. John W. C. Moore came from Kennebec County about
1843 and settled on a lot a short distance east of Mr. Robert

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 241

Hinch. Mr. Moore cleared a large farm and was for many years
a prominent business man and a leading citizen of his town. He
carried on large farming and lumbering operations and took an
active part in town affairs. Mr. Moore also represented his
district in the State Legislature. Some ten years ago he sold
his farm to Mr. Edwin Smart and moved to Hodgdon, where he
died a few years since. He was a man of sterling character,
strict honesty and business integrity and had many friends.

Mr. Daniel Moore came from Kennebec County about 1850
and settled on the lot next east of Robert Hinch. Here he
cleared a farm and was engaged in farming and lumbering until
about 1882, when he sold the farm to Mr. Stewart Lee and moved
to Linneus, Vv'here he died some three years ago.

Mr. John W. Smart came from Washington County about
1850 and settled on Trout Brook Ridge, near the Weston line.
He made a good farm and lived on it until his death some fifteen
years ago. Mr. Smart was also engaged in lumbering and was
chairman of the board of assessors for many years. His son,
Edwin Smart, now lives on the farm.

Mr. James T. Houghton came to Bancroft about 1852 and
cleared a farm on Trout Brook ridge north of Mr. John W.
Smart's, where he lived until his death some seven years ago.
Mr. Freeman Brov/n now has this farm.

Mr. SamuelE. Gellerson came to Weston when a small boy
with his father. Rev. George W. Gellerson. In 1851 he bought
the Atwell Gellerson farm in Bancroft and has lived on it ever
since. Mr. Gellerson has been an active business man for many
years, having been engaged in lumbering, farming and cattle
buying. Though but a lad when he first came to the settlement,
yet his memory extends back to the time when the first opening
was made in the Gellerson settlement, which is the general name
given to this portion of the town and the adjoining portion of
the town of Weston. He has seen the forest give way before
the pioneer's axe, and where once the Mattav/amkeag flowed
undisturbed through an unbroken wilderijess, now fertile fields
and verdant meadows slope down to its shores. The humble
log cabins of the first settlers have been replaced by neat and
handsome residences and capacious barns now hold in their am-
ple mows the products of the farmers' toil. Mr. Gellerson can
well remember when there were no roads in the town except
those used in the winter by the lumbermen and when the early
pioneer v;ent to his neighbor's by a path through the greenwood.
Now there are good turnpikes and in the settled portion of the

242 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

town good farms on all the roads.

Bancroft is bounded on the north by Haynesville, on the
east by Weston, west by Reed Plantation and extends on the
south to the Washington County line. The Mattav/amkeag
River flows in a tortuous course, but in a general southwesterly
dlrect'on through the town and along the river banks are some
very fine stretches of intervale land. The Baskahegan Stream
enters the town from W^eston, near its southeastern corner and
flowlr.g in a northwesterly direction empties into the Mattawam-
keag about midv;ay of its course through the town. Battle Brook,
a stream of considerable volume, empties into the Mattawamkeag
from the northv/est and there are several other brooks of more
or less volume in different portions of the town.

V/h.'le the tov/ns in northern Aroostook are watered by the
St. John River and its tributaries and the headquarters of the
lumber bus'ness of that section has been in St. John and Freder-
icton, the tov/ns in southern and western Aroostook are drained
by streams that flow into the Penobscot and thus the business
of those portions of the county has been largely centered at
Bangor. Bancroft, as far as its lumber interests are concerned,
is a Penobscot town and its early settlers, most of whom were
m.ore or less engaged in lumber operations, were well acquainted
in Eargor, but had no business connection to speak of with the
Provi- :ce of New Brunswick.

The Ma'ne Central railroad crosses the southern part of the
town and the station is on the west side of the Mattawamkeag
River near the v/est line of the town. From the covered bridge a
road runs southward along the west side of the Mattawamkeag
River to Bancroft Station. The exports from Bancroft are prin-
cipally hemlock bark, sleepers, poles, posts, ship timber and
hardvv'ood logs.

The southern portion of the tov/n of Bancroft, through which
the railroad runs, is principally timbered land and there are no
farms in th's portion of the town. The cultivated part is the
northeast quarter, being that portion north of the iBaskahegan
road and east of the Mattawamkeag River. In this section the
land as a general thing is very good and well adapted to farm-
ing purposes.

Barcroft was first organized as a plantation in 1840, and was
incorporated as a town in 1889. It has a good class of citizens
and may be regarded as a prosperous Aroostook town. The
population of the town in 1890 was 264 and its valuation was
$72,688.

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 243

EASTON

The beautiful St. John River flows for many miles nearly
parallel with the eastern boundary of the County of Aroostook
and but a few miles distant. There is no more beautiful river
in all America, and though the settlement of the disputed bound-
ary question has long been acqu'esced in, yet it would seem that
the natural limit of /■roostook on the east should be this same
rriagn ficent river, and that the many 'fine streams that trace
their v.inding course through this fertile county should not be
obl'ged to d scharge their waters in a foreign land. It may,
h-- :--.--", ^:c cr.^y a cuestion of time when this grand water way
ce to its mouth wholly within the jur'sdic-
__ ,^...._., and when the eagle that nov/ circles around
: can trace the course of the river away to the Bay
c a:.d be hailed through all his fl'ght as the chosen em-

I oze grand national ty. The tier of townships lying

along the boundary I'ne comprises many fine agricultural towns,
but nore more excellent than the fertile tov;n of Easton. No-
V. hcie i-i Aroostook do the maples tower to so great a height, or
make a more thrilty grov/th than in this town. Though . b/ing
upon the border it vvas unsettled at the t'me of the boundary
dispute and its most ancient archives contain no annals of the
famed Aroostook War.

Easton was orig nally a Massachusetts township, but was
about 1854, in common with all the other towns owned by the
'--.olher State, purchased by the State of Maine. In 1855 and
1QZ6 it was lotted by Noah Barker into 160 acre lots and was
oper.ed by the State for settlement. Previous to that time,
hov/ever, a few settlers had commenced clearings upon the town
and it may be that in earlier times some of our New Brunswick
neighbors had wandered over the boundary and invaded the for-
est.

The earliest settler, however, of v/hom we could obtain any
authent'c account was Mr. Henry Wilson. Mr. Wilson came
first to Presque Isle and taught school in a log house on Vv^hat is
now the Hugh Jamison farm about the year j.847. He taught
a r.umber of years in the town and in 1851 went away into the
wilderness and commenced a clearing near what is now Easton
Centre. There was at that time a logging road from Presque
Isle across the present town of Easton to the St. John River.
This road was of course passable for teams only in the winter
season. A number of the young men in Presque Isle went over

244 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

with Mr. Wilson to the spot he had selected for his forest home
and helped him build a log house. To this new house he brought
his wife and lived here a number of years before any other set-
tler came to the neighborhood. About the time that the town was
lotted he sold his improvements which were on a part of three
lots, to W. H. Rackliffe, Josiah Foster and Theophilas Smith,
and moved to the adjoining town of Mars Hill. Mr. Wilson is
now living in Houlton and his son, Vinal B. Wilson, Esq., is a
prominent member of the Aroostook bar with the promise of a
brilliant future.

In 1854, Mr. Albert Whitcomb commenced a clearing about
a mile south of what is now Easton Centre. Mr. Whitcomb at
that time lived with his father, Mr. Emmons Whitcomb, in
Presque Isle, on the farm now owned and occupied by Mr. H. H.
Cook. In 1856, he removed to his new farm, having at that
time twenty acres cleared and a log house and frame barn built.
The road from Fort Fairfield to Blaine had then been run out
but was at that time merely a spotted line through the forest,
not even having been opened for winter travel. The early set-
tlers paid for their land in grubbing out and building this road
which was not made passable for wagons until 1859.

In 1854 also, Mr. William Kimball commenced a clearing
north of Mr. Wilson's and was one of the most prominent of the
early settlers of the town. In later years Mr. Kimball removed
to Presque Isle, v/here he continued to reside until his death in
February, 1890. In the same year also came Solomon Bolster,
Dennis Hoyt, Emmons A. Whitcomb and A. A. Rackliffe. Mr.
Hoyt was not, however, a resident of the town and soon after-
wards sold his improvement to William D. Parsons.

Mr. Jacob Dockendorff also commenced a clearing in 1854
in the western part of the town on the bank of the stream near
what is now the thriving village of Sprague's Mills. Mr. Dock-
endorff did not become a resident of the town, however, until
1857.

In the spring of 1856, Josiah Foster and George Foster set-
tled near the Centre. John L. Pierce took the lot adjoining Al-
bert Wh'tcomb's and John C. Cummings settled near the Fort
Fairfield line.

In the fall of 1856 Ephraim Winship and Israel Lovell took
up lots In the northwest corner of the town next to the Presque
Isle line.

The township was organized as a plantation July 26, 1856,
and was named Fremont Plantation, in honor of Gen. John C.

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 245

Fremont, who was that year the standard bearer of the young
Republican party of the nation. We find by examining the rec-
ords that at the time of the organization in 1856 there were but
nine legal voters in the plantation. These settlers who took part
in the organization were all living along the line of the road
from Fort Fairfield to Blaine, but soon after a settlement was
commenced in the western part of the town. Between these
two portions of the town is a low, marshy bog, which, though
not of great width at any point, runs in a northerly direction for
about four miles and is about all the waste land there is in the
town.

In May, 1857, Mr. Samuel Kneeland, who had married a
daughter of William Kimball, came from Sweden, in Oxford
County and settled in the west part of the town near the Presque
Isle "line. Mr. Kneeland first brought his family to Mr. Kim-
ball's and from there he and his wife walked through the woods
and across the '*og to their new home, each carrying a child,
and leading a third by the hand.

Among the early settlers in this part of the town besides
those already named were James E. Dudley and Samuel Barker,
who came together from Waterford, Oxford County, in 1859,
and settled on adjoining lots next to the Presque Isle line, pur-
chasing improvements of Mr. W. H. Ryan, who is now a drug-
gist at Presque Isle. Benjamin Farnham came from Castine the
same year, and Joseph Johnson and James Moore had already
settled in this part of the town.

In 1858, a schoolhouse was built at the Centre and at a
meeting held on June 7th of that year the town voted fourteen
against license to four in favor and it has been a strong pro-
hibition town ever since. In 1859 there were forty-two legal
voters on the list and seventy-one scholars in the plantation.
In 1860 the list contained sixty-three voters and in 1861 seventy
six. In 1862 the records show that it was voted that the taxes
should be paid in grain or shingles at the market price at Fort
Fairfield, and that the collector should give each tax payer
thirty days notice. Buckwheat and cedar shingles were at that
time the legal currency in Aroostook and were about all the re-
sources the settlers had for the payment of debts.

The town was settled slowly and in 1860 contained but
320 inhabitants. During the war many of the settlers went into
the army and not much growth was made until after the war
was over.

In 1860 Mr. D. Russell Marston built the mill now standing

246 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

at the village of Sprague's Mills. This mill had an up and down
saw, and later Mr. Marston put in a shingle machine which he
bought of Mr. Isaac Hacker of Fort Fairfield and which is said
to be the first shingle machine brought to Aroostook County.
Mr. Marston continued to run the mill until 1870, when he sold
it to Messrs J. H. & E. W. Sprague. The Spragues made ex-
tensive repairs. They sold the mill in 1878 to W. H. Newcomb,
who a year later sold to Johnson & Phair. It is now the property
of Hon. T. H. Phair, who has put in a rotary.

Of the other mills in this town we may as well speak in this
connection. About 1859 Mr. Isaac Wortman built a mill on the
River de Chute in the east part of the town. This mill con-
tained only an up and down saw. It was burned in 1870 and
was not rebuilt. In 1879 Mr. E. W. Sprague built a steam shin-
gle mill in the western part of the town near what is kno\yn as
the village of Sprague's Mills. This mill contained one shingle
machine with balance wheel and often turned out as many as
twenty-four thousand shingles in ten hours. After running five
years the mill v/as burned and was not rebuilt. The engine v/as
saved and was removed to Robinson's Mill in Blaine.

About this time Mr. A. B. Walker built a grist mill some
three fourths of a mile above the saw mill on the same stream.
This stream is called the Presque Isle of the St. John to dis-
tinguish it from the other stream of the same name which flows
through the village of Presque Isle and empties into the Aroos-
took. This grist mill contains three run of stones, and after op-
erating it about four years Mr. Walker removed the wheat
stones to Masardis, where he had built another grist m"ll and
for a time the Easton mill v^^as in possession of E. W. Sprague,
who put in two shingle machines and introduced steam power.
In 1887 Mr. Arno Fling built a steam sh'ngle mill in the east
part of the town. This mill is now owned by B. F. Jones of
Blaine and has a rotary and one shingle machine.

In 1877 Messrs. Johnson & Fha'r of Presque Isle bu'lt a
large starch factory at Sprague's Mills. The factory had but
one dry house when first built, but a second one was added a
few years later. The building of this factory was an enter-
prise which resulted in great benefit to the farmers of Easton
and did more than anything else toward bu'ld'ng up the thriv-
ing village of Sprague's Mills. The farmers at once turned
their attention to the raising of potatoes for the factory, each
man at first contracting to plant a certain number of acres and
to deliver the potatoes at the factroy for 25 cents per bushel.

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 247

The contracts were usually for five years and the business
proved to be a profitable one. Soon, however, the demand for
Aroostook potatoes for the outside market at good prices in-
duced the farmers to plant many more acres than they had con-
tracted for, selling the merchantable stock to shippers in years
when the price was good, and having the starch factory to fall
back on when the prices for shipping dropped,

Easton has proved to be one of the greatest potato produc-
ing towns in the County and vast quantities are hauled each
year to the shipping stations of Presque Isle and Fort Fairfield.

In the fall of 1884, in the midst of the starch making sea-
son, the factory was consumed by firjg. .This subjected both the
proprietors and farmers to great loss and inconvenience, but
the factory was rebuilt during the following year and has done
a large and prosperous business ever since. It is now owned by
Hon. T. H. Phair and is one of the most profitable of all his
factories.

In 1883 Messrs. Kimball & DeLaite built a steam shingle
mill on the Spear Brook near Easton Centre. This mill contained
one shingle machine, but before it was fairly in operation the
boiler burst, killing one' man, Mr. Edward Lord, and severely
scalding a number of others. A large number of school children
were in the mill v/atching the working of the engine but a few
minutes before the explosion, and had they remained the dis-
aster must have been far more terrible.

The first store in Easton was opened at the Centre in 1863
by Mr. W. H. Rackliffe. Mr. Rackliffe continued in trade some
three years, when he closed up this branch of h's business, as
he v;as extensively engaged in farming and in buying and selling
cattle and sheep. In 1872 Mr. Charles W. Kimball built a store
at Easton Centre, where he traded for a number of years, and
was followed by Mr. C. F. Parsons, who leased the Kimball
store and in 1882 built a new store on the opposite s de of the
street, to which he removed. Kimball and DeLaite then com-
menced trade in the Kimball store but after the disaster at the
steam mill they went out of business and sold the store to Mr.
Parsons. Mr. H. W.- Knight afterwards succeeded Mr. Parsons
in this store and was in turn followed by Samuel G. Wheeler,
the present occupant and the only merchant at Easton Centre.

The principal village in the town Is at Sprague's M.lls, in
the western part of the town, near the Presque Isle line. The
first store in this part of the town was built by Nathan Jewell
in 1868. It .was used for a store but a short time, when it was

248 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

converted into a dwelling house and afterwards burned.

In 1878 E. W. Sprague built a store near the mill. Mr.
M. C. Smith, now a thriving merchant in the village of Presque
Isle, commenced trade in this store and afterwards bought it.
The store was burned in June, 1880, and was replaced by the
large store now occupied by Mr. J. Sawyer.

In 1882 Mr. M. L. DeWitt built a store at the Mills, which
for a number of years was occupied by various parties and was
afterwards destroyed by fire in the same year.

-E. W. Sprague built a store which he occupied as a lumber
supply store and also as a post office, Mr. Sprague having then
been postmaster at Sprague's Mills for four years. The next,
store was built by F. E. French in 1883, and was occupied by
him as a dry goods and millinery store until 1885, when it was
purchased by E. W. Sprague, who now occupies it as a variety
store and post office.

In 1885 Mr. Byron Wheeler built the large store with
Grange Hall above. This store was first occupied by Mr. For-
rester Burns, who was succeeded by Spear & Stanchfield, and
they by F. L. Spear & Co., the present occupants.

In 1886 Samuel Kneeland built a store with dwelling above.
Mr. Kneeland has since died and his widow now carries on the
dry goods and millinery business in this store.

In 1886 the Odd Fellows built a fine two story building and
finished off a handsome hall for the accommodation of the lodge
in the second story. The lower story is now owned and occupied
by the Methodist society as a house of worship and is very
comfortably and conveniently arranged for that purpose.

In 1886 the Free Baptist society erected a very fine church
building at the Mills, which is an ornament to the village.

Although the first growth of the town seemed to indicate
that the principal business would cluster around the Centre and
that the village would there be located, the fine water power at
Sprague's Mills and the erection of the starch factory deter-
mined that as the main center of industry, and a handsome and
thriving village has there grown up in a few years. The place
has an air of life and activity and the business men are men of
energy and staunch business integrity. The buildings are neat
and pleasantly located and everything points to a sure and solid
growth.

The schools in the town of Easton are well sustained and
rank among the best. The town system was adopted some five
years ago and the citizens take great interest in their schools.

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 249

There are ten schools in the town under the efficient supervision
of W. J. Weymouth. Four terms of free high school are main-
tained each year, two of which are held at Easton Centre and
two at Sprague's Mills.

As a farming town Easton has few if any superiors in
Aroostook. Though comparatively a new town, reclaimed from
the wilderness within the recollection of men who are still young
and active, yet there are upon all the roads throughout the town
large, smooth and well cultivated farms with extensive farm
buildings and every evidence of comfort and prosperity.

Easton was incorporated as a town on Feb. 24, 1864 and in
1880 had a population of 835. The population in 1890 was 978
and the valuation $208,765.

In the fertility of its soil and its natural advantages as an
agricultural town it is surpassed by few, if any, of the towns in
the fertile valley of the Aroostook.

MAPLETON

Directly west of the town of Presque Isle lies the goodly
town of Mapleton, formerly known as Township No. 12, Range
3. The Aroostook River barely touches the northeast corner of
the town, the corner post being upon an island in the river.
Some two and a half miles west of this corner the river in bend-
ing around a large island again touches the north line of the
town. Mapleton has Washburn for a neighbor on the north,
Castle Hill on the west and Chapman Plantation upon its
southern border.

The first settlement made upon the town was upon the lots
in the northeast corner bordering upon the Aroostook River.
Previous to the time of the Aroostook War, people from New
Brunswick had ascended the river and made settlements upon
its banks at various points, and after the boundary dispute was
settled by the Treaty of 1842 these settlers were given deeds of
their lots in accordance with the recommendations of the Com-
missioners sent here by the States of Maine and Massachusetts
and these lots so deeded have since been known as treaty lots.
Very few of these lots were located in what is now the town of
Mapleton, as that town has but a small extent of river frontage.

We find by the report of the Commissioners that Lot No.
14 was thus granted to Joshua Christie and Lot No. 16 to "Ed-
ward Erskine, James Erskine and Abigail, wife of Winslow
Churchill." These two lots, now included in the town of Maple-

250 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

ton, had a river frontage in what is now the town of Washburn.
Lots No. 17 and 18 were granted to Peter Bull, together with
"that part of Bull's Island which lies in No. 12," now Mapleton.
How long these people had been fettled on their lots we have
not been able exactly to determine, but as the conditions of the
grants required that the lots should have been "possessed and
improved by them, or the persons under whom they claim, for
more than six years before the date of the treaty aforesaid"
they must have been settled there as early as 1836 and we think
Peter Bull came there at a much earlier date. We find also that
the southeast quarter of lot 102 and the southwest quarter of lot
103, "to be set off by lines parallel to the lot lines" were granted
under the treaty to Dennis Fairbanks, the pioneer settler of the
town of Presque Isle. These two lots are situated in the south-
east part of the tov;n and the "quarters" designated front upon
the Presque Isle Stream, a tributary of the Aroostook. Probably
at the t.me these lots were granted to Fairbanks there was no
actual settler upon them though there must have been some
"improvement" upon them in order to acquire a deed. This
tract is now, we think, owned by Mr. Veranes Chandler of
Presque Isle.

Thus we find that Mapleton as well as many other towns in
this part of the County, owed its first settlement to the Aroos-
took River, v/hich these' pioneer settlers ascended in the old
days "before the war" and upon whose fertile banks and mag-
nificent islands they made their humble homes.

At that t!^me the r>er v/as the only highway through this
forest region and therefore these old time settlers made their
first clearings and erected their log houses near its banks. Be-
fore the clearing was made and a crop could be obtained, these
pioneers v/ere able to obtain the means of supporting their fam-
ilies by felLng the noble pines that grew near the river banks,
mak'ng them into square timber and floating them down to
Freder'cton, v/here they found a ready market.

These people were all from New Brunswick at the time of
their settlement along the river, and cons.dered themselves still
citizens of that Province and claimed to be upon Provincial ter-
ritory. Not until the time of the boundary disputes' v/h'ch cul-
minated in the Aroostook War, was the attention of the cit'zens
of Ma'ne called to this fertile region, or were its grand agricul-
tural resources known to our people.

Then the old "State Road" from Presque Isle to Ashland
was cut through and in 1842, Shepard Packard came from the

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 251

town of Foxcroft and settled on the line of that road some four
miles west from what is now Presque Isle. Mr. Packard re-
mained upon this lot and cleared up a fine farm, where he lived
to see the wilderness about him cleared away and fine fields
made all along the road to Presque Isle. He died at his home
at a ripe old age some five or six years ago. His son, George
W. Packard, lived with him, and was for years the active man-
ager of the farm until his death, which occurred last spring.
Ansel Packard, another son, lived upon the farm opposite his
father's until some eight years ago, when he moved to Fort Fair-
field, and he too, recently died. Thus no member of the family
who made the first settlement upon this part of the town Is now
living.

Members of the Bull family came up upon this road* soon
after Mr. Packard made his clearing, and Charles W. and Peter
Bull are still living upon lots a short distance east of the Pack-
ard farm.

Many of the lots upon this part of the town were covered with
their original forest growth until after the war, since which
time every lot has been taken and there is a continuous settle-
ment across the town upon this road.

In 1865 Mr. Thomas Munn took up the lot next east of Mr.
Packard's, and has now forty acres cleared and is making a fine
farm.

Another road enters the town from Presque Isle and runs
entirely across the town, parallel to and a mile and a half dis-
tant from the south line of the town.

In the fall of 1858, Mr. George L. Emerson came from the
town of Stow ,in Oxford County, and took a lot in the southwest
part of the town, a half mile south of the line of the road above
named. He made a chopping that fall and In the spring brought
h's family to his new home, where he had built a log house.
Mr. Emerson's experience was like that of many another Aroos-
took pioneer. When he arrived v/ith his family and settled in
his forest home he had just fifty cents in his pocket. He cleared
up two acres and put it Into crop, and then leaving his little
fam'ly, went to work in Presque Isle, and also upon the mill
which v/as that year built near his home, to earn means to pro-
vide food until his crop grew.

The road in this part of the town was not then opened, and
all supplies had to be brought up the old State Road and across
a "portage" through the woods. The d'stance from Presque
Isle by this route was about seventeen miles, while by the road

252 ' HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

now traveled it is but about six miles. In 1862, Mr. Emerson,
who then had a clearing of ten acres on his lot, left his home and
joined the Union Army, being enrolled in the 18th Maine Regi-
ment, known as the 1st Maine Heavy Artillery. Many a brave
and sturdy recruit for the Army of the Union went from the
new settlements in the forests of Aroostook, and in many of
the log houses on these little clearings in the wilderness the
lonely wife and little family anxiously awaited the return of the
loved one who was fighting the battles of his country on South-
ern fields. Nobly, indeed, did Aroostook respond to the nation's
call to arms, and today in every town in this new county may
be found many veterans of the war.

Mr. Emerson returned from service with broken health, but
succeeded in making a fine productive farm and buildings com-
fortable and commodious. Being unable to carry on a large farm,
he has recently sold a fine tract of fifty acres, and is living
quietly upon the remainder.

In 1859 Freeman L. Ball and Reuben A. Huse came from
Hallowell and commenced the erection of a mill at the point
where the road now crosses the Presque Isle Stream in the
southwest part of the town of Mapleton. This mill became the
nucleus of what is now the pleasant and busy little village of
Ball's Mills. Messrs. Ball and Huse received from the State
a grant of a mile square of land in aid of building the saw
mill, which at first contained but an up and down saw for saw-
ing long lumber. A year or two later they put in a shingle
mill. At the time the mill was built there was no clearing any-
where in the vicinity, and no road in that portion of the town.

In 1859 also came Chas. M. Spooner, Benj. Chandler and
Benj. Gray, who took lots east of the mill and made clearings,
and Mr. Geo. L. Emerson moved his family to the new settle-
ment.

The same year Josiah McGlauflin, A. H. Thompson, B. J.
Hughes, Garner Wilcox and some others settled on lots near
the mill to the north and west.

Mr. Ball soon after sold his interest in the mill to his part-
ner, Mr. Huse, and commenced making the fine farm near the
mill upon which his son, Mr. Albert Ball, now lives. In 1886
Mr. Huse sold the mill to John P. Roberts and Franklin Ball,
who carried it on until 1870, when they sold to Hon. David
Dudley of Presque Isle. Mr. Dudley made extensive repairs
upon the mill and also built a store and entered into trade. He
also devoted himself somewhat extensively to farming upon the

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 253

land near the mill. In 1874 he sold the mill to Messrs Stewart
and Morton, the present proprietors, who made extensive ad-
ditions and put in a rotary saw and planer. The new firm had
succeeded in establishing a good business when, in the summer
of 1877, a fierce forest fire swept down the valley of the stream,
consuming in a short time the mill and all buildings connected
with it, the new starch factory just completed by Messrs. John-
son & Phair, Mr. Albert Ball's barn and outbuildings, and at
one time threatened to consume the entire village. The bridge
across the stream near the mill was also burned, and it was only
by the greatest exertion on the part of those present that the
village was saved from total destruction. The events of this
disastrous fire are still spoken of by the residents of the village
as an experience never to be forgotten by those who passed
through it. Messrs. Stewart & Morton were in no way discour-
aged by their great loss, but at once set about the work of re-
building the mill. This work they pushed with so much vigor
and energy that by fall of the same year the new mill was com-
pleted, machinery put in and in successful operation.

The destruction by fire of the starch factory resulted in
much inconvenience to the farmers of the vicinity, who had
planted large fields of potatoes with the expectation of deliver-
ing them at; this factory in the fall. The potato crop proved
good that year and, as many of the Mapleton farmers hauled
their potatoes to the Maysville factory, also owned by Messrs.
Johnson & Phair, this additional supply loaded that factory to
its utmost capacity. Sometimes as many as eighty teams, load-
ed with potatoes could be counted, waiting to unload at the
Maysville factory. Messrs. Johnson & Phair rebuilt the factory
at Mapleton in 1879 and in the summer of 1886 the main build-
ing was struck by lightning and entirely consumed, the dry
houses being saved. The factory was immediately rebuilt and
was completed in time to receive the crop of potatoes in the
fall of the same year.

The village hotel is kept by M. L. Stewart, who came to
Mapleton from New Vineyard, in Franklin County, in the year
1864, and bought a lot of 160 acres on the Presque Isle road a
short distance east of the mills. At that time there was but six
acres cleared upon the farm and the buildings consisted of a
log house and a small barn. Mr. Stewart at once set about
the work of making a farm and in a few years the forest upon
the front of his entire lot had disappeared and given place to
fertile fields. In 1878 he built a large two-story house and at

254 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

once opened it for a hotel. This house is one of the most
pleasant and homelike hotels in the county, and here the traveler
is always sure to find rest and refreshment and the kindest at-
tention from the courteous 'landlord and his pleasant family.

Col. S. C. F. Smith, the resident member of the firm of
Dudley and Smith, is the principal merchant of the village. Col.
Smith was from the town of Charlotte, in Washington County,
and made a splendid war record as Captain of Co. H. 9th Ma'ne
Regiment. Immediately after the war he came to Aroostook
and went into business in the pretty little village of Spragueville
in South Presque Isle. He afterwards removed to Fort Fa'.rfield,
and in 1878 formed a co-partnership with Hon. David Dudley
of Presque Isle for the purpose of carrying on a mercantile
business at Ball's Mills. Mr. Dudley's extreme antipathy to
tobacco was well known, and as he could not conscientiously
countenance its sale or use, he refused to extend the partner-
ship to this branch of the business, and the tobacco trade was
carried on by Col. Smith alone, Mr. Dudley refusing to rece've
any share of the profits. Mr. Dudley was long an honored citi-
zen of Presque Isle, and was a member of the Maine Senate
from this county. He died at Presque Isle in the summer of
1890.

Col. Smith has served as Colonel of the Veteran Reg'ment
of Aroostook G. A. R., and has also represented his district in
the Legislature of Maine. He has a very handsome residence
at Ball's Mills, and is one of the sterling business men of
Aroostook.

Nearly opposite Col. Smith's store is the fine building erect-
ed in 1884 by Eureka Grange. The second story of the build'ng
is used as a Grange hall, with a dining hall above. The lower
story has recently been sold to Mr. M. E. Ingraham, who has
opened a grocery and provision store. Mr. Ingraham is a young
man who was brought up upon a farm in the town and is well
known and respected by all his townsmen.

Mr. E. A. Smith came from the town of Charlotte and has
a farm of forty acres on the high land east of the village and has
a fine set of buildings. He has been collector of taxes for a
number of years. Mr. James McGlauflin also came from the
town of Charlotte in 1861 and took a farm about half a mile
from the village, which he carried on for three years. He then
moved his family to Presque Isle and went into the army. He
returned to Mapleton in 1882 and has been postmaster at Ball's
Mills ever since. He keeps a stock of light groceries and dry

1:
HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 255

goods, but like Mr. Dudley, has conscientious scruples against
selling tobacco. His store is on the west side of the stream
near the bridge.

Mr. Phineas Swan is the village bla-cksmith and has a shop
opposite the postoffice, where all kinds of work in his line are
executed to the satisfaction of his customers.

About one-fourth of a mile west of the mill we come to the
fine farm of Mr. A. S. Griffin, which lies n€xt to the town line.
Mr, Griffin also came from the town of Charlotte, which has
furnished many good cijtizens to this part of the county. He
has now nearly fifty acres cleared, and has recently built a very
handsome two-story house and is making a valuable property.
Mr. Griffin was a soldier in the 7th Maine Regiment.

A little over a mile east of the village is the farm of Mr.
Charles Higgins, a hale old gentleman of 78, who came to the
town from Calais in 1870. Eleven years ago his house took fire
in the night and the flames were well under way before the in-
mates awoke to their danger. It was only by the greatest ex-
ertion that the old man and his sons were able to save the lives
of the women of the family, but they succeeded in rescuing all
from the grasp of the flames. When the sun rose next morning
it shone upon a heap of smouldering ruins, and when it set that
night its last rays fell upon a new house ready to shelter the
family, built entirely in one day. In the morning after the fire
the trees of which the frame was made were growing in the
woods. The neighbors turned out in large numbers. The trees
were felled, the frame hewed and hauled to the building spot,
the timbers were framed and raised, the boards and shingles
hauled from the mill, the house enclosed and shingled', windows
put in, floors laid and rooms partitioned off ready for the family,
all in one day. Who will say that Aroostook is not a good
county for a poor man to live in, or that Mapleton is not one of
its good towns? Mr. Higgins's three sons, Orren J., Charles
O. and Shepard I. Higgins, all live on good farms nearby and
are making comfortable homes.

In the east part of the town is a splendid ridge of land
known as the Creasy Ridge, upon which are many fine farms.
The peculiarity of the soil in this part of the town is that the
ledge is red sandstone and is of much value for building pur-
poses. In 1860 Mr. Benj. D. Creasy came from Mt. Vernon and
settled upon this ridge. The same year came Mr. Francis Wins-
low from Westbrook, and also Eben, Robert and James M.
Grendell, and settled in the same vicinity. There was then no

256 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

clearing in that part of the town, but it is now a very fine farm-
ing section. Mr. Charles E. Creasy now lives upon the farm
commenced by his father, and has a very handsome farm with
a good stand of buildings. Mr. Winslow has also a fine farm
on the opposite side of the road. He was engaged in hop rais-
ing for a number of years and found it a profitable business for
a time.

Mr. Alexander Ross came to Mapleton in the spring of 1864
and bought a lot on the Creasy Ridge about two and one-half
miles from Presque Isle village. When he bought the lot there
were but ten acres cleared upon it and no direct road leading
to Presque Isle. He now has a good road to the village and has
one of the finest farms in this section. Mr. Ross is a good
farmer as well as a good citizen. He has served on the Board
of Trustees of the North Aroostook Agricultural Society and is
one of the "old reliables" in Grange work.

A short distance west of the mill a road runs in a northerly
direction across to the old State Road through a very fine farm-
ing section. Mr. S. H. Waldron, a veteran of the war, has a
large farm upon this road with an attractive set of farm build-
ings. There are numerous other good farms on this road and
also on the other cross roads throughout the town.

Mapleton was first organized as a plantation in 1869, and
George L. Emerson, A. H. Thompson and Shepard Packard
were chosen assessors, and Chas. M. Spooner, clerk. The town
was incorporated in March, 1880, at which time it had a popu-
lation of 705 and a valuation of $51,642. The population in
1890 was 832, and the valuation $138,338. The rate of taxation
was eleven and two-tenths mills on a dollar.

MORO

In the western part of Aroostook County and lying along
the border of Penobscot County is the township formerly known
as Rockabema, but now the plantation of Moro. This township
is No. Six, Range Five, and is directly west of Merrill Planta-
tion, north of the town of Hersey, and has for its northern bound-
ary the unsettled township No. Seven, Range Five. The old
Aroostook road, the mall route from Patten to Ashland, traverses
the town, entering it about a mile and a half from the southwest
corner and continuing in a general northeasterly dlrect'on en-
tirely across the town, crossing its north line a little more than
a mile from the northeast corner of the town.

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 257

The first settlement of the town dates away back to the
stirring times of the Aroostook War, and the first settler who
established a residence here was Mr. Isaac Lewis, who came
from the town of Clinton in 1838 and settled in the extreme
northern portion of the town. Mr. Lewis cleared up a large
farm upon which he lived for about twelve years, when he
moved to Patten and afterward to Pennsylvania. His daughter,
Mrs. Wm. S. Chase, now lives on a farm near where her father
made his first settlement.

In 1839 Mr. John Hale came from Detroit and settled near
Mr. Lewis. He was a single man and after making a consider-
able clearing moved to Sherman and afterwards to Dyer Brook,
where he died.

Joseph Baston came from Fairfield in 1840 and settled in
the northeast part of the town on the lot upon which Mr. Chas.
E. Baston now lives. He cleared up this farm and lived upon
it until his death some twenty-e'ght years ago. Mr. George
Baston came with his father to Moro and in 1850 settled on the
lot opposite his father's, where he cleared up a large farm, upon
which he now lives. The farm contains 215 acres of good land,
situated upon a handsome ridge. J. W. Baston, George N. Bas-
ton and Lewis W. Baston, all live on good farms near the old
place.

Jonas Hale, a brother to John Hale, came to Moro in 1842
and settled on what is now called the Bryant place, next to the
south line of the town, and on the east side of the Aroostook
road. Here Mr. Hale made a clearing and lived upon the lot
some twelve years, when he moved to Sherman. Mr. Horace
Darling now lives on this farm.

Mr. Henry T. Knowles came from the town of Corinna to
Moro in 1843. He first settled upon the lot in the northeast
corner of the town where Mr. Wm. S. Chase afterwards lived.
He cleared a farm and built a house upon this lot and lived
there until about 1850, when he moved to the Lewis place on
the Aroostook road. He enlarged this farm, rebuilt the barn
and made other improvements and lived upon the place nearly
thirty years, when he moved to a lot just across the line in the
unsettled township No. Seven, Range Five. Here Mr. Knowles
made a good farm upon which he lived until his death some
seven years ago. His son, Henry F. Knowles, now lives upon
the Lewis place and also has the farm adjoining in No. Seven.
He is located sixteen miles from Patten on the mail route to Ash-
land.

258 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

Mr. Calvin Bradford came from the town of Turner to Pat-
ten in 1838. In 1839 he moved to Township No. Seven, Range
Five and took a lot near the Knowles place, where he cleared
about forty acres and lived there until 1844, when he removed
to Moro and settled on the Aroostook road, something less than
a mile north of the south line of the town. Here he made a good
farm and lived upon it until h's death in 1875. His son, Ezek-
iel F. Bradford, lived with him and had the active management
of the farm for a number of years before his father's death.
He has since enlarged the farm, which is now one of the best
in this section. It contains 500 acres of excellent land, with 175
acres cleared.

Mr. El'sha Brown came from Sherman and settled in Moro
in 1845. Mr. Brown had formerly lived in the town, having been
in the employ of Mr. Isaac Lewis, the first settler. Mr. Brown
took a lot on the Aroostook road a mile and a half north of Mr.
Bradford's. Here he made a good farm and bu'it a set of
buildings. He lived upon the farm until his death some eighteen
years ago. Mr. Robert Kennedy now lives on this farm.

Mr. Dan'el Darling came from the town of Hartland in 1840
and first settled in the town of Hersey, where he lived four
years, and in 1844 moved to Moro and took a lot on the Aroos-
took road a short distance north of Calvin Bradford's. Here he
cleared a farm upon which he lived until his death in 1863. His
grandson, Lysander Darling, now lives on this farm. He has
75 acres of good land with 40 acres cleared, and has a good
set of build'ngs. Mr. Patr'ck Darling, a son of Daniel Darling,
came from Hartland in 1838 and worked upon the Aroostook
road, wh'ch was then being constructed. Mr. Ira Fish of Patten
was agent for the construction of this road in that vicin'ty. Mr.
Darling worked on the road in Bened'cta, in Mt. Chase and in
Moro, and in 1840 settled on a lot in the town of Hersey, where
he cleared some 10 acres and built a log house. He lived there
until 1845, when he moved to Moro and bought of Samuel Chase
the lot next north of Mr. Daniel Darl'ng's. There was a small
improvement upon the lot and Mr. Darling here made a good
farm upon which he has lived ever since. He is now 77 years
old arr" is one of the oldest living residents of the town. He
has 200 acres of land with 75 acres cleared, and has a comfort-
abie set of bu'ld'ngs. The farm is somewhat stony in places,
but is good, strong, productive land and raises good crops of
hay and grain.

Mr. Josiah Bates came from Palmyra in 1845 and first set-

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 259

tied in the town of Hersey, where he lived two years and in
1847 moved to Moro and settled on the lot next north of Ellsha
Brown's. Here he cleared a farm upon which he lived until his
death some twenty-two years ago. His son, Albert H. Bates,
now lives on the farm.

Mr. Chas. Chase has a good farm. He has also a clapboard
and shingle mill on the West Branch of the Mattawamxeag,
which stream the Aroostook road crosses near Mr. Chase's farm.
In this mill is one shingle machine, a clapboard machine and
planer.

After crossing the West Branch the road ascends a steep
hill, near the top of which is the farm of Mr. Benj. Brov/n. Mr.
Brown was a sold.'er in the 31st Me. Regiment and settled on this
lot in 1870, and has made a good farm.

The State road, so called, runs from Smyrna Mills in a due
east course on the town lines until it intersects the old Aroostook
road. This road runs along the south line of Moro Plantation
and is settled for the greater part of the distance across the
town. Mr. Solomon Bates was the first settler in Moro upon
the State road. Mr. Bates came from the town of Fairfield in
1851 and settled on Lot No. 82, which was one of the public
lots reserved for school purposes. The State road had then been
cut through but was not passable for carriages. It is now a
good turnpike road for its entire distance from Smyrna Mills
to the Aroostook road. Mr. Bates cleared a farm of ninety
acres of good land and lived on it ten years, when he moved
across the road into the town of Hersey, where he still res'des.

Mr. George L. Bates came from Fa'rfield in 1851 and made
a clearing on the lot adjoining Solomon Bates. He remained
some three years and removed to Hersey. Mr. Robert Sturte-
vant came from Waterville the same year and made a clearing
near where the State road crosses the West Branch. He re-
mained some six or seven years and returned to Waterville.

Mr. David. B. Bates came from Hersey to Moro in 1851 and
made a clearing on the west half of the lot adjoining Solomon
Bates. In 1864 he sold his improvements to Solomon Bates and
took the lot next north of Solomon's on which there was a good
mill privilege. In 1867 David B. Bates and Smith Oilman
built a mill on Mill Brook, which runs across the last ment'oned
lot and empti s into the West Branch a short distance below.

Mr. William Jameson came from the town of Lee in 1860
and made a clearing on the lot next west of Robert Sturtevant.
He stayed a year and then went into the army and never re-

260 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

turned to Moro.

Mr. John Doe came from Kenduskeag in 1860 and took the
lot west of Mr. Solomon Bates. Mr. Doe made a large clearing
and lived upon the farm until 1886, when he sold it to Mr. Chas.
U. Brewer, and moved to Hodgdon and afterwards to New Lim-
erick. Mr. Brewer still lives upon the farm.

Mr. Granville Gary came from Lincoln in 1868 and settled
on the lot next west of John Doe. He remained some five or
six years and sold to Mr. Cyrus Wade and returned to Lincoln.
Mr. Robert Palmer now lives on this farm.

Mr. George Cole came from Patten in 1874 and settled on
the lot next west of Robert Sturtevant. He remained four years
and sold to Mr. H. J. Palmer and moved to the West. Mr. Pal-
mer still lives upon the farm.

In going to Moro from Smyrna Mills by the State road, af-
ter passing °the Stephens settlement in Dyer Brook, the road
descends a steep hill and then runs for some distance through
a piece of woods on low land. Coming out of the woods we find
a few small clearings, with log houses and few improvements,
until we come to the West Branch of the Mattawamkeag, which
the State road crosses a short distance from the town line.

The township was surveyed and lotted in 1833, by Rufus
Gilmore and was first organized as a plantation under the name
of Rockabema, in 1850. In 1860 the name was changed to Moro.
Though not ranking among the best Aroostook townships for
agricultural purposes, yet the settled portion of the town con-
tains many good farms and comfortable homes and the social
and moral standing of the citizens is of the first order.

MACWAHOC

Leaving Reed Plantation, as we journey southward, the old
Mirtary road runs for some two miles across the southeast cor-
ner of North Yarmouth Academy Grant, an unsettled township,
and then enters Macwahoc Plantation. Like many other towns
in Aroostook County, the first opening made in the wilderness
in what is now the thriving plantation of Macwahoc was for the
purpose of manufacturing lumber.

As early as 1829 or 1830, Messrs. Thayer and Jewett built
a mill on the Macwahoc Stream, about a mile above its junc-
tion with the Molunkus. The Military road crosses the Macwa-
hoc Stream near this mill. It contained originally only an up
and down saw. After a number of years Messrs. Edward and

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 261

Ivory Lord of Charleston bought this mill. Mr, Alex. McLain
afterwards purchased it and rebuilt it in a more substantial
manner and after operating some five or six years sold to Mr.
Edwin Buck, who afterwards sold to Mr. John McCausland of
Kingman, the present proprietor.

Mr. John Babcock came from Lincoln about the time this
mill was first built and put up a log house on the east side of
the Molunkus and kept tavern there in the woods for a number
of years.

Mr. John Weston came from Lincoln in 1832 and settled at
the mill. He worked in the mill some three years and then
bought a lot of land nearby, where he cleared a farm and lived
upon it until his death some twelve years ago.

Mr. Samuel Butterfield came from Sidney soon after the
building of the mill and built a hotel on the east side of the
Molunkus Stream, near the place where the Kingman road now
joins the Military road. After a few years he sold the hotel to
Mr. Frank Butterfield, who a few years later sold it to Mr.
Richard Libby, who came from Old Town about 1838. After
keeping this hotel some five years Mr. Libby moved to the
mouth of the Aroostook road, in Molunkus, where he kept a hotel
for a number of years and then removed to Mattawamkeag and
died there.

Mr. James Libby also came from Old Town in 1838 and
settled on the lot where Mr. Frank Libby now lives. He cleared
this farm and built the buildings and lived there until his death
in 1875. Mr. Chas. Kimball came from Hiram at about the
same time and settled on a lot a short distance south of the
Macwahoc Stream. He cleared a farm and died there many
years ago. His son, F. P. Kimball, now lives upon the farm,
which is on the Kingman road a short distance south of the
corner.

A short distance after entering Macwahoc Plantation, we
ccme to the large farm and hotel so long known as the Reed
place, and also to old-timers on the road, as the Ramsdell place.
Mr, John Rollins made the first clearing on this place about
1848. He built a two-story house and a large stable and opened
a hotel. He afterwards sold to Mr. James Emerson, who in
turn sold to Col. William Ramsdell. After a few years Col.
Ramsdell sold the property to Mr. Hugh Reed, who kept the
hotel for many years. Stage passengers from Bangor to Houl-
ton, who made the trip away back in the "fifties," can well re-
member the cold ride from Mattawamkeag Point to the Reed

262 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

place before breakfast on a winter's morning, and also the
glowing fire and good warm breakfast that awaited them on
their arrival about daylight. After Mr. Reed bought the place
the house was burned. He built a new house and that also,
together with the stable, was afterwards burned. Col. Eben
Webster of Orono then bought the place and built a small house
upon it and raised hay and grain upon the farm for his lum-
bering operations. He afterwards sold to Mr. Frank Stratton,
who enlarged the house and kept a hotel until a year ago, when
he sold to Mr. S. S. White, the present proprietor.

A short distance below Mr. White's we come to the old
Martin farm. Mr. William Martin came here from the western
part of the State and commenced a cleari"^ many years ago.
He made a good farm and lived on it until his death some fif-
teen years ago. His son, John Martin, a veteran soldier, now
lives on the old homestead.

From Mr. Martin's the road runs for some two miles through
the woods to the mill, where the road crosses the Macwahoc
Stream. After crossing the bridge we come to the Donnelly
farm on the west side of the road. Mr. Alexander Donnelly
came here in the early days of the settlement and cleared this
ifarm and lived on it until some five years ago, when he moved
to Wisconsin and there died. His son, Mr. Frank Donnelly, now
has the farm.

Macwahoc Plantation lies on the line of Penobscot County
and has Reed Plantation on the east and Molunkus on the west.
The Molunkus Stream runs d.agonally across the corners of
Townships No. 1, Range 5, and No. 1, Range 4 (North Yar-
mouth) and continues on in a general southerly direction across
Macwahoc Plantation. A portion of the lov/er part of Molunkus
Lake is in Macwahoc, the outlet being by a stream less than a
mile in length, which empties into the Molunkus Stream near
where that stream makes an abrupt bend to the east. The Mac-
wahoc Stream, flowing down from North Yarmouth Grant, con-
tinues across the plantation to which it gives the name, and
empties into the Molunkus Stream a short distance below the
Military road. There are numerous other brooks and streams in
different portions of the town which give it a plentiful water
supply.

Macwahoc was organized at a plantation in 1851. The village,
near the junction of the Macwahoc Stream with the Molunkus,
is but six and a half miles distant from Kingman Station, and
is a neat and evidently growing village. A part of the town is

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 263

still unsettled, but there are some very good farms and hand-
some residences in the settled portions of the town. The popula-
tion in 1890 was 216 and the valuation was $36,193.

CRYSTAL

Crystal Plantation, formerly township No. 4, Range 5, lies
next to the Penobscot County line bordering on Patten. Fish
Stream, a tributary of the west branch of the Mattawamkeag,
runs through the middle of the town and empties into the west
branch a short distance west of the village of Island Falls.

Mr. Wm. Young was the first settler who brought a family
to the township. He came from Searsmont in 1839 and settled
on a State lot a mile and a half east of the Patten l.ne. The
whole country east of Patten was at that time an unbroken wil-
derness. Mr. Young cleared up a large farm and built a good
stand of buildings and lived upon the farm until 1851, when he
sold to Mr. S. P. Bradford and moved to a farm which was taken
about 1837 by Mr. John Hammond of Patten. Some ten years
ago Mr. Young removed to the West, where he afterwards died.
Mr. William C, Hackett now lives upon this farm.

In 1839 Mr. Isaac Webber came from the town of China and
settled on the lot next west of Mr. Young, where he made a
farm upon which he lived until his death, some two years ago.
Mr. Albert Corliss now lives on this farm.

The same year Mr. John Bell came from Belfast and set-
tled on the lot east of Mr. Young's, where he lived until his
death some six or eight years ago. His widow still lives upon
the farm.

Mr. George W. Hackett came from Vermont the same year
and took a lot on the south side of Crystal Stream, which flows
down from a lake in Hersey Plantat'on, next township north of
Crystal, and empties into Fish Stream a short distance east of
the center of the town of Crystal. Mr. Hackett cleared up a
large farm and lived on it until his death some ten years ago.
His son, George Hackett, now lives on this farm.

The same year Mr. James Cunningham came from Sears-
mont and settled on the lot east of Mr. Bell's. He cleared up
a fine farm here and built a good set of buildings and lived on
the farm until two years ago, when he moved to Patten. Mr.
Robert McKeen now lives on this farm.

In 1841 Mr. Hiram Hersey came from Foxcroit and took
a lot west of Mr. Young's, where he lived for many years and

264 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

then moved to a farm in the west part of the town, on what is
no called the Cow Team road. Mr. Hersey afterwards moved
to Patten and has for a number of years been engaged in the
lumbering business.

Mr. William Ward came from Franklin County about 1841
and settled on a lot a half mile east of the Patten line on what
is called Fobes' hill. Mr. Ward lived on this farm until his
death a number of years ago. Mr. Brad. Kenney now lives on
the farm.

Mr. Bela Chesley came from Lincoln in 1841 and settled on
the lot next west of Hiram Hersey's, where he lived some ten
years or more and then removed to the West, where he after-
wards died. The same year Mr. Jonas Drury settled on what
is now the lower road from Island Falls to Patten on the east
side of Crystal Stream. He made a farm here and lived on it
a number of years and then moved to Ohio.

Mr. John Conant came from Franklin County the same year
and settled on the lot north of Mr. George W. Hackett. He
lived on this farm until about the time of the war, when he
removed to Bangor, He was an officer in the army during the
war and afterwards settled in South Carolina. Mr. Eugene
Thorn now lives on this farm.

Mr. S. P. Bradbury came from the town of Windsor in 1841.
He was then a young inan with,\^''o family and worked for a
number of years in the^ woods ancj on the river. In 1851 he
bought the William Young farm and lived upon it until 1867,
when he moved to a farm on the lower road and in 1885 bought
the farm near the junction of the roads which he has recently
sold to Mr. William Hackett. Mr. Bradford is a prominent
citizen of the town and was a soldier in the 1st Maine Cavalry.

In 1842 Mr. Jedediah Fairfield of China bu'lt a mill on
Crj tal Stream near Mr. George W. Hackett's. This mill had
an and down saw run by water and furnished lumber for the
set\.-is in Crystal and Island Falls. Mr. Joseph Kimball after-
waids bought the mill and ran it for a number of years, when
it was abandoned and went to decay. Five years ago Mr.
Roscoe Noyes built a mill on the same stream a short distance
above the site of the old mill.

The stage road from Island Falls to Patten runs through
the northern part of Crystal and crosses Fish Stream a short
distance from the east line of the town. The old road ran
directly west on the lot lines over the high ground in the north
part of the town. About six miles from the town line a road

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 265

now branches off to the south for about a mile and then runs in
a westerly course across the town to Patten village. Near the
turn of the road on a fine elevation is the Free Baptist meeting
house.

In 1843 Mr. David Coffin came from Waterville and bought
a block of one thousand acres of land in the western part of
Crystal next to the Patten line. He cleared up a large farm and
lived on it until his death in 1875. Mr. Whitmas Coffin now lives
on this farm.

Crystal was organized as a plantation in 1840 and is one
of the best townships in Western Aroostook. The population
in 1890 was 297 and the valuation $73,739.

REED

As we journey down the old Military road, every mile of
which brings back recollections of "ye olden time" when this
was the grand thoroughfare of northeastern Maine, after passing
through Glenwood we come to Reed Plantation, the northwest
corner of which is crossed by this road. A short distance below
the north line of the township we come to Happy Corner, where
the Baskahegan road intersects the old Military road.

The old hotel here is now owned by Mr. George W. Win-
ship, who came here from Amity some twenty years ago. Con-
nected v/ith the hotel is a farm of eighty acres of tolerably good
land, with some forty acres cleared. The buildings are now
considerably out of repair and, like nearly all the old landmarks
along this road, show unmistakable signs of neglect, caused by
the withdrawal of travel and traffic from the road.

Below Happy Corner the road runs through the woods for
nearly three miles, when we come to the Clifford Settlement, on
a very handsome ridge of fertile land, where the first '~ ening
was made in the township.

The first settler v/ho brought a family to the town ana made
a clearing in the wilderness for the purpose of farming was
Capt. John S. Clifford, who came from Dover in 1832 and set-
tled on the lot on which his son, Mr. Jonas Clifford, now lives.
He was captain of a militia company in Dover and was a man
of stalwart build, standing six feet, four inches in his stockings.
Capt. Clifford cleared a large farm, upon which he lived until
his death some thirty years ago. He built a good set of build-
ings and kept a public house for many years and was a man
well and favorably known throughout this section.

^66 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

Mr. Levi Prouty came from Dover soon after Capt. Clifford
and settled on the lot now owned and occupied by Miss Judith
Plummer, a mile north of the Clifford place. Mr. Prouty and
Capt. Clifford both married daughters of Mr. Seth Spaulding
before moving from Dover. Mr. Prouty made a clearing on his
lot and built buildings and lived there until his death in 1837.
He was a carpenter and millwright by trade and was a man of
some education and a great lover of books. After his death his
widow and sons carried on the farm for a number of years and
kept public house, as in fact did nearly all the settlers along
this portion of the road at that time.

A short time before Capt. Clifford made his settlement on
the town Mr. Gorham Rollins came from Belgrade and built a
log house and stable for the purpose of putting up teamsters
and travellers upon the road, as the transportation of supplies
for the garrison at Houlton had already caused considerable
business on this road. Large lumber operations also were car-
ried on in this vicinity, bringing in many men and teams and
making lively business for these primitive houses of entertain-
ment. Soon after coming to the town Gorham Rollins married
a daughter of Mr. Seth Spaulding, and after his death in 1835
his brother, John Rollins, married the widow and continued to
live upon the place until his death in 1850. His son, Mr. Green-
wood Rollins, now has the farm. Mr. Elijah Norton came from
Belgrade with Gorham Rollins, but did not make any settlement
in the town, and after remaining a short time, returned to Bel-
grade.

Mr. Seth Spaulding came from Dover in 1833 and made
the first chopping on the farm at Happy Corner. He did not
settle on the lot, however, but went to a lot a few miles farther
north in the adjoining township of Glenwood, where he made
his settlement and was the pioneer of that town.

Mr. Abram Niles came from Vermont about 1840 and took
the lot at Happy Corner. He built a house of hewn timber,
neatly dovetailed at the corners, and a framed barn. Mr. Niles
cleared a farm here and kept a hotel for some fifteen years and
then removed to Houlton, where he died about twelve years ago.

Mr. Jeremiah Thompson came from Bancroft in 1847 and
married the widow of Mr. Levi Prouty. He lived upon the farm
until his death in 1857.

Mr. Jonathan L. Plummer was one of the early settlers of
Glenwood and had moved from that town to Levant, where he
resided until he settled in Reed Plantation, He continued to

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 267

reside upon this farm until his death in 1872. His daughter,
Miss Judith Plummer, now owns the farm and resides upon it.
Miss Plummer was for four years an army nurse under Miss
Dorothy L. Dix, and was with the army of the Potomac in the
field and hospital. She was at the battle of Gettysburg and re-
lates many interesting reminiscences of that great battle. At
the close of the war she was appointed to a clerkship in the
treasury department, in which capacity she served until 1882,
when she was obliged to resign her position on account of an
affection of the eyes which very much injured her sight. Miss
Plummer is a lady of much culture and relates in a most inter-
esting manner her eventful army experiences.

Mr. Benj. Condon came from Penobscot County about 1860
and bought the farm at Happy Corner. He built a two-story
house and a large stable and kept a hotel for five years or
more, when his brother, Sumner Condon, took the hotel and kept
it some five years. The property has since gone through a num-
ber of hands and is now owned by Mr. George W. Winship.

From Happy Corner the Baskahegan road runs in a south-
westerly direction across the northeast corner of Reed, and,
crossing the Mattawamkeag River in Bancroft, continues on
until it intersects the Calais road in the southern part of the
town of Weston. This road runs through the forest for the en-
tire distance across Reed Plantation. Below Happy Corner we
ride through the woods for nearly three miles and come out to
the farm of Miss Plummer, situated on the west side of the road
and containing 137 acres of good land, with something over 25
acres cleared and a comfortable set of buildings. A short dis-
tance below on the opposite side of the road is the farm of Mr.
Peryel W. Clifford, a grandson of Capt. John S. Clifford. Near
here is the Clifford family cemetery, neatly enclosed and well
kept. Next below on the west side of the road is the farm of
Mr. Seth S. Clifford, a son of the first settler. These farms are
all situated on a handsome swell of dry land and produce well.
Mr. Clifford has in former years engaged in the lumber busi-
ness to some extent, as indeed have nearly all the settlers in this
vicinity. A short distance below, on the east side of the road,
is the old Capt. Clifford homestead, now owned and occupied by
Mr. Jonas S. Clifford, the oldest living son. This is the best
farm in the settlement and contains 250 acres, with something
over 60 acres cleared, a large house in good repair and large
and well kept barns and outbuildings. Adjoining Mr. Seth Clif-
ford on the south is the farm of Mr. Greenwood Rollins, con-

268 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

taining eighty acres, with forty acres cleared. From Mr. Rol-
lins's to the town line, a distance of about a mile, the land is
unsettled.

The line of the E. & N. A. Railway (now the Maine Cen-
tral) runs across the southeast corner of Reed Plantation and at
Wytopitlock Station quite a little settlement has been built up.
Mr. William Staples and Mr. Bruce Springer have stores here
and Mr. Horace Rand has built a large new store. The hotel is
kept by Mr. Gorham Rollins. There are three blacksmith shops,
a schoolhouse and postoffice. Mr. Wm. Staples is the present
postmaster.

In 1889 the north part of Drew Plantation in Penobscot
County was annexed to Reed Plantation and a bridge is now be-
ing built across the Mattawamkeag River a short distance from
the station.

The Wytopitlock Stream runs for some distance quite near
to the west line of the township, then turns to the southeast and
empties into the Mattawamkeag a short distance south of the
old county line.

With the exception of the settlers on the military road and
on the line of* the Maine Central R. R., the town is wholly cov-
ered with forest and is owned by non-resident proprietors. When
Capt. Clifford first settled upon the town it was owned by Messrs.
Pickering and Morrill, but was afterwards sold to Mr. Harvey
Reed of Bangor, from whom the plantation took its name.

In 1890 Reed Plantation had a population of 203 and its
valuation was $45,451.

CARY

Directly south of the town of Hodgdon and lying along the
New Brunswick line, is the plantation of Cary, formerly known
as No. 11, Range One. The mail route from Houlton to Calais
runs through Cary and it is settled for nearly the entire distance
along this road. The plantation of Cary comprises but a half
township, being six miles east and west and three miles from
north to south. It is bounded on the north by Hodgdon, east by
New Brunswick, south by Amity and west by Letter A Town-
ship.

It is generally conceded that the first man who made a
chopping upon the town was John Allen, who as early as 1824
commenced a clearing on what is now known as Skidgell Ridge,
in the north part of the town, about a mile and a half east of

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 269

I

the Calais road. Allen was an old English soldier and fought
under Wellington at Waterloo. He did not make any perman-
ent home upon the lot and a year or two after coming to the
town was taken sick and went to live with Mr. David Moore, at
whose house he died in 1833. Probably the first man who made
a permanent settlement on the town was Mr. George Robinson,
who came to No. 11 in 1825 and settled on what was afterwards
better known as the Putnam lot, though it is still referred to by
old settlers as the Robinson lot. Mr. Robinson cleared a large
farm here and lived on it until about 1842, when he sold to
Joshua and J. Varnum Putnam of Houlton, and after living in
Amity for a short time, moved to Smyrna.

Mr. Robert McFarland came the same year (1825) and set-
tled on the lot now owned by James Oliver on the horseback,
west of the Meduxnekeag Stream. Mr. McFarland commenced
a clearing on this lot, but soon afterwards sold his improvement
to Edward Dority, and never afterwards had any settlement in
the town. He remained a few years, living with Mr. Hugh
Smith, and then removed to the Bay of Chaleur.

Mr. David Moore came from Hodgdon to No. 11 in 1825.
He had lived for two years on the farm now owned by Mr. Chas.
Nickersbn in Hodgdon, next to the No. 11 line. Mr. Moore first
settled on the lot afterwards owned by Mr. James Duffy in the
north part of the town, where he lived two years. Mr. Hugh
Sharp made a chopping on a lot in the south part of the town,
and in 1827 Mr. Moore exchanged lots with him and moved to
the farm on which he lived so many years. Mr. Sharp lived but
a short time on the Duffy place. Mr. Moore cleared the farm in
the south part of the town and built a comfortable set of build-
ings, and was a well-known citizen for many years. He died at
his home in 1871. His son, David Moore, lives upon the old
homestead, and James Moore, another son, lives upon the farm
opposite.

Mr. Hugh Smith emigrated from Ireland to Fredericton,
N. B., and in 1826 moved to No. 11 and settled on the lot where
Will'am Smith now lives. Here he cleared up a farm and built
a log house and a frame barn. He lived upon the farm until
1845, when he moved to Amity, where he died in 1859. Mr.
B. F. Nickerson of Linneus then came into possession of the
farm, and in 1850 Mr. William Smith, a son of Hugh Smith,
bought the old homestead and has lived upon it ever since.

Mr. John Reed also emigrated from Ireland to New Bruns-
wick, and in 1827 came to No. 11 and settled in the south part

270 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

of the town on the lot adjoining Mr. David Moore's. The town
was not at that time lotted and the first settlers were merely
squatters upon the land. The half township was lotted in 1831
by John Webber and was then opened by the State for settle-
ment. Mr. Reed cleared the farm upon which he first settled,
and continued to live on it until his death in 1861. The farm
was then divided between his two sons, William and Alexander,
who st'ill reside upon it.

Mr. Hipps Dow moved from New Brunswick in 1827, and
settled on the lot next west of Mr. Hugh Smith. Here he made
a farm upon which he lived for some 20 years, and then moved
to Bancroft. Mr. Samuel Seamans- now lives on this farm.

Mr. James Dow also came from New Brunswick in 1827
and first settled on the lot where Mr. Truman Williams now
lives. He was a blacksmith by trade, and afterwards lived in a
number of places in the town and finally returned to New
Brunswick.

Mr. James McClinchy came from New Brunswick in 1827
and settled in the east part of the town on what is now the
Fanjoy lot, where he made a clearing and lived there until his
death many years ago.

Mr. Jonathan Tracy came from New Brunswick in 1828 and
settled on the lot next west of Mr. George Robinson. He cleared
a farm and lived on it nearly twenty years and then returned
to New Brunswick. His farm is now a part of the Putnam farm.

Mr. Edward Dority came from Ireland and settled in No.
11 in 1827, on the lot afterward owned by James Duffy. He
made a large clearing and lived on the farm until his death in
1845.

Mr. Daniel Neal, the first settler in the town of Linneus,
was also an early settler in No. 11. Mr. Neal settled in Linneus
in 1828 and a few years later moved to No. 11 and settled on
the lot where Owen Scott now lives. He built a house of hewn
pine timber, nicely dovetailed together at the corners, and lived
in it some ten years and then moved to Jackson Brook.

The above named are all the early settlers of the town of
whom we have any reliable account, and if there were any others
they were but transient men who never made any permanent
settlement upon the township. No other settlers came to the
town for a number of years and the hardy pioneers mentioned
above were in the midst of the forest and obliged to depend
largely upon their own resources for subsistence. There were
no roads for years after these first settlers commenced to make

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 271

I
their farms in the wilderness and their families were subject to
all the hardships and privations that fall to the lot of the pio-
neers of a new country. The first road opened through the town
was a somewhat circuitous route, running from Westford hill in
Hodgdon some distance to the eastward of the present County
road. The road from Houlton to Calais was opened in 1836 and
was built through No. 11 by Mr. Jonah Dunn.

In 1842 Mr. Joshua Putnam of Houlton moved to No. 11,
and in company with his brother, J. Varnum Putnam, bought the
Robinson farm. They afterward bought the Jonathan Tracy
farm, adjoining on the west, and here Mr. Joshua Putnam made
a large farm upon which he lived for some twenty years and
then returned to Houlton. The farm was then divided between
his sons, Varney and Otis. Mr. Otis Putnam had the north half
of the farm and lived upon it until his death in 1873. He served
about two years in the army and returned with broken health..
He was a good citizen and was much respected by all who knew
him. Mr. Joshua Pollard now owns this farm.

Mr. Varney Putnam was also one of the substantial citizens
of the town. He had the south half of the homestead farm and.
lived upon it until his death some twelve years ago. His widow
still lives upon the farm with her son, Mr. B. H. Putnam.

Mr. Truman Williams moved from Hodgdon to No. 11 in
1842 and settled on the lot where he now lives. Mr. Hugh Smith
had made a small clearing on the lot, but it was for the most
part covered with forest growth. Mr. Williams cleared the farm
and has lived upon it ever since. He is now advanced in years
and his son, Moses Williams, has the active management of the
farm.

Mr. Ebenezer Williams moved from Hodgdon in 1849 and
took the lot east of his son Truman's. He cleared this farm and
lived on it until his death in 1868. His sons, James and Cyrus
Williams, now live on the old homestead.

Mr. James Merrill settled in No. 11 about 1842. He was
a cooper by trade, and had a small clearing on the Calais road
a short distance south of the Hodgdon line. He lived there un-
til 1872, when he returned to the western part of the State. His
son, Putnam Merrill, was a soldier in the old Sixth Maine Bat-
tery, and nobly did his duty. His service in the army shattered
his health and he did not live long after his return. He was a.
brave and faithful soldier and an honest man.

Mr. Jacob Russell came from the Bay of Chaleur and in
1845 settled on the lot upon which Daniel Neal made his clear-

272 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

ing and lived in the timber house built by Mr. Neal for some ten
years. He then moved to the lot on the Calais road on which
Mr. Matthew Cassidy now lives. Mr. Russell lived on this farm
until 1866, when he sold it to his son, Asa Russell. Jacob Rus-
sell died in 1872 and Asa lived on the farm until 1874, when he
moved to Danforth.

Mr. James Duffy came from Ireland and settled in No. 11
in 1846, on the Edward Dority farm. When Mr. Duffy took the
farm there was a clearing of some twenty-five acres and a small
house. Mr. Duffy built a good set of buildings and lived upon
the farm until 1888, when he sold to Mr. George Alexander and
moved to Houlton. Mr. Duffy was one of the prosperous farm-
ers of No. 11 and was a good citizen of the town.

Most of the settlers mentioned above established their
homes near the line of the Calais road and now have comfort-
able residences along this road.

In coming to the town from Hodgdon the road runs for a
short distance through a tract of low land in the north part of
the town. This section is still unsettled and is hardly suitable
for farming purposes. About a half mile from the north line
of the town we come to the store and mill of Messrs. Norton &
Bradbury. Mansur Bros, of Houlton built the mill on the
Meduxnekeag Stream, a short distance west of the Calais road,
in 1884. This mill contained one shingle machine, a rotary for
sawipg long lumber, and machinery for the manufacture of po-
tato starch, Messrs. Norton & Bradbury of Houlton bought the
property in 1890. Ransom Norton, Esq., the senior member of
the firm, came from Livermore to Houlton in 1864 and was em-
ployed as principal in the Houlton Academy for two years. He
was admitted to the bar in 1866 and was clerk of courts for
Aroostook County from 1868 to 1880 and from 1883 to 1887,
making sixteen years of service in this capacity. Mr. Norton
now resides in Cary and gives his personal attention to the busi-
ness. Mrs. Ransom Norton is the present postmistress of Cary.
Mr. Henry C. Bradbury is the youngest son of Mr. True Brad-
bury, one of the earliest settlers of the town of New Limerick.
Mr. Bradbury has been in mercantile business in Houlton for
many years and held the office of county treasurer for a number
of years.

In the western part of the town is some very good land, but
the settlement was not made here until some time after that upon
the Calais road. Near the meeting house a road turns to the
west and after continuing in that direction for about a mile and

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 273

a half, branches and one road runs southward into Amity, while
the other continues to the west and northwest into Letter A. and
Linneus. A short distance from the Calais road Mr. Hiram Tra-
cy has a very good little farm of forty acres. Mr. Tracy came
from Amity eight years ago and bought this farm. He devotes
himself to teaching during the winter seasons and is a member
of the S. S. Com. of this tov/n.

A short distance beyond is the farm of Mr. Thomas Haney.
Mr. Haney lived with Mr. David Moore during his boyhood and
in 1859 bought the farm in the east part of the town on which
Mr. Alex Hnaey now lives. In 1863 he joined the 16th Maine
Regiment and served through the war. At the close of his ser-
vice he bought the farm on which he now lives. Mr. Haney is
a carpenter and millv/right and works at his trade much of the
time. He is the present commander of Frank Hunter Post and
is L'eutenant Colonel of the Regiment of Northern Maine
G. A. R.

Further in on this road is what is known as the Wilcox set-
tlement, as a large number of settlers of that name live on good
farms in that section of the town. Mr. Benj. Wilcox, the father
of the large family who settled here, came from Trescott, in
Washington County, in 1848 and settled on a lot in the west part
of the town. He cleared up a good farm and lived upon it until
his death twelve years ago.

Reuben Wilcox came to Cary in 1849 and took a lot next
north of his father's. He cleared up the farm and has lived on
it ever since. He has a good set of buildings and is a prosperous
farmer and a good citizen.

Vv'illiam Wilcox settled south of his father and cleared a
farm which he sold four years ago to Lewis Libby, and moved to
the east part of the town.

John Wilcox has a farm of 160 acres, with 50 acres cleared.
This is a very good farm, with a good barn and comfortable
house. James Wilcox has 160 acres, with 60 acres cleared.
Dugald Wicox bought the William Seamans farm in 1854. The
farm contains 75 acres and when Mr. Wilcox bought it there was
but a small clearing. He now has 50 acres cleared and a good
set of buildings.

Mr. William Seamans came from Lubec in 1844 and first
settled on the lot on which Mr. John Wilcox now lives. He
stayed there one year and then moved to the lot upon which Mr.
Dugald Wilcox now lives, where he remained twelve years and
then sold to Mr. Wilcox and returned to Lubec. The next year

274 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

he came back to Gary and bought a lot west of Mr. Truman Wil-
liams, where he lived until his death in 1863.

Joshua J. Seamans had the farm next west of his father's.
He was a soldier in the Sixth Maine Battery and no braver man
ever marched forth to fight for the old flag. Sergeant Seamans
served through the war and returned with broken health and
died in 1868. Mr. Nelson WilLams now has th.s farm.

Mr. George Herrick came from Charleston in 1858 and took
the lot next west of William Seamans. In 1864 he sold to Joshua
J. Seamans and moved to Easton.

Mr. Moses P. Libby came from Charleston In 1858 and took
half the Herrick lot, near the Am.ty line. He lived upon it un-
til his death in 1868 and his Widow st.U resides there with her
sons, Daniel and Lewis Libby.

Mr. James Haney came from Houlton in 1860 and settled
on the lot where James Grover now lives. He cleared a farm
and lived upon it until his death in 1884.

Mr. Lewis Brown of Houlton built a shingle mill on Davis
Stream, near the Wilcox road, some twenty years ago. The mill
run some eight years and was burned and has not been rebuilt.
The dam still remains by the mill site.

Mr. David Edwards has a good farm next to Reuben Wil-
cox. He has 176 acres, with 70 acres cleared and a good set of
buildings.

In the south part of the town a road turns to the east from
the Calais road and runs to the boundary line. Mr. Philip Cas-
s'dy came from Woodstock in 1847 and settled on this road. He
cleared a farm and lived on it until his death in 1860. Mr. Mat-
thew Cassidy and sens now own th's farm. Mr. James Cassidy
came from Bay Chaleur in 1850 and settled on this road. He
made a farm here and built a set of buildings and lived here
until his death some fifteen years ago. His son, David, now car-
ries on the farm.

Near Mr. William Smith's a road turns east from the Calais
road and after running in that direction for nearly two miles,
turns to the north and afterwards to the northwest until it strikes
the line between Cary and Hodgdon, where it turns to the west
and runs out on the town line until it intersects the Calais road.
This road is settled for nearly the entire distance and, though
running for much of the way through a hard farming section, yet
on portions of the road there are some very good farms. Mr.
Alexander Haney has a very good farm on this road, a short
distance east of the Calais road. Mr. Haney settled on this farm

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 275

in 1868. He has 220 acres of land with 80 acres cleared. The
Horseback runs through this farm.

Mr. Owen Scott and Isaac Sutter also have farms near Mr.
Haney. Mr. John Wilcox lives on what was formerly the Peter
Merchie farm, where the road turns to the north and runs by the
farm of Mr. Charles Clifford and the Pollard farm and then turns
to the northwest, in which direction it runs to the north I'ne of
the town. On this port'.on of the road are some very good farms.
Among these are the farms of Mr. John Spooner, Mr. David
Skidgell, and the Fanjoy farms. This portion of the town is
known as the Skidgell Ridge.

Mr. William Sk'dgell came from Hodgdon in 1863 and set-
tled on this ridge, where he cleared a farm and lived on it until
h's death some five years ago. His son, David Skidgell, now has
the farm, which is one of the best in this portion of the town.

The half townsh'p will not rank as a first class town for ag-
ricultural purposes, as much o£ the land is quite stony and dif-
ficult to bring under cultivation. The soil in many port'ons of
the town is strong and productive and the sturdy settlers by d'nt
of much hard labor have made for themselves comfortable
homes and seem to be prospering.

The plantation v/as organized as No. 11, Range I in 1859,
and in 1883 the name was changed to Cary, in honor of Hon.
Shepard Cary, who formerly owned land in the township. There
are five schools in the town, most of whxh are suppl'ed w'th
good, comfortable houses. The churches are well supported
and the social and moral tone of the town is good. The popula-
tion of Cary in 1890 was 390 and the valuation $37,578.

LETTER B.

There are in Aroostook County a number of townsh'ps upon
which partial settlements have been made, but which are as yet
but little developed and being somewhat off the main traveled
thoroughfares are not much known away from their immed'ate
v'cin'ty. Many of these townships contain large areas of excel-
lent land for agricultural purposes and are capable of supporting
a large population and afford possibilities for as fine farms as
can be found in any of the more thickly settled port'ons of the
county. The fact that these townships have passed from the
possession of the State and are now owned by proprietors who
purchased them chiefly for the timber, works against their de-
velopment as agricultural towns. The right of these proprietors

276 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

to the ownership and control of these lands cannot of course be
questioned. The State consented to sell and these gentlemen
paid their money for the lands and have an undoubted legal right
to hold them for lumbering purposes, or to dispose of them as
they see fit, and in these rights they should certainly be pro-
tected. Still the fact remains that ownership of these townships
by non-resident proprietors who derive a generous income from
the sale of stumpage renders their settlement practically impos-
sible and thus hinders in a large measure the development of the
County and its increase in population and production.

Among the townships capable of making good agricultural
towns is Letter B, Range 2. This township lies directly east of
Littleton, north of Ludlow and corners upon the town of Houlton.
Leaving the stage road from Houlton to Presque Isle about a
mile north of Houlton village, a road turns to the left and runs
diagonally across the northwest quarter of the town of Houlton.
This road not being a part of any stage route is not generally
travelled except by the residents of that portion of the town and
the settlers upon "Letter B," through which settlement the road
continues. It is, however, an excellent turnpike road and runs
through one of the most fertile agricultural portions of the town
of Houlton. All along the road are handsome and productive
farms with neat, well painted buildings and surroundings indi-
cating thrift and prosperity. The natural scenery is very beau-
tiful and this road affords a very fine pleasure drive upon a
pleasant summer day.

Crossing a branch of the Meduxnekeag something over a
mile after leaving the Presque Isle road, we continue on in a
northwesterly direction through what is known as the Niles set-
tlement, where there are some fine farms and very handsome
residences. The road here runs very near the stream and a
branch road crosses the stream and continues due north through
Houlton to the Littleton ridge.

Passing the Niles settlement we ride by other handsome
farms and leaving the town of Houlton through its extreme north-
west corner, come to the township of "Letter B." The road en-
ters this township at its southeast corner and running diagonally
across two lots, then runs due west on the lot lines for something
over two miles, when, like Emerson's highway, it ends in a squir-
rel track and goes up a tree.

Only a small tract in the southeastern portion of the town-
ship is settled, but this settlement contains some very good
farms. The township is owned by Madigan & Donworth, and

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 277

much lumber has been cut upon it in years past.

As we enter the settlement of Letter B, we first come to the
farm and residence of Mrs. Pilsbury, on the left of the road.
This is a very good farm with a handsome residence. Mrs.
Pilsbury is a daughter of Col. Joshua C. Carpenter and formerly
resided in Texas, her husband, now deceased, having been a
member of Congress from that State. Miss Harriet Carpenter,
a sister of Mrs. Pilsbury, resides with her. Col. Joshua C. Car-
penter moved to Letter B. in 1862 and bought this lot for Mrs.
Pilsbury and made his home here until his death in 1866. He
was killed by a falling tree. A party of men were engaged in
cutting a "drive," as it is called by choppers. The trees on quite
an extent of ground are cut nearly off and then a large tree on
the outer edge of the "drive" is chopped off and sent crashing
upon the others, causing the whole piece to fall like bricks in a
row. A large drive had been cut and tv;o men were falling a
large birch which was to carry with it in its fall all the partially
chopped trees. Col. Carpenter stood at what was thought a
safe distance, holding his watch to time the choppers. When
the tree fell, a huge limb was hurled upon the Colonel, killing
him instantly. Col. Carpenter was a man well known in many
portions of Maine, having been formerly a prominent man in the
Democratic party. He formerly resided in Penobscot County
and v/as at one time Sheriff of the County. He was a man of
much force and vigor, always with the roughest side out, but
possessed of a kind heart. In politics he was a sturdy fighter,
always wanting "a free field and a fair fight." His son, Major
Stephen Decatur Carpenter, of the regular army, was a gentle-
man of culture and a splendid soldier. He fell while gallantly
fighting at the battle of Murfreesboro and v/as much lamented by
his comrades and many friends.

A short distance beyond Mrs. Pilsbury's the road turns
squarely to the west near the residence of Mr. Luther Snell. Mr.
Snell moved to Letter B in 1866 and settled upon this lot, upon
which a very small clearing had been made. He now has fifty
acres of good land which produces fine crops and has a good,
comfortable set of farm buildings. Mr. Snell is a son of Mr.
Luther Snell, v/ho was for so many 3'-ears the genial and kindly
landlord of the old Snell House in Houlton. Mr. Snell, Sr.,
died in Houlton three years ago. He gave up active business
some years before his death and spent the last years of his life
quietly among the many friends with whom he had so long been
associated.

278 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

On the opposite side of the road from Mr. Snell is the pleas-
ant residence of Mr. Davidson, a printer by trade, who formerly
worked in the office of the Aroostook Pioneer. He has now re-
tired to the quiet shades of this farm in Letter B. and his neigh-
bors have shown their appreciation of his worth by making him
school supervisor. The schoolhouse is situated near his residence
and a good school is here maintained.

Next west of Mr. Snell's on the south of the road is the farm
of Mr. George W. Carpenter, a grandson of the Colonel. His
father, Mr. B. F. Carpenter, was the first man to make a clearing
in the wilderness of Letter B. He came in 1858 and bought two
lots and commenced clearing land. He built a log house and
moved to his home in the forest in 1860. Here he continued to
reside and to extend his clearing until his death, which occurred
in January, 1879. His son now has the east half of the home-
stead farm. Mr. Carpenter has about thirty acres of cleared land
and raises good crops. The soil is rich and strong, not very
stony and produces well. The residence is the comfortable
frame house built by his father after the era of the log buildings
was passed. His brother, Mr. William N. Carpenter, has the
west half of the homestead farm. He has thirty six acres cleared
and under cultivation, and has a comfortable home.

Opposite the homestead farm on the north side of the road
is the farm of Mr. Thomas J. Carpenter, another son of Mr.
B. F. Carpenter. He has 100 acres of good land, with fifty acres
cleared and a good set of farm buildings.

Next beyond Mr. Carpenter on the north of the road is Mr.
Charles Stevens, who came to the town some fourteen years ago
and made a small clearing and built a comfortable house. Mr.
Stevens is a house carpenter and does not do much farming. Mr.
Frank A. Hammond lives next west on a good farm with good
buildings. He is a man who has faith in farming and will no
doubt make a success of it.

Opposite Mr. Hammond's, on the south of the road, is the
farm of Mr. Michael Rugan, who commenced here something
more than twenty years ago and now has a good farm with forty
acres of cleared land. His next neighbor on the west is Mr.
George N. Crawford, who bought a wild lot here in 1863 and
has made a good farm.. He is an industrious man and has made
a comfortable home. Opposite Mr. Crawford's is the Jameson
farm, which is a very good farm, and passing this we come to
the last farm upon the road. Mr. Andrew Gardner came from
New Brunswick twelve years ago and bought this lot, upon which

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 279

Mr. William Batchelor had made a small clearing. Mr. Gardner
now has one of the best farms in the town and has a new and
handsome house. The road terminates at Mr. Gardner's and his
fields are bordered on the west by the forest. There are a few
farms in the extreme southwestern portion of the township ad-
joining the Ludlow line.

The Township of Letter B. is abundantly watered by
streams and brooks. A branch of Meduxnekeag runs in an east-
erly course entirely across the southern portion of the township
and many brooks flow from the northern portions of the town
into this stream. Mr. James G. McConnell has a mill on the
Meduxnekeag, half a mile from the Littleton line. This mill
was built many years ago by Josiah Gellerson and contains a
rotary, lath machine, shingle machine and clapboard machine.
The mill is run by water and formerly manufactured lumber for
shipment, but has not been run to any extent for the past few
years. Mr. Nelson Mitchell some years ago built a mill a mile
above on the same stream. His son, Edward Mitchell, now runs
the mill.

Letter B. is a good settling town. It contains much good
timber land interspersed with fine hard wood ridges. The town-
ship was at one time organized as Hammond Plantation, but is
now unorganized.

MERRILL

Township No. 6, Range 4 was in 1876 organized as Merrill
Plantation, taking its name from Capt. William Merrill of Port-
land, who bought the southeast quarter of the township about
the year 1840. This township lies directly west of the town of
Smyrna, north of Dyer Brook Plantation, and has Moro Planta-
tion on its western boundary. The State road, so called, now
runs on the line between Merrill and Dyer Brook the entire length
of these towns.

Captain Merrill made his first clearing on the hill west of
the East Branch of the Mattawamkeag, a short distance from
the Smyrna line. His son, Edward T. Merrill, moved to the town
in 1844 and settled on this lot. The Merrills made a large farm
here and built a good set of buildings. William G. Merrill an-
other son of Capt. Merrill, had the next lot to the west. The
Merrills lived in the town some ten years, when Capt. Merrill
sold his interest to S. H. Blake, Esq., of Bangor, and his sons
returned to Portland. Mr. William Anderson now lives upon the

280 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

farm formerly occupied by Edward T. Merrill. The stage road
from Houlton to Patten crosses the corner of the town and Mr.
Anderson's buildings are on this road, the State road also run-
ning along the south line of this farm. Mr. Arthur Rosie occu-
pied the farna after Mr. Merrill left it and Mr. Anderson came
to Merrill twenty-three years ago and bought the farm of Mr.
Rosie, This is a very handsome farm, situated upon elevated
land and has some very fine fields. It is under good cultivation
and has a good set of farm buildings. The large barn was built
by Capt. Merrill and the hinges upon the barn doors were made
from iron taken from the British brig Boxer, which was captured
off Portland by the gallant Lieutenant Burrows of the U. S. Brig
Enterprise, on the 5th of September, 1813. The old settlers of
the town report that Capt. Merrill bought the remains of the old
British hulk and that he brought to the township many articles,
mostly iron implements, obtained fro mthat source. Relic hunt-
ers can yet find in the town an old crowbar or two and some
broken sabers and other articles taken from the Boxer.

Turning to the right near Mr. Anderson's and riding toward
the west on the State road, we first come to the farm of Mr. Ira
K. Tarbell, which was the farm originally occupied by Mr. Wm.
G. Merrill. This is a good farm, v/ell located and consists of
110 acres of level land, with about 70 acres cleared. Next west
is the farm of Mr. G. W. Tarbell, who came from Solon when a
small boy, some fort^z-eight years ago. The next farm is occu-
pied by Milo E. Leavitt, a son of Moses Leavitt, whose residence
is just across the road in Dyer Brook Plantation. Beyond Mr.
Leavitt's the road enters a strip of woods and the land falls off
toward Dyer Brook Stream, which the road crosses on a sub-
stantial bridge.

After passing through the woods we come out to the farm
of Mr. Mellin Grant, and next beyond him, Mr. John Grant, both
of whom have good farms. The next settler is Mr. Herbert
Brown, who has a good farm on a handsome hardwood ridge.
The next farm is occupied by the widow of Mr. Chas. Stephens,
who came here from Ludlow eleven years ago and bought this
lot, upon which there was a small clearing. He cleared up a
large farm and built a handsome two-story house and a large
barn. The farm is situated on a beautiful ridge of land and the
view extends over vast areas of forest to the west and north,
with little clearings dotted in at intervals and winding streams
glancing here and there in the sunlight, while the ranges of
mountains extending northward from old Katahdin form a grand

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 281

and beautiful background to the picture. From the Stephens
farm the land falls off to the west toward Moro, and there are
no more settlers on the State road in Merrill.

The old Smyrna and Rockabema road starts from the East
Branch near Smyrna Mills and runs diagonally across Merrill
Plantation in a northwesterly direction, leaving the town at the
northwest corner and, after running about a mile and a half due
west on the north line of Moro Plantation, intersects the stage
road from Patten to Fort Kent. This road runs for a greater
portion of the distance through an unsettled country, though
there are some farms at intervals along the road. There are also
some very good farms in the southwest quarter of the town on
roads running from the State road to the old Rockabema road.
A large part of this township is still in its wilderness state, but
much of it v/ould cut up into good farms and this land vnll one
day be wanted for settlement. Hastings Brook, a tributary of
the West Branch of the Mattawamkeag, runs through a portion
of the northwest quarter of the town and Dudley Brook, an af-
fluent of the East Branch, crosses the northeast corner.

Merrill Plantation had in 1890, a population of 244, and a
valuation of $64,396.

OAKFIELD

Oakfield is the Switzerland of Aroostook. It is the most
mountainous and broken of all the towns in the county now
opened for settlement. It reminds one of the hill towns of West
Oxford and for ruggedness of surface may be compared with
the old town of Albany with this difference, that the muontains
of Oakfield are yet covered with a heavy growth of birch and
maple. The southern and southeastern portions of the town are
extremely stony, immense granite boulders lying thick upon the
surface and greatly interfering with agricultural operations. In
the northern and northwestern portions of the town the granite
disappears and the surface is somewhat less broken and better
adapted to farming.

Oakfield was formerly known as Township No. 5, Range
'3, and is bounded on the north by the town of Smyrna, on the
east by Linneus and New Limerick, on the south by the unset-
tled Township No. 4, Range 3 and on the west by Dyer Brook
Plantation.

The east branch of the Mattawamkeag flows in a due south
course entirely across the extreme western portion of the town.

282 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

leaving but a narrow strip of land between the river and the west
line of the town. In the northern part of the town are Spaulding
Lake and Long Lake, whose waters are discharged westward into
the East Branch, while still farther north and touching the Snayr-
na line is Timony Lake, a pretty little sheet of water whose outlet
is at its northern point, from which a brook flows northward into
Cochrane Lake and thence into the Meduxnekeag. In the north-
western portion of the town is Meduxnekeag Lake, better known
as Drew's Lake, portions of which are in the towns of Linneus
and New Limerick. The highest part of the town is near the
centre and on this high land many brooks find their source, some
flowing into the East Branch and its lakes, and thus finding their
way into the Penobscot, while others run into the Meduxnekeag
and its feeders and finally mingle their waters with those of the
beautiful St. John. On this height are springs whose waters tric-
kle out in both directions and thus the same springs help to feed
both the Penobscot and the St. John, and the crystal rills parting
from the same little pool on this wood crowned eminence mingle
with the ocean many miles apart. In the southeastern portion of
the town are Skitacook Lake and Mud Lake. The outlet of
these lakes is the Skitacook Stream, which flows southward
through Township No. 4, Range 3 and empties into the east
branch of the Mattawamkeag.

In the division of the wild lands of Maine at the time of its
admission as a separate State, Township No. 5, Range 3, now
Oakfield, remained in the possession of the State of Massachu-
setts as the towns were divided alternately between Maine and
the mother State. About 1830 two large lots, containing nearly
two hundred acres each were run out by the Massachusetts land
agent in the northern part of No. 5, adjoining the Smyrna line.
These lots are numbered twelve and thirteen upon the present
plan of the town.

In 1831, Mr. Daniel Spaulding canie from Kennebec County
and took the lot now numbered twelve and at the same time Mr.
Alexander Caldwell, who had recently emigrated to this country
from Ireland' took the adjoining lot. These two men were the
pioneers of the town of Oakfield. The tract of land comprising
these two lots was comparatively level, free from stones and
fine productive soil. Mr. Spaulding cleared a farm upon which
he lived until 1859, when he moved to Minnesota, where he died.
He was for many years a prominent man in this section and was
a man of much business ability. He was largely engaged in
lumbering and also had teams upon the road to transport goods

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 288

irom Bangor to Aroostook. At that time all the goods and sup-
plies for this portion of Aroostook County were purchased in
Bangor and hauled by teams over the old Military road. Aroos-
took had in those years a close business connection with Bangor
and a large trade was established which was continued for many
years.

After Mr. Spaulding left the farm it passed through a num-
ber of hands and is now the property of Mr. Avon D. Weeks.

On the lot adjoining Mr. Spaulding's is a portion of the lit-
tle lake now known as Timony Lake. In 1831 Mr. Alex Caldwell
commenced his clearing on the north side of the lake near the
Smyrna line. Here he cleared up a considerable tract and built
a set of buildings, which were afterwards burned. Mr. Cald-
well died in 1865 and his daughter, Mrs. James Timony, came
into possession of the property. Mr. Timony enlarged and im-
proved the farm and rebuilt the buildings. He died in 1885.
His widow still resides with her son, Mr. John Timony, who car-
ries on the farm.

The next settler upon the town was Mr. David W. Clifford,
who about the year 1848 made a clearing in the southwest part
of the town on the lot now occupied by Mr. John Byron. These
three were the only clearings made upon the town until it was
opened for settlement in 1858.

In common with all the unsettled lands of the State this
town became the property of the State of Maine and in 1858
was surveyed and lotted for settlement by Parker P. Burleigh
and J. E. S. Cony. The State then offered the lots to actual
settlers for 50 cents per acre, to be paid in road labor. Thus the
settlers could pay for their lots by making roads for their own
accommodation.

Immigration to the new town at once commenced and set-
tlers came and took lots in different portions of the town. On
all the hillsides the sound of the pioneer's axe was heard as the
lofty forest trees were felled and openings made in the wilder-
ness for future homes.

The first deed irom the State of Maine was given to Mr.
Samuel Gerrish, who came from Linneus in 1858 and took a lot
some distance south of the center of the town. Mr. Gerrish
cleared up a farm and built a good set of buildings and lived
upon the farm until some four years ago, when he went to spend
the last years of his life with his son, Mr. John Gerrish, who has
a fine farm in the plantation of Dyer Brook. The old gentleman
is now 90 years old, but is quite active for a man of that ex-

284 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

treme age. His children and grandchildren are still living in
this and adjoining towns.

Mr. John Bell, one of the earliest of the pioneers of Oak-
field after the survey, came from Stoneham in Oxford County,
to Aroostook to seek a new home. Hearing of the State land
in Number 5, he went there, and as the hills looked natural to
him, and reminded him of his home in Oxford, he concluded to
settle in the new town. He first took a lot in the southwest por-
tion of the town a short distance east of the East Branch. The
lot extended from Downing Brook on the south to Moose Brook
on the north, and was a very good lot, being beyond the granite
belt. Mr. Cushman Walker of Hodgdon, had made a twelve
acre chopping on the lot and Mr. Bell purchased Mr. Walker's
possession. He lived in Linneus while he was making his first
clearing and building his log house, and in 1861 moved his fam-
ily to their forest home. Mr. Bell cleared upwards of twenty
acres on this lot and built a good barn. He lived upon this farm
six years and then sold it to Mr. John H. Bartlett, who now lives
upon it. Mr. Bell then took the lot next west of his former
home, and here he made a large clearing. He afterwards sold a
part of this farm to his son, Mr. John F. Bell, reserving for him-
self fifty acres, with something over ten acres cleared. The land
is not much broken, lying lower than the adjoining farm, is not
very stony and produces well. Mr. Bell has a neat house and
good barn and a thrifty orchard of something over 100 bearing
trees. He is nov/ 74 years old and somewhat feeble and. has
given up the management of the farm to his son-in-law, Mr.
Charles Bell, who lives with him. The old gentleman is justly
proud of the fact that he sent three boys to the army, aged 14,
16 and 18 years respectively at the time of their enlistment, but
all large of their age and good stalwart young men. All three
went into the 3rd Maine Cavalry and served until the close of
the war and all three came home uninjured.

In 1859 Mr. John Lougee came from Linneus and took a lot
a short distance southwest from the centre of the town. There
was then no road to the lot and after making a small clearing,
Mr. Lougee moved his family to the new home In 1861. The
farm is on the side of a high hill sloping toward the south and
on all sides except the west is surrounded by lofty wooded hills.
A short distance to the northeast of Mr. Lougee's is the highest
land in the town and the "divide" between the waters of the
Penobscot and those flowing into the St. John. Looking west-
ward from the buildings the view extends through a valley or

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 285

pass, to the farms in Dyer Brook Plantation and also away to
the white cottages and cultivated fields of Crystal. From the
higher ground the village of Patten can be plainly seen. Mt.
Chase is in plain view directly to the west, while a little farther
to the south old Katahdin rears his cloud-capped summit above
all surrounding eminences. A road now winds through this val-
ley and near the road Mr. Lougee has built a fine large house.
He has two large barns and other convenient outbuildings near
the house and another large barn in a field some distance away.
Mr. Lougee has had much experience in the lumber v/oods and
is well acquainted with all portions of western Aroostook. He
is the present treasurer of the town. His son, Mr. Charles S.
Lougee, lives with him and is a partner in the business. On the
hills in the rear of Mr. Lougee's buildings is a deposit of iron,
and surveyors are here obliged to discard the use of the com-
pass on account of the deflection of the needle, caused by the
iron deposit.

In 1859 Mr. Joseph T. Robbins, who holds the second deed
given in the town by the State of Maine, came from Exeter and
took a lot a short distance southeast of the center of the town.
This farm is now on what is called the North road, one mile
and a half from Morton's Corner. Mr. Robbins commenced
clearing land and built a timber house upon his lot but did not
move his family to the new town until August, 1862. At that
time the road from Linneus Corner was made only as far as the
Byron place in the west part of Linneus and from there Mr. Rob-
bins moved his family, consisting of his wife and two children,
through the woods to their new home on a sled drawn by oxen.
Mr. Robbins has a farm of 185 acres with something over fifty
acres cleared. A large portion of the farm is quite free from
stones and produces v/ell. He has a good set of buildings and
is comfortably situated. Mr. Robbins has been a member of
the board of assessors and has always been a prominent man
in the town.

Mr. J. A. Tyler came from Augusta in 1861 and took the lot
next west of Mr. Robbins. He cleared some forty acres of land
and built a house and barn. Mr. Tyler lived upon this farm until
four years ago, when he moved to California.

Mr. Lewis P. Young came from Linneus in 1861 and took
the lot next west of Mr. John Lougee's. He made a small clear-
ing on the lot and built a house and barn and then went into the
army in the 16th Maine Regiment and died in the service. Mrs.
Woodworth now lives on this farm.

286 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

Benjamin Burleigh, a brother of Col. Moses Burleigh of
Linneus, moved from Houlton in 1860 and took a lot in the south
part of the town running back to Skitacook Lake. Mr. Burleigh
commenced a farm here, but lived only about five years after
he came to the town.

One of the earliest settlers of the town was Mr. William C.
Thompson, who came from the town of Knox, in Waldo County,
in 1859 and took a lot in the west part of the town south of the
centre line. This lot runs back to the East Branch. Mr. Thomp-
son made a small clearing in 1859 and built a frame house and
in April, 1860, moved his family to the town and has lived upon
this farm ever since. He has 150 acres of land with 60 acres
cleared. The land slopes gradually westward to the East Branch
and along the river is a fine intervale.

Mr. Daniel Allen came from Montville with Mr. Thompson
and took the lot adjoining his on the north. He cleared up a
farm and built a set of buildings, and d'ed here some twenty
years ago. His son, S. J. Allen, now lives on the farm.

Mr. John Brown came to the town in 1860 and took a lot
in the south part of the town (No. 134). He cleared about
twenty acres and lived upon it four years and then removed to
Merrill Plantation.

Enoch Bamford came to Oakfield in 1862 and first took a
lot in the west part of the town, where he made a small clearing
and then sold to Mr. David Byron. He then took the lot next
north of Mr. Joseph T. Robbins, where he remained two years.
This lot is now occupied by Mr. William T. Higgins. Mr. Bam-
ford was for a number of years afterward engaged in trade at
Linneus Corner and something over a year ago returned to Oak-
field and took the L. C. Sprague farm on the south road a short
distance east of Morton's Corner. Here Mr. Bamford has a
store with a stock of general merchandise and is the postmaster
of Oakfield.

Mr. Chas. T. Bussell came from Farmington in 1862 and
took a lot near the centre of the town. He moved his family to
the town the next year. Mr. Bussell cleared up a good farm and
built a good set of buildings. He was for years a prominent
man in the town and was well known in this portion of the coun-
ty. He removed to Minnesota some six years ago. This farm
is now owned by Mr. Elijah N. Nelson, who came from New
Brunswick and purchased it some five years ago. He has about
sixty acres of cleared land, a good house and a barn 40x60 ft.
The farm was neglected after Mr. Bussell left, but as Mr. Nel-

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 28T

son is a sturdy, energetic man, he will no doubt make a good
farm of it.

Edward Adams came from Linneus in 1862 and made a
clearing on the lot opposite the John Brown lot in the south
part of the town. He lived on this lot a number of years and
then moved to Colorado. Mr. James Fleming came the same
year and took the lot adjoining Mr. Adams on the west. Here
he made a large clearing, built a good house and barn and after
living upon the farm a number of years removed to Colorado.
Edward Sullivan came the same year and took the lot adjoining
Mr. Adams on the east. He made a small clearing, built a house
t.nd barn and after a few years moved to Letter B. Plantation.
This lot is now owned by Mr. F. W. Stimpson of Houlton.

Isaac Chambers came from Baring in Washington County,
in 1861, and took a lot in the southwest part of the town near
Mr. John Bell's. He cleared up a farm and built comfortable
buildings and still lives upon the farm.

Mr. William Gerrish, a son of Samuel Gerrish, came to Oak-
field with his father and went to work with him to clear up a
farm and make a home. They had just made a fair commence-
ment when the war broke out and William went into the army
in the 20th Maine Regiment. At the battle of Cold Harbor he
lost a leg, and returning to Oakfield, bought a farm in the south
part of the town. He farmed and traded until the summer of
1888. In June of this year Mr. Gerrish started to attend the Re-
publican State Convention at Portland as a delegate from his
town. He became exhausted from the heat while riding in the
horse cars from the train to the hotel, and fell in a fainting fit.
He was removed to the Falmouth Hotel, where he died that
night. An appeal was made in his behalf to the convention and
the generous sum of five hundred dollars was contributed by the
delegates. This removed the mortgage from his little home and
placed his widow and family in comfortable circumstances. The
widow still resides upon the farm.

Theodore Gerrish, another son of Samuel Gerrish, also went
into the army and at the close of the war returned to Oakfield
and took the lot next north of the homestead. Here he made a
clearing and built a house and lived upon the lot some five or
six years, when he commenced to study for the ministry. He
terwards became a clergyman in the Methodist Church and is
well known as a writer of war reminiscences. Of late years he
has been somewhat largely engaged in Western land speculation,
having made large investments for himself and others at Sioux

288 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

Falls and other places.

Mr. Albert G. Bussell came with his brother, Chas. T. Bus-
sell, and took the next lot to his, where he cleared up a small
farm and built a house and afterwards removed with his bro-
ther to the west. This farm is now occupied by Mr. Leontine
Martin.

Mr. Albion Batchelder came from New Portland in 1861
and took the lot next west of Mr. Chas. T. Bussell's. Mr.
Batchelder is still living upon this farm and has forty acres
cleared and has good comfortable buildings.

Wesley Daggett came from Weston in 1863 and first settled
on a lot in the southeast part of the town, north of the road. He
afterwards moved to a lot on the south of the road, Vi^here he
made a clearing and lived until his death five years ago. His
son, Luther A. Daggett, then took the farm and now lives upon
it. He has twenty-five acres of cleared land.

Mr. George Foster came from Waterville in 1863 and took
a lot in the west part of the town and made a clearing and built
a log house and barn. He lived here some eighteen years and
then moved to Skowhegan. This farm is nov/ unoccupied.

About the same time Mr. Bachelor Henry came from Waldo
County and took a lot in the northwest part of the town running
back to Long Lake. Here he made a farm and built a good set
of buildings and lived upon the farm until his death something
over two years ago. His brother, John J. Hussey, came at the
same time and took the lot adjoining on the west. He cleared
up a farm and built a house and barn and afterwards moved to
Sherman.

Albert A. Burleigh moved to Oakfield in 1865 on his return
from his term of service in the army. Mr. Burleigh served in
the 1st District of Columbia Cavalry and also in 1st Maine Cav-
alry. At the battle of Staunton River Bridge he received a but-
let wound through the left thigh and also had his left shoulder
shattered by a fragment of a shell, A few days later he was
taken prisoner while being conveyed to the hospital in an am-
bulance. He was taken to Petersburg and afterwards to Rich-
mond and was in prison fifty-five days in the summer of 1864.
He was then exchanged and was discharged from the service
in April, 1865. He returned to the home of his father, Hon.
Parker P. Burleigh, of Linneus, and in December, 1865, moved
to a State lot in Oakfield. His lot was in the southwest part of
the town, on the east side of the East Branch. He made a
clearing of thirty acres on this lot and built a good house, and

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 289

afterwards purchased half of the lot adjoining. In 1870 Mr.
Burleigh was chosen a member of the board of county commis-
sioners and has since served upon the board fourteen years,
having had eleven years of continuous service. In April, 1873,
he moved to Linneus and in the following December removed
to Houlton, where he has since resided. Mr. Burleigh learned
the profession of land surveyor from his father, having worked
with him from boyhood, and he has since practiced that profes-
sion in many parts of Aroostook and probably no man in the
county is more thoroughly acquainted with the topography of
Aroostook than he. In 1881, Mr. Burleigh was appointed col-
lector of customs for the district of Aroostook, which office he
held for four years. He was succeeded during the Cleveland
administration by Hon. John P. Donworth and in 1889 was re-
appointed by President Harrison and is the present incumbent.
Mr. Burleigh was actively engaged in working up the present en-
terprise for the construction of a direct railroad to Aroostook
County, and in the formation of the Bangor & Aroostook R. R.
Company, and is the president of that company. He v- now
actively engaged in pushing that important enterprise and the
people of the county have all confidence in his integrity and
business ability.

In 1865, Mr. James W. Anderson moved to Oakfield and set-
tled on a lot in the northern part of the town, east of Spaulding
Lake. Mr. Anderson was a soldier in the old 24th Maine Regi-
ment and afterwards served in the 20th Maine.

The township remained unorganized until 1866. The war-
rant for the organization as a plantation was issued to Jacob
Martin, Jr., on March 7, 1866, by County Commissioners D. A.
Sewall, N. S. Lufkins and T. C. S. Berry. The first meeting
was held April 17, 1866, at the house of Charles T. Russell.
James Timony was chosen moderator; William Gerrish, clerk;
Joseph F. Robbins, James Timony and John Bell, assessors, and
Thomas Shields, treasurer. At the request of Mr. James Timony,
then the oldest living resident of the town, it was voted that the
t)lantation be called Oakfield. On June 7th a second meeting
was held, at which the school districts were arranged and some
action taken In regard to roads. In September 1866. Oakfield
cast 57 votes.

Mr. Benj. F. HIgglns moved from Lisbon to Oakfield in
October, 1867, and settled on a lot a short distance northeast of
the center of the town. When Mr. Burleigh lotted the town he
selected this lot for himself or his boys, but afterwards ex-

290 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

changed and took the lot on the East Branch, where Albert A.
Burleigh afterwards lived. Mr. Thos. C. Segar then took the lot
and felled five acres of trees upon it, and in 1861 went into the
army and died in the service. Mr. Higgins served through the
war and in 1867 came to Oakfield and married the widow of Mr.
Segar and settled upon the new lot. Mr. Higgins was deputy-
land agent for some time and has been a prominent man in his
town. He, with others, buJt a mill a number of years ago on
the stream which flows across h^s lot, but not proving profitable,
it has been abandoned. Mr. Higgins is now advanced in years
and has given up the management of the farm to his son, Phil
Sheridan Higgins, who Lves with him. Another son, U. S.
Grant Higgins, is settled upon a farm nearby.

Mr. J. D. B. Clark came from Smyrna in 1866 and took a
lot in the northwest part of the town, running back to Long
Lake. He has 133 acres of good land, quite free from stones,
with 50 acres cleared. He has a handsome two-story house and
good barn and outbuildings. Mr. Clark is a blacksmith by trade
and works at Smyrna Mills a part of the time.

Mr. Avon D. Weeks came to Oakfield in 1872 and bought
the old Spaulding place in the north part of the town, next to
the Smyrna 1 ne. Mr. Weeks is the son of Abner Weeks, former-
ly one of the business men of Houlton. Mr. Weeks has a mill
on the thoroughfare betv\een Spaulding Lake and Long Lake.
Mr. Joseph Crandall built the original mill some twenty years
ago. It then had but an up and down saw. Mr. Weeks rebuilt
and enlarged the mill in 1835 and it now conta'ns a rotary, shin-
gle machine, lath machine and planer. The mill is run by water.
Mr. Charles L. Weeks, the youngest son of Abner Weeks, has
a farm adjo'n'r.g h s brother's and has built a very handsome
residence. Last winter the Weeks Bros, built a shingle mill on
Tov.-^shi'^ No. 7, Rar.?Te 3 \-.h ch I'es directly north of Smyrna.
Mr. Charles L. Weeks is in charge of the bus'ness at this mill.

Mr. W. H. Gerrish has recently built a steam grist mill near
the road wh'ch crosses th3 iioroughfare between the lakes. He
has two run of stones arH. f^r'nds feed and also bolts buckwheat
flour. He also has a store near the mill and is doing a good
business. Mr. Robert Mf^^^nan has a blacksmith shop near the
mill.

Mr. Harry F'sher has -^ handsome residence on his farm on
the south side of Spaulding Lake. He is largely engaged in lum-
bering.

Some two m'les fror^ ' e east line of the town a road turns

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 291

to the north at what is called Morton's Corner and runs north-
ward across the town. Mr. George F. Morton came from Silver
Ridge eight years ago and bougnt tne Henry C. Taylor farm at
what was then called Taylor Corner. Mr. Morton has a very
good farm here and also keeps puui.c house. Mr. Aioert Smart
has a farm a short distance west of Mr. Morton's and also has
a store. Mr. Eli W. Tibbetts, Mr. Cnarles L.bby and Mr. John
R. Gerrish also have farms on this road. Mr. George Burpee
has a farm tv*?o mTes north of Morton's Corner, and beyond him
are Wm. T. Higg.ns and h.s son, Andxevv J. H.ggins. Mr. Frank-
Ln S. Higgins nas a small laim a^a a neat residence a short
distance farther north. Mr. Higgins is a carpenter by trade and
has been cierk of tn3 plantation since 1873.

Mr. John M. Brown and Mr. Geo. W. Brown have farms
still further north. Mr. Wiilard Bia..nan and Mr. Alien Walton
have good farms in the western pait Oj: the town.

Oakfield is well suppLed w.tn roads and has good schools.
The population in 1880 was 720.

Though possessed of a rough and rugged surface in many
portions of the town, yet there is much good farming land in the
town, and the time may yet come when all the h.lls, now covered
with a lofty forest growth, will be converted into fertile farms,
and occupied by a prosperous farming community.

WESTFIELD

Southward from Presque Isle the road leads through a beau-
tiful farming country, and evidences of thrift may be seen on
every hand, while the natural scene: / is most pleasing. A short
distance from the village we come to the handsome build ngs
of St. John's School, where some ninety of the boys and girls
of Presque Isle, besides others from without the town, receive
efficient instruction. The buildings a: e placed upon a healthy
em'nence and are of much architectural beauty without, while
within they are roomy, convenient and comfortable. A handsome
dome surmounts the princ'pal building, from which the Stars
and Stripes of the Union float proudly in the breeze. Next be-
yond is the large farm of Rev. G. M.. Park, with its numerous
and commodious farm build ngs and its broad and fert'le fields
stretching away to the distant woods. A short distance below is
the beautiful cemetery, with its well kept grounds and newly
finished receiving tomb. We pass many fine farms with fields
of rich green grass and grain, and with many acres of potatoes.

292 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

somewhat backward this season, but giving promise of a bounti-
ful harvest. A few miles below the village we come to Akeley
Brook, upon which is situated one of the finest starch factories
in Aroostook County, with two large dry houses and a conven-
ient boarding house, the buildings all neatly finished and painted.
This factory is the property of Hon, T. H. Phair, and many
bushels of potatoes are here ground up and made into starch
each year. Crossing the brook and ascending the hill beyond,
•we see on the right the lofty and irregular height of Quaggy
Joe and its thickly wooded sides, while at its foot nestles the
pretty little suburban village of Spragueville. Most of this vil-
lage is hidden from view as we ride along the stage road, but
the handsome new Methodist Church, but recently dedicated,
is in plain sight upon the higher ground and shows to good ad-
vantage with the dark sides of the mountain for a background.

Something over three miles from Presque Isle village, at the
mouth of the road leading to Spragueville, we come to the large
and handsome Grange Hall which the enterprising Patrons of
South Presque Isle and Westfield erected a number of years ago.
The building has two stories, the lower one being used for the
Grange meetings and a large and convenient dining hall is fin-
ished off above.

For six miles southward from the village the road, leads
through the town of Presque Isle and when nearing the south
line of the town we come to Clark Brook, where is situated the
starch factory belonging to Hon. G. W. Collins of Br'dgev/ater.
Cross'ng Clark Brook we are soon out of Presque Isle and come
into the thriving town, or rather plantation, of Westfield, as this
township has not yet been incorporated.

Westfield is composed of two half townships which years
ago were granted by the State of Massachusetts in aid of the es-
tablishment of institutions of learning in that State. The north
half of the town was by the liberality of the mother State grant-
ed to Deerfield Academy and the south half to Westfield Acad-
emy. This township lies in the second range and is bounded on
the north by Presque Isle, on the east by Mars Hill, on the south
by the unsettled half township of "E" Range 2, and on the west
by the south part of Chapman and by township No. 10, Range 3.
The stage road from Presque Isle to Houlton enters the town
about midway of the north line and running in a southeasterly
direction across the northeast quarter, leaves the town a mile
below the middle point of its east line.

The half townships were long ago sold by the trustees of

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 293

the institutions to whom they were granted to proprietors and
after passing through several hands, passed into the possession
of the present owners, the unsettled land in the north half or
what was formerly Deerfield Academy grant, being now owned
by Hon, Parker P. Burleigh the father of our honored Governor,
and the south half which is nearly all unsettled, being the pro-
perty of Messrs. Powers, Madigan and Wellington. The settled
portion of the town is nearly all in the northeast quarter, where
are some very fine farms, although the entire township is com-
posed of grand farming land. The timber, which is abundant
upon this town was what made it particularly valuable in the
olden time, and years before any of these fine farms were cleared
lumber roads were cut through different portions of the town
and in the winter time crews of hardy lumbermen camped upon
the town and were at that time its only inhabitants.

The first settler who made a clearing upon the town for
farming purposes was James Thorncraft, who came in 1839 and
settled on what is now the Trueworthy farm, about three miles
south of the Presque Isle line and nine miles south of Presque
Isle village on the Houlton road. When Thorncraft made his
first chopping and built his little log house in the forest the
whole country for miles on every side was an unbroken wilder-
ness. There was no road anywhere near him, and his nearest
neighbors on the north were the pioneer settlers of Presque Isle,
while on the south there was no settler nearer than Bridgewater,
and at that time very few had settled upon that town. Upon the
whole of the town of Mars Hill no settler had at that time en-
tered, while the now flourishing town of Easton was still in its
original wilderness state. For two years Thorncraft and his
wife lived here alone in this grand forest, adding each year to
the little clearing and making the beginning of what is now a
beautiful farm. The spot chosen for his home was on a fine
swell of hard wood land, while at a short distance from his
house ran a clear, pebbly brook. In 1841, he was joined by
•John H. Bridges, who remained seven years and then removed
to the adjoining township of Mars Hill to become its earliest
pioneer settler.

The farm thus early commenced by Thorncraft has long
been the property of Mr. John N. Trueworthy, who is well
known to all who have ever been in the habit of travelling upon
that road. Mr. Trueworthy was originally from Unity, Waldo
County, and came to Aroostook in 1843, settling upon what is
now the farm of Deacon Charles Tarbell, on the Centre Line

294 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

road in Presque Isle. In 1861 he purchased the Thorncraft
farm, which had already passed through a number of hands,
and has resided upon it ever since. Upon removing to this farm
Mr. Trueworthy at once opened his house as a hotel and as at
that time all the goods for the upper country were hauled by
teams from Houlton, his house was a convenient stopping place
and had a large custom. Though the house was not large, yet
it was always noted for its neatness and for the excellence of
the abundant cheer which the good landlady placed upon the
table. Mr. Trueworthy was appointed postmaster in 1862, and
though a good old Democrat, has held the office through every
administration until the present time and will probably continue
to hold it during his life. The old gentleman is now upwards
of 70 years old and has in a great measure retired from active
life. Since the extension of the railroad to Presque Isle the
business of the hotel has been considerably diminished, though
the best of entertainment can still be had there.

In 1846 Mr. John Young moved from Bridgewater and com-
menced a clearing on what is now called Young's Brook, near
where the Houlton road crosses the line of Westfield and en-
ters Mars Hill. He was the third settler upon the town. Thorn-
craft and Bridges at the time living some four miles north of
him. Two years later these two last named settlers removed
to Mars Hill leaving Mr. Young the only settler upon the town.
His widow, an old lady nearly 90 years old, still lives on the
old place and from her we learned many incidents in connec-
tion with the early settlement of the town. His sons are also
among the citizens of Westfield today. For a number of years
no new settlers came to the town. Mr. Young extended his
clearing and found a market for his surplus crops principally at
the lumber camps in the vicinity.

The invasion of the "Press gang" in 1858 called attention
to the fertile lands of Aroostook and soon alter that time emi-
grants began to rush into the new county. A few stopped in
Westfield and had this been a State town probably every lot iri
town would long ere this have been settled. It being, however,
the property of proprietors who held the land at two dollars per
acre and wished to reserve a large portion of the town for lum-
bering purposes, most of the newcomers pressed on to the cheap-
er lands upon the State towns beyond, where lots could be had
for fifty cents per acre, to be paid in road labor.

About that time, or a short time previous thereto, Mr. Gran-
ville Coburn of Lincoln took up the lot next above Mr. True-

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 295

worthy's, upon a beautiful ridge of maple land where he made
a very fine farm. His widow and daughters are now living in
Presque Isle and the farm at present has no tenant residing upon
It. Mr. Pickering settled next above Coburn on what is now the
Jewell farm, and next above, on the farm now occupied by Mr.
Charles W. Allen, James Lucy commenced a clearing.

As late as 1858 the settlers named were all that were upon
the town. In the fall of 1858 Mr. A. C. Dodge came from Lib-
erty, in Waldo County, and settled a short distance above Mr.
Young's, on the road to Presque Isle. Mr. Dodge is still one
of the prominent citizens of the town and has for a number of
years been agent appointed by the County Commissioners for
the expenditure of the road tax, a large proportion of which is
paid by the non-resident proprietors.

In 1859 Cyrus Chase, Levi W. Reed and Asa Reed of Dan-
ville, and Sewall Woodbury of New Gloucester, settled on the
road on adjoining lots south of the Trueworthy place. Asa
Reed was killed in the army, and Levi W. Reed remained and
made a fine farm upon which he worked during the summer
time, being engaged in school teaching during the winter months,
until about a year ago, when he removed with h!s famJy to
New Gloucester, where he now has charge of the butter factory.
Mr. Reed and his wife were prominent members of the Order
of Patrons of Husbandry of Northern Aroostook and are much
missed by their old neighbors and friends. Mr. Cyrus Chase
is still a resident of Westfield, and has made from the forest
one of the finest farms in the town. He is one of the officers of
the North Aroostook Agricultural Society in whose prosperity
he is much interested. He was a good soldier in the 19th Maine
Regiment and is one of the pregressive farmers of Northern
Aroostook.

In 1860 Mr. Joel Howard, who the previous year had com-
menced a clearing upon Mars Hill Township, came to Westfield
and purchased two lots oppos'te the Trueworthy place. Here
Mr. Howard cleared up a large and productive farm, upon which
he built a fine stand of farm buildings and where he continued
to res'de until some five years ago or thereabouts he moved to
the village of Presque Isle. During his residence in Westfield,
Mr. Howard was one of its most prominent c'tizens and at one
time represented his district in the Maine Legislature.

In 1861 Mr. L. A. Blaisdell came from Somerset County
and purchased a lot in the north part of the town, his residence
being on the main road about a mile south of the Presque Isle

296 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

line. Here Mr. Blaisdell cleared up a good farm and built a
comfortable set of buildings where he still continues to reside.
For years Mr. Blaisdell has been extensively engaged in bee
culture and has justly been named the Bee King of Aroostook
County.

All the farms of which we have so far spoken are located
upon the main stage route from Houlton to Presque Isle. A mile
west of this road, and parallel to it, a road commences near the
north line of the town and runs for about two miles through a
splendid farming section, though the farms upon this road are
much newer than those located upon the main thoroughfare.

Upon this road Mr. Robert M. Fox, from Dixmont, made
the first clearing in 1870. Mr. Fox has now forty acres cleared
and has a comfortable set of buildings.

The plantation, including the two half townships of Deer-
field and Westfield Academy grants, was organized in 1861 and
has not been incorporated as a town, the citizens preferring to
retain their plantation organization. The first schoolhouse was
built in 1863 and in this house Mrs. L. W. Reed taught the first
school in town.

In the fall of 1859, Peavy Bros, of Bangor built on Young's
Brook, near the Mars Hill line, a factory for the manufacture
of peavy stocks from the abundant supply of maple timber in
this vicinity. The building contains a fine 25 horse power en-
gine, with 50 horse power boiler, sav/s, lathes and all the ma-
chinery necessary for the finishing up of the stocks. The maple
is delivered at the factory in logs of suitable length for the
stocks which are from four to six feet long. The company pays
$2 per thousand feet stumpage for the timber and hire it cut
and hauled to the factory. Last winter the factory turned out
35,000 stocks finished ready for ironing. Mr. Cyrus Chase
hauled these 35,000 stocks to Presque Isle during the winter.
They were shipped to Bangor to be ironed and doubtless many
a stout lever from good Westfield maple will be used in lifting
and rolling the big pines upon the rivers of the far West.

There is no starch factory in town, the nearest one being
upon Clark Brook in Presque Isle, a short distance north of the
Westfield line. The larger portion of the potatoes ground at this
factory are supplied by Westfield farmers who are largely en-
gaged in this profitable branch of Aroostook agriculture. Large
quantities of potatoes are also hauled from this town to the sta-
tion at Presque Isle and sold for shipping purposes.

The route of the survey for the line of the Bangor & Aroos-

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 297

took Railroad runs but a short distance from this town, and
when completed and the station established at Mars Hill, will
be a great help to the farmers of the town.

Like all the towns in this section, Westfield is finely wa-
tered in every portion of the town. The Presque Isle of the St.
John enters the town about a mile from its northeast corner and
flows for a distance of nearly four miles in this portion of the
town, when it crosses the line into Mars Hill. Many brooks
throughout the entire length of the town flow eastward and
northward and empty into this stream. Clark Brook, a strong
flowing stream, rises in the southwest quarter of the town and
flows in a northerly direction, leaving the town through its north
line and entering Presque Isle. This brook then bends to the
eastward and flows into the Presque Isle of the St. John. In the
southwest quarter of the town is also Burnt Land Brook, which
rises in the adjoining township on the south and flows in a south-
westerly course across the southwest corner of the town, whence
it continues on through the adjacent towns and empties into
the Presque Isle of the Aroostook. This brook receives three
strong branches from Westfield, by means of which the south-
west quarter of the town is amply watered.

After carefully looking over this town we must pronounce
it one of the best of the towns in this vicinity for agricultural
purposes. The principal portion at present settled is in the
northeast quarter of the town, the settlements extending only a
short distance into the northwest and southeast quarters. All
the remainder of the town, including the entire southwest quar-
ter, is still an unbroken wilderness. All along the main road to
Presque Isle are fine fertile farms with comfortable homes, and
from this road can be seen immense tracts of fine hard wood
land upon which no settler has yet entered. Good timber is
abundant throughout all these forest tracts and large lumber
poerations are carried on each year. With the exception of the
low lands along the streams the timber is mixed throughout the
hard wood growth and when it is cut off the land will in all
probability be sold to settlers and this will eventually be one of
the finest farming towns in Northern Aroostook. The very best
of wild land suitable for farms can now be bought here for
$4.00 per acre and probably before many years the whole town
will be lotted and placed upon the market.

The continuation of the Quaggy Joe Range extends for
some distance down through the northwest part of the town, but
is in few places sufficiently high to interfere with farming oper-

298 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

ations, and in general the surface of the town is not badly
broken.

The fact that the town was owned by proprietors who h ive
heretofore valued it mainly for lumbering purposes, has of
course retarded the settlement of this fine town. The population
in 1880 was but 103 and in 1890 was 166. The valuation of rhe
town in 1890 was $34,426.

CASTLE HILL

The beautiful Aroostook River in its many windings through-
out its tortuous course toward the St. John flows through many
fertile towns, and along its banks were made the humble homes
of the first settlers oi the northern part of the county. One of
the finest, in an agricultural point of view, is the town, or rather
plantation, of Castle Hill, for it has not yet been incorporated
as a town. This may be classed among the river towns, although
the Aroostook flows only for a distance of about three miles
through its northwest corner.

Castle Hill, formerly known as Township No. 12, Range 4,
is bounded on the north by Wade Plantation, east by the town
of Mapleton, west by Sheridan Plantation and south by the un-
organized township of No. 11, Range 4. The old State road from
Presque Isle to Ashland runs across the northern portion of the
town, and it was in this part that the first settlement was made

According to the most reliable information that we have
been able to obtain, the first settler on the line of the State Road
was Jabez Trask, called by the old settlers Gen. Trask, he hav-
ing acquired that title in the militia of the western portion of the
State. Trask came to Castle Hill in 1843 and settled on the
spot where Smith's hotel now is, something over four miles
west from the east line of the town.

About the same time Ephraim Knights, Caleb Spencer and
one Seavey commenced clearings at the mouth of Beaver Brook
which enters the Aroostook River in the extreme northwest cor-
ner of the town. The lot upon which Knights and Spencer made
their clearing was afterwards granted by the Commissioners ap-
pointed to locate grants under the treaty of 1842 to Robert Mil-
liken, whose grant also included Beaver Brook Island, and the
Seavey lot was at the same time granted to Patrick Powers,
these grantees having purchased the improvements from the
original settlers.

Mr. Trask cleared a large tract of land on both sides of

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 299

the road and made the commencement of the large farm now
owned and occupied by Mr. Henry Tilley. He also built a tim-
ber house and barn and commenced the business of keeping
hotel, as after the road was opened to Ashland there was a large
amount of teaming to that section. In 1850 Trask sold the pro-
perty to Daniel Chandler. Soon after this the house was burned
and Mr. Chandler built a frame house and continued the busi-
ness of hotel keeping.

In May, 1860, Mr. Henry Tilley came to Castle Hill and
hired the Chandler hotel. Mr. Chandler then moved to a lot
on the Aroostook River near the mouth of Beaver Brook, where
he remained some three years, then he moved to Presque Isle.
He afterward made a very fine farm near the Aroostook River,
on the Washburn road in the old town of Maysvllle now includ-
ed in the town of Presque Isle. Here he built a very handsome
set of farm buildings and made extensive improvements, and
lived upon this farm until his death, which occurred last spring.

Mr. Tilley remained in the Chandler house some three years,
when he purchased the farm on the opposite side of the road and
built a hotel stand which he kept open to the public until seven
years ago. After Mr. Tilley left the Chandler house Mr. Samuel
Caughey kept the house two years when the property was sold
to Mr. G. D. Smith, who carried on the farm, but did not keep
the house open to the public. In 1883 Mr. Tilley went out of
the hotel business and Mr. Herbert P. Smith reopened the Chan-
dler house as a hotel. Two years ago the present summer the
barn was struck by lightning and all the buildings were con-
sumed by fire. Mr. Smith rebuilt the house and barn the same
year and is the present occupant of the hotel. The house is very
pleasantly situated and as it is a convenient stopping place for
teams and travellers between Presque Isle and Ashland, is doing
a large business. Mr. Tilley engaged quite extensively in farm-
ing and has been for many years a prominent man in this sec-
tion and is well known throughout Aroostook and other portions
of Maine. Having occasion at one time to do some business at
the Land Office v/hen Isaac R. Clark was State Land Agent,
and thinking that Mr. Clark was treating him somewhat loftily,
Mr. Tilley is said to have exclaimed with his characteristic in-
dependence and a plentiful supply of blanks, "Look here, Mr.
Clark, I want you to understand that I'm just as big a man in

Castle Hill as you are in Bangor !" Mr. Tilley has

paid much attention to fruit culture and has a very fine orchard.
He was also at one time largely engaged in bee-keeping and has

300 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

paid much attention to sheep husbandry. He is now in feeble
health and has wholly given up business and is living quietly
at his old home, where he enjoys very much to receive calls from
the friends he used to meet so often in active life. He has been
postmaster of Castle Hill for twenty-five years. His son, James
H. Tilley, has a very fine farm a short distance east of the hotel
on the Presque Isle road. Mr. L. K. Tilley, another son, has a
large farm a short distance west of his father's, on the same
road. He is this summer building a large barn, which will be
dedicated on the 7th of August by the meeting of Aroostook
Pomona Grange, of which Mr. Tilley is an active member. He
is also supervisor of schools, and has a store opposite the hotel.

A short distance west of the hotel is the farm and residence
of Mr. M. K. Hilton, a prominent citizen of the town and one of
its first assessors. Mr. Hilton has a good farm and a very
pleasant residence and is this year making extensive repairs on
his buildings.

The district known as the Porter settlement, lying along the
State road, a short distance from the east line of the town, is
.a very fine agricultural section, and contains some good farms
with comfortable and neatly kept farm buildings.

After the coming of the pioneers of the town in 1843, there
seems to have been no immigration of any amount until about
1850. In that year James Porter came from Mirimachi, N. B.,
and settled on the Ashland road about half a mile from the Ma-
pleton line. Robert Porter came soon after and settled on the
opposite side of the road. James Porter, Jr., settled on the next
lot west, and in 1851 John L. Porter took up the lot next to the
Mapleton line, where William Chandler now lives. These set-
tlers commenced their clearings in the midst of the forest and
here reared their humble homes and were subjected to all the
privations incident to a pioneer life in the wilderness. Now the
forest is all cleared away on both sides of the road and broad,
smooth fields and handsome farm buildings are seen throughout
this part of the town.

About the time the Porters settled in the east part of the
town, Abram and Nathaniel Jordan took up lots west of the
hotel on the same road, and John Jordan settled on the lot
where M. K. Hilton now lives.

Aaron Dingee settled about the same time on the lot next

to the west line of the town, where Mr. Joseph Ellis now lives.

Mr. Wm. Chandler in 1853 bought of John L. Porter the

lot in the northeast corner of die town next to the Mapleton

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 301

line, and has there made a very fine farm with a neat and con-
venient stand of buildings.

The old State Road runs through a very fine agricultural
section and the buildings along the road are neat and well kept
and the farms are well cultivated and produce abundant crops.
The road is in excellent condition and though somewhat hilly,
is nevertheless a very pleasant road to ride on in a pleasant sum-
mer day. As one approaches the western line of the town on
the way to Ashland, the Aroostook River is seen a short dis-
tance to the right bending in the form of a huge letter S among
the lofty trees and flowing through fertile meadows. Near the
river is the lofty hill from which the town takes its name, a large
log building having been built upon its summit by the surveyors
of the olden time, the remains of which building may still be
seen. A considerable stretch of the imagination invested these
old ruins with the dignity of a castle and from this the township
was named Castle Hill.

In the south part of the town the road from Presque Isle,
which runs in a due westerly course entirely across the town of
Mapleton, continues upon the same straight line about half way
across Castle Hill township. This road runs through as fine a
tract of farming land as can be found in New England. As one
looks westward from the fine eminence just east of the village
of Ball's Mills in Mapleton, a beautiful maple grove is seen on
a ridge near the Castle Hill line and through this grove the road
passes, the grand old forest trees growing close down to the
confines of the highway on either side and making a most grate-
ful shade on a hot summer day. Emerging from this grove, a
most beautiful view of field and meadow is opened out on either
hand. Broad, smooth and level fields stretch away on each side
of the road and terminate in beautiful forests of maple. Large
fields of potatoes, the tops covering the ground, are a most at-
tractive feature of the landscape. Here upon this beautiful
ridge are the farms and homes of the three Dudley brothers,
and no more fertile or attractive spot can be found in Aroostook.

Thirty-one years ago Micajah Dudley came to Aroostook
from the town of China. He had heard of the beauty and fer-
tility of the forest lands of this northern county and regardless
of the advice of friends who wished him to make a home near
the older settlements, he pushed on into the wilderness, deter-
mined to find a tract large enough and in one compact block of
good land to furnish farms for himself and his four sons. Ar-
riving upon this beautiful maple ridge he concluded to go no

302 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

further, and though he was warned that no road would ever
penetrate those trackless wilds, he had faith in the future of
Aroostook and made his choice with rare wisdom and foresight.
His sons came with him or followed soon after and together
they bent themselves to the task of making for themselves
pleasant homes in this then far away forest region. The father
lived to see a good smooth turnpike built through the block of
land he made choice of and to see broad and productive fields
where the huge maples were growing when he first set foot upon
the ridge. He has now passed away and three of his sons are
now living upon the block, the fourth having a fine farm but a
short distance away. As we come through the grove of maples
spoken of above, we first come to the home of MIcajah Dudley,
the youngest of the four sons. A stone's throw beyond is the
residence of John W. Dudley. For many years these two bro-
thers carried on their farming operations in company under the
firm name of M. & J. W. Dudley, but have recently dissolved
for the sole reason that the tastes of each led him to pursue a
different line of farming. Directly opposite is the home of
Allen W. Dudley, the eldest brother, while a short distance be-
yond is the house of his son, Sanford, who is now in company
with him. Micajah Dudley has 240 acres of land, nearly 100
of which is cleared. John W. Dudley has 160 acres with 60
acres cleared. His specialty is orcharding, in which he has been
very successful, and he has now one of the finest orchards in
Aroostook. He has 275 apple trees in full bearing, these having
been set ten years ago. Nearby are 200 young trees of the Dud-
ley Winter variety, and 500 Moore's Arctic plum trees set last
spring. He is the originator of the Dudley Winter, it being a
seedling from the Duchess. Mr. Dudley is a vice president of
the Maine Pomological Society and an enthusiast in fruit cul-
ture.

Allen W. Dudley has 180 acres of land, with over 75 acres
cleared. He also has a very productive and well kept orchard
and raises a good supply of fruit. We doubt if a finer tract of
farming land can anywhere be found than this mile square block
wh'ch the elder Dudley chose as a home for himself and his
sons.

On a cross road connecting with the State Road and about a
mile from this block is the farm of the fourth brother, Mr. Frank
C. Dudley. He has 160 acres of. land very finely located, with
about 60 acres cleared, the remainder being a beautiful level
tract of maple growth. He has a very handsome stand of farm

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 303

buildings and everything around the place is conveniently kept.

The farm of Mr. John P. Roberts is the first after crossing
the town line on the road from Ball's Mills. Mr. Roberts came
to the town in 1858 and took up this lot and made a chopping
and moved in with his family the next year. He afterwards
bought the mill at Mapleton which he run for four years and
sold it to David Dudley. Mr. Roberts was a soldier in the 18th
Maine Regiment.

Another of the pioneer settlers of Castle H.ll Vvas Deacon
T. K. Dow, who came to the town in 1859 and took a lot oppos te
Mr. Roberts near the town line. Here he has made a fine farm
and has for years been one of the most prominent and respected
citizens of the town. Deacon Dow is still living, a hale, hearty
old gentleman of upwards of three score and ten but still able
to tire some of the younger men.

From Deacon Dow's a road runs due north, parallel to the
town line and about a quarter of a mile west of the line and
connects with the old State Road near Mr. Wm. Chandler's.
This road runs through a very fine agricultural sect'on and there
are many good farms in this section of the town. Some of them
are still new and will require time and labor to make them
smooth and free from stumps, but the soil is fertile and in a
few years there will be many fine fields along this road.

Mr. John Waddell, one of the early settlers of the town,
came from Lubec in 1860 and settled on this road and made a
good farm some half mile distant from the State Road. His
son, John Waddell, now lives upon the farm and is well and
favorably known in this vicinity as an earnest local preacher
of the Universalist denomination.

Another road starts near Deacon Dow's and runs in a south-
westerly direction for a little over a mile, when, after cross'ng
Sawyer Brook, it turns squarely to the v/est and runs upon the
lot lines to the foot of Haystack Mountain.

There are several very fine farms along this' road, among
them those of Mr. A. H. Parker, Mr. A. F. Hoffses, Wm. H.
Bird, Jr., and others.

Near the foot of Haystack Mountain is the farm and home
of Mr. Edward Tarr, an enthusiast in bee culture, and one of
the best authorities upon this branch in Aroostook. Mr. Tarr
came from Waldoboro in 1861 anJ made for h'mself a pleasant
home under the shadow of old Haystack. He has something
over 40 acres of land cleared and raises good crops, but de-
votes himself to the business of bee keeping. He has now 64

304 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

colonies in his home apiary and has charge of many others in
different sections, which he cares for on shares. Mr. Tarr is
a pleasant and instructive writer on bee culture and delivered an
address on this subject before the Farmers' Convention at
Presque Isle which was much admired. Mr. Tarr has honey on
exhibition every year at the State Fair and always displays it
in neat and attractive packages. He uses the simplicity hive
and has a shop conveniently fitted up with proper machinery for
the manufacture of hives and of boxes for his honey. He also
has a very productive orchard from which he always exhibits
at the County Fair many fine specimens of fruit.

In company with Mr. Tarr and Deacon Dow we climbed to
the summit of Haystack, and though the ascent was somewhat
difficult, we found ourselves well paid by the magnificent out-
look afforded. Haystack is much like an inverted cup resting
upon the bottom of an inverted saucer. For a considerable dis-
tance the ascent is quite gradual and the road lies through a
thick wood. Emerging from this forest growth we come to the
almost perpendicular sides of the steep and barren rock which
forms the cup part of the mountain. From this point to the
summit the ascent is more difficult. Every vestige of tree or
shrub or soil even, has been burned away and only the rugged
rock remains. When one has neared the summit in this almost
perpendicular climb and happens to look around upon the region
beneath his feet, the sensation is anything but pleasant, and
one at all inclined to be nervous is obliged to look steadily at
the side of the rock and make sure hold with hands and feet.

Upon arriving at the summit we found an area of less than
an eighth of an acre of rock approaching anywhere near a level
and this appeared so small that we felt like sitting down and
clinging to the rock for fear of falling off into the depths below.
The view from the top, however, is simply grand and magnifi-
cent and embraces the entire circle of the horizon with a radius
of many miles. The near view, looking down towards the east
and north, is one of fertile farms, broad cultivated fields inter-
spersed with grand stretches of verdant forest. On the west
side a barren waste stretches for miles away from the moun-
tain's base. This section was formerly a valuable timber tract,
but was burned over so completely a number of years ago that
hardly a green tree can be seen on the broad plain for many
miles in this direction. Beyond the burnt region the view to the
west and northwest is very beautiful. The high land near and
beyond Ashland, with here and there a green field dotted in

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 305

among the forest stretches, the little glimpse of Portage Lake
seen through a depression between the hills and the distant
mountains on the far horizon all combine to make a picture of
surpassing beauty. Away to the southwest old Katahdin rises
far above all other heights and Mt, Chase looms up in nearly
the same direction. Almost at our feet apparently, but still
some miles distant in a southerly direction, lies the glassy sur-
face of Squa Pan Lake which is destined at no very distant day
to be the summer resort of the citizens of Presque Isle and vicin-
ity, and without doubt visitors from a distance will be attracted
to this romantic retreat when the proposed improvement upon
the road and in other directions shall have been completed. Al-
ready a fish and game company has been formed at Presque
Isle and arrangements have been completed for stocking the
lake with salmon.

The trail through the woods and across the burnt land can
be seen from the top- off Haystack and the Lake is even now
accessible by buckboards.

Looking southeast from Haystack the wooded tops of
Hedgehog and Quaggy Joe Mountains seem about on a level
with the eye, while Mars Hill and Bald Mountains are rendered
less rugged in appearance by the greater distance.

The villages of Presque Isle and Washburn can be plainly
seen and indeed a bird's eye view of the whole country, extend-
ing to every point of the compass can here be obtained and is
certainly worth climbing for.

If the ascent is trying to weak nerves, the descent is even
more so. At times it seems as though a slip of the foot, or a
loosened rock would send one far out into space, and a novice
at this business is pretty sure to come down in practically a
sitting posture, clinging fast with feet and hands and making
slow but sure progress down the perilous steep.

Soon, however, we reached the more gradual slope and
were able to breathe easier and stand erect. The good Deacon
made the ascent and descent with the ease and agility of a much
younger man, and did not seem at all wearied by the exertion.

If you come to Aroostook, by all means climb Haystack and
you will surely say that the magnificent view amply repaid you
for the rugged climb.

There are numerous other roads throughout the town, upon
all of which are good farms well under way and only requiring
time and courage to make them smooth, productive and easy of
cultivation.

306 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

A careful examination of the whole town convinced us that
we had never estimated it at its full worth as a farming town.
With the exception of the burnt district on the southwest part
of the town, Castle Hill is well up on the list of good farming
towns and it contains not a few tracts of as beautiful farming
land as can be found in the county.

Many of the farmers in the south part of the town are mem-
bers of Eureka Grange, whose hall is located at Ball's Mills.
The farmers living upon the State Road some years ago organ-
ized Castle Hill Grange which is composed of live and active
members and is doing a grand work for the farmers of that
vicinity.

Castle Hill is provided with good schools and each district
is supplied with a good school house. Mr. L. K. Tilley, the
efficient Supervisor, is much interested in the welfare of schools
and looks after them faithfully.

Castle Hill was organized as a plantation under warrant
from the County Commissioners April 23rd, 1866. M. K. Hilton,
A. M. Dudley and Henry Tilley were the first assessors, and
Jefferson Sawyer, now a merchant at Sprague's Mills, the first
clerk. The plantation had in 1880 a population of 419, and a
valuation of $27,636. The valuation in 1890 was $90,758, and
the population 537. It is one of the good towns of the Aroos-
took Valley, and has many wide awake and enterprising citi-
zens.

GEO. H. COLLINS

History of Aroostook

Volume I. Part 2

Sketch of Development of Aroostook since

the Period Covered by the Early

History by Mr. Wiggin.

By George H. Collins

History of Aroostook

VOLUME L PART 2

INTRODUCTION

The part of this work following the foregoing pages, gives
a cursory and somewhat imperfect sketch of the development
which has taken place since the date when Mr. Wiggin wrote the
history of the County's early settlement. It was at first planned
to have this form a separate volume, but it has been decided to
include it as an appendix to the work of Mr. Wiggin. It is not
as complete as to merit the name of history, but will perhaps
serve to picture imperfectly what Aroostook has accomplished
within the past thirty years in the way of business, industrial and
social progress. As such it is submitted in connection with the
work which it was the primary purpose of this publica-
tion to place before the public, and as such, we trust that
it will serve its purpose, even though it deserves more time and
ability than the writer has been able to give to its preparation.

CHAPTER I.
Extent Of Aroostook And Its Political 'i Origin

Geographically, the County of Aroostook is a great domain.
Comprismg 6408 square miles, it is larger than the States of
Rhode Island and Delaware combined, and is nearly as large in
area as the State of Massachusetts, It has probably more fer-
tile soil, cleared and uncleared, than all the rest of New England.
No greater or more productive area is to be found east of the
Mississippi than the County of Aroostook would represent were
all its potential wealth of fertile soil developed.

Originally embraced in Washington County, Aroostook was
taken off that County in 1839, and incorporated March 16th of
that year. March 21, 1843 it was enlarged by additions from
Penobscot, and March 12, 1844, by additions from Piscataquis
and Somerset Counties. At present writing it contains 50 towns
and 21 plantations.

4 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

According to the Maine Year Book its population in 1830
was 3399; in 1840 9413; in 1850 12,529; in 1860 22,479; in 1870
29,609; in 1880, 41,700; in 1890, 49,589; in 1900, 60,744; in
1910, 74,644; in 1920, 81,728.

According to these figures its largest percentage of gain was
in the decade between 1850 and 1860. Immigration in this per-
iod was stimulated by the visit of the Maine Press Association
to Aroostook in 1858, the tide being checked in the following
decade by the outbreak of the Civil War, after which Aroos-
took's growth was small until the advent of the potato starch
making industry.

Aroostook would have cut a still bigger figure than it does
on the map of New England, had the clafms of Maine in what
is called the "Northeastern Boundary Dispute" been fully sus-
tained in the settlement of that controversy. The claim of
Maine overlapped the upper St. John River and extended to the
St. Lawrence, and upon a fair reading and interpretation of the
Treaty of 1783, which attempted, rather bunglingly, a definition
of the boundary, there is little doubt but that Maine was justi-
fied in her full contention. The claim of Great Britain would
have designated the Northeastern Boundary line as one running
irom Mars Hill Mountain in a practically westerly direction
across the State to the border of Canada.

Maine's insistence upon her claim was the sentimental one
of a maintenance of her sovereign rights. The claim of Great
Britain was made in the hope of securing an award of territory
which, even at that early date, was recognized as important, as
it would have afforded a much shorter and more direct commun-
ication between Quebec and the Maritime Province of New
Brunswick. Important eighty years ago, when the boundary line
dispute raged, this territory, now comprised in what is known as
North Aroostook, is vastly more important to Canada and Great
Brita'n today, with the great industrial and commercial devel-
opment that has taken place in Canada. In the changed condi-
tions, to have Eastern and Western Canada separated by this
huge wedge represented by North Aroostook, is a great incon-
venience in time of peace, and in event of war, as was dem-
onstrated in case of the World War, is calculated to be a handi-
cap to military movements and operations of the first magnitude.

On the part of Maine, when the Northeastern Boundary dis-
pute was rife, feeling could not have been more intense and
public bitterness could not have been roused to a higher pitch,
had those engaged in that controversy on the part of Maine had

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 5,

a clear vision of all the possibilities time has disclosed of the"
^reat agricultural and timber wealth of Aroostook.

In the "Aroostook War" era Aroostook meant nothing to-
the stout defenders of Maine's claim under the boundary treaty,
except a right founded on principle. It was not supposed that
to concede the British claim would have meant a material loss of
any magnitude, but to have yielded and surrendered territory,
however valueless, to an unjust claim vitally challenged the
manhood and American spirit of the men who then held author-
ity in Maine's administrative and legislative halls. They fought
a strenuous and long-drawn out battle in defence of the State's
sovereign rights. So tenacious were they of these rights, so
ably did they uphold them in argument, and with such vigor
did they urge upon the somewhat listless and indifferent Fed-
eral government its duty to defend Maine in a cause founded on
justice, that the national spirit was finally aroused. The cause
of Maine in connection with the Northeastern Boundary question
ceased to be a local and became an international affair. It en-
gaged the best statesmanship of Great Britain and the United
States, and as all know was finally settled by an extended nego-
tiation, wherein the claims of Maine were represented by Daniel
Webster, and the claims of Great Britain by Lord Ashburton.

The settlement finally made was a compromise. Maine fell
short of the St. Lawrence "highlands" construction, and of her
contention in full, but the settlement satisfied her honor and
dignity, and was much better than war, which at one time seem-
ed imminent. In fact, it afforded a fine exemplification of the
spirit of mutual forbearance, and the rule of reason as opposed
to force w,hich has since become the settled policy of the United
States and Great Britain in composing differences which have
arisen between them.

The so-called "Aroostook War" has sometimes been treated
as a joke. Incidents in connection with it may have their hu-
morous, even their ridiculous side, but it was, nevertheless, a
serious chapter in international, and especially in Maine history.
Maine showed characteristic American spirit and the highest
moral and intellectual vigor, in the assertion of her rights in
connection with the controversy, and as has been said, it re-
flects credit and honor upon her because of the firm and un-
yielding stand she made upon principle.

There are today remaining on Maine soil few visible memor-
ials of this historic episode. It is recalled in the names of two
Aroostook towns, Fort Fairfield and Fort Kent, named after

6 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

Governor Fairfield and Governor Kent, who figured in connec-
tion with the lengthy controversy. There is still standing on a
most picturesque spot overlooking the St. John River in Fort
Kent, the old "Block House." This unique and ancient landmark
is in a good state of preservation, and is likely to be Increasingly
valued as a historic relic as time goes by.

The Aroostook War also left as a legacy to Northern Maine
what has long been known as the old "Military road," put
through when the boundary dispute was in its most acute stage.
Built as a means of bringing American troops into Aroostook
to guard the boundary at points exposed to military invasion in
event of war, it remained after the international incident was
closed, a most important public utility. Thereafter for a long
period it was the great thoroughfare over which immigration
flowed into the County, and constituted its only link of commun-
ication with the outside world for many years.

Practically abandoned, except to small local traffic, for
some decades after Aroostook acquired railroad facilities, with
the development of motor car travel and traffic it is again com-
ing to the front. Sections of it have already been made into a
macadamized State highway, and in a comparatively short time
it bids fair to be again a great and important artery of traffic.

The early history of the County, which Mr. Wiggin has
traced with such painstaking care in the pages contained in the
first part of this work, is of great value and interest for pur-
poses of reading and reference, and it is a record that has the
peculiar interest which attaches to all the annals of pioneer life
in our country, whose growth and development in every section
are traceable to the hardy virtues, the toil and simple thrift of the
early settlers. It is not conceivable that what these early set
tiers did, it would be possible to repeat in the present or any
succeeding generations, because in all the teeming population
now within the borders of New England and Canada, from which
the Aroostook pioneer settlers were chiefly recruited, there can
not be found today those with the fibre of the men and women
who made their homes in the primeval wilderness of Northern
Maine, and laid the foundation of Aroostook as we see it today.
The bounds of settled Aroostook are practically at the points
these pioneers reached in their hard struggle, pushing the forest
back, and even were the conditions for acquiring forested farms
as easy now as they were in the County's first days, young peo-
ple could not, in any appreciable numbers, be found willing to
take up new farms and submit to the gruelling toil and the se-

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 7

vere hardships which were the common experience of pioneer
days. So radically have the accepted standards of living among
all classes changed, that in no class of workers in all our land,
are there those who do not now demand for themselves condi-
tions of life totally incompatible with the toil and hardship
these early settlers of our County endured. Modern habits and
tastes, and the present day relaxation of the rugged energy which
characterized the pioneer settlers, seem to make it out of the
question that the now unsettled portion of Aroostook will to any
great extent be further reclaimed for agricultural purposes.

Events now unlocked for many modify probable future
conditions. For example, were it to transpire that the Western
wilderness section of Aroostook should be penetrated by a rail-
road, wherever soil and other conditions favored, agricultural
development would follow. But this development would not
be of the extent, nor would those who engaged in it be of a like
class with the pioneer immigrants, who settled in the wilderness
of Northern Maine from sixty to seventy years ago.

If one reads and analyzes the record of Mr. Wiggin in the
foregoing pages, it will throw light upon the after history of our
County. Aroostook has come to take rank as a great commun-
ity, not wholly because it has developed a peculiar branch of
agricultural industry, which has favored its progress and pros-
perity. The seed of its successful development was likewise,
to a large extent, in the sound and vigorous manhood and woman-
hood which came here in the early days to make homes in the
wilderness.

All those who found their way here were not of the mater-
ial that is requisite to succeed in the hard struggle of pioneer
life. But the great percentage must have been possessed of the
rare qualities, physical, moral and mental, which are indispens-
able in those who make and succeed in the attempt to conquer
obstacles such as confronted the early settlers of Aroostook.
And the real tap root of Aroostook's worth and value as a com-
munity today is not drawing its strength and nourishment out of
the special favor of a bountiful soil, but out of the inheritance of
this sturdy pioneer ancestry.

It is easy by a careful perusal of Mr. Wiggin's narrative to
trace the sources from which immigration came into the differ-
ent Aroostook towns in the early days, and to gather from the
circumstances attending the planting here of different settle-
ments much in regard to the character and quality of this pioneer
stock. Some of it came from the older towns of Southern

8 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

Maine and Massachusetts, and had the strong virtues character-
istic of the best New England stock.

Some of it came from New Brunswick, and while some of
this Provincial immigration of the pioneer days was good, a
percentage of it was less desirable. The towns bordering the
boundary line which had roads communicating with the Province,
in the early days of the County's history, became dumping
grounds for refugees from across the line, some refugees from
debt, and others those who sought an asylum on American soil
in consequence of various offences they had committed against
the Provincial laws. By way of reciprocity, when the Civil War
came on, and conscription was resorted to, what were then term-
ed "skeedadlers" and "bounty jumpers," migrated in very con-
siderable numbers from Aroostook to New Brunswick. In that
way, what the Province got rid of in the shape of these undesir-
ables called refugees, she got back in the shape of fugitives
from this side of the boundary, so that the balance was about
even in the exchange.

The so-called refugees generally remained in the Aroostook
towns to which they emigrated from the Province, for the most
part settling close to the border, and building up settlements of
a low type of community life, now happily nearly faded out and
merged in the general picture of thrift which Aroostook pre-
sents as a whole.

To the handicap of the refugees for many years was added
the equally bad factor of the boundary line rum shops, which
preceded schools and churches, and located astride the bound-
ary line so that they were able to shuffle their illicit business
back and forth across the boundary, and in the absence of active
co-operation of the enforcement authorities on either side the line,
were able to defy the laws of both governments with impunity.
These outlaw strongholds did not entirely succumb until to a
growing sentiment for enforcement on the Provincial side was
added the vigor which was put into the prosecution of offenders
against prohibition through the liquor traffic being outlawed by
the Federal Government. While they existed and flourished,
which was for many years, they were a dead hand of bad influ-
ence upon settlements within their reach, and blighted every com-
munity within or near which they were located.

Later on Aroostook began to get Provincial immigration of a
far more desirable sort. This was after the potato growing and
shipping industry had become fully established, and was being
conducted in Aroostook with great profit. When that came about

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK »

the Provincial farmers, on account of the United States duty of
twenty-five cents a bushel on foreign potatoes, v/ere shut out of
the American markets, and v^^ith just as good a soil as the Aroos-
took farmers, v^^ere forced to farm on a small margin of profit,
and to look across the line and see the tillers of the soil in our
County getting forehanded, and in many cases accumulating
wealth. The result was that farms remained stationary or went
down in value in New Brunswick, and a rapid enhancement of
values took place in Aroostook. During this process which began
about 1900, there was a great drift of Provincial farmers into
Aroostook, particularly North Aroostook, and this went on until
values rose to practically prohibitive prices. During that period
New Brunswick contributed to Aroostook many hundreds of her
best and most substantial farmers. They brought with them cash
to buy our best farms, and what was more important, they brought
every essential quality that goes to make up a clean, sober, in-
dustrious and highly desirable community. These good men and
women from across the border, and there is no better class in the
world than the best that New Brunswick has raised on her farms,
came to us with narrower ideas of saving and living than pre-
vailed in Aroostook, and with habits of smaller and snugger
methods of farming, but they were not slow to conform to the
standards they found here, both as to farming and the general
fashion of living and doing things. The result is today that the
Provincial farmers who have come to us, while they have lost
none of their distinctly good traits as citizens, have fully adopted
the broad-guaged ideas of Aroostook.

CHAPTER II.
Conditions Of Life In Pioneer Days.

It is almost impossible to realize today the condit'ons of life
which prevailed in Aroostook in the really primitive days of the
County's history. What surrounded people then and the environ-
ment now, the habits and customs of life then and the habits and
customs of life now, are in almost unbelievable contrast. Yet
there are a few, a very few of course, still active today who were
active participants in Aroostook pioneer life.

In the pre-Civil War period of Aroostook historv, practical-
ly the only turnpiked highway was the Military Road from
Houlton, built at the time of the Aroostook War, with the ex-
tension northward to Presque Isle and Ashland, which was made

10^

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

later on. Over this thoroughfare flowed, back and forth, all the
traffic the County had with the outside world. In fact, the term
"outside" came into common use, and remained so practically
up to the coming of the railroad, as a designation of what lay
beyond the southern limit of Aroostook. To reach this "out-
side" community whose nearest outpost was the City of Bangor,
it required for the four and six horse teams which hauled Aroos-
took products out of the county and brought merchandise back
into it, a ten days' journey from Presque Isle, or a round-trip
pilgrimage of about twenty days. These four and six horse
teams, more often in the pioneer days on the outward trip load-
ed with shaved cedar shingles than any other commodity, gen-
erally went in processions, liferally in caravans. In this way
the long journey on the road was relieved of some of its lone-
liness and monotony, and when the hauling was hard, either on
account of mud and deep ruts in the summer, or clogged with
snowdrifts in winter, the teams gave one another a lift through
the mud sloughs or drifts, or up the sharp pitches of the long,
steep hills. From this gregarious habit it followed that the tav-
erns where these caravans of pioneer teamsters took dinner,
and where they were fed and lodged, had crowds in them at the

HUGH JAMIESON

A Pioneer Farmer, and Famous as a Six-Horse

Teamster in the Early Days

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 11

noon hour and over night of a type of rough and ready hilarity
peculiar to the social atmosphere of that primitive time. This
teamster and lumber-jack element, with which a traveller on
the old Aroostook road was mostly brought in contact sixty or
seventy years ago, had its counterpart in a degree at least in
the early life of the West. Both the teamsters of the fifties and
sixties between Aroostook and Bangor, and the plainsmen, were
the genuine and unadulterated product of nature, though the
teamsters lacked the awe-inspiring toggery of cartridge belts
and revolvers, which adorned the rough riders of the West.

Fully as marked a type as the teamsters, and more pic-
turesque, were the stage-drivers of the early days. As a class
they stood a notch higher than even the most famous of the old
time six-horse teamsters. They had the right of way on the
road; humble and deferential hostlers took charge of their four-
in-hand outfits when they pulled up in front of the taverns; their
coming and going was always the chief event all along the line
of their journey back and forth, and they were looked upon, all
in all, as the most distinguished figures in the social life of
those days.

All of us whose memories go back to the times in which
they flourished, can recall nothing in our experience more proud
or handsome than the figure they cut when they pulled up be-
fore the taverns. No matter how tamely the horses hitched to
the big swaying coaches in summer, or to long, covered pungs in
winter, plodded along between stops, they were trained as nice-
ly as a trick horse in a circus in the habit of getting away from
or fetching up in front of a tavern with great dash and spirit.
That was the part of the stage driver's life that gave him dis-
tinction. But if a traveller took passage with him at Bangor en
route for Presque Isle, especially if it was in the winter time,
the glamour of the thing very soon gave way to a realization of
the exposure and severe hardship involved in the three days'
pilgrimage. Fur coats in those early days were unknown, and
the stages generally afforded the traveller only cramped and
narrow accommodations. On the way from Bangor toward far-
off Aroostook, one of the overnight stops was at Winn, and
from that point the start in the morning, no matter if the tem-
perature was far below zero, had to be made at four o'clock,
and there was a ride of fourteen miles to the famous inn at Mo-
lunkus, kept by Reed. There have never been before or since
such breakfasts as the frozen and famished wayfarers got at
Reed's, but between these smoking feasts at the different tav-

12

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

erns, there was cold and wretchedness enough to make up with
compound interest. Strange to say the old stage drivers, whose
everyday experience was in making these long and tedious trips,
in winter time filled with all the exposure of an Arctic expedi-
tion, thrived on their hard jobs. One of them, Mr. Hiram B.
Forbes, is still living in Presque Isle at this writing (1922). A
famous stage driver on the old Aroostook road some sixty odd
years ago, up to a few years ago Mr. Forbes was hale and
hearty. He is an interesting landmark of the pioneer days, and
as he is clear in h's faculties, an interest ng man to talk to.

HIRAM FORBES
One of the Old-Time Stage Drivers

It is pertinent to this narrative, in part the history and in
part, more correctly described as the story of Aroostook, to
give a hasty, and as needs must be, imperfect picture of life as
it was lived in the primitive days. There was then no tangible
thing in the County, or within reach of its people, which justi-
fied them in looking forward to any brilliant future for this
great Northern region of Maine. There was no railroad, nor any

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

13

reasonable prospect of one. There was neither telegraph nor
telephone. There was no starch factory, and nothing to lead
any citizen, no matter how far-seeing he might be, to single out
any special line of farming as likely to be one on which the
County could build up a great prosperity. The people were poor
— many of them extremely poor. There were no banks, and
practically no money in circulation. The little that found its
way into the County was generally Provincial money, disbursed
by the lumber operators for labor and supplies. In Presque Isle
and surrounding towns in the period between the close of the
Civil War and the memorable panic of 1873, notes issued by a
large lumber firm of St. John, known as "Jewett & Pitcher"
money, were in wide circulation. With the advent of the panic

GEORGE GOSLIN
A Famous Driver of the Pioneer State Teams

this firm failed, and to the general conditions of stringency
which prevailed, the collapse of this concern, which rendered
its notes worthless, was an added disaster in the area within
which this substitute money circulated. The farmers affected by

14

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

the disaster suddenly found the little money in their possession
of no more value than so much Confederate "scrip."

Business was done on an interminable system of "trusting,"
and naturally on big margins of profit on goods. The latter was,
indeed, a necessary incident of the endless drag of credit. As
a further consequence, owing to the poverty of the people, the
dearth of money, or any means of getting money accommoda-
tion through organized channels such as we know today, people
were the prey of extortionate money lenders, who were some-
times veritable Shylocks. As a result the community was ruled
over in a sense by the old-time traders and the old-time money-
lending barons. Of the two the old-time merchants deserve
the kinder mention. They were almost without exception strong,
positive characters, such as one would naturally expect to find in
business leaders under pioneer conditions. But under a rough
exterior they often had kind hearts. While they did not season
any of their good deeds with soft words or sentiment, some of
them kept many a poor fellow on his feet, and many a family
from suffering in times of bitter poverty and struggle.

HON. DAVID DUDLEY

One of the Pioneer Business Men

of North Aroostook

Just how barren of pleasure, satisfaction and convenience,,
as we measure the blessings of life today, were the homes of

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

15

the early pioneers, It is hard for us to conceive. Their chief
aim and object in life, in the absence of the variety of occupa-
tions and pastimes that distract our modern attention, and dissi-
pate our minds, seemed to be to concentrate all their energies
on making farms and raising children. How great a success they
made of both these lines of endeavor, the wealth of Aroostook
today in broad and fertile farms, and in the splendid people who
have descended from these simple, sturdy ancestors, abundant-
ly testifies.

PRESQUE ISLE'iS, FIRST HOTEL
The Old Reed Tavern

In reviewing the pioneer days, one can better imagine the
conditions of life then existing, by calling to mind some of the
things the pioneer folk totally lacked, and the paucity and sim-
plicity of the elementary things then which go to make up home
and community life. To all intents and purposes they were
without money, and in place of money there was a system of
barter of the few things they produced for the few things they
must necessarily have in order, not to live in the sense we un-
derstand living, but merely to exist. Nothing was bought for
cash, and when the rare exception occurred that a thing was not
obtained on credit, it was paid for either in labor or in some
such product of labor as came from the forest, such as shaved
cedar shingles, or from the soil, usually in the shape of buck-
wheat or livestock. The houses which sheltered the pioneer

16 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

families, and the barns which housed their stock, were log cab-
ins and hovels, as they were called, chinked with moss. The
furniture, of the simplest and rudest kind, was fashioned mostly
by the axe, the draw-shave, the saw and hammer. The clothing
of everyone, from the skin out, was home knit and home woven,
and from the wool on the sheeps' backs to the garments on the
backs of the family, the labor, except for the process that the
carding mill had a part in, was done by the hands of the set-
tlers themselves. In like manner, their food came from the new
farm, the woods and the rivers and streams. They could not
ordinarily have lacked a substantial and nourishing bill-of-fare,
for they had pork and poultry of their own raising, the young-
sters of the usually large family broods, contributed fish occa-
sionally, there was venison in, and probably out of season, buck-
wheat bread and pancakes, butter and molasses in abundance.

They had few books, no newspapers, must needs have been
almost wholly unacquainted with what was going on outside the
great wilderness their homes were buried in, their world was
a sparsely settled neighborhood bounded by a few miles, at
first school privileges were of the crudest and most limited kind,
and they were ministered to spiritually only by the itinerant
preachers who came and went on uncertain rounds from neigh-
borhood to neighborhood. They conquered the forest with the
axe, and the axe was the one indispensable implement which
preceded all other agencies of progress and development. With
it they felled the trees and junked up their big trunks in prepar-
ation for the piling bees and "frolics." When the time came to
make the great transition from the log cabin to a frame house,
the axe shaped all the timbers of the structure out of the rough
logs. When the barn framer had done his work, and the great
event of a "raising" took place, after the bents were raised into
an erect position by "shores," the boldest and best men
climbed the unsteady skeleton, axes in hand. Up went the pio-
neer athletes from one piece of timber to another, balancing
themselves on the small girts and the big beams, while they
caught the wooden pins tossed up to them from those on the
ground. Then with swinging axe blows they drove the pins
through the tenants in the morticed timbers, one after another,
up to the "top plate" timber, the dizziest perch of all in a barn
raising job. One of the pioneer barns was not a modern sky-
scraper in stature, but a fall from the "purline plate" would
have been no joke, and it was only the picked men of the neigh-
borhood who could, walk about on the small cross timbers and

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 17

the beams at such a height, as unconcerned as if on the ground,
driving pins and spikes into place.

There is nothing in modern city or village building that
duplicates a big barn raising, and even farm barn raisings have
ceased in these modern days to be thrilling and spectacular, as
it has got to be the fashion to put them up in a tame, piecemeal
v^ay, after the manner of most building construction work.

The pleasantest recollection of the pioneer days was the
spirit and habit of neighborhood co-operation and mutual help-
fulness. This applied to all the heavy tasks of clearing the land
and other stages of pioneer development. It was in evidence in
all emergencies of sickness and need, indoors and out, and under
the pressure of their peculiar necessities the early settlers were,
by common consent, in their different neighborhoods, so many
mutual aid societies. Everything in the shape of service and
commodities for farm, home and household use, was cheerfully
exchanged and swapped about. This even went so far as to in-
clude the ailments of different neighborhoods. If there was
measles in one neighborhood and chicken pox in another, any
danger of a settlement getting a monopoly of either was averted
by visiting and carrying these and other complaints back and
forth.

If it was impossible in outside-the-home tasks to work alone
in such jobs as barn raisings, it would have been harder within
the home to raise the big families, without leaning on kind-
hearted neighbors for aid. With a whole neighborhood of solic-
itous maternity helpers, children were ushered into the world,
so that that wrinkle in pioneer home life was easily and smooth-
ly ironed out, without any of the painful and insolvency threat-
ening complications of the present time. If it had been the rule
to mulct the pioneer family in case of every birth with the in-
numerable financial burdens and exactions which surround ma-
ternity today, Aroostook would have been nipped in the bud in
its pioneer stage of development, and would simply have gotten
nowhere.

They had few doctors, no trained nurses, and most fortun-
ately of all, no specialists. Appendicitis, which lies in ambush
at every turn in the present degenerate days, was unknown in
the pioneer community. We are now so far removed from the
actual conditions and experiences of that long-past period in our
County's history that we can not exactly tell how much wastage
there was in the prolific families of the early days. It may be
claimed that the early settlements were so fruitful of offspring

18 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

that marked increase of population was maintained in spite of
a greater relative mortality than is the rule today. We do not
believe, however, that this is a true statement of the case. In
all probability, they thrived, and were to a greater extent im-
mune from modern ills, because their habits of life were more
simple and natural. Like the v/ild animal life around them,
they lived closer to and more in accord with nature, and were
in harmony with their simple, fresh and invigorating environ-
ment.

So far as their farming was concerned, while it was neces-
sarily crude, and sometimes unintelligently carried on, there
was always in that, as in other things, a gradual progress and
improvement to a higher level. The pioneer followed impulses,
sometimes far stronger and purer for being simple of mind and
heart than ours, and they led up to better and higher things.
Few there are who have not seen this reflected in the faces and
the words and acts of the oldtime fathers and mothers, who
were refined and ennobled by their lives of honest toil, their
humble devotion and their consecration to various duties, as
they were called upon to perform them, in their relations to
home and community.

CHAPTER III.
One Of The Best Type Of Aroostook Pioneer Farmers

In this connection it may be pertinent to the narrative to
cite an individual instance, illustrating the best type of Aroos-
took farmer citizenship, as it was in evidence in our County in
the early days. The party referred to does not represent pre-
cisely the average farmer of those days, but was rather in the
class of our County's pioneer leaders. His career, however, re-
flects what the County as a whole has accomplished in the way
of material achievement, and to a large extent what it repre-
sents in citizenship.

We refer to Hon. Elisha E. Parkhurst, who, though a thor-
oughly up-to-date citizen of our County now, has an active ex-
perience in our community dating back to the days before the
Civil War. Mr. Parkhurst, who is a native of the fine old town
of Unity, Waldo County, came to Aroostook first in 1857. Two
years before that he took his first dip into politics by casting
his vote for John C. Freemont, the "Pathfinder," for President.
Like most of those who turned their faces toward Aroostook in

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

19

those days, Mr. Parkhurst had no capital save health, energy,
good habits, and an unlimited reservoir of capacity for the kind
of old fashioned days' works common to those times.

HON. ELISHA E. PARKHURST

One of the Oldest Residents and Most Prominent

Citizens of North Aroostook

His feet got planted on Aroostook soil originally by acci-
dent. He did not have in his mind v/hen he wandered up here
into the wilderness, the thought of taking up a farm and settling
down. No one who meets Mr. Parkhurst now, staid, dignified,
prosperous — full of years, and justly full of honors, and the
meed of public respect for what he has been and what he has
done in Aroostook, would think that v/hen he made his debut in
Aroostook in 1857 it was as a tin peddler, a vender of tinware,
taking in exchange for his merchandise, sheep pelts, fur, hides,
etc. But after he got here, and he had taken soundings of the
deep, rich loam, which, in the intervening sixty odd years, has
made Maysville famous and wealthy, he concluded that was a
good enough place for him to pitch his tent. He stopped buying
sheep pelts and furs, struck up a bargain with the then owner,
Augustus Allen, son of the late Squire John Allen, and bought
what has since been known as the Ferguson farm, a tract of land
of the regulation size, 160 acres. It was a barter transaction, as

20 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

all business then was. The man he bought of liked the looks
of a horse Mr. Parkhurst had, and after the deal was sweetened
up by adding to the horse the tempting bait of a hundred dollars
in "greenbacks," as they were then called, the offer was accepted,
and a deed was passed for the 160 acre tract. Mr. Parkhurst
built a frame house and added to the clearing of five acres he
found on his purchase, five acres more. He stayed there until
1865, when he sold the Ferguson farm and bought the homestead
farm, where his son, Vincent Parkhurst, now lives. On this lot
when he bought it there were six acres cleared, and a growing
crop of two acres of wheat, three acres of oats and an acre of
potatoes. One hundred and seventy five dollars swung the deal
in this case, with half the crop thrown in. There being no build-
ings on the place, Mr. Parkhurst got busy and built a log house,
which was his home for nine years. Then he made arrange-
ments with Mr. Jos. Hines, who then ran a general store where
the Klein Block, Presque Isle, now stands, to finance him. This
meant that Mr. Hines was to carry him with such supplies as
he needed from planting to harvest- This backing given by Mr.
Hmes included the enterprise of clearing twenty acres. This
was felled, but the first year the season did not favor getting a
burn, and the unfinished job went over to another year, when
ten acres more were felled, making a chopping of thirty acres.
Then the pioneer enterprise was rewarded by a good clean burn,
the thirty acres was piled and further cremated, and when
nothing further remained on the soil but ashes, and nothing hin-
dered but the black stumps, the piece was sown to grain. This
was repeated the following year, and then the patch was seed-
ed to clover and timothy. The Civil War was then on. Mr.
Parkhurst harvested 3,000 lbs. of clover seed and sold it at 40
cents a pound. Five hundred pounds of the crop were disposed
of at home, fifteen hundred pounds were marketed in Woodstock,
the buyers being the Woodstock Agricultural Society, and the
balance was teamed to Bangor. The proceeds of the sales,
$1,200, was probably the biggest crop sale that had been made
in Aroostook up to that time. It enabled Mr. Parkhurst to clean
his slate with his backer, Mr. Hines. It left him, after he had
done so, a roll of $200, and he went home happier than many a
man in these modern days is when he banks $20,000 as the
clean-up of some big potato plant in a banner year. It may be
interesting to note in passing that when Mr. Parkhurst teamed
his grass seed to Bangor, on the return trip he hauled back a
load of hardware and stoves for Walter Bean, who then kept a

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 21

store on North Main Street, Presque Isle. His freight charge
for this load was $3.00 a hundred, and it paid the expenses of
the round trip, which took twenty days.

Mr. Parkhurst had now reached such stature as a farmer that
he needed a barn, and the year of the grass seed deal he built
one. He went into the woods and hewed the timber for the frame
himself. It was what the neighbors called a whopper of a barn,
the biggest in the town, and probably in the county — 42x63,
with an eight foot basement. After it was boarded in with
spruce boards that cost $7 a thousand, it was clapboarded with
No. 1 pine clapboards that cost $20 a thousand, and the roof
was shingled with the best grade of shaved cedar shingles. His
master builder cost him $2 a day and board, the other rough
carpenters under this expert he hired for a dollar a day.

Mr. Parkhurst's pioneer farming schedule called for the
clearing of ten acres a year. Some years this went to fifteen,
and one year to twenty-five. His twenty-five acre clearing was
all sown to grain, which was harvested with a crew of dollar a
day men with hand sickles. The crew of six could reap and
stuke two acres a day. The wages of the crew was paid in store
orders on storekeeper Hines, and as it was war time, with every-
thing about present day level — cotton for example, at 40 cents
a yard, molasses at $1.00 a gallon, flour at $20, the dollar a day
farm hands whose families were generally as large as their
wages were small, had to do some figuring to make .both ends
meet. One thing, however, helped, and that was that clothing
was practically all home-spun — knitting and home weaving
achieving the miracle of putting clothes on the family's backs,
after the "H. C. L." in the grocery line had left but a mere
pittance in the way of salvage out of the dollar a day income.

Lower Maine and portions of Massachusetts in those days
looked to Aroostook for what was called "pea-vine" clover seed,
somewhat the same as other sections look to Aroostook for po-
tato seed. There was quite a trade in grass seed, and this was
supplemented with oats for the lumber woods. Live stock was
also raised, and in those days drovers from what was called
"outside" came into Aroostook and gathered up droves of cattle
and sheep for the Brighton Market.

Mr. Parkhurst's connection with seed grass husbandry is
interesting. Always alert to improve old and accustomed meth-
ods of husbandry, and to develop new lines, he learned of ex-
periments that were being made in New Brunswick in raising
alsike clover, and in 1868 he procured of a Woodstock dealer 10

22 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

pounds, which the dealer had imported from England. This he
sowed, raising a crop of 150 lbs., sowing the product again. He
then began distributing it, finding a market for it in Bangor and
Portland. He filled orders to seed firms in those cities and else-
where up to three tons annually, and also introduced it to Aroos-
took farmers. That was the beginning of the use of Alsike clo-
ver in New England, making a contribution to the husbandry of
Aroostook, of the State, and other New England States, of the
greatest value and importance.

About the year 1873 Mr. Parkhurst took up the breeding of
thoroughbred cattle, choosing Shorthorns. He made a very bold
investment in this line, and continued it successfully until 1883,
when potato raising side-tracked everything else in the minds
of Aroostook farmers. His enterprise, nevertheless, was of
permanent benefit to the County, and as a campaign of educa-
tion in the department of stock husbandry, and through the dis-
tribution of thoroughbred animals resulting from his enterprise,
Aroostook was very substantially benefitted.

When potato raising came to the front Mr. Parkhurst turned
his attention to that and the kindred Industry of starch making.
In 1886 building a starch factory at Parkhurst which he con-
ducted successfully ten years. Later he went into raising and
dealing in seed potato stock and for a considerable period was
prominent in that line, operating several farms and raising and
shipping large quantities of seed potatoes to Southern markets.
His activity In this field has only recently been narrowed down,
and he Is still active In the potato game, and In looking after
fruit raising and other interests he has acquired on the Pacific
Coast.

Mr. Parkhurst has found time to make his mark in public
affairs of the Town, County and State, as the following record,
omitting minor local offices of trust, will show:

From 1871 to 1873 he was a member of the State Board of
Agriculture. He was a member of the State House of Repre-
sentatives in 1877-1878. Served In the Senate in 1883-1885, was
a member of the Maine State College of Agriculture four years;
was Chaplain of the Maine State Grange 1878-1881; was the
first Master of the Aroostook Pomona Grange, and was Trustee
of the Northern Aroostook Agricultural Society from 1870 to
1896, a period of 26 years.

All in all It is a remarkable record of sound, fruitful and
highly successful citizenship, and we think Mr. Parkhurst may
be rightly cited as illustrating what Is typical In the best of
Aroostook progress and development.

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 23

CHAPTER IV.
Development Of Railroad Transportation

The development of Aroostook has been perhaps more large-
ly one of transportation than any other single factor. Immigra-
tion of a sturdy people, with the courage, fortitude and strcfng
fiber of mind and body required for such a task, came in and
broke down the physical obstacles which the climate and the
wilderness presented. But such activity and efforts could carry
the work of development forward only to a limited point, ham-
pered by inadequate means of transportation.

The period within which the growth of the County was cir-
cumscribed, and development commensurate with natural re-
sources, was held in check, was the period — a long and very
weary one — during which Northern Maine waited for means of
railroad transportation for its products. This period went back
some years before the Civil War. Prior to that time there was
little in the way of population and developed industries to base
a public demand upon for the investment of capital in the con-
struction of a railroad into Aroostook. There was sound argu-
ment, however, even then for such an enterprise, but from the
standpoint of capital, and in the eyes of the outside world,
Aroostook was a terra incognita, a wilderness of which far less
was known than we know today of the great expanse of forest
domain, which awaits development — whenever success shall have
rewarded the efforts now in progress to open it, by the building
of the Gould line, known as the Quebec Extension Railroad.

To make matters worse for Aroostook, it had for a competi-
tor in development the then new West, which was pulling from
Maine and all New England its surplus capital and its wealth
of young and vigorous blood. This not only brought the rural
communities of Southern Maine and other sections of New Eng-
land to a standstill, but inflicted upon them a serious blight in
decrease of population, and decadence of business industries.
The great magnet which was thus pulling from the East West-
ward, affected Aroostook unfavorably, in common with other
sections.

It is aside from the purpose that this fever to go West, and
to plant every available dollar of Eastern savings and Eastern
capital there, had many examples of individual failure to reap
expected returns. It brought wealth to many, and perhaps to as
many more it brought loss and disappointment, and, broadly
considered, the rule it established in practice of putting Maine

24 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

energy and Maine money into channels of enterprise and invest-
ment outside Maine, has been a bad one, and kept our State on
the lower rung of the ladder, while other commonwealths have
been climbing upward in wealth and population. It is sufficient
to say that Aroostook had peculiar disadvantages in securing
means of development such as her resources warranted, and
that they were secured at last only by a persistence and energy
which would not be denied, and by the possession of resources
which, in the nature of things, could not be permanently over-
looked and neglected.

In the old, pre-railroad days horse power was all that Aroos-
took had to move her surplus products to market outside the
County, and to bring into the County the list of things the sim-
ple habits and limited business of the County called for. Up to
the time the Civil War broke out there was not invested in all
means of transportation between Aroostook and Bangor, as much
value as is to be found in any single garage, of the many hun-
dreds now scattered throughout the County. As much was not
brought into Aroostook in three months as is brought in a
single day now by the Bangor & Aroostook Railroad. As much
tonnage did not go out in six months, as is moved out now in a
single day in the busy season of freight movement out of Aroos-
took. The value of what was raised and marketed in the season
of 1919 in Aroostook was twenty-five times the entire valuation
of the County in I860- Had capital waked up to an apprecia-
tion of what there was here to develop and had a direct railroad
been built into the County twenty years before it was built,
both valuation and population would have run to much greater
figures than they have reached.

The first railroad enterprise from which Aroostook ultimate-
ly derived benefit, originated in New Brunswick. There was
conceived at a very early date in New Brunswick, as far back
as 1840, a railroad project, which, if it had materialized, would
have followed much the same course across what is now Nor-
thern Maine soil, as the route of the proposed Quebec Extension
Railroad. This ancient road as planned had its eastern terminus
at St. Andrews and its western end at Quebec. St. Andrews
was then a provincial seaport town of importance; there were
men of financial weight and influence there, and this old-time
scheme of a cross-cut line of communication between Quebec
and St. Andrews, received the approval of London bankers.

Just what caused the miscarriage of the enterprise we do
not know, but we surmise that the settlement of the Northeast-

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 25

ern boundary dispute adversely to the British claims, put a
quietus on the project. After that railroad development in the
Province was in abeyance, for a time, but at length the St.
Andrews to Quebec movement resulted in the building of a line
from St. Andrews to Richmond, which afforded an outlet by
teaming freight between Houlton and Richmond. Subsequent-
ly the branch from the main line to Richmond was abandoned,
after which a branch into Houlton was built from Debec Junc-
tion.

The European & North American from Bangor to Vanceboro
was built in 1860 — 70. It connected with the European & North
American for extension from St. John westward. The two were
united into the "Consolidated European & North American Rail-
road." This was projected as a great international highway,
and the junction of the two lines at the boundary was of such
supposed significance and importance that the imposing cere-
monies commemorating the event were participated in by Pres-
ident Grant and other high officials on the part of the United
States, and by equally high dignitaries representing the British
Government. Great things were predicted for this enterprise
which was to link the two countries together in closer bonds of
commercial and social relationship. It was expected that pas-
senger traffic via. Liverpool to New York would be diverted to
this line at Halifax, and that American travelers would largely
turn to the Canadian seaport as a more pleasant and expeditious
route to England. In all these respects the thoroughfare opened
with such joyful acclaim and enthusiasm, has proved a disap-
pointment, and as has been stated, the promoters of the Amer-
ican end of the scheme looted Aroostook of a timber land do-
main of almost untold prospective value, by offering as a bait
to the Legislature which granted the subsidy, the promise that
the line would be extended into and afford an outlet for Aroos-
took.

The Consolidated European & North American road failed
in 1875. Reorganized with the title "St. John & Maine," it was
leased to the New Brunswick. The section of the European &
North American in Maine went to the Maine Central in 1882.

Nevertheless, the American section of this soxalled inter-
national line was destined to become a part of a system of
transportation which, though circuitous, and merely accidental
and incidental in its relation to Aroostook interests, for many
years afforded our County a very useful though limited and
imperfect bond of communication with the outside world.

26 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

In connection with the other Provincial railroad developments,
sonaewhat later than the period which marked the opening of the
European & North American line, Alexander Gibson, a Provin-
cial lumber king, conceived and carried out a project of building
a narrow gauge railroad from Gibson, near Fredericton, to
Woodstock, his line following the course of the St- John on the
east side of the river. The Gibson narrow-guage was carried
fiist to Northampton, opposite Woodstock, and later was built
through to Andover, Grand Falls and Edmundston. The pro-
moter of this line received from the Canadian Government
10,000 acres of land per mile of road as a subsidy.

When this narrow gauge line was pushed up the St. John,
Fort Fairfield, the nearest North Aroostook town to the new
Provincial railroad, eagerly sought to avail itself of this oppor-
tunity to secure a rail outlet. Agitation to that end was begun,
and the Fort Fairfield people, with characteristic energy, per-
sisted, until finally their efforts were crowned with success, and
a spur from the Gibson line was completed into Fort Fairfield
village. Later on the same sort of strenuous effort Fort Fair-
field had exerted was put forth by Caribou citizens and the
helping hand of an extension of the line was given them.

It was now Presque Isle's turn to boost and boom to make
the branch line let out another link. The boom commenced
early in 1881, and those who recall those days, remember what
a strenuous campaign it was. The upshot of it was that a pro-
position was made to the New Brunswick Railroad to extend
its line to Presque Isle on payment of $15,000 by the towns in-
terested, together with a guarantee of right of way. A railroad
mass meeting was held at Presque Isle April 2, 1881. The re-
sult was that on April 8, 1881, the town of Presque Isle voted
$10,000, and on the following day Maysville voted $5,000, and
individuals in adjoining towns subscribed toward the right of
way. On the 28th of IVlay Messrs. Isaac and E. R. Burpee, con-
tractors for the New Brunswick Railroad, accompanied by F. A.
Wilson of Bangor, and Llewellyn Powers of Houlton, as attor-
ney for the towns, met in Presque Isle, and the contract was
completed. Work was at once commenced and energetically
pushed, and on Dec. 1, 1881, the first train steamed into Presque
Isle. Messrs- Burpee and other gentlemen interested were upon
the train, and were given a most enthusiastic reception.

This was the greatest event in Presque Isle's history up to
that time. It eclipsed all that had gone before it, and the en-
thusiasm over finally being linked by a railroad with the out-

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 27

side world was the occasion of a jubilee such as Presque Isle
never saw before and has not witnessed since. It was like the
firstborn in an expectant home. Others that come later^ may be
fairer, brighter and more promising, but the first has in it th«
real peach bloom of joy, pride and happiness.

When Presque Isle assumed an indebtedness of $15,000,
and in exchange therefor secured connection with the Provin-
cial line in Dec. 1881, she made perhaps the best investment in
her history up to that time. Her rail communication with the
outside world was long and roundabout, and had the disadvan-
tage of running through a foreign country, but it was a vast im-
provement on the old order of things. Property values ad-
vanced, population began to increase, and there was a distinct
step forward in wealth and prosperity immediately following
the advent of railroad facilities.

CHAPTER V.
The Direct-Line Railroad Agitation.

When the railroad outlet a community gets has a super-
fluous distance from the objective to be reached of something
like 90 miles; when personal travel or the transportation of
freight has to go out of its v/ay scores of miles, first in an exact-
ly opposite direction, and then scores of miles more in a ramb-
ling and weary detour from a direct line to its destination, it
can not be a permanently satisfactory arrangement. And the
old-time railroad via. New Brunswick had these drawbacks.

The result was that Presque Isle had not had its newly ac-
quired railroad facilities half a decade before there was agita-
tion started for other and better facilities. This agitation took
definite form with the return of Hon. Joseph B. Hall to Presque
Isle in October, 1884, and his resumption of publication of the
Aroostook Herald. Mr. Hall was a good newspaper man, quick
to discern and seize upon the immediate and pressing need of
his field for better railroad facilities, and had the faculty of
bringing that need to the front and agitating it so as to create
public interest and enthusiasm. Advocacy of what was termed
a "Direct Line Railroad," started very shortly after Mr- Hall
revived the Herald, and it was not long before the persistent
agitation in its columns bore fruit in a local association of citi-
zens to forward the scheme.

The first to enlist in the movement and to add their influ-

28

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

ence and leadership to Editor Hall's vigorous booming of the
scheme were the late Dr. Geo. H. Freeman and Jas. W. Bolton
of Presque Isle. Both were solid and substantial citizens, as
good as the County has ever had in the matter of public spirit
and alert zeal to promote the public welfare.

At what stage of the project or just how they succeeded in
bringing the Direct Line Railroad scheme to the attention of a
man of real influence and weight in railroad circles, we do not
know. But in due time such a man put in appearance in the
person of the late Mr. Geo. P. Wescott of Portland.

Mr. Wescott was a man who stood high in business and
financial circles of the State, was affiliated with many large and

HON. JOSEPH B. HALL

Publisher of Aroostook Herald, and

Prominent Railroad Worker

important corporate interests, and his conrection with the move-
ment immediately gave it character and standing. Whatever
engagement Mr. Wescott entered into, his reputation and finan-
cial connections and influence seemed to afford ample guarantee
would be carried out.

Coincidently with Mr. Wescott's hand appearing in con-
nection with the development of the project, Hon. Joseph Manly
of Augusta became known as one of its patrons or promoters in
a financial way. Mr. Manly, in addition to other large business

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

29

interests, stood high in the councils of the Maine Central Rail-
road, which was represented as being behind the enterprise, and
as being willing to help boost a railroad into Aroostook, because
of the large industrial development it promised, and the pros-
pect of such a line becoming a great feeder for the Maine Cen-
tral.

DR. GEO. H. FREEMAN
A Pioneer in Agitation for Railroad

Negotiation with Mr. Wescott resulted in a proposition on
his part that he and those associated with him would undertake
to bring about the construction of a direct line of railroad into
Aroostook on condition that the County gave $100,000 in aid of
the enterprise, and provided the right of way. Accordingly a
charter was obtained in the Legislature of 1887; what was called
the Northern Maine Railroad Company was organized in April
of that year, and the Company agreed to build and operate a
railroad to Presque Isle within five years, if the people of
Aroostook would guarantee $100,000 and the right of way. The
charter of the Company extended from Mattawamkeag to Houl-
ton, thence to Presque Isle, Ashland and Fort Kent.

' The agitation to raise the sum required of the County ex-
tended through the year 1887 and through 1888 and 1889, and
was a strenuous and earnest one. Besides the newspaper cam-
paign, in which the Aroostook Herald and the North Star led,

30 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

supplemented by good work on the part of the Caribou Repub-
lican, there were many mass meetings in the various towns in-
terested. These were addressed by leading citizens, among them
being Hon. Columbus Hayford, Hon. Edward Wiggin, Rev.
G. M. Park, Hon. C. F. Daggett and Dr. Freeman of Presque
Isle, Hon. Geo. W. Collins of Bridgewater, and other citizens.

In opposition to the aggressive fight that was made by
Presque Isle, with the aid of most other towns of the County,
to put the Direct Line through, it had to contend with an element
in Houlton, which, led by the Aroostook Pioneer, then published
by the late Geo. H. Gilman, opposed the project. Under the
existing railroad status Houlton was the undisputed center of
business for a great territory, and the continuous caravans of
loaded teams which filled the highways leading into the town
from almost every direction in busy seasons, afforded grounds
for the fears on the part of some Houlton citizens that when a
direct railroad swept this traffic away, and the sections which
contributed it became to an extent independent of Houlton, it
would be a blow to the town's prosperity. The broader and more
far-seeing people of the tov/n argued differently, and some of
them, notably the late Hon. Albert A. Burleigh, gave warm sup-
port to the direct line railroad project. Their position has been
amply borne out by the results. Houlton has grown, and waxed
big and strong along with the whole County, as a result of the
acquisition of railroad facilities, and the arguments made by
those advocating the direct line road that when all Aroostook
took on new life and began to enjoy the expansion of industry
and prosperity a railroad would bring, all towns in the County
would share in the benefits, have been fully vindicated by what
has come to pass.

In due course of time, and after the putting forth of much
strenuous public effort, the County succeeded in meeting the
demands of the financial sponsors of the Direct Line scheme. It
was only $100,000 for the County, but in those days that sum of
money was more for all Aroostook to raise than would be a like
amount for either of the larger towns, or for that matter, almost
any thrifty town within its borders today. The people were
poor where they are now strong and wealthy. Such great change
has come about by means of the opportunities the coming of the
railroad has brought that many single farm properties now rep-
resent a value in excess of what was asked of the County to
insure the building of the railroad line under agitation in the
eighties.

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 31

The Direct Line railroad scheme must be credited with be-
ing the parent enterprise in securing a short line railroad for
Aroostook. The immediate result of the years of arduous effort
this project involved was a seeming failure, for the enterprise
directly represented by the so-called Northern Maine Railroad
collapsed as we recall, sometime in the year 1890. The story of
the old Direct Line movement, so far as the Wescott, or financial
end of it was concerned, v/as a story of long drawn out delay,
of repeated excuses for non-fulfillment of pledges and promises
made to the local promoters of the project. It was an illustra-
tion of building a railroad according to what is known as "absent
treatment," as regards Mr. Wescott's relation to the scheme.
During the nearly four years he was at the head of the company
organized to build the road, so far as we recall, he was never
personally inside the borders of the County, never once volun-
teered a statement in regard to the progress that was being made,
or initiated a single act which could be construed as indicating
a positive and sincere purpose to carry out the undertaking to
which he had committed himself. It was a case of perplexing,
and toward the last, quite distracting lack of interest which Mr.
Wescott showed in the matter of the Direct Line. So dumb was
he on everything connected with the project, and so much
wrapped up in secrecy and reserve, that it bred public distrust
of the good faith with which the enterprise was being handled.
Mr. Wescott was suspected of representing interests which had
a selfish object in the matter, and of acquiring the control of a
franchise covering the route for a short line of railroad into
Aroostook for the purpose of securing traffic concessions from
the Canadian Pacific Railroad, whose interests were opposed to.
such a proposition. This was not definitely established, how-
ever, and from first to last Mr. Wescott had the confidence of
the local promoters of the enterprise that he was acting in entire
good faith.

Whatever may have been the purpose of those outside the
County who represented the money end of the scheme, it was a
movement which had enlisted the local promoters in a sincere
and honest effort to secure a railroad outlet for the County. They
labored hard and long and zealously, and while they incurred
censure when the scheme finally collapsed, their years of ser-
vice in the cause of better railroad facilities for the County were
not lost. As we have said, the finally successful enterprise which
came later was the direct fruit of the earlier campaign which
came to naught in the failure of what was known as the Direct
Line movement.

32 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

The work done in the eighties under the leadership of such
men as Editor Hall, Dr. Freeman and J. W. Bolton laid the
foundation, and when the later enterprise, which originated in a
proposition broached by the late Hon. Albert A. Burleigh, in the
early nineties, came, it found the public educated and the senti-
ment of the County ripe and ready for immediate active steps
in the undertaking. It turned out that it was needful to have
conditions favorable to speedy development of the project, for
any undue delay in carrying the undertaking forward would have
inevitably shipwrecked what came to be known as the Bangor
& Aroostook movement. The financial ends of this undertaking
were securely tied up, so as to insure the building of the road
not three months before the bottom fell out of all lines of busi-
ness in the financial panic which 1893 ushered in, and which
held the country in its disastrous clutch until about the year 1900.
Had this panic caught the Bangor & Aroostook job of financing
unfinished, it would have gone on the scrap heap along with
thousands of other failures caused by the smash-up, and a decade
at least would have elapsed before any further effort would have
had any chance of success in inducing capital to take hold of a
railroad into Aroostook. More than that, not only would the
time have been lost, but the same combination of men and cir-
cumstances which gave the undertaking at the time it started
a peculiarly favorable chance of succeeding, would not have
been present ten years later.

There have been few periods in the history of Aroostook,
when people donned the sackcloth and ashes of discouragement
and discontent to the extent they did after the demise of the
so-called "Direct Line" railroad scheme. For nearly five years
during which it was in process first of agitation, and then of
seeming development to a practical reality, people had been
buoyed up with excitement and the hopes and expectations
growing out of its assumed success. Then when the bird of
bright plumage seemed to be right in the hand of Aroostook, it
flew away, and was lost to view in the tall timber. It isn't
pleasant for a community to be so lifted up, and of a sudden to
take the fall that Aroostook took when the Direct Line move-
ment became an admitted failure. The people in every com-
munity and neighborhood whose interests were affected, and who
had planned and built up hopes on the strength of the promised
railroad, when it suddenly fell through, practically sat down in
despair.

FRANKLIN W. CRAM

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 33

CHAPTER VI
The So-Called Burleigh Movement Initiated-

It certainly did for the time being look dark for the future
of Aroostook. The trouble was that up to that time Aroostook
had made no mark for itself whatever, as a region of special
promise. The County was unknown outside its own borders,
and one had to go no farther than Bangor to find the average
person utterly ignorant of Aroostook, its needs, resources and
possibilities. It was remote and isolated, and from the point
of view of the capital which was flowing into railroad building
investments, there were hundreds of seemingly more attractive
ventures in that line, all of which had scores of men more pow-
erful in money centers than Aroostook had to vouch for their
merit, and to push them to the front. So, whenever Aroostook
tried to raise her voice to get the ear of capital, and secure re-
lief, it was the proverbial "voice in the wilderness," and went
unheeded.

At that time we recall but one man outside Aroostook of
ability and influence, who had given attention enough to the
subject to become aware that our County really existed and had
any claims to attention on the score of development. That man
was Hon. Fred Atwood, of Winterport. Mr. Atwood must have
been a man of vision, for as early as the time of the Direct Line
Railroad agitation, he. had become aware of the fact that Aroos-
took not only occupied a big place geographically on the map of
Maine, but that it was a section of the State which more than
any other needed development, and would richly reward who-
ever came forward with the millions of capital required to open
it up.

Early in the year 1888 Mr. Atwood conceived the idea of,
in a sort of figurative way, carrying Aroostook bodily to Boston
and placing her on exhibition. He accordingly arranged for a
public meeting to be held under the auspices of the New England
Agricultural Society, and such a meeting was held in March of
that year in the Ploughman Building. He did his whole duty
in planning and working for the affair, and the result was that
when the date set for the meeting arrived there were in attend-
ance not only scores of leading men from Aroostook, but men
of note in business and agricultural circles in Boston and Mas-
sachusetts. Among those whom Mr. Atwood induced to go and
represent Maine and speak for Aroostook were Gov. Bodwell
and Hon. Z. A. Gilbert, then Secretary of the State Board of

34 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

Agriculture. On the part of Massachusetts the Aroostook outfit
was welcomed by Hon, Daniel Needham, Secretary of the New
England Board of Agriculture, a man of ability, culture and
breadth of knowledge. Mr. Atwood had seen to it that reporters
of the Globe, the Herald and other Boston dailies, were in at-
tendance. The incident of their attendance afforded the writer,
who was present at the meeting, striking evidence of the then
benighted condition of Aroostook. When the scribes had sat
down at the table assigned them, and were engaged leafing over
copies of the Aroostook Pioneer, which had been chosen as one
of the Aroostook exhibits, possibly on account of the flamboyant
pictorial heading Brother Oilman then carried at the top of his
front page, one of them was overheard remarking to a fellow
reporter: "What's all this fuss about Aroostook being made for?
There's nothing but bears and Indians up there, anyway."

Hon, Daniel Needham, who delivered the address of wel-
come, was more complimentary and far better informed than the
reporters of the Boston dailies. He referred to Aroostook as
"the great capital county of Maine, which had been brought
down to the great capital city of Boston," to be brought to the
attention of business men and capitalists as worthy of their seri-
ous attention as a region of great future promise. But Mr. Need-
ham's v/ords did not carry much beyond the range of his voice.
The reporters of the big dailies v/ere so well satisfied in their
own minds that "bears and Indians" told the whole story of
Aroostook that they relegated their short report of the meeting
to a back page, and in the din and tumult of the big city, this
handful of people in the Ploughman Building meeting speaking
for Aroostook was a very small voice. It was a well organized
and most sincerely well meant scheme of publicity, but so far
as really penetrating to the business and financial circles which
had to be moved before Aroostook development could begin,
the Atwood Aroostook Publicity meeting in Boston in March
1888 created about as much stir as a pebble thrown into the
ocean.

At this old-time meeting which sought to bring Aroostook
to the front, Mr. Needham was able to single out as two illus-
trations of the sound and substantial prosperity of New England
and of Maine two things, which today have fallen to a low estate
compared with those days. "On this point," (New England
prosperity) he said: "Look at our system of railroads. Look at
our Boston & Maine Railroad, through which the population of
Maine finds an outlet and which centers in the city of Boston.

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK, 35

The stock of that railroad is a barometer of value and prosper-
ity, and for what is it selling? Yesterday it was selling on the
stock market of Boston at $223, leading the van of railroad en-
terprises in the United States in market value. Look at our
Maine Central. Why, when we took our pleasant Aroostook
trip Maine Central stock was selling at 106, an enormous price,
and I said to myself: "Can it be possible that this stock of a
railroad in Maine can be worth $106 a share?" And for what is
it selling today? In less than six months the physical develop-
ment in the State of Maine has been so great that you cannot
buy Maine Central stock for $165, an advance of over $50 a
share."

Hon. Z. A. Gilbert, Secretary of the Maine Board of Agri-
culture, followed Mr. Needham, and spoke of the great potential
wealth of Aroostook. Speaking of its soil, he said: "Aroostook
is a section peculiar to itself, differing geologically from any
other section of New England. Drained chiefly into the St.
John River, it has a soil peculiarly characteristic. In all of the
vast expanse of soil so drained we find this peculiarity, a soil
which lies on a vertical bed-rock, which gives natural drainage.
We have thus a soil not only fertile, but one which offers to the
husbandman the ready conditions for responding with the very
best results to the intelligent application of labor. The bed-rock
underlying the soil of A.roostook County, while near the surface,
is very rarely found cropping out into those ledges, and other
uninviting conformations which are found along the sea coast.
It is, moreover, always in process of decomposition, a fact which
enables the soil of Aroostook to sustain a magnificent forest
growth in its primitive state, and also to yield the most bounti-
ful crops v/hen brought under cultivation. It extends over broad
areas in a practically unbroken condition, a fact which is al-
ways particularly agreeable to the husbandman, who wishes for
broad fields on which to carry on his farm operations. It is
similar to the rolling prairies of the West, with the sloughs and
under-drained portions of this section of the country left out,
leaving it all arable land after being tilled."

Mr. Gilbert went on to say that there was an impression
that Aroostook was a wilderness and nothing more. That idea
he proceeded to correct, describing the already advanced con-
dition of its agriculture, and the intelligence, refinement and en-
terprise of its people. He concluded by saying he was glad this
Aroostook meeting had been called to Boston — the heart of New
England — as he hoped it would be the means of introducing

36 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

Aroostook to the capital of that great city, and of turning the at-
tention of the inves tment wealth centered there to the opening
of this great section whose resources were as yet lying dormant,
and paying little tribute to the rest of the State and New Eng-
land.

This Boston meeting is interesting as showing how utieiiy
Aroostook was unthought of outside its own borders at that
time, and how far it was outside the ken of capitalistic invest-
ment. It was in fact a terra incognita, and it took a great stiug-
gle, in which some valiant soldiers fighting for Aroostook de-
velopment had to wage a long and strenuous campaign, before
she was given railroad transportation, and came into her own in
the way of development and nrosperity.

So far as the Direct Line railroad movement of which we
have been writing is concerned, it was a generally recognized
failure long before the fact was admitted by its immediate backers
and sponsors. Indeed, we do not know that they ever in so many
words admitted it to be so. Other projects began to be broached
and discussed as alternatives schemes to bring railroad relief
for Aroostook, and in the midst of the agitation every now and
then the old Direct Line, apparently dead, would regain vitality
enough to set up a feeble and half hearted claim that it was not
dead, but merely in a condition of suspended animation. No
one who knows the railroad history of Aroostook will deny that
it was an indirect factor in bringing about the ultimate end of
securing a railroad for the County, but for a long period it
persisted in claiming that it was alive, when it was to all in-
tents and purposes entirely dead.

The first intimation we find of serious activity in railroad
agitation following the reaction which succeeded the Direct Line
movement collapse, is an editorial published in the Star-Herald,
Sept. 11, 1890. That editorial said:

"It was predicted when the Direct Line Railroad agitation
was in progress that if that project miscarried, It would entirely
discourage any similar movement In future, and that the reaction
would be utterly discouraging to the County. Well, the Direct
Line movement is laid on the shelf, at least for the time being,
but there has never been a time when the necessity for a rail-
road was more keenly felt than now, or a stronger determination
to renew the struggle to secure one. The County Is in fact thor-
oughly alive on this vital question.

"At Fort Kent there is a remarkable stir and activity in
railroad development, the issue and outcome of which are not

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 37

entirely understood, and we have the novel change in the situa-
tion of more than a possibility that Aroostook's long needed
railroad relief may come from the northernmost point of the
State, southwardly through the County, instead of from the other
direction. Indeed, so far has the Fort Kent project taken shape
that an intention is expressed of applying to the next Legisla-
ture for a charter to build to Caribou, and there is the merit be-
hind the movement of very lively steps up that way in railroad
extension. In this connection there is the difference in our favor
over four years ago of Caribou being thoroughly waked up by
the acquisition of a magnificent water power, which she cannot
utilize without a short line railroad, and Houlton, dormant and
indifferent four years, now thoroughly alive to its interests in
this direction, and at present provoked beyond endurance by the
imperfect service which is being rendered that thriving town by
the new railroad management.

"Growing out of this condition of things suggestions for re-
lief are numerous. Caribou clamors for a monster mass meeting
to consider taking steps to construct a narrow gauge road to
Houlton, and the suggestion is made from another quarter that
steps be taken to enable the County to loan its credit to the ex-
tent of five per cent of its valuation in aid of a railroad."

So far as we know this latter suggestion, which emanated
from the late Hon. Albert A. Burleigh, and resulted later on in
the successful Bangor & Aroostook Railroad development, is
referred to in the above editorial for the first time publicly. The
editorial then continues: "In addition to all the other projects
we still have the old Direct Line project, and the chance, a
remote possibility, to be sure, that its promoters may succeed in
getting it on its feet, and come in on the home stretch all right." '

In the Star-Herald of Oct. 9, 1890, under the head "Railroad
Gossip," an article is quoted from the Lewiston Journal, which
states more specifically what the Fort Kent agitation for a road
from Northern Maine southerly through the County referred to.
This article says: "It looks now as if Aroostook had a chance
of getting a railroad through the rivalry of the Grand Trunk and
the C. P. R. The latter's short line across Maine has had the
effect of robbing the Grand Trunk of through freight from the
West, and in its desire to regain this, it may build down through
Aroostook to tide water at St. Andrews. It is quite likely that
the Grand Trunk would strain a point to take in Aroostook in
any effort it made to reach the seaboard. The business present
and prospective, of the great County of Aroostook, is well worth

38 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

such an effort, and it would seem as if in securing it the Grand
Trunk would pretty effectually cripple a branch of its rival of
some real value and importance to it. This it could do by build-
ing down through Aroostook, and it is to be hoped that it may
do so, for Aroostook is in dire need of a railroad outlet. Aside
from this glimmer of hope which is remote and wholly specu-
lative, the railroad prospect in Aroostook is far from bright at
the present time.

"The good behavior of the Canadian Pacific is of the utmost
importance to the Boston & Maine, and the great County of
Aroostook, which the Canadian Pacific depends upon to feed its
New Brunswick branch, seems to be held by the Boston & Maine
simply as a vantage ground or in a sense as a hostage to insure
that good behavior."

The foregoing extract from the Lewiston Journal is in line
with the prevalent public suspicion of the time that the Boston
& Maine was the hidden hand responsible for keeping the Direct
Line movement marking time for nearly five years. During this
time, in the opinion of many, it did nothing except to hold the
key to the railroad door into Aroostook, and purely for reasons
of railroad strategy made a point of unlocking the door and
pulling it ajar in a show of preparations to build a railroad into
Aroostook. When it had secured the traffic concessions it was
manouvering for, it left the project to die out like the smoulder-
ing embers of a fire.

Among the suggestions which were offered after the col-
lapse of the Direct Line scheme, was that of State aid to an
Aroostook railroad, and to other lines, the building of which was
needful to Maine's development and prosperity. In the Kennebec
Journal, in November 1890, Hon. Jos. H. Manly, of Augusta,
advocated legislation to enable the State to extend its aid to
needed railroads within its borders, "The great need of Maine
today," said Mr. Manly, "is more railroad, especially a line to
tap the immense resources of fertile Aroostook, and one into
Washington County, with its magnificent seacoast." Mr. Manly's
judgment was correct and his heart was in the right place, but
he overlooked the Maine constitution which, as another promin-
ent Maine man, commenting on his well meant suggestion, point-
ed out, stood in the way of such grants of railroad aid. This
writer said, "Of course, there is a poor chance for agitation or
argument with the constitution squarely on the other side, but
we do not think there is a man in Aroostook or any other section
of Maine which is in crying need of a railroad, but will affirm

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 39

his belief that in this respect at least, Maine has a mighty un-
fortunate constitution."

Later on the Maine Central Railroad got into the spotlight
as an enemy to Maine railroad development, and in this connec-
tion the late Hon. Herbert M. Heath warned people who were
then working for what was known as the Shore Line Railroad,
and asking for a "People's Charter" to build such a line, that
to let the Maine Central get control of the charter would be
suicide. He said: "The Maine Central, and Boston & Maine are
hand in glove with the Canadian Pacific." Mr. Heath gave warn-
ing to committees interested that they would have to "fight a
powerful and v/ell organized lobby" of the Maine Central to
secure their rights, adding that the Maine Central was also ev-
idently holding Aroostook as a make-weight in its plans, nego-
tiations and traffic arrangements with the Canadian Pacific, and
that therefore neither the Shore Line nor a line into Aroostook
had anything to hope for from me Maine Central or the Boston
& Maine.

In November 1890 a movement was started to secure legis-
lation for a "People's Charter" for a railroad into Aroostook,
the feeling being particularly strong in Houlton. This was urged
as a good move as it would bring the Northern Maine or Direct
Line project up "for investigation into its doubtful and unsatis-
factory status. This investigation would require it to give a good
and sufficient guarantee of its ability and intention to build a
railroad." Referring to this the Star-Herald, in an editorial in
its issue of Nov. 21, 1890, said: "The people have a right to
inquire whether the Northern Maine Railroad is indeed the germ
of early development into a railroad, or whether it is in the na-
ture of a mere obstruction and hindrance to Aroostook's inter-
ests. If it is the former, let it come in and vindicate itself in
the public confidence, and give such a guarantee as would war-
rant the privilege it holds being extended. If it cannot do this
it should be brushed out of the way, and its charter turned over
to the people of Aroostook to control the right of way into the
County. The people of Aroostook are certainly entitled to know
the exact status of the matter, and to have the charter set aside
if the existing one is not held in their interest."

In December, 1890 things began to come to a head in a
legislative way. Indications at that time pointed to a movement
to apply for a charter from some point on the Bangor & Piscata-
quis line to Patten and Ashland, with a branch to Houlton and
Presque Isle. The argument for this was that it would give

40 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

Bangor an independent line, and by drawing the freight of pro-
ductive Aroostook to the Bangor & Piscataquis Railroad, would
vitalize that then struggling road, and build it up to profit and
importance. It would at the same time give Aroostook the boon
of competition and lower freight rates.

Another company, consisting of Geo. I. Tricky, Caribou,
Ira B. Gardner, Patter, Frank Gilman and others, proposed ask-
ing for a charter from some point in the town of Mattawamkeag
to some point in the town of Medway, thence to some point on
the Aroostook River in the County of Aroostook.

In addition, the Grand Trunk, as before stated, was sup-
posed to have a scheme to build down through Aroostook to
tidewater. But all these had the ever watchful Maine Central
and Boston & Maine standing ready to nip any such schemes
in the bud.

CHAPTER VIL
The First Publicity Given Burleigh Plan.

The first publicity given to the so-called "Burleigh Railroad
Plan" was in the Star-Herald, December 18, 1890. The Bur-
leigh plan, as then published, was to ask the Legislature for a
charter for a road to start from Van Buren and extend to some
point on the Maine Central, with branches to Fort Fairfield and
Ashland. The editorial in the Star-Herald on this proposition
was as follows: "An act of Legislature will be asked for the
coming session to enable the County to issue bonds to the ex-
tent of five per cent of its valuation, amounting to $500,000, to
be taken in stock. After this it is proposed to issue $400,000
more stock, giving the people of Aroostook the preference as
subscribers thereto, and then to issue first mortgage bonds to
complete the construction of the road. At 5 per cent the interest
on the $500,000 would be $25,000, two-fifths of which would be
borne by the wild land owners.

"All railroad men agree that the line would be a paying one
from the start, so that the County would not be called upon to
pay either principal or interest. It is claimed by good judges
that in ten years the already large freight traffic would be dou-
bled, and that the increase in property value along the line of
the road would be more than the stock taken by the County.

"At a meeting of Pomona Grange held in Caribou last Sat-
urday, Mr. Burleigh presented and explained his plan, which was
favorably received. It was then voted by that body to petition

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

41

the Legislature for a charter. A committee was appointed, con-
sisting of J. G. Teague, Geo. M. Park and Edward Wiggin, to
issue a circular of information to accompany the petition. It
was also voted to ask the State Grange to take action in favor
of this charter, and of the State granting an enabling act, and
Hon. Edward Wigg'n was instructed to bring the matter before
the State Grange which meets at Lewiston this week."

HON. ALBERT A. BURLj]IGH
Chief Figure in Campaign for B. & A. Railroad,
and one of the County's Ablest Citizens

Coincidently w'th the movement to organize under the
Burleigh plan for securing a short line railroad for Aroostook,
the Canadian Pacific Railroad took over the New Brunswick
Railroad, of which F. W. Cram was then manager, and made it
the Atlantic Division of the Canadian Pacific Railroad. When
the change was made, Mr. Cram was urged to remain and take
charge of all the C. P. line east of the St. Lawrence River. In
that connection he was told "The C. P. has Aroostook bottled.
It will go when and pay what the C. P. says."

Mr. Cram questioned the justice of that attitude of the
Canadian Pacific, and told the heads of that road that the state-
ment they had made would put an independent line into Aroos-
took. It did, as Mr. Cram retired, espoused the Burleigh project

42 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

and in the end made it successful. He might have gone else-
where at the time, and got a far easier job, with no gruelling
pioneer work involved, at a much bigger income than promoting
the Aroostook short line afforded at the outset. He was not
only a man of marked ability and force, but he was widely so
recognized in railroad circles. Therefore, when he enlisted in
the infant enterprise of getting a road for Aroostook, it was a
re-enforcement of the undertaking which went far toward solv-
ing Aroostook's long-standing railroad difficulties.

The ball was really earnestly set in motion in behalf of the
Burleigh Railroad plan by the action of Pomona Grange in the
latter part of December, 1890. Speaking of this the Star-Herald
in its first issue in Jan., 1891, says: The Aroostook Grangers
have set the ball rolling toward an earnest support of the rail-
road project of Hon. Albert A. Burleigh, explanation of which
has been given in our columns.

"In pursuance of this object, Hon. Edward Wiggin, Secre-
tary of the Committee appointed by Pomona Grange, has this
week engaged in circulating through the County and State Legis-
lative petitions for signature. These petitions bear the follow-
ing headings :

"To the Honorable Legislature of Maine:

We, the undersigned, citizens of the Town of

County of , respectfully ask that an enabling act

be passed, authorizing the County of Aroostook to issue its
bonds for an amount not exceeding 5 per cent of the valuation
•of the County, and for the charter for said road asked for by
Hon. Albert A. Burleigh and his associates, be guaranteed."

"Accompanying the petition is a circular letter of informa-
tion as follows :

"Presque Isle, Me., Dec. 26, 1890.
■"Worthy Brother:

"A movement is being made in Aroostook County to secure
the construction of a short line of railroad to this County. Be-
lieving that God helps those who helps themselves, Aroostook
County Pomona Grange has appointed a committee to prepare
and circulate petitions in aid of the project. The Maine State
Grange has cordially endorsed the movement. Please have the
enclosed petition signed as fully as possible, and return to me
at an early date.

George M. Park, Chairman

Edv/ard Wiggin, Secretary of Committee."

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 43

The editorial of that issue then says : "Inasmuch as the
State Grange at its recent meeting in Lewiston pledged its sup-
port to this movement, and as it is one that, on its own merits,
commends itself to public support and favor, Aroostook will be
likely to go to the Legislature this winter as formidably equipped
to press her railroad demand as any section ever was in behalf
of any project.

"It would seem as if the Legislature could not fail to grant
this just demand and pass the bill asked for, after which it
merely remains to establish its constitutionality by the adjudica-
tion of the Supreme Court, and then for Aroostook to ratify the
plan by voting the requisite five per cent. And when the vote
is thus cast, it means a successful issue to Aroostook's thirty
years' struggle to secure a railroad."

Mass meetings, petitions, and a local press jammed full of
articles booming the Burleigh movement, followed, and the re-
sult was that the charter was granted, and the "enabling act,''
so called, was passed and approved March 19, 1891. In the
same session an act was passed and approved, providing that
for a period of 20 years from the passage of the act, no railroad
should be built into Aroostook which should at any point on its
line, be less than 15 miles from the line of the B. & A. Railroad.
Provided, that the B. & A. R. R. should, within three years from
the passage of the act, have built its line from Brownville or
some point on the line of the Bangor & Katahdin Iron Works
Railroad to Houlton, and have begun within two years work on
its line beyond Houlton, and within four years from the passage
of the act have built its line to Presque Isle, Caribou and Fort
Fairfield.

The same act authorized the Bangor & Aroostook Company
to acquire by purchase or lease the line of the Bangor &
Piscataquis Railroad Co., and its subsidiary corporation, the
Bangor & Katahdin Iron Works Railroad.

In consideration of the stipulation that it should furnish
free transportation to troops and munitions in times of war, in-
surrection, and civil commotion, the State agreed to remit for
a period of 20 years 95 per cent of the taxes on the property
and franchises of said road.

By an act approved March 28, 1891, the Bangor & Aroos-
took Railroad Company was authorized to issue preferred stock
to the amount of $600,000 Jn addition to the capital stock to be
issued to the County of Aroostook, the dividends on which were
to be secondary to the stock issued to the County. The $500,-

44 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

000 preferred stock subscription by the County was later added
to by $228,000.

It is saying only the exact truth to assert that if Aroostook
had not had an Albert A. Burleigh to step into the breach and
take up and push the enterprise of securing a railroad, no rail-
road relief would have come to this great County when it did,
and it might have been delayed for an indefinite time.

The plan he presented, though simple, was original with
him, and no other man in the County or State had the qualifica-
tions he possessed for pushing it through its initial stages. He
laid the foundation to build the structure upon the campaign he
conducted to win the support of the people of Aroostook, and
to secure needed legislation. This was made possible by his
ability, his thorough knowledge of Aroostook and its people, and
by the complete confidence they had in his honesty and sin-
cerity.

At the t!me the idea of County a!d to a railroad was
broached, half a million dollars was the equivalent of several
times that sum today, for Aroostook has now reached a point in
the way of accumulated wealth where $500,000 for any public
undertaking is not a staggering proposition. But had any other
man than Albert Burleigh come forward v^ith such a plan thirty
years ago, the people of Aroostook would have said no, because
Aroostook people were then poor, and their experience with
railroad promotion which appealed to them for material gifts or
assistance, had been very unfortunate. They had not forgotten
the flotation they had with the European & North American in
1870. The vast tract of wild land they lost in that venture rep-
resented thirty years ago less than a tithe of its value today, but
it was a bad piece of business. Added to that useless sacrifice
of wealth, succeeding railroad schemes which promised well,
had invariably miscarried, chiefly, as it seemed, for lack of
honest purpose on the part of their promoters to build a railroad
into Aroostook. Mr. Burleigh was therefore handicapped by
what had preceded his enterprise. The whole pathway up to
the time he took hold of the job, was strewn with failures, losses
and disappointments, brought about by individuals who sought
to Icot Aroostook of her forest wealth under false pretenses, or
by corporations which got control of charters for railroads into
Aroostook merely to be used as pawns in a game they were
playing with other lines.

But Mr. Burleigh boosted his County Aid scheme forward
by sheer force of his personal ability, character and standing.

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 45

Almost every man in every township and corporation in Aroos-
took knew Albert Burleigh, either personally or by reputation,
and they were willing to pledge County aid to the limit on the
strength of any scheme which had his endorsement.

Had he not come forward as he did and mobilized the ener-
gy and resources of Aroostook into an effective unit, things
would have continued in suspense, Aroostook would have drift-
ed into the long period of financial depression which began in
1893 and continued for a decade, during which there was an
absolute bar to all new railroad and industrial enterprises. She
was saved by him at least fifteen and possibly twenty years of
the arrested growth and development she would otherwise have
had to suffer.

She was saved by his public spirit and splendid devotion
to the public welfare, possibly much v/orse consequences than
merely waiting for fifteen years longer than she did wait-
"Large bodies move slow," but it seems almost incredible that
the Canadian Pacific, to which Aroostook Coulty was tied by the
leading strings of the two spur lines, one into Houlton, and the
other into North Aroostook via. Fort Fairfield, Caribou to
Presque Isle should not, sooner or later, have waked up to the
potential value of Aroostook as a traffic feeder, and taken active
steps to nail down good and solid her control and possession of
this territory. All the great "C. P." would have needed to do
thirty years ago was to fill in the gap between Houlton and
Presque Isle, and to build from the main line a branch into Fort
Fairfield, just as the Bangor & Aroostook has done. Thus the
building of some fifty miles of road through an easy territory,
where the people would have given the right of way, and the
towns would have voted substantial money aid, would have
stopped all future railroad development in Aroostook, and hand-
ed it over, tied hand and foot, to a foreign corporation. Inas-
much as the Canadian Pacific would have been content with what
she milked out of the County through a mileage which went just
far enough to hold it in subjection, it follows that if Aroostook
had fallen into the hands of the Canadian Pacific, the territory
southward of Houlton and westward of Presque Isle would not
have been developed. There would have been no big lumber
manufacturing industries, no Ashland, Fort Kent, Van Buren and
Washburn in the modern, up-to-date standard of prosperity; no
Millinocket, none of the expansion and vast business prosperity
the Bangor & Aroostook Railroad has brought to the County and
State.

46 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

Following the passage of the so called enabling act, in
March 1891, by which the people of Aroostook County were au-
thorized to pledge their credit in aid of the Bangor & Aroostook
Railroad to the extent of half a million dollars, there v/as a
strenuous and earnest canvass of the County made, covering all
the large towns, and most of the small ones. This canvass was
largely conducted by Mr. Burleigh himself, who made journeys
often covering long distances by team. He also carried on an
extensive correspondence with the leading men in every town
in the County, with nearly all of whom he was personally ac-
quainted, and many of whom were his warm personal friends,
enlisting, as far as possible, their active aid in securing a favor-
able vote for the new road. How earnestly and to what effective
purpose he labored is shown by the returns of the vote, which
was taken Monday, April 20, 1891.

, When the returns from this vote were tabulated it was found
that the total affirmative vote was 5182,, and the negative vote
was 491. In the list Houlton cast 527, all in favor; Fort Fair-
field cast 402 votes to 1 against; Presque Isle 543 yes votes and
one vote against. With the exception of Fort Kent the votes
against came almost entirely from the towns on the eastern bor-
der from Houlton southward, which naturally were not enthus-
iastic in supporting a proposition which brought them no promise
of direct benefit. The vote of Fort Kent, 410 against to 10 in
favor is difficult to explain except on the ground that Fort Kent
may have been seriously interested in the so-called Grand Trunk
project to build southward through the County from that town.

One can see by the large vote cast by Presque Isle, Houl-
ton and Fort Fairfield, as stated, that these towns were intensely
interested in the result. A proportionate interest was expressed
in every other part of the County. This is not surprising, for the
vote for the B. & A. R. R. enabling act was the most important
vote ever cast by Aroostook. It laid the foundation stone on
which was built to a' successful completion what Aroostook had
been struggling for for over a quarter of a century.

After Aroostook had voted and done her part, it was after
all only a successful beginning. There was as much more to
be raised before it was possible to finance the undertaking.
Much was hoped for from Bangor, which was interested in get-
ting the proposed new Aroostook line hitched to the moribund
Bangor & Piscataquis, a dead and alive institution which had
been running for years on the deficit side of the ledger, a seri-
ous burden to the city. Bangor also had much to hope from

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 47

the building of a direct line into the new and growing County
of Aroostook. But Bangor is a financial pool where the fishing
is uncertain, and pretty likely to be on the disappointing side
even when the bait is attractive. Everything was said and writ-
ten to arouse Bangor, but Bangor did not enthuse.

In May after the Aroostook vote was passed in April, tlie
newly organized Bangor & Aroostook Railroad Company issued
a circular letter to the business men of Bangor, reciting to them
the many advantages direct railroad connection with Aroostook
would bring them. It was pointed out to them that even with
the meagre rail facilities the great County of Aroostook had
had, with no hold whatever on the great world outside its bor-
ders, it had been the one growing section of the State, and had
saved Maine and New England from retrograding in the census
returns.

It appears from this circular letter issued to the apathetic
Bangoreans, that up to 1877 Aroostook had had but two and a
half miles of railroad within her borders. In 1881 this was in-
creased to 59 miles, at which figure it remained until the time of
the coming of the Bangor & A.roostook. The European & North
American was opened in 1871, and billing from Aroostook to
Bangor and points further west commenced January 1, 1872. The
first year (1872) the tonnage of freight shipped to and from
points east of Bangor was about 13,000,000 lbs., and the bulk of
this was Aroostook business. In the first year the E. & N. A.
road was opened, 4,000 bushels comprised the potato shipments,
but at the time the circular was issued they had increased to
3,000,000 bushels in potatoes and starch combined. In 1877
Aroostook could not ship pressed hay at all, but in 1891 (at the
time of the publication of the circular) it was a small year when
she did not ship over 10,000 tons. The potato acreage of 1890,
double that of 1880, was estimated at 28,000 acres, with a pro-
duction of 5,000,000 bushels, of which over 1,500,000 was manu-
factured Into starch in the 42 factories In the County.'

These statistics, and the Interest Bangor had In getting rid
of the Bangor & Piscataquis to so good a customer as the Bangor
& Aroostook, should have appealed strongly to the people of that
wealthy city to take hold and boost the project of building a
railroad into their natural tributary territory. But so slowly did
the work of selling the preferred stock of the new road go that
on the date of October 8, 1891, when a statement of the Bangor
subscriptions, with a list of the names of subscribers was pub-
lished, only $107,000 had been taken. On the 15th of the same

48 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

month Individual subscriptions in Aroostook to the preferred
stock of the Bangor & Aroostook Railroad aggregated $29,800.
Capitalists whona efforts were being made to interest in financing
the new line required a stock subscription of at least a million
as a prerequisite to putting in their money to the needed amount,
so that in the fall of 1891, notwithstanding what the County had
voted and private citizens had subscribed, there was a big gap
remaining to be closed up. The responsibility of boosting the
subscriptions up to the necessary amount, and of putting the
financial part of the job through fell to Mr. Cram, and for many
months he never rested on his oars for a single day, in prose-
cuting the wearisome and discouraging task of getting the pledg-
es up to the required amount.

It is no exaggeration to say that no great enterprise started
in Maine was ever more fortunate than the Bangor & Aroostook
Railroad in the resolute spirit, the energy, and the well directed
effort of its two chief promoters. They labored constantly,
earnestly and persistently, with a zeal which no obstacles could
discourage, and with splendid courage.

During the time that the enterprise was climbing the steep
and rocky hill on its tedious road to the top, hundreds within
and without the County lent a hand, but all were directed and
inspired by the two men who had charge of the destinies of the
enterprise, and indirectly of the County which was so vitally in-
terested in its failure or success.

The Star-Herald canvass, whose list was headed by a sub-
scription of $200 by A. R. Gould, additional to what he had
previously given, which continued for a number of months, ga-
thered in a total of over $30,000 in stock subscriptions. This
was conducted by its agent, the late A. E. McGuire, whose work
was backed up by articles published each week booming the
subscription campaign, and by weekly publication of the names
of subscribers.

The city of Bangor subscription was largely raised by the
personal solicitation of Mr. Cram, as were also additional out-
side subscriptions from mercantile firms in Portland and Boston
interested in the trade of Aroostook, and subscriptions of some
thousands of dollars which came from potato dealing concerns
in Boston.

The great capital event in the work of bringing the subscrip-
tions up to the million mark, came in the opening month of 1892,
when the American Express Company signed up for $200,000
worth of the preferred stock. When this came Bangor had con-

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a.

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 49

tributed around $150,000. From Aroostook and outside sources
had come about $50,000, and this, together with the half mil-
lion dollars of County aid, and the Express Company's
big lift put the total up to about $900,000. This left $100,000,
an amount which was gathered in more speedily as a result of
the stimulus the enterprise received from the big donation, and
the seal of assured success which it placed upon it.

The Express Company's subscription brought many con-
gratulations to Mr. Cram. Hon. E. C. Burleigh, then Governor,
sent the following message : "Accept for yourself and your co-
laborers my hearty congratulations on the splendid subscription
that will undoubtedly assure the success of the great undertak-
ing for whose advancement you have labored so earnestly. The
road will pay from the start, and its construction will stimulate
the future growth and prosperity of our State." All the daily
and many of the weekly papers of Maine joined in the chorus of
congratulation, and it was an event worthy of it, for it brought
into the limelight the importance, magnitude and significance of
what this set the seal of certainty and success upon.

Of the American Express Company it may be said that in
making this subscription it was not acting in any spirit of mere
sentiment or soft-hearted benevolence toward the long-suffering
people of Aroostook. It was merely a hard-headed business
transaction, to get even with the Canadian Pacific, which drove
the American Company off its line, and gave the business the
American Express Company had been doing, to the Dominion
Express Co. Had the C. P. Ry. fostered the American Company,
there would have been no $200,000 subscription to the stock of
the new Aroostook short line road, and without that subscription,
with the material aid and moral support and prestige it brought
the struggling enterprise, possibly that enterprise might have
failed of success. This was even probable, as the gap this then
big subscription closed, could hardly have been bridged before
the hard times settled down upon the country, and strangled
every enterprise which had not gotten everything in the way of
finance securely settled and tied up.

However, as we understand the record, Mr. Cram so far
succeeded on the strength of the million dollar stock subscription
in his task, that his initial success in that line sufficed to finance
the building of the line to Houlton. Then it got into the slough
of the prevailing general depression, and construction beyond
Houlton might have been suspended had it not been for Mr.
Burleigh. When the road had reached Houlton, its financial

50

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

backers absolutely refused to furnish further funds to extend it
north of that point. In that crisis Mr. Treat, the contractor,
went to Mr. Burleigh and declared that unless he got orders
within a week, he would be compelled to give up the contract
and go elsewhere. In that juncture, when the capitalists who
were backing it had apparently deserted the enterprise, Mr. Bur-
leigh stepped into the breach, and by pledging his personal
credit to the limit, pushed the work forward. As a result the
road was graded during 1894, and the track laid to Caribou and
and Fort Fairfield, and opened to traffic the first day of January,
1895.

FIRST TRAIN TO ARRIVE IN PRESQUE ISLE
OVER B. & A. RAILROAD

The splendid courage and loyalty of Mr. Burleigh was suc-
cessful, as the extension of the road greatly increased its earn-
ings, and enabled it to make a good showing for 1895.

It will be remembered that this period marked the hardest
times Aroostook has ever known, and the added revenue brought
to the line by Mr. Burleigh's courageous act in putting at risk
all his fortune, it is not improbable, saved it from going to wreck
almost immediately following its partial construction.

The articles heretofore published in this series have been
written with the purpose of tracing the history of the railroad
movement in Aroostook from its beginning to the point where

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 51

it was finally successful. This point was reached when a stern
or trunk line direct railroad was pushed through as far as Cari-
bou. The branches and extensions which have come later have
followed as a logical sequence to the building of the main trunk
line.

The original conception of the Burleigh plan v/as a railroad
to connect with the Maine Central at Mattawamkeag. When
Mr. Cram came into the enterprise, the original plan was wholly
re-shaped. The Mattawamkeag connection with the Maine Cen-
tral v/as abandoned, and the plan of amalgamating the proposed
Bangor & Aroostook Railroad proper with the Bangor & Piscata-
quis Railroad was adopted. This involved a radical change,
the location of the line as approved by Mr. Cram swinging
westward, and after traveling a region of country commonly
supposed to be barren and unproductive, made a connection with
the Bangor & Piscataquis line at Brownville. This change met
with criticism and even protest in some quarters in Aroostook.
It was claimed that the route chosen was through a poverty-
stricken wilderness, and that its choice was dictated by the mo-
tive of serving the interests of parties interested in the Bangor
& Piscataquis, and other selfishly interested individuals and cor-
porations.

Results have proved that this view was unfounded, and that
the plan of Mr. Cram was eminently wise, far-sighted, and in the
interest of developing a strong, self-sustaining and independent
railroad. The so-called "barren wilderness" has proved to be
immensely rich in resources of the sort that maintain railroad
freight traffic. No sooner had the rails been laid through this
vast forest tract than the little settlements which were found on
the way began to grow and thrive; new settlements sprang up,
and finally the Great Northern Paper Company came, and select-
ing what was to all appearances the barrenest and nakedest spot
on the line, made it the site of a big pulp and paper industry —
so big that a flourishing village, as populous and quite as up-to-
date as the best villages in North Aroostook, has sprung up
around this single plant. We have not the statistics of tonnage
this one plant contributes to the railroad, but we think we are
not mistaken in saying that in outward and inward freight, it
represents a volume as large and important as the combined
townships of Presque Isle, Caribou and Fort Fairfield.

In addition to forest industries this Houlton to Brownville
Junction part of the Bangor & Aroostook opened up a hunting
and fishing resort not surpassed in New England. The tract

52 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

itself, and the region which it serves as a gateway, have attract-
ed additional thousands of pleasure seekers to Maine annually.
Each year the management of the new line, with commendable
enterprise in exploiting this field of patronage and profit, has
advertised these attractions throughout the country, with great
resulting benefits to itself and to the State.

It is a fact, of course, that the primary and fundamental
reason for building the Bangor & Aroostook Railroad, was to
give the great County of Aroostook, with its thousands of fine
and productive farms and its many splendid communities, ac-
cess to the outside world, but from the standpoint of im-mediate
profit returns, the great, and at the time supposedly worthless
timbered area it penetrated, has turned out to be a gold mine of
almost fabulous value. This was because it had forest re-
sources vastly greater in extent and variety than had been
dreamed of, and because, in the lapse of time, this forest wealth
has increased in value in some cases fifty fold.

The addition of this new asset to Maine's industrial list, and
this magnificent contribution to Maine's present and future prog-
ress and prosperity must be credited to Mr. Cram, whose brain
and hand have been creating factors of the first importance in
shaping and directing Northern Maine in the pathway of a great
and broad development.

Incidentally, as a part of the plan, it was no mean achieve-
ment that pulled the Bangor & Piscataquis Railroad up out of
the slough it had gotten into, and made it a progressive and up-
to-date railroad. Since it was consolidated with the Bangor &
Aroostook it has got into swing and has kept pace with its virile
and progressive young partner.

Since the opening of the main line of the Bangor & Aroos-
took to Caribou, successive additions have been made, the entire
system as it stands today representing, we believe, over 500
miles. The first move was in the construction of the Ashland
Branch in 1895, which now runs from Oakfield Junction on the
main line to Fort Kent. The building of the Ashland branch
involved another grant of County aid on the same terms and
conditions as applied in connection with the building of the main
line. Following this came an extension of the main line to Van
Buren, this added development being aided by the application
toward its construction of $60,000, the residue left after the legal
$4,000 per mile limit of County aid of half a million had been
expended on the main line to Caribou and Fort Fairfield.

The earlier development provided for the needs of the great

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 53

agricultural belt of fertile country in the eastern tier of town-
ships, and it also opened up the immense timber territory of
which Ashland is the center. Great mills and later great tie,
pulp, and an infinite variety of small wood industries sprang up
on the Ashland branch, and at Van Buren, when the road had
been extended to that point, it resulted in the building there of
the largest lumber manufacturing plant east of the Pacific Coast.
Through the coming of the B. & A. Railroad the lumber industry
of the County has not only been expanded, but entirely revolu-
tionized. Prior to the coming of the railroad the only outlet for
the forest products of Aroostook was the St. John and the nu-
merous tributaries of that river which penetrated the county.
The lumber industry long ante-dated the farming industry in
Aroostook; went back to a date prior to the so-called Aroostook
War, and was to a great extent the occasion of the clashes and
disputes which culminated in that near war with Great Britain,
and finally led to a settlement through the Webster — Ashburton
Treaty negotiation, of the boundary line, as it is now fixed. The
river highway carried off into New Brunswick the wealth of pine
timber which once covered Aroostook; it then took vast quan-
tities of hardwood timber for shipbuilding uses. When spruce
at last became recognized as a forest product of very important
commercial value, then the spruce, just as the pine had done,
began to be drained from Aroostook to a foreign seaport, for
manufacture there and re-importation into American markets
under legislation which permitted the industry to be so carried
on. On or about the time of the building of the B. & A. Rail-
road the law which permitted this practice was repealed, the
reasons urged for changing the existing system being that it was
unjust and prejudicial to American rights and interests, and was
a privilege which generally led to abuse through being made a
a cloak for the bringing in duty free of a vast quantity of Pro-
vincial manufactured lumber.

The handicap to Aroostook's progress and prosperity of
having its great lumber cut annually floated away into a foreign
country for manufacture, ceased when the B. & A. Railroad came.
The tide then turned from the river which led across the bound-
ary line to St. John, to the "steel river," which took the millions
of feet of manufactured lumber from mills on American soil,
and transported the product to American markets. This in itself
was a revolution which wrought a vast change for the better in
Aroostook. But it did not stop there, for an immense percentage
of forest products which had no value before, became valuable

54 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

when the railroad came, and afforded facilities for utilizing
them. The value of this variety of forest products in the lapse
of years, and under new conditions which have arisen and made
a demand for them, has been almost beyond calculation, the
vast accretion of added wealth, and the broadened industrial
prosperity being very largely the result of the coming of the
railroad.

While the timber country to the westward, and the extreme
eastern strip of settled farming country along the boundary line
from Houlton northward had their needs met by the main line
of the Bangor & Aroostook and the Ashland Branch, there was
still left out in the cold, so far as railroad relief was concerned,
a large belt of settled and highly productive farming country
between the main line and the branch, so distant from a railroad
on either side as to be practically without rail accommodation.
In this belt were Mapleton, Castle Hill, Chapman, Washburn,
Wade, Perham and Woodland. These towns represented some
of the best and most industrious communities in the County.
Their citizens voted to assume the larg'e financial obligation in-
volved In securing rail accommodation for other communities,
but they were compelled to wait for a long period before the
railroad finally came to their doors. Fortunately they have now
a rail outlet, by a course of development which the railroad itself
did not seek of its own option to assume, but which circumstances
compelled It to go Into.

At the present time Aroostook enjoys, as a County, the advan-
tage of rail transportation furnished by the Bangor & Aroostook,
whose facilities reached nearly every settled portion of the Coun-
& Aroostook Railroad pretty completely covers a large area of
Aroostook. And It covers It by a very complete and compre-
hensive system.

As an incident to the policy of broadening the base of the
system, stabilizing it and making It independent, there was added
the Searsport branch, which gave the line a seaport terminal.
The whole plan, the rich and extensive territory the road serves,
and the future development sure to come, make the Bangor &
Aroostook a big road In the class of little railroads In the
country.

Under its first active and directing head, F. W. Cram, who
largely created the system, It succeeded In the achievement,
unique In railroad history, of taking off the hands of the people
of Aroostook, the entire burden of Indebtedness which the Coun-
ty assumed in order to aid the financing of the line. So far as

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 55

we know it has served the needs of the County to a great and
more complete extent, more effectively and in more enterprising
fashion, than was ever dreamed of by those who were working
for our Aroostook short-line railroad in the early days.

It has not escaped the storm of anti-railroad sentiment
which a decade or more ago swept the country, when "sowing
to the wind" in abuse and misrepresentation was the fashion,
to be followed later on, and notably today by "the whirlwind"
which proverbially succeeds such reckless seed sowing.

But on the whole its record is good, and it is a monument
to the arduous and untiring labors of its founders.

CHAPTER VIII.
Electric Development In Aroostook.

At the present time Aroostook enjoys as a County the ad-
vantage of rail transportation furnished by the Bangor & Aroos-
took, whose facilities reached every settled portion of the Coun-
ty, and which is a line that has reasonably satisfied the expect-
ations of those who planned and helped to build it. It also has
the more limited advantages of the service rendered by the Can-
adian Pacific Railroad. Finally, it has acquired more recently
an electric railroad which serves a very important service as a
public utility in a comparatively small area of which Presque
Isle may be termed the center.

As the coming of the electric road may be said to round out
the story of the railroad development of Aroostook, and bring
it up to date, it is net out of place, though it is a recent enter-
pr'se to give a sketch of its h'story in this connection. It is the
more pertinent because the telling of the story of the electric
road tells the story of the various enterprises of one of the Coun-
ty's citizens whose energy and initiative, covering a period of
thirty-five years, have been particularly fruitful in advancing the
welfare of his community and the County as a whole.

We think it is a fact that, favored as Aroostook is in natural
advantages, these factors are entitled to less credit for its prog-
ress and prosperity than the fact that it has had from first to
last the benefit of individual energy, initiative and enterprise
in its lead'ng citizens, and material of the most substantial qual-
ity in the whole body of its citizenship. Able and progressive
men are rarely attracted to communities which are dead and
inert in spirit, and if, by accident, they settle in such places,

56 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

they do not long remain, but seek other and more congenial
fields.

Among the wide awake and forceful citizens Aroostook has
had, we have no doubt all will agree that the man who has done
as much to put it on the map as any other, whose career has
shaped Itself in the most unique and unexpected way, measured
by the kind of things he has done, and their bigness and import-
ance, is Mr. Arthur R. Gould of Presque Isle.

In the thirty-five years he has lived in the County he has
made no greater success than many other men, measured In some
ways. But the special interest in what he has done Is that what
he has brought about has not conformed to any program that
any man acquainted with the place and its opportunities would
have accepted as among the possibilities of a business career
begun and worked out here.

Arthur R. Gould was born In Corinth, Maine. Such contact
as he had with books and schools came to an end before he was
sixteen. At that time he went West, and as was quite natural,
found his way to the home of an elderly uncle in Ohio.
This uncle was a hard-headed, practical man, and the way Gould
began life in the West was in taking a job from hi* uncle to
cut, split and pile up five hundred cords of two-ft., hickory wood.
By the time he got through with this contract, it furnished a
pretty good sort of post graduate course for this young graduate
of the Corinth, Maine, common schools. It was practical edu-
cation of the genuine sort, and gave Gould at sixteen an idea of
the flavor and sweetness of manual labor.

Coming back East In 1880 he set up for himself in
the tobacco business and In the fall of 1886 came to
Presque Isle, hired an office in what Is now the Forgie
Brothers store, and engaged in the wholesale tobacco busi-
ness- In 1889 he purchased of the late C. F. A. Johnson the
mill known as the Aroostook Lumber Go's Mill, pretty thorough-
ly remodelled the mill, supplied it with up-to-date equipment,
and operated it as a local mill for custom -sawing until the advent
of the Bangor & Aroostook Railroad. Concluding that the facil-
ities for transportation to the Boston market, which were afford-
ed by the building of this railroad justified him in the venture,
he began to manufacture long and short lumber and ship It by
rail to the Boston market. In this business Mr. Gould was the
pioneer in Northern Maine, and the entire revolution in the lum-
ber manufacturing and shipping business, has been subsequent to
his initiative In that direction.

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 57

Mr. Gould was fully justified on business grounds, but his
venture had a great deal to contend with when, in common with
all other lines of business in Aroostook it was overtaken by the
disastrous panic of ISQ'I — 97. That he was able to pull
through this disastrous business depression was only due to his
indomitable energy, courage and resourcefulness.

It was in the development of plans to put this ousiness on
a broader and better basis that he took steps which led indirect-
ly into very much larger and more important fields of industrial
development in which he has been a large figure, has been con-
spicuously successful individually, and has brought great benefits
to the public.

What happened to radically change the course of Mr.
Gould's career, and in fact to revolutionize it, was his waking up
to the realization that the -source of his lumber supply, which
was on the territory drained by the Presque Isle Stream, was
not only liable to be exhausted in the early future, but that the
high charges exacted by the timberland owners in that territory
was going to impose too heavy a burden upon his business. He
accordingly looked about for other sources of supply, and then
the idea occurred to him that if he only had some easy means
of transportation from the Aroostook River to his mill his
problem of a more abundant and a cheaper supply of logs would
be solved. He found a good holding ground for lumber at a
point on Bull's Eddy, about five miles from Presque Isle village
on the Aroostook River, and then began to figure on the cost of
construction and operation of such a railroad as would suffice to
serve the purpose he had in view. In the course of this inquiry
it occurred to him that if such an enterprise were undertaken, it
would be a good business proposition to extend the proposed line
up the Aroostook River as far as the village of Washburn, which
community at that time was without any railroad outlet. With
characteristic energy Mr. Gould entered upon the preliminary
steps of developing this enterprise, and as a matter of course
was offered the willing co-operation of all the citizens along the
line and in the village of Washburn, whose interests would be
benefitted by the proposed railroad outlet. A preliminary sur-
vey was made, and very good encouragement was offered by the
citizens of Washburn and intermediate sections in pledges of aid
and in stock subscriptions.

At the last stage of the enterprise as thus outlined and
planned, it finally became evident to his mind that the
cost of running the road by steam power generated by coal.

58 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

would not justify the undertaking, as it would be too expensive
a proposition.

Mr. Gould then, instead of dropping the whole matter, and
dismissing it as impracticable, as many men would have done,
sought some other solution of the difficulty and finally found a
possible one in the development of the Aroostook Falls water
power. With a view of taking the preliminary steps in this di-
rection, he entered into negotiations with the party who then
supposedly controlled the Falls, through holding a charter
for its development, and the ownership of the necessary land and
shore rights. He was successful in acquiring these rights from
the party holding them, and then entered upon the undertaking
of making such surveys as would determine the amount of wa-
ter power at the Falls capable of development, and the feasibil-
ity of carrying the scheme into practical fruition. Such surveys
as Mr. Gould had made by hydraulic engineers favored his gen-
eral belief that the amount of water power at Aroostook Falls
justified the outlay that would be necessary in developing this
power. But his optimism in regard to the enterprise
was not shared by the general public, and the undertaking suf-
fered from no small amount of criticism and opposition bred
merely of a natural disposition in many people to throw obsta-
cles in the way of any one who undertakes such an experiment
as Mr. Gould engaged in in the attempted development of Aroos-
took Falls power. Capital is naturally timid in lending itself
to the support of an untried venture, and in the case of the one
undertaken by Mr. Gould, there were plenty of men of reputa-
tion and judgment in business circles who discouraged the scheme
as visionary, on the grounds, as they said, that the power at the
Falls would be trifling in volume, and would be subject to being
entirely wiped out in seasons of any considerable drought.

He, however, kept on, and finally, by surveys and re-surveys
by experts on water power, established the fact, so far as a
fact of that kind can be theoretically established, that there was
abundant power for all purposes contemplated in the scheme of
development.

One necessary phase of the work of promotion was that of
interesting local individuals and sections who would be affected
in their business interests by the development of the water
power, to lend encouragement to the enterprise and to subscribe
financial aid. This was a very long and a very discouraging
part of the work, but it was finally carried so far to success, as
to lay the foundation for the necessary stages of financial
promotion of the scheme.

HISTORY OF AROO&TOOK 59

One very difficult part of the work of promoting^ this en-
terprise was in overcoming the legal and technical difficulties
involved in the work of acquiring necessary franchise rights, and
such land titles connected with the property to be developed as
was necessary for the flotation of bonds, and other extension of
credit necessary in the course of the project.

This involved much legislation in New Brunswick, and a re-
sort was also necessary to the Dominion Parliament, which
proved to be a very long and tedious process. The acquisition
of necessary land titles, advice in regard to the various steps
in organization was furnished to Mr. Gould, at every step of the
progress of the enterprise by the late Hon. Herbert M. Heath of
Augusta, without whose counsel and interest in the matter,
and whose confidence in the scheme being well founded, he
would probably not have been able to land his project success-
fully.

As all know, the many and various difficulties met with were
finally overcome, and the Aroostook Falls power, through the
initiative, courage and great executive ability of Mr. Gould, has
entered successfully into the business and industrial life of all
Aroostook County, and to quite an extent into New Brunswick,
and all know what a great factor of benefit it is to the County,
and how much it has contributed to the business and social well-
being of widely scattered communities.

When the Falls power had been developed, and had been
put into very extensive operation, and after it had, in and of
itself, demonstrated that it was a great and successful business
enterprise, Mr. Gould then reverted to his original idea of making
use of this power by the operation of a railroad. To this end he
took up the matter of promoting such a line from Presque Isle
to Washburn, apd as a preliminary thereto made the necessary
surveys. As before, he received very warm encouragement from
Washburn people, and notwithstanding much opposition, was
successful in getting a vote from the town of Presque Isle to
subscribe for twenty thousand dollars of stock of the proposed
road. As with the original undertaking to develop the power,
so with the railroad enterprise, no end of obstacles and discour-
agements presented themselves, and it was a long time before
the point was reached where it could be said that the project
was safely financed and a certainty of being carried out. When
its success was at last assured by support given to it by the Can-
adian Pacific, in the shape of a guarantee of bonds of the new
electric line, the management of the Bangor & Aroostook became

60 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

alive to the effect that the building that this road would have,
in robbing their line of traffic in an important part of their terri-
tory. The result, as all knov^, was that the Bangor & Aroostook
Railroad, to protect its interests, built extensive additions to
its line, through which additions such towns as Washburn, Ma-
pleton, Perham, Woodland, part of New Sweden, Wade, Castle
Hill and Chapman, have been afforded much needed rail facili-
ties to connect them with the outside world. This is a large and
very fertile portion of Aroostook, and up to the time of the
building of the railroad into it, its people had been suffering
many inconveniences for lack of a railroad, and progress in
increase of wealth and population was practically at a stand-
still. This whole territory is now as well supplied with railroad
facllt'es as any portion of the County, and its people have this
great benefit and advantage as the result of the electric railroad
built by Mr. Gould, which forced the hand of the Bangor &
Aroostook Railroad, and resulted in giving them, not only one,
but tvvo lines of railroad.

Since the coming of the steam and electric railroad trans-
portation, the change in these different towns amounts to a ver-
itable transformation in the way of increased prosperity.

The town of Washburn may be taken as a fair representa-
tive of the group of toAAns affected by the building of the rail-
road extensions referred to. In Washburn the record shows that
in 1909, the year when the town first acquired railroad facilities,
there was appropriated $900 for free h"gh school. In 1921, the
appropr'ation was $9983.66, a little over ten times as much. In
1909 the record shows that the total valuation of the town was
/;299,613. In 1921 it had grown to $831,675. It is estimated
that since the coming of the railroad to Washburn, the increase
in the potato acreage has been six fold, and that the same
ratio of increase could be applied to the growth of the village,
and to the increase in the volume of business done in the town.

CHAPTER IX.
Other Developments In Gould's Career.

The Gould Electric Line or the Aroostook Valley Railroad,
as it -s called, after being built through to Washburn, was sub-
sequently extended to New Sweden, and still later a branch line
was built to Caribou. It has been a great success as an agency
of development in the section of country it has opened up, and

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 61

has also been an important feeder for the Canadian Pacific
Railroad, with which it connects at Presque Isle.

It is a standard gauge, finely constructed and thoroughly up-
to date road, equipped with ample rolling stock of the best type,
and after important changes in grades, which are at present be-
ing made, are carried out, will have a maximum capacity for
handling all present and prospective traffic on its line. Essential-
ly a freight carrying proposition, and thoroughly equipped for
that purpose, with abundance of power, it is also well equipped
for meeting all the demands of the passenger service in its field,
and furnishes its patrons excellent accommodation in that direc-
tion.

What this road has done as an adjunct to the Canadian Pa-
cific road the record of increase of traffic on the Canadian Pa-
cific branch since 1910, when this feeder was added to the spur
line running into Presque Isle, well illustrates. Eleven years
ago the record shows that the volume of business done at the
C. P. Station in this village was about $50,000 per annum. The
past year, 1921, there was handled almost $1,000,000 of business
at this station. This enormous increase is almost entirely due
to the added business which the Aroostook Valley Railroad has
brought to the Canadian Pacific.

If Mr. Gould lives, the same energy and ability which have
accomplished thus far in his career such surprising results, will
supplement the present development he has succeeded in making
in electric railroad transportation, with a much more ambitious
and more important addition to the existing line.

After extending the line to its present limits, the idea was
conceived by Mr. Gould of pushing it still further. Desiring to
strengthen what he had built by additional freight traffic, it
occurred to him that this might be done by an extension of the
line into the great forest domain which lies between Washburn
and the western boundary of the State. Promptly following out
this suggestion, Mr. Gould for the past ten years has been tire-
lessly and persistently at work upon the development of a plan
to push through a line of railroad, familiarly known to the public
as the "Quebec Extension."

Beginning at a junction with the present Aroostook Valley
line at Washburn, this projected line would extend westward to
the boundary between Maine and the Province of Quebec, a
distance of 111 miles. A final survey has been completed,
which shows a good route, with many water powers along the line,
easy of development, which would afford ample and cheap power

62

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

for its operation. At the western boundary of the State, connec-
tion will be made with the Quebec Central Railroad, and thus a
short line from the western Provinces of Canada, and from the
Western States will be afforded. Such a line would not only de-
velop a territory of immense timber and agricultural resources,
but would give Aroostook an additional outlet for reaching the
markets of the world with her products, and would enable our
County to bring in freight from the West much more cheaply
than the same commodities can be handled under existing condi-
tions of freight transportation.

The region to be thus penetrated by railroad is one of the
most interesting sections of undeveloped country in the United
States. It is probably the largest remaining area of virgin for-
est to be found in the East, and is a region of enormous richness
in its timber resources.

WINTER SCENE IN GREAT WESTERN
AROOSTOOK FOREST

After a point perhaps thirty miles west of Ashland is
reached, the wilderness is in its absolutely virgin state, and the
old-time logging road by which it is now traversed, runs through
a forest with countless millions of feet of the very finest spruce,
hemlock, cedar, fir and all varieties of hard wood indigenous to
forest growth of this latitude.

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 63

It is a somewhat curious fact that in traveling from Ashland
westward, when one reaches the divide between the waters of
the Aroostook River and the Allegash, there is noticeable a
marked change in the timber growth. Immediately one has
crossed this divide the forest growth becomes thicker, the trees
of all kinds taller, and the timber growth generally more heavy.

For miles upon miles on the A.llegash side of the divide,
the spruce and pine trees stand in thick ranks, many of the pines
rising to the height of a hundred and fifty feet, and spruce a
hundred feet high. Ridge after ridge of the very finest hard-
wood abounds and hundreds of million of feet of cedar trees
which have apparently never been touched by the axe. It is
estimated that there are many townships in that wonderful
region, which have growing upon them not less than two hundred
million feet of timber.

During all the years that Aroostook has been settled, or
has been sought by lumber operators, this vast region has been
growing, and annually the waste from decay of trees of all kinds
has been enormous. The building of a railroad would prevent
all this process of waste, and would conserve the great resources
of this region for commercial and economic uses. With the ad-
vent of a railroad there should go the adoption of some wise
policy of protecting this magnificent forest from being despoiled
and converted, as too many other once great forests of the coun-
try have been, into a barren waste.

One unused to forest life and forest scenery can add to his
store of observation of what is interesting and beautiful, one of
the most vivid experiences of his life, by taking a trip through
this great wilderness either in the winter or in the summer. Be-
sides its impressive evidence of vast forest resources, its natural
beauty and its novel and wonderful scenery are things that fur-
nish a revelation to eyes which are unused to them, and which
appeal to one with ever renewed freshness and inspiration.

Besides the vast timber resources the configuration of the
country and the character of the soil are such in this wilderness
domain of Western Aroostook as to invite agricultural develop-
ment, so far as it is possible under existing conditions to pro-
mote such development in that region. We have heretofore
called attention to the obstacles now in the way of such devel-
opment, growing out of the fact that all these forest lands are
locked up in the hands of private owners, who are averse to hav-
ing their timber lands broken into by settlers, and to the further
fact that there is no class available in these days, of the right

64 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

material to undertake the task of hewing farms out of the raw
wilderness, as it was done by the pioneer settlers of Aroostook.

Millions of acres are comprised in this western wilderness
of Aroostook, and if a railroad were built to make its wealth of
timber accessible, under proper and economical methods of op-
eration, this great forest would yield an indefinite harvest.

Long before this, but for the interruption and derangement
to all enterprises and industries caused by the war, this proposed
Quebec Extension Railroad would have been built and would
now be adding its contribution to the prosperity of the County
and the State.

Before leaving this branch of the subject, it may be worth
while to speak generally of the course of industrial activity
which has been carried on in the forested region of Northern
Maine.

This vast timber tract was what first called attention to
Northern Maine. It attracted lumbermen from Maine and New
Brunswick, which were rival claimants to ownership of this dis-
puted territory. This led to frequent clashes and quarrels, and
finally precipitated the so-called Aroostook War.

The first stage of the lumber industry in Northern Maine
was the stripping away of the enormous wealth of virgin pine
which then existed. For some time after the pine was gone
comparatively little value was attached to spruce and other kinds
of soft wood timber, and it was during this period of ignorance
and indifference to the present and prospective value of these
timber lands that the State was led to squander them, and thus
part with the priceless heritage of wealth in them which rightly
belonged to the common people and should have been preserved
for their use and benefit.

In due time spruce and other forms of softwood lumber
came to be recognized as valuable timber for building purposes,
and with the growing recognition of the commercial value of
spruce, a great lumbering industry sprang up, and was carried
on for many years, the product of the Northern Maine forest
finding an outlet to market by the St. John River and its tribu-
taries, on which they were floated to St. John city and there
manufactured and finally marketed in various parts of the United
States.

With the advent of the railroad this lumber manufactur-
ing industry was entirely revolutionized, large mills being plant-
ed at various points on the Bangor & Aroostook Railroad,
the manufactured lumber finding an outlet to market by rail.

ARTHUR R. GOULD

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

65

From the time that this change began, with the exception of some
periods of depression, such as occurred in the panic
era of 1893 — 97, timberland values have gradually and constant-
ly increased. Within a comparatively recent date the introduc-
tion of the pulp industry has still further revolutionized condi-
tions in the lumber industry, and caused very rapid and very great
appreciation of values in timber land. This change has been so
marked that in the course of thirty years past the value of tim-
bered land in Northern Maine has been increased upon an aver-
age perhaps twenty-five fold. •

Great Stand of Virgin Spruce, and Giant
Pine Tree 150 Feet High

The great forest domain very largely within the borders of
Aroostook, which the State parted with for a song, so unwisely
many years ago, now constitutes the greatest single item of -the
State's wealth, and great solicitude is had for its protection, chief-
ly against its greatest enemy, which is fire. To provide against
this there is now a very elaborate system of patrolling the for-
ests in operation, and also scores of look-out stations, which are

66 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

located on the summit on every considerable elevation or emin-
ence in the forest region. These observation towers have charts
upon which the surrounding forest area is duplicated, and by
means of which the fire warden can immediately locate any fire
which springs up within the range of his observation.

These look-out stations are also connected together by a
network of telephones, and all in all they furnish a very remark-
able demonstration of what ingenuity has been able to devise
in carrying out such an important work as forest fire protection.

Reverting to the career of Mr. A. R. Gould, which it is worth
wh^rie to complete in a record of this kind. A chapter in Mr.
Gould's active life is pertinent to relate in this connection, al-
though it is not strictly a part of the development of Aroostook.
It has reference to the part he has played in g-ving to the Province
of New Brunswick an important extension to its railroad mile-
age. This was in the course of promoting the building of what
is known as the St. John Valley Railroad, a line which at pres-
ent extends from Centreville, Carleton County, to Gagetown,
Queen's County, a distance of 120 miles. A Woodstock to Cen-
treville road had been under agitation for many years, as also a
larger enterprise, including the Woodstock to Centreville propo-
sition, of building a railroad to serve the needs of that section of
New Brunswick lying west of the St. John River, a rich country
agriculturally, and inhabited by a thrifty and industrious class
of people.

In promoting this enterprise Mr. Gould had in view the
building of a road, to be operated electrically, which should work
into a comprehensive scheme which included his proposed Que-
bec Extension road, and which, as a whole, would form a through
line from connection with the C. P. Railroad system at the west-
ern boundary of the State to tidewater at St. John. It was a
bold project, full of big possibilities in a railroad transportation
way, and after some five years of very hard work, it was partial-
ly carried out by the promotion and building of the 120 miles of
railroad referred to. The capital for this was supplied in part
by subsidies granted by the Dominion Parliament, and the New
Brunswick government, and in part was supplied by capitalists
whom Mr. Gould induced to invest their money in the enter-
prise, on the strength of securities guaranteed by New Bruns-
wick and the Dominion government.

This chapter in Mr. Gould's railroad career added to his
experience, broadened very largely his circle of acquaintance
with big men in the world of railroad finance, thus increasing

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 67

his reputation and influence, but its benefits to him personally,
were only indirect. The direct result was that he put in five of
his best and most productive years wrestling with the crooks and
curves of New Brunswick politicians, who finally succeeded in
stacking the cards against him, and robbing him on purely tech-
nical grounds of the just reward he was entitled to for the great
work he had accomplished.

Many minor enterprises and activities highly beneficial to
the community in which he has lived so long, stand to his credit
as a citizen. Early in h!s residence in Presque Isle, he acquired
by purchase an undeveloped tract of land on the west side of
the Presque Isle Stream, and mostly within the village limits.
This tract of 100 acres he bought for a few thousand dollars,
added to its value by improvements which he himself made, and
by what was done by others to whom he sold lots for homes.
The result is that this property now represents a valuation of
probably half a million dollars. This is what is known as the
"Gouldville Addition," or as more commonly referred to, Gould-
ville, and it has been an important addition to the growth and
prosperity of the village of Presque Isle.

Mr. Gould's interests and activities have been almost wholly
in the world of business, and in this field he has demonstrated
great energy, far-sightedness, business courage and resourceful-
ness, so that today his reputation is not confined to the limit of
his town and county, but he is recognized as a man of business
weight and character, far beyond local limits, among big business
men.

Though he was induced to serve for one term in the State
Senate, where, during the short time he was at the State Capital
he became recognized as a positive force in legislative counsels,
he is in no sense of the word a politician, and finds the ways of
politics and the means of exerting influence and bringing about
results that are demanded in that sphere of activity distasteful
to him.

It would have been surprising, however short was the time
he was in politics, if Mr. Gould had not accomplished something
of permanent and substantial value to stand as a memorial to
the importance to the State of his legislative service.

When he began his career as a Senator, in the session of
1920, among the committees upon which he was appointed, was
that on State Homes and Schools for boys and girls. As chair-
man of that committee, he was brought into contact with condi-
tions of life as they exist in the homes which it was the duty of

68 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

this committee to investigate. Among these institutions was the
Home for Boys at South Portland. This home he found without
proper school facilities, and he found its superintendent, Mr.
Charles Dunn, a large-hearted, faithful, and highly capable man
for the place he filled, very much handicapped by the lack of
these needed facilities.

As a result of the investigation made there, at the instance
of Mr. Gould, the committee of which he was chairman recom-
mended an appropriation of $20,000 for the construction of a
new building. This met with the approval of his fellow members
in the Senate, but was vetoed by the Governor, whereupon, to
carry the good enterprise of providing an appropriation for the
much needed building, Mr. Gould offered to match $10,000 of
his own money against $10,000 of the State's money. This pro-
position was accepted by the Governor, and a bill to that effect
was framed and passed unanimously.

In the present month, on the 28th of July, 1922, the cere-
monies of dedication of the completed building are to be carried
out, and the structure called the "Arthur R. Gould School for
Boys," will begin its mission of usefulness and benefaction, and
will remain a lasting monument to the man whose generosity,
whose sympathy and interese for poor boys has made this addi-
tion to an institution established for their care and training pos-
sible.

It was found possible to build a forty thousand dollar school
building as a result of the raising of this appropriation of $20,-
000, on account of the generosity and consideration which deal-
ers in building material were found to have for the enterprise,
on account of the co-operation manifested by the business men
of Portland, and more than all else, through the willing and
zealous labor of the boys of the school, who did the major part
of the work under the direction of Mr. Pratt, one of the superin-
tendents of the school.

Before leaving the subject of Mr. Gould's various activities
and enterprises, it may be worth while in passing, to note the
phenomenal growth of electric power development since the first
year the plant was opened. It will be recalled by many that
when this plant began operating it was freely predicted that
it would not furnish power enough to meet the demands of Houl-
ton, Presque Isle, Fort Fairfield and intermediate towns. How
far short of the truth this prediction was is shown by the fact
that it is today supplying power for every town in Aroostook
except Ashland. The gross revenue the first year was $23,000;

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 69

the last year it was $225,000, and there is plenty of power for
sale yet, and an ample reserve for further development of the
County.

At the time that the plant was set in motion, such
a customer for the power as a pulp mill was not
dreamed of, but at the present time one such indus-
try, the pulp mill at Van Buren, uses fifty thousand dol-
lars worth of power a year. The company is now spending a
quarter of a million dollors in improvements, for the further de-
velopment of the power plant.

CHAPTER X.

Beginning Of Aroostook's Great Staple Industry — The Introduc-
tion Of Starch Making.

Having concluded the foregoing cursory and rather imperfect
review of the steps which have entered into the acquisition by
Aroostook of facilities for communication with the outside world,
we will sketch the development that has been made as the result
of acquiring railroad facilities.

Except for its great and distinctive industry, that of potato
production, acquiring the means of railroad transportation, while
it would have improved conditions of living in Aroostook, and
conduced to growth and progress, there would have taken place
no such marked transformation in the way of increase of wealth
and prosperity as has followed since the advent of the Bangor
& Aroostook Railroad into the County. As a matter of fact,
while the railroad has been a great and helpful agency, the great-
ness of Aroostook is founded upon the potato. This humble
vegetable is the veritable corner stone of the thrift in this great
county, as it has been built up to wonderful magnitude within
the last half century. It was about forty-five years ago that the
potato began to be a recognized factor in the business and in-
dustrial life of the County. Aroostook's great career as a potato
producing section, in the course of which it has risen from ob-
scurity to the distinction of being the foremost county in the
United States in the value of its agricultural products, was when
the peculiar adaptability of its soil for raising potatoes for starch
making was d'scovered.

At first the discovery did not go very deep, it was merely
superficial, and the extent of it was merely that Aroostook was

70

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

a promising region in which to plant potatoes for the manufac-
ture of potato starch.

HON. T. H. PHAIR

A Business Leader and Known as the
Aroostook '".tarch King

The first factory in the County was bu'.lt in Caribou in 1871
by Albee Holmes. Then followed one in Presque Isle in 1874
by a Mr. Wheeler of New Hampshire. The latter, located at
the west end of the cement bridge, on what is now known as
State Street, is still a going concern. For many years it was
one of the chain of about twenty factories, owned and operated

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

71

in North Aroostook by the late T. H. Phair. It is now owned
by a company, and in the fall and winter of 1921 — 22, operated
by C. J. Hanson, manufactured thousands of barrels of sur-
plus potatoes which would otherwise have gone to waste, and
turned out about three hundred and fifty tons of starch.

HON. C. F. A. JOHNSON,

Prominent in the Business Life of Presque Isle

in the Seventies and Eighties

In 1875 the firm of Johnson & Phair, Presque Isle, went into
starch making, and expanded this part of their business to such
an extent that in a few years they were the largest manufactur-
ers in the County, and in North Aroostook had a practical mon-
opoly of the business. In 1889 the firm dissolved, and the starch

72 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

making end of it passed into the hands of the junior partner,
the late T. H. Phair, who pushed the business very aggressively,
so that at the apex of his business career he was known as the
"Starch King of Aroostook."

For many years Mr. Phair was perhaps the leading business
man in North Aroostook, and the leading figure in many lines of
activity in that section of the County. Strictly self-made, he
became a man whose useful citizenship touched many interests
around him, and he was related in a noany-sided way, to the wel-
fare of his community.

At the outset of the starch making Industry in Aroostook,
as an inducement to parties to locate factories In different com-
munities, the farmers signed contracts pledging themselves to
plant each a specified number of acres, the product of which was
to be delivered to the factories at a specified price per bushel.
All the early contracts of this kind were for a price of twenty-
five cents per bushel. Later, when these contracts had run out,
the price fluctuated more or less according to the conditions of
the starch market and the yield of potatoes in the County.

While the price received by Aroostook farmers for their
potatoes at the starch factory was small compared with the prices
often received later for potatoes shipped to the outside markets,
for table stock and seed, the business averaged to be quite pro-
fitable farming, and in the starch making era of Aroostook agri-
culture, marked strides were made in the Improvement of farms
and in increaseed thrift.

Many farmers date the beg'nn'ng of their prosperity to the
time when they began raising potatoes for the factory, and it is
sure that the starch making business was the first rung in the
ladder. At the height of the industry of starch making, before
It was superseded by the demand for table and seed stock, which
practically drove the starch makers out of business, Aroostook
had as many as forty factories. On a good season these would av-
erage an output of perhaps two hundred and fifty tons of starch.
In the northern end of the County, which was then and has con-
tinued to be the great potato producing section of the County, the
business wias not long In finding Its way into the hands of a sin-
gle concern, first, the firm of Johnson & Phair, and later the late
T. H. Phair. It was not probably a decade after the introduction
of the starch factory before the discovery was made that Aroos-
took grown potatoes were of superlative excellence for table use.
The discovery was made that while other localities could grow
potatoes which, to all appearances were as good as Aroostook

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 73

stock in point of excellence of flavor they were very much
inferior to them. With this discovery began the shipping of po-
tatoes to the Boston market for table use, first on a comparatively
small scale, because markets had to be found and the reputation
of Aroostook potatoes had to be established, and because Aroos-
took farmers were a long time in getting into a stride anything
like comparable with the present proportions of the industry. Al-
most simultaneously with the beginning of the potato shipping
business, came the invention of the Hoover digger, which made
it possible to increase the acreage raised, as rapidly as suitable
land could be brought into cultivation for the production of the
crops. In the earliest years of the industry, little or no fertilizer
was used, and when at length fertilizer became recognized as a
necessary adjunct of the business, the quantity used per acre was
very small, something like two hundred pounds to the acre. As
the results in stimulating increased yield were noted, and with
recognition of the fact that there was profit in using larger quan-
tities of fertilizer, more and more was used, from year to year,
until at the present t'.me no farmer uses less than a ton to the
acre if he has either cash or credit to buy it.

At the same time there was introduced into the potato rais-
ing industry, the practice of what is called "crop rotation." That
consisted in following a crop of potatoes with a crop of grain,
usually oats, and at the same t'me seeding the ground to clo-
ver, and after taking off a crop of clover, in the fall plow un-
der the aftermath and the next year return to potatoes. This
is the accepted rule of Aroostook farmers at the present time in
potato production, and in the process of following it and in the
progress've increase from year to year in the application of fer-
tilizer, there has been a steady increase in the yield per acre, and
along with this more broadly and generally recognized system of
potato husbandry there has been a constant gain on the part of
Aroostook farmers in raising every detail of the industry to a
higher level of skill and efficiency.

At the present time the Aroostook farmer is up to the min-
ute in every process and method essential to the highest success
in potato raising, so far as success can be measured by results
in getting a maximum yield per acre. Aroostook fields under the
high skill and intelligence with which farmers of Aroostook have
pursued this specialty, have been made to produce astonishing
crops. There is no part of the country today which compares
with Maine in production per acre, and the comparison showing
the marked superiority of iMaine over other States, is almost en-

74 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

tirely due to the preeminence of Aroostook in potato prduction.

O'ther sections of Maine which started into the production
of starch as a specialty, found themselves unable to maintain the
fertility of their soil and the result was soil bankruptcy. This
was in part due to the fact that the resources of their soil in the
way of fertility were more limited than the rich and deep loam
of Aroostook, and also to the fact that as potato raising was

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 75

practiced on an extensive scale in the lower part of Maine and
in New Hampshire, the rotation ot crop system, which very early
came into vogue in Aroostook, was not practiced there. The re-
sult was disasters in the business of such magnitude that the
opinion obtained in southern Maine that to go into potato rais-
ing exclusively, to the abandonment of mixed husbandry, would
surely invite agricultural ruin. Aroostook was not without warn-
ings to this effect, from farmers in the southern p.art of the State.
Something like twenty-seven years ago, on invitation of some of
the leading farmers of Aroostook a meeting of the State Board
of Agriculture- was held in Presque Isle. This brought here a
large number of representative farmers from all parts of southern
Maine. In the course of the meetings of this body the point was
stressed by all these prominent farmer visitors that Aroostook
was on the wrong road agriculturally, and that the seeming pros-
perity she was enjoying was only apparent and not real and per-
manent. These farmers insisted that with every trainload of po-
tatoes that was being shipped from the County, those who sent
them were not so much shipping potatoes as they were their
farms to market, and they urged Aroostook farmers who listened
to them to take up a system of diversified farming which, they
said, was the only way of maintaining the fertility of their farms.
For many years after this meeting it has seemed that the course
of things has contradicted their prophecies, and it may be that
they were in the wrong. There is, however, this fact, which in
part, at least, goes to establish the soundness of their claims, and
that is that slowly but constantly, from year to year, ever since
these southern Maine formers uttered the w^arning, Aroostook
farmers who have continually persisted in their exclusive atten-
tion to potato raising, have had to continually increase the appli-
cation of fertilizer in order to secure a full yield of potatoes, and
every succeeding year are more absolutely dependent upon fer-
tilizer to get a crop.

There is no doubt but that, on general principles the advice
which was given at that time was sound. Aroostook was not
then, and is not now, in a position to abandon potatoes as its
leading farm industry, but its condition would be better today,
and it would no doubt be enjoying a sounder prosperity if it had
so far diversified its farming that the intent and purpose the vis-
itors to Aroostook expressed had been carried out in a better
rounded and properly balanced system of diversified husbandry.

There is, however, no doubt that potato raising, even though
followed as exclusively as it has been in Aroostook, has brought

76 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

results in the way of increase of wealth and prosperity, such as
probably no other farming section in the entire United States,
has enjoyed during the same period. The experience in Aroos-
took, has been that of alternate good and bad years, but on the
average the Aroostook farmers have gotten ahead, and increased
in wealth and prosperity as no other section in the country. As
it is with the County as a whole, so it is with individuals, and' no
farming section that we have any knowledge of can point to as
many cases where farmers have risen from poverty to wealth,
as has been the case in Aroostook as the result of the big returns
they have reached from their investment of money and labor in
potato raising.

This great staple industry of Aroostook has built more
comfortable homes — not only comfortable homes, but those
equipped with every comfort and luxury than can be found any-
where else in the East. It has multiplied great and fertile farms
and prosperous potato growing farmers in Aroostook in
every neighborhood until these communities are a won-
der and revelation to all who visit the County and travel
about in its various sections. The industry has built schools not
surpassed elsewhere in New England, and as a result of it
has naturally sprung up the greatest agricultural fair in New Eng-
land, excepting only one or two, possibly, in the State of Massa-
chusetts.

In due course of time the potato industry wrought a marked
transformation in Aroostook. Its large development oame after
transportation facilities had been afforded by the building of the
Bangor & Aroostook Railroad. This road made the County, as
we now know it, and in turn the fame of the Aroostook potato,
and the prolific abundance with which the mellow soil turned out
the tubers, m^ade the railroad. The railroad prospered as well as
the County, and as a result of this prosperity, accomplished the
marvel of paying back to fortunate Aroostook every dollar which
the County put into it in its vote of nearly a million dollars to
aid in securing its construction.

Naturally, good potato land grew steadily in value under
the impetus of the bonanza profits which were reached in favor-
able years. With the opportunity for making such profits out of
the soil, came the incentive to farm improvement, and the desire
to make every rod of land pay tribute in the shape of potato rev-
enue. The tillable area of every farm was increased to the ut-
most by reclaiming all waste land. Rough and broken fields
were made smooth and easy to cultivate as potato raising became

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 77

more and more an exclusive pursuit, stock raising was practical-
ly abandoned, and fences disappeared from Aroostook farms.
The over-greedy farmer cultivated his fields to the very edge of
the traveled highway, made himself the despair of road builders
and commissioners, who were finally compelled to resort to the
legislature and secure the passage of a law forbidding farmers
to plow into the ditches, and by choking them up, destroy the
drainage which was necessary in order to maintain roads. This
statute was in general terms, but it was probably aimed at Aroos-
took, whose farmers were the chief offenders.

Of course when the farmers had killed off or sold off prac-
tically all their flocks and herds, and taken down all their fences,
they committed themselves almost irretrievably to the system of
husbandry they had embarked upon. They became a one-crop
section, staking everything on the potato crop.

While this in the main, as has been said, has made Aroos-
took rich and famous, it has had its disadvantages, and has, and
will continue to have, serious risks of possible disaster to the
County. With the easy money that came in the big years to Aroos-
took farmers and Aroostook people in general, there was engen-
dered a habit of free spending and extravagance. The surplus of
a big year was inconsiderately swallowed up in improvements, in
buying additional land to plant more potatoes, or in the general
free spending which goes with easy profits, so that when lean
years succeeded the fat ones, there was sometimes stringency and
hard times.

In due course of time farming became less a legitimate busi-
ness than a gamble, which was participated in not only by the
farmers, but by non-farming classes, who speculated in buying
and raising potatoes. It became the rule that fortunes were made
and lost just as much in the spirit of gambling as they are at
card tables.

Every year after the potato raising and shipping industry
became firmly established and Aroostook potatoes had got a foot-
hold in the markets of the coun'try, particularly after their value
became recognized for seed purposes, each succeeding year more
and more potatoes were planted and more trainloads of fertilizer
were rolled over the tracks of the Bangor & Aroostook and the
Canadian Pacific to supply the needs of Aroostook farmers. It
finally became so that he wias a moderate farmer who did not
have a fifty acre potato field, and he only was a big figure in the
business whose plant did not reach one hundred acres, and some-
times double that acreage. Under such circumstances, when a

78

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

big yield and & big price came, even the little farmers reaped
thousands of dollars in profits, and the really big ones cleaned
up fortunes in a single year.

AROOSTOOK POTATO HARVEST SCENE

With the big farming to which the potato industry introduced
Aroostook, small things, that have sufficed in the small days had
to be done away with. The moderate sized riative horses which
had well enough done the work in the early days of Aroostook
farming, were displaced by big western draft horses and later
on tractors were added to big horses, constituting an impressive
array of motive power on Aroostook farms, impressive to the eye,
and also quite impressive in the figures of their cost.

With the draft horses and tractors, and the great and rapid
expansion of the potato industry, it became necessary to acquire
facilities for potato storage, and thus there is now added to al-
most every plant of farm buildings in Aroostook of any preten-
sions, a potato storehouse. Some of these are small and com-
piaratively inexpensive, and some of them are large and run into
big figures of cost. The smaller ones will store, in a practically
frost-proof basement, from 2500 to 3000 barrels of potatoes,
while the storage capacity of larger and more ambitious farm
storehouses will run from 5000 to as high as 10,000 barrels. In.
recent years it has become the habit of farmers in different
neighborhoods to combine together and build storehouses on
railroad sidings. This enables them to take advantage during

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 79

the shipping season, of sudden advances in the potato market,
which may be succeeded by a slump, and these railroad sidings
usually supplement storehouses on the farm, so as to enable the
larger farmers to store all their stock in case the conditions at
the time of the digging and harvesting season seem to warrant
holding instead of selling.

So marked a feature of Aroostook County are these farm
potato houses, that one can tell when he crosses the border, or
particularly when he goes into the neighboring Province of New
Brunswick that he has left Aroostook because he has l^ft these
distinctive landmarks of Aroostook husbandry.

What the potato industry has done for Aroostook is evident
to the most casual observer who travels from our County into
New Brunswick and notes the marked contrast in the farming
landscape of the respective sections. Generally all that part of
New Brunswick which borders Aroostook, is in general as fer-
tile a soil as that which the better portions of Aroostook County
possess. In fact, 'the characteristic physical features of the
two sections are alike, but the potato industry has caused the
Aroostook farmer to pursue an intensive system of cultivation of
the soil, and to clear all the waste land of his farm, and to im-
prove every rod of it and bring it to the maximum of fertility and
productiveness. The prosperity which the industry has brought
to Aroostook is thus reflected in broad, smooth fields, almost a
total absence of waste land, and in fine large plants of farm
buildings which are in marked contrast to the farming neighbor-
hoods of New Brunswick, or in fact, any section of New
England.

At the present time it is pretty easy to estimate the acreage
of potatoes in Aroostook County, by an estimate of the quantity
of fertilizer that is brought into the County from year to year.
The fertilizer shipments, which have s^'teadily increased with the
increase in plant, now approximate ninety thousand tons year-
ly. As a standard use of fertilizer per acre is one ton, that would
mean an acreage in the County of ninety thousand. Assuming
that the average yield per acre is eighty barrels, which would
not be far from correct, it would make the normal crop of pota-
toes In Aroostook at the present time approximately twenty
million bushels. In the season of 1921 — 22, the crop in Aroos-
took was abnormal, the statistics for the State of Maine being
37,000,000 bushels, of which the Whole State outside of Aroos-
took probably did not contribute more than three million bush-
els, leaving Aroostook County with a crop of about 34,000,000
bushels.

80 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

The potato industry of Arooslook has developed not only big
farms, but farming on /a bigger scale than is practiced anywhere
else in the East. In order to handle such an industry, the busi-
ness end of it, which is the shipping end, must be highly organ-
ized in ,a business way, and that is the case under present condi-
tions. This is particularly a necessity of the business since the
seed trade has assumed such proportions as it has now reached.
This ,has made the relations of the County to the outside world
very extensive in the area covered, and the requirements of the
seed trade are so varied and exacting that of necessity there
must be a constant effort m*!ade to place the raising of potatoes
and all the details of marketing the crop on a more scientific and
systematic basis.

. Aroostook owes the reputation that her seed has come to
enjoy, to the fact of its undoubted sulperiority to potato seed
grown in any other section of the country. Hence the constant-
ly growing demand for Aroostook seed, and the high prices it has
commanded in the m.arket. At present it is claimed that the
seed demand absorbs from a quarter to a third of the crop
raised, and it is claimed by those who are experienced in the
business, and broadly familiar with the conditions as to the pos-
sibilities of creating new and larger markets for Aroostook seed
that it might be so developed and expanded as to practically take
care of all the potatoes that Aroostook ought to raise, assuming
that she followed anything like a well balanced and diversified
system of farming.

CHAPTER XL
Banks And Newspapers As Factors In Aroostook's Progress

Nothing has illustrated Aroostook's marvelous growth for
the past thirty years more than the development of its system of
banks. The banks that have been planted in the course of its
progress in response to demands for such institutions in differ-
ent centers of the County, have contributed immensely to the
business welfare and prosperity of the County, and in turn they
have been without exception enabled to build up a prosperous
iand profitable business, as a result of the great growth and in-
crease of wealth of the people of Aroostook.

In the ante-railroad days of the County Aroostook was with-
out banks, and practically without money. Such business as was
done was done on an almost endless system of credit, and the habit
of asking for and depending upon credit became so fixed

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 81

a practice that the transition from the old habit of doing
business on credit and buying and selling for credit persisted
long after it might have been and ought to have been abandoned,
and continued to be a hindrance to business progress in the
County for many years.

The oldest banking institution in the County is the Houlton
Savings Bank, which was established in 1872 and has had an
uninterrupted growth in the addition to its deposits from year to
year, and in the business it has done. It has always been thor-
oughly well managed, no institution of the kind has done more to
promote the welfare of the people in its territory, and none is
more deserving of the confidence it enjoys. A savings bank is
in a peculiar sense an index of the thrift and prosperity of the
community which it serves and measured by the record of this
institution, the prosperity of Aroostook is registered in a way
that testifies to the rapid strides in growth and increase of
wealth in the County. At the present time its deposits foot up
nearly $2,000,000.

Following the Houlton Savings Bank, commercial banking
institut<ions sprang up from time to time, as the growth of differ-
ent business centers warranted, and at the present time there are
fifteen banks in the County, exclusive of the Houlton Savings
Bank, as follows: Caribou National Bank, Caribou; Fort Fairfield
National .Bank, Fort Fairfield; First National Bank, Houlton;
Farmers' National Bank, Houlton; Presque Isle National Bank,
Presque Isle; Aroostook Trust Company, Caribou; Frontier Trust
Company, Fort Fairfield; Fort Kent Trust Company, Fort JCent;
Houlton Trust Company, Houlton; Mars Hill Trust Company,
Mars Hill; Merchants' Trust & Banking Co., Presque Isle; Van
Buren Trust Company, Van Buren; Washburn Trust Company,
Washburn; Ashland Trust Co., Ashland; Limestone Trust Co.,
Limestone.

The capitalization of the foregoing banks amounts approx-
imately to $800,000, and the total resources to approxi-
imately $17,000,000. With their resources, and with the breadth
and enterprise of their management, they are a great factor in
the business life and activity of the County, though there is no
doubt but that the immense business that is done in the County,
and part'icularly the demands that are made upon its banking
system in financing the potato growing and shipping industry of
Aroostook make demands upon the banks at certain seasons of
the year that are a great strain upon these institutions, and
it might be profitable to the County if its banlding system were
broadened to a very considerable extent.

S2 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

Qne feature of interest in connection with banking develop-
ment'in Aroostook is in the change of attitude which the banks
have made in their relation to the public, and with the customers
who patronize them.

In the very early days of banking in Aroostook, there was in
fact a dependence of the people upon accommodation which the
banks afforded, and the people who patronized banks were too
often made to feel that sense of dependence by some lack of
courtesy on the part of banking officials.

All that has changed, and it has become the habit and pol-
icy of banks to treat the public with courtesy and consideration,
and the managemient of banking institutions here, as elsewhere,
seek for patronage and are in the same sense in competition for
patronage as are other lines of business.

JOURNALISM IN AROOSTOOK

No one agency has contributed more to the progress and ad-
vancement of the County of Aroostook than the press. It was
indebted to the .press outside its borders for the first marked im-
petus it was given in the increase of settlement in the County.
This came .about through the well known and locally famous
visit to Aroostook of the Maine Press Association, whkh took
place in .1858. Most oif the then prominent editors of the State
of Maine joined in this press excursion to Aroostook, all who
participated in ^t found the new and then unexplored wilderness
country a revelation of promise in the way of fertility, and all
returned home enthusiastic advocates of the claims of Aroostook
to the .attention of those interested in finding and makirig farm
homes for themselves and their families. Aroostook reaped a
harvest of publicity as a result of this newspoper excursion, and
the result of it was to turn toward this County a large tide of
immigration. This unfortunately soon after was arrested by the
outbreak of the war, which sensibly depleted the population
of Aroostook by the contribution this section had to make in
response to the demands of the war in defense of the Union. It
was not until many, years later that the County resumed its on-
ward march of progress in population and increase of wealth,
this only coming with the first railroad communication, which
furnished a partial outlet for the County, and was later
accelerated by the building of the Bangor & Aroostook Railroad.
Its own local newspaper press has also done a very great
service in helping forward the progress of the County, and prob-
ably no section of the ^tate has had newspapers more loyal to

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 83

it, more devoted to its interests, or more zealous land tireless in
their labor in promoting its welfare.

The first newspaper to be planted in Aroostook County, start-
ed in Presque Isle and was the product of the joint enterprise of
W. S. Oilman and the late ,Hon. Joseph B. Hall. Not long after
the paper was started, Mt. J^all withdrew from the partnership,
and the business was continued by Mr. Oilman, who, in 1868
removed the paper to Houlton, where it is still published by the
Aroostook Publishing Company, whose efficient managing head
is Albert K- Stetson. It is a thoroughly clean and reputable
sheet, and ably edited and worthy of the patronage and prosper-
ity which it gnjoys.

The next venture in journalism in Aroostook was made by
the late Theodore Cary, who, in 1860, started the Aroostook
Times in .Houlton. This continued to be published by Mr. Cary
many years, and on his death it successively changed hands
and was run by several other editors, with more or less divergent
interests and policies, until it was acquired by Mr. Charles H.
Fogg, its present propr'etor, by vihcm it has been bu'ilt up into
an active and vigorous sheet, with an especially well equipped
plant and with the advantage of every necessary modern equip-
ment in its outfit. In these two papers the fine and flourishing
town of Houlton has sheets well worthy of the support which
they are receiving.

Probably no sheet started in Aroostook had more character
and individuality, or was more of a positive force in Aroos-
took and within the limits of the State outside ,Aroostook, than
what Wias known as the Loyal Sunrise, which was started by
the late Daniel Stickney in Presque Isle in 1863, and continued to
be published in that town until 1876, when It was removed to
Fort Fairfield, and soon after moving there suspended publica-
tion.

Mr. Stickney was a man of much ability, of marked eccen-
tricities of character, and one of the most vigorous and virile
writers of his day in the State. As the name of the paper im-
plies, the ruling motive and policy of the paper was actuated by
the prevailing sentiment of the country in the period of Civil
War and stress during which it had its birth. No man in the
County did more than Daniel Stickney to inspire those within
the reach of his paper with patriotism, and no man in the State
spoke more vigorously than he ,as a champion of the Union cause.
This high purpose absorbed the attention pi its editor during
the four years of civil struggle, and the record of the Loyal Sun-

84 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

rise as made during tha't period, stands as a lasting memorial to
the ability and high purpose of Daniel Stickney.

Outside of this lofty zeal which inspired him as an editor,
this old time Aroostook publisher was not without his limitations
and shortcomings. He was as pugnacious as he was patriotic,
and when the claim which 'the ,war emergency had on his time
and attention was past, he naturally drifted into public contro-
versies and politics and somewhat too often, perhaps, for the
popularity of his sheet and the welfare of the community, be-
came embroiled in local public quarrels and contentions, which
neither served to dignify him personally, nor to help the influ-
ence of his sheet for good.

The press of Aroostook County as it stands today, consists
of the following weekly papers : The Aroostook Pioneer, the
Houlton Times, The Aroostook Republican, The Fort Fairfield
Review, The Star-Herald, The Mars Hill News, and The Ash-
land Gazette. A venture w.as made in 1919 to start a daily paper
in Houlton, called the Aroostook Daily News. Either through
lack of sufficient field to give the paper necessary support, or
through lack of good management, or both, the paper did not
succeed in getting a foothold, and in July, 1922, suspended pub-
lication.

The weekly papers of the County for the most part are well
equipped, firmly established, conducted with enterprise and zeal
for the advancement of the communities they represent, and in
point of equipment and up to date features in every way, are
not surpassed by the weekly papers in any other part of the
State.

The Aroostook Republican was founded in 1880 by the late
Samuel Matthews, and was launched as a political organ. Like
nearly all local papers which are run primarily for political pur-
poses, the Republican, in the hands of Mr. Matthews, was hot
a success in a business w.ay, and it was not until it passed into
the hands of A. W. Hall, son of the late Joseph B. Hall, that it
really became successful. Mr. Hall was born and bred to the
country newspaper business, and the result was that he 'gave
Caribou a thoroughly good paper, and the community in turn re-
sponded and gave the Re^iublican, after it went into his hands
so large a support that the Republican was made one of the most
profitable local newspapers in the State. On or about 1894, he
sold the paper to Lyman J. Pendell, who has since published it,
and like Mr. Hall, has found the field a very profitable one to
cultivate.

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 85

The Fort Fairfield Review is the outgrowth of what was known
as the Fort Fairfield Leader. This was started by C. H. Ellis,
like the Republican, as a merely political organ, and like the Re-
publican, while so run, entirely defaulted in meeting the needs
of its constituency from a business and local news standpoint,
and to continue the parallel, it had to pass into other hands before
Fort Fairfield was really in possession of a paper worthy of that
thriving community.

The party who came to the rescue of the Fort Fairfield peo-
ple and met their needs by buying the Leader, was Mr. Chandler
C. Harvey, who, after purchasing the Leader plant and remodeling
it, changed the name of the paper to the one it still bears, and
under Mr. Harvey's management it is one of the best local pa-
pers of the County, and not surpassed by any sheet in its
class in the State.

The Star-Herald, printed in Presque Isle, is an amalgamation
of two papers, one of them the North Star, for many years edit-
ed by the late Dr. F. G. Parker, and the other the Aroostook Her-
ald, by the late Joseph B. Hall.

The Herald was originally started in Presque Isle by Mr.
Hall, shortly after the Pioneer removed to Houlton. After being
run for a short time, its publication was suspended by Mr. Hall,
who went elsewhere, and during his absence founded several pa-
pers which have cut quite a figure in Maine and Western journal-
ism. Among his ventures, after he suspended the Herald, and
left Presque Isle, was the Portland Press. This offspring of his
became one of the influential papers of the city and State, and
has recently, through reorganization, become a part of the hy-
phenated Portland Press-Herald, which is now being quite ag-
gressively conducted, and claims to have a large circulation in
the lower part of the State.

After founding the Press and conducting it for some years,
Mr. Hall drifted West and while in the West founded the Fargo
Republican, which is today one of the live papers of the section
of the West in which it is published.

Severing his connection with Western journalism in 1883,
Mr. Hall returned to Presque Isle, and resumed publication of
the Aroostook Herald, and at once turned his attention to agitat-
ing the construction of what he called an Aroostook Direct Line
Railroad. This agitation was the beginning of the movement, as
has been previously stated, which resulted in Aroostook acquir-
ing much needed railroad connection with the outside world.

In the meantime, following the death of F. G. Parker, the

86 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

North Star, which was being published in Presque Isle when Mr.
Hall returned and revived the Herald, was purchased by the
present editor of the Star-Herald, G. H. Collins, who joined with
Mr. Hall in the agitation for better railroad facilities.

The North Star under Dr. Parker was another example of
political journalism in Aroostook, being under his administra-
tion, the organ in the County of what was locally called Modoc-
ism, this term being merely another designation for Greenback-
ism, which was then epidemic in Maine and many other sections
of the country. Modocism differed from its parent stock only in
the fact that while it adhered to the principles of that party,
there had been superadded to it, under the designation of Mod-
ocism, a most virulent political and personal feud which was then
raging in Aroostook, growing out of the antagonism which had
sprung up to what was known as the Powers Regime.

So long as Daniel Stickney ran the Loyal Sunrise, after the
advent in Presque Isle of the North Star, as the pugnacious and
combative champion df Republicanism, which necessarily in-
cluded defense of the so-called Powers Regime, he was in vio-
lent contention with the North Star, under Dr. Parker. The bit-
ter feud completely absorbed the attention of the contending pa-
pers to the almost entire exclusion of home news and the claims
of different local interests. It was a fierce newspaper warfare,
in which Dr. Parker won out, by virtue of possessing a much
more genial personality, and resources of personal abuse and sar-
casm which were quite unique, and of effectiveness such as has
been rarely equalled in Maine newspaper controversies.

The combative Daniel retired from the field by removing his
paper to Fort Fairfield, where it soon after died.

It is worth recording of Dr. Parker that he had a stronger
hold upon the hearts of the people of his community than any
other man who ever conducted a paper in the County. He was
unsparing in the personal attacks he made growing out of the
bitter controversies wh'ch then raged, but a more likable man
personally has never lived in Aroostook, and when he came to
die, which was suddenly and unexpectedly, the personal and public
evidences olf regret and sorrow were general and sincere. It is
on record that the crowds which gathered when genial Dr. Par-
ker was laid to rest, and the length of the procession of neigh-
bors and friends which followed him to the grave, surpassed any
like demonstration of mourning which had occurred in our Coun-
ty up to that time.

In the North Star and in contemporary sheets there were col-

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK S7

umns of sorrowful eulogy over the deceased Dr. Parker, his for-
mer fierce rival and antagonist, Daniel Stickney, joiniAg in the
eulogies, and writing one of the most just appraisals that was
published concerning his worth, and one of the most touching
newspaper references that were made in regard to the lovable
qualities of the man.

Far different was it when Daniel Stickney himself came to
pass away. Though a much abler man than Dr. Parker, meager
praise was given him, and there was a pitiful absence of mani-
festations of sorrow. Probably, in anticipation of this dearth
of eulogy and public appreciation of his career, quite character-
istically Daniel Stickney wrote his own epitaph, and provided
that it should be inscribed upon the monument which has been
erected over his last resting place in Fairmount Cemetery. This
very original epitaph reads as follows:

"Daniel Stickney
Born November 25, 1804. Died August 16, 1894. Until
18 years of age a farmer's boy; 25 years a mechanic
and teacher of common schools; 25 years a lay preach-
er of the gospel as taught by David in the twenty-third
Psalm, by Jesus Christ in the Sermon on the Mount, by
Paul upon Mars Hill to the Athenians, and in the twelfth
chapter of Romans, For over fourteen years proprietor
and editor of the Presque Isle Sunrise; a Republican
from his earliest recollection to the day of his death,
always regarding the Democracy of politicians with per-
fect contempt."

Besides the papers already described, there are at present
being published in Aroostook the Mars Hill News, whose edit>!)r
and proprietor is Mr. Percy L. Waddington. This is a small
paper, but it is clean and newsy, and worthy of the support it
is receiving in the progressing and enterprising community in
which it is published. Finally, there is the Ashland Gazette,
printed by J. R. Coburn, which covers the field of which Ashland
is the center.

Since the advent of the railroad, or rather, since the old-
time newspaper methods were superseded by the new and mod-
ern ideas of running local newspapers, there has been a revolu-
tionary change in the manner of conducting papers in Aroostook,
and a very marvelous improvement in them typographically, and
from a news and editorial standpoint. The old-time political
sheet devoted practically no space to local news or to articles

88 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

of community interest and value. Their time and space were
taken up almost wholly with political controversies, and as a
consequence today, with the subjects they discuss, forgotten and
buried among the dead issues of the past, they are of no value
for purposes of reference or as a record of local history. The
modern local newspaper, of which the Aroostook papers .are good
examples, put local news and local, social and business to the
front. They reflect completely the life and activity of the
community. Hence they are of the utmost usefulness as agen-
cies in stimulating and promoting everything that tends to com-
munity welfare, and after their grist of local news items is read,
they are preserved in different files for reference and in coming
years become of great interest as a valuable historic record, and
as a complete reflection from week to week of the business and
industrial progress and the daily life of the communities in
which they were published.

SCHOOL PROGRESS IN AROOSTOOK

In no department of public life and activity has more
marked progress been made in Aroostook within the past thirty
years than in the sphere of education. Thirty years ago, Aroos-
took more than in anything else, showed the crudeness of pioneer
life and the defects and shortcomings of a new community,
in its schools. In buildings, in equipment, and in lack, not only
of public appreciation, but of the means to support school in-
struction at a high standard, the different communities of Aroos-
took were sadly deficient. In Aroostook communities there was
a lack of that social refinement and practical efficiency in life
which education gives both to individuals .and communities. The
change for the better in the County is greater measured by the
progress that has been made in the sphere of education than in
almost any other line of social activity. Whereas, thirty years
ago Aroostook had almost no organized and efficient school sys-
tem, today it has one which its people have reason to be proud
of. Its schools are as well housed, its school equipment is as
ample and up to date and school instruction is on a higher
standard, both as to what is taught and the capability with which
schools are supervised and instruction imparted to pupils, than in
any other section of New England.

Any one of the many hustling and enterprising towns of
Aroostook may be taken as a yardstick to measure the remark-
able educational progress which has been made. The town of
Presque Isle may be taken as an example. In 1891 it had no

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

89

graded system. In the village its school pupils were herded into
what was then known as the old Academy building, which was
sold when what is now known as the Training School building
was built, and was moved off and remodelled to make the front
of the R. J. Smith & Co. Store. This old building was utterly
delapidated, and destitute of every appliance for the comfort,
convenience and sanitary care of school pupils. It was a dis-
grace to the town, and a menace to the health and physical and
moral welfare of the pupils.

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In the spring of 1893 at the annual March meeting, an ap-

90 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

propriation of $20,000 was made to build a new school build-
ing. In those days a dollar as compared with the present time,
went a long way in both material and labor, and the town, for
its expenditure of $20,000, secured a building ample at the time
to meet requirements, and which stands today as a very credit-
able part of the housing accommodation of the village pupils
in Presque Isle.

Since the construction of what is known as the Training
School, on Academy Street, Presque Isle, which was the first
step in development of an organized school system, there has
been added the large school building in Gouldville, and in 1910
there was erected a new high school building, a brick structure
which, at the time it was built, seemed likely to meet the re-
quirements of the village for an indefinite time. This addition,
however, sufficed to meet the requirements of the growing school
population only for a short time. Five years had not elapsed
before there was a crying need for additional accommodations.

For some years after the need became acute, the matter of
solving the problem of increased school accommodations was
discussed. In December, 1921, it was solved, for the time being,
at least, by the burning o'f the High School building, which at
once forced upon the town the necessity of replacing the burned
building. This has been met by an appropriation for the con-
struction of a new building, and very wisely this has been pro-
vided for, not only with a view to meeting present needs, but
also with a view to future growth.

At the annual town meeting of 1922, there was an appropria-
tion of $135,000 made for. the construction of a new high school
building, and for replacement of equipment, so far as the loss on
equipment is not covered by insurance which amounted to $25,-
000. The contract for the building was in round numbers $112,-
000, but the prospect is that certain conditions, not included in
the architect's design, will carry the expenditure to a figure high-
er than was anticipated, not at present definitely settled.

When the new building is completed it will provide amply
for the present school needs of the town, and will be a thorough-
ly modern and up to date school building which will be a great
credit to the community.

Among the educational developments of the County, one of
the most important was the planting in Presque Isle of a State
Normal School. A long period of agitation preceded the final
passage of the necessary legislation looking to this end. One of
the chief promoters of the project was Rev. Geo. M. Park, who,

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

91

in the early or pioneer stages of the effort in the direction of se-
curing the Normal School, may be said to have practically stood
alone, and to have kept the project alive in spite of the general
public apathy and indifference. That the proposition was at
length taken into consideration and that Presque Isle was select-
ed as the location of such a school, may be said to have been due
to Mr. Park's untiring work in promoting the project, and the act
which gave reality to this long period of agitation, passed in the

HON. GEO. H. S.MITH

Prominent Lawyer, and Instrumental in Securing

Passage of Normal School Bill

session of 1901 was the culmination of years of agitation chief-
ly conducted by him. According to the terms of the legislation,
the town gave to the State a site which had at one time been oc-

92 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

cupied by what was known as St. John's School. There was loc-
ated on this site what had been the main school building of the
St. John's School. To the land that was turned over to the State
later on was added a dormitory which now occupies the northern
portion of the campus. After the building of the dormitory a
considerable period elapsed during which the school was oper-
ated and continued to grow, but badly handicapped on account of
the lack of a main building. This was at length provided for
in the year 1921, when the present fine main building was com-
pleted and opened for the use of pupils in the fall term of 1921.

For some time past the school has been under the very faith-
ful and efficient management of Principal San Lorenzo Merri-
man, who, previous to his accepting this position, had made an
excellent record as principal olf the Presque Isle High School.

The Aroostook State Normal School is now fully past the ex-
perimentary stage, and there is no question but that it will de-
velop into perhaps the leading institution of its class 'm the State,
and that it will have a great influence in advancing the educa-
tional welfare and prosperity of the County and State.

It would not be just to conclude this hasty and imperfect
sketch of this institution without mentioning some other names of
persons who are entitled to credit both for aid rendered in
the efforts to secure the school, and also for generous and zealous
aid in promoting the welfare of the school after it had been es-
tablished. Among those whose labor was indispensable in the
legislative stage of the undertaking, was the late Hon. George H.
Smith, who was in the House of Representatives at the time
the bill was introduced providing for the establishment of the
school, and who, during that period, rendered service which was
indispensable to the enterprise. After the school was started, in
the earlier d.ays of its operation, the late Hon. T. H. Phair was
for a long time a member of the Board of Normal School Trustees
and in that capacity his business judgment and his active aid and
generous help in every way were very potent factors in aiding
the school during its infancy, and in times when it needed such
ability and means as he placed at its disposal, to forward and
strengthen it. Many others might be mentioned to whom credit is
justly due for very effective la'bor in helping to found and estab-
lish this important public institution.

The Aroostook Normal School is do"ng great work for the
County, and its influence is especially felt in increasing the pres-
tige of Presque Isle as an educational center. If the town of
Presque Isle is reaping the principal direct benefits from the es-

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 93

tablishment of this institution, it is because the movement for
the starting of such a school originated here, and was finally
pushed to a successful issue by the labor and efforts of Presque
Isle citizens.

We have made particular mention of schools in Presque
Isle, including the Normal School, not for the purpose of singling
Presque Isle out for special credit, but because Presque Isle in
a general way, simply stands as a conspicuous representative of
what the entire County of Aroostook has been doing in the line
of educational progress in the last twenty-five years. Practically
every town in the County has been making like strides forward
in educational advancement, the people of every community are
generous and ungrudging in the aid that they give to schools, and
as a result, Aroostook is as conspicuous an example of progress
and advancement in school activity as she is in other lines of
progress.

CHAPTER XII.

What Farmer Organizations Have Accomplished In Aroostook.
The Grange and Northern Maine Fair.

As one would naturally expect from the magnitude and suc-
cess with which farming is carried on in Aroostook, there would
spring up farmer institutions and organizations on >an equally
large and successful scale. This has been the case, and as a re-
sult we find in Aroostook that the Grange is a very numerous
body, and very much stronger in its organization, and more ag-
gressive and successful in securing the aims and objects it seeks
to accomplish for the welfare of the farming community, than is
the case elsewhere in the State, or elsewhere in New England.

Without being in any sense a political body, it is a power in
legislation, in influencing the passage of laws needful for the ad-
vancement not only of the farming class, but the welfare of the
State as a whole. It represents the soundest elements of citizen-
ship, and in no small sense is the organized conscience o'f the
community in all public matters into which enter moral and eth-
ical considerations. This makes it a strong factor on the right
side of every moral question, and in no less degree is it usually
a factor in matters of a purely practical nature.

The Grange of Aroostook is a strong institution, conducted
in harmony with the best interests of the farming class, and an
indispensable agency in raising the standard of intelligence, cul-
ture and refinement among the farmers and their families in our

94

HIOTORY OF AROOSTOOK

County. This has been its history elsewhere and it is the history
of the Grange in Aroostook.

ERNEST T. M cGLAUFLIN
Many years Secretary of the Northern Maine Fair
Association and a faithful and capable worker
for Its success.

In the social life of the farming communities it brings its
membership into closer contact, and into more amicable and sym-
pathetic relations one with another. In an educational way its
meetings take under consideration and discuss with intelligence
and effectiveness a wide range of questions having to do with
the immediate interest of the members of the order and the gener-
al welfare of the community. In business it has organized and very
successfully administers enterprises which are highly beneficial
to the members. This is notably true as regards farm insurance.

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 95-

Before this form of mutual protection was organized under
Grange management, the farmer was at the mercy of the stock
companies, and paid exorbitant rates for fire protection. With
the establishment of the Grange insurance he was provided with
safe and reliable insurance at cost.

The result of his going into insurance on his own account
has been a revolution in the rates charged farmers by the stock
companies, but the farmer wisely still continues to patronize his
own mutual organizations, and has thus built up a number of very
strong and successful Grange mutual fire insurance companies in
the County, capable of handling farm risks satisfactorily, al-
though the magnitude of these risks has grown enormously with
with the rapidly increasing wealth of farm properties.

The Grange also functions as a business organization of im-
portance to its members in the matter of the establishment and
successful management of what are termed co-operative stores,
of which there are a number in Aroostook. All are doing a large
and successful business, the Houlton store leading, as it might
be expected to do, from the fact that the Houlton Grange is the
largest in the United States.

AGRICULTURAL FAIRS— THE GREAT NORTHERN MAINE

FAIR

Other institutions which are important outgrowths of farm-
ing activity and prosperity in Aroostook, are the Agricultural
fairs of the County. At the present time there are three — the
Northern Maine, located in Presque Isle, the Caribou Fair and
th Houlton Fair-

The Northern Maine Fair was founded in 1850, planted
many years ago by farmers. Nourished and kept alive by the
patient and persistent efforts and often struggle of farmers, all
through the long period of its existence, from small and humble
beginnings, the Northern Maine Fair has grown to be the great-
est Fair in the State, and one ofthe greatest in New England.

During its early years known as the Aroostook Agricultural
and Horticultural Society, this great Fair was not only fortunate
in the sturdy man who founded it and nursed it along from weak-
ness to strength, but equally fortunate in the site it selected — a
field on the outskirts of Presque Isle village, which in the course
of years, with the additions the Fair Association has made to it
by successive purchase of additional plots of ground, has become
a very valuable property, so much so that by virtue of its valu-
able real estate holdings the Northern Maine Fair Association' is
today a wealthy corporation.

96

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

The Northern Maine Fair Association now fills a space of
four days In the early part of September, and it is only stating
the truth to say that it fills these four days fuller than any other
four days in the County are filled by any other public activity.
Its great four days festival is the big thing of the year In Nor-
thern Maine, and it is by no means confined to Northern Maine,
but reaches far beyond the borders of the County in the matter
of attracting crowds hitherward.

HON. ATHII-L E. IRVING
Many years a prominent citizen of Presqiie Isle
and Northern Aroostook and for some years
President of the Northern Maine Fair
Association^

Much goes into a big fair in the way of varied attractions
and features of interest and profit, and the Northern Maine Fair

a

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HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 97

is perhaps the best example of all this variety and interest that
can be found anywhere in New England. So strong has the Fair
Association now become that it can afford to bring within its
gates a multitude of attractions which cost a big sum in the ag-
gregate. In this respect, without in the least disparaging its com-
petitors in the County, which are each of them progressing, and
each of them giving the public very handsome exhibitions, the
Northern Maine stands alone.

Elsewhere in this work the reader may find a cut of
a scene on the Fair Grounds taken some thirty years ago, and a
companion picture of a scene taken in connection with the Fair
of 1921. In the old-time picture one notes a very few score
of horse and buggy turnouts — fine, and possibly as some of their
owners and occupants fancied, quite swell and aristocratic, but
the whole of them not representing in value the cost of a half
dozen of the hundreds of sumptuous cars which throng the Nor-
thern Maine Fair Grounds nowadays.

The Northern Maine Fair brings into Aroostook so many
scores of thousands of visitors from outside the County, who de-
rive their impressions of its wealth and productiveness through
this annual visit, and what they see is so widely disseminated by
the reports they give to others, that the Fair is probably the
greatest advertising asset we have. It has other great advantages
but it is to be doubted if Aroostook reaps any other benefit so
important through the Fair as that of the favorable publicity it
gets through this medium.

Such, briefly pictured, is the great Northern Maine Fair, a
really great farmer institution of Aroostook, and a thing which
cannot be overlooked is a series of sketches like these.

CHAPTER XIII.

Some Of The Great Farms Of Aroostook And What Some

Farmers Have Accomplished

There are so many great farms in Aroostook, and so many
farmers have achieved remarkable results, that one is embar-
rassed in choosing from the list. Nowhere else in the country,
perhaps, has there b.en so many individual instances where men
have grown, not only independent, but rich, in tilling the soil.
What has rewarded their toil has been the specialty whicn Aroos-
took farmers have followed for over forty years — the raising of
potatoes.

9S HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

In speaking of the remarkable history of some Aroostook
farms, probably no farm in the County has had a more interest-
ing history, or a record more strikingly illustrative of the marked
ckanges which have taken place in Aroostook farming condi-
tions in the past forty years, and the possibilities of profit and
wealth accumulation, than what is known as the Greenlaw farm
in Maysville. The original owner of this farm was "Squire" John
Allen, of whom we have spoken elsewhere in connection with this
series. Mr. Allen took up this farm from the forest, cleared quite
a large tract upon it, farmed it very successfully in the old
fashioned way of farming, and after having accumulated what
was in those days quite a fortune, in 1867 sold it to Holman Cur-
rier, the purchase price being $5,000 all of which was paid down
Included in this purchase price was one of the best plants of
farm buildings in the County at that time, the farm being in
a fine state of cultivation when Mr. Currier acquired it.

Notwishstanding the low price which Mr. Currier paid for
^e farm, and the enormous tract of land which he acquired, his
purchase proved to be a losing venture, as he steadily went be-
hind, and after having kept the farm for eighteen years, lost it
by foreclosure proceedings, the property falling into the hands
of the late T. H. Phair.

This was in 1885, after the advent of the ootato industry,
which was then being conducted in the operation of starch fac-
tories, but the business had not assumed such proportions or
given promise of such golden profit, as to enlighten the mind,
even of as far-seeing a business man as Mr. Phair in regard to
the prospective value of this great farm. Evidently he did not
appreciate the possibilities connected with the property, for he
negotiated a sale of it to S. C. Greenlaw for $7,000, the pur-
chaser to have the privilege of paying for the farm in potatoes
delivered at the starch factory, at twenty-five cents a bushel.
Many of Mr. Greenlaw's acquaintances and friends thought he
had assumed a load which would be too heavy for him, and that
he would meet with the same fate as Mr. Currier- In this they
were mistaken, however, as he paid off the debt he had contract-
ed in the course of three years.

He later sold one hundred acres off the north side to J. B.
Long, which was added to what is known as the Long farm, the
purchase price in this case being $2000. Still later, another 100
acres was sold to Mr. Walter Christie, who paid considerably less
than Mr. Long, on account of the fact that the hundred acres he
got was largely unimproved land. About the year 1920 the re-

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK S*?*

mainder of the farm, from which the buildings had been burned,
was sold to Mr. C. E- Hussey at the price of $175 per acre.

Mr. Christie, who bought the south one hundred acres, had
recently come to Aroostook from New Brunswick, arriving in this
County empty-handed. All that he had to invest in the pur-
ofaase he made of Mr. Greenlaw, was what he had saved out of
Iks employment by him for several years as a farm hand. His
purchase was made on the eve of the hard times which prevailed
between 1893 and 1900, and he had a very hard struggle even
to meet the interest on his notes. Indeed, one year, it looked so
kopeless that he was on the point of giving up, but was persuad-
ed by his friends to keep on and try another year. The next
year he had a large acreage of potatoes which he sold for a
good price, and thereafter he made rapid progress in wiping off
kis indebtedness to Mr. Greenlaw. Mr. Christie not only paid
for the farm, but has since added adjoining land to it, until at
tiie present time he has a tract of about five hundred acres in
•ne of the best farming neighborhoods in the County or in New
England. He has, in fact, since the time he came from New
Brunswick and invested in the hundred acre tract purchased of
Mr. Greenlaw, risen from poverty to affluence, being rated today
as one of the wealthy men of the County, and as one of its
best and most substantial citizens. He has been characterized
i«i his business career by enterprise, progressive methods and
by far sightedness. Among other things which stand to his
credit as a farmer, is the interest he has taken in the breed-
kig of thoroughbred horses, his Percheron stock having taken
many prizes and his initiative in this direction having been of
great benefit to the County in improving its horse stock.

From the foregoing statement in connection with this
Greenlaw farm one can very readily gain an idea of what it has
been possible to accomplish in Aroostook farming. This is per-
kaps something more than an average example of the profits
made, but the case is not an exceptional one.

Some of Mr. Greenlaw's reminiscences in connection with
his experience on this farm .are of interest- It appears that prior
to his taking hold of it there was a time when the experiment
was tried of raising hops, and for a few years some of the farm-
ers who made this experiment realized quite handsome profits.
But for some reason or other, possibly on account of the crops
proving uncertain, the business was abandoned. On the farms
where hop-raising was tried, however, the vines remained, and
Mr. Greenlaw says that on the farm he purchased of Mr. Phair

100 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

there was quite a large tract In hops, which had got so solidly
rooted in the ground that to rid the soil of them was very much
like getting out a thick growth of hazel bushes.

Mr. Greenlaw says that Mr. Long was the first farmer to
plant as large an acreage of potatoes as twenty acres in that
neighborhood. These were raised without any fertilizer, and
the crop amounted to about 5000 bushels. In this early farming
the work was done with light teams, the potato seed was dropped
and covered by hand and dug by hand, so that the labor involv-
ed was more than is now expended in raising a crop three times
as large.

Not far from the farm last described, on the same road, is
the Hayford farm. Until the time that M. B- Hayford, who now
operates it, took over its management, this farm was owned and
operated by Hon. Columbus Hayford, who at the ripe age of
eighty-six years, is still hale and vigorous, and one of the most
deservedly honored citizens of the County.

The Hayford farm comprises 500 acres, and the tract em-
braced in it in the pioneer days, is still held intact, and is one of
che most productive farms of the County. Not only does this
farm represent a salable value at the present time of well above
$50,000, but during its history it would be a conservative esti-
mate if one placed the value of the farm crops and the forest
products which have been taken from its soil at half a million
dollars. Mr. M. B. Hayford, its present manager, is a farmer of
much energy and experience, level headed, sound in judgment,
and an excellent example of the hustling and successful young
farmers of Aroostook.

Going northward to Caribou, and about a mile south of
Caribou village, one comes to the farm of Mr. John Mclhvain.
The noticeable thing about Mr. Mcllwain's farm to the passer-
by is its fine residence, a cut of which is given in connection
with this series of sketches.

Mr. Mcllwain, who is now 43 years of age, migrated to
Aroostook from Carleton County, N. B., twenty years ago. He
brought with him very little money, his chief capital being a good
share of the habits of industry, good judgment, energy and sober
thrift which characterize so many of the good people who have
crossed the Provincial boundary line to help enrich our County
Tvith their contribution of good citizenship.

He bought the farm on which he now lives for $8,000, pay-
ing $2,000 down, and it was to the good fortune of thus acquir-
ing such a wonderfully fine tract of potato land as the Mcllwain

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 101

farm embraces, that much of his subsequent rise to wealth can
be attributed. Mr- Mcllwain is a good worker, a good planner,
and an all-round conservative and careful manager of his farm
affairs, but the big crops the rich soil of his farm yielded went
far toward making him the thriving farmer citizen he is today.

His average plant has been from fifty to seventy-five acres
of potatoes. He has generally harvested maximum crops, and
has been fortunate in getting in on the ground floor, as the say-
ing is, in many of the bonanza price years which Aroostook has
enjoyed. In this way, and through the great enhancement in
value of his fine farm, he has become wealthy, and after having
acquired wealth, having the taste, he decided to surround him-
self with all the appliances of comfort and refinement which are
betokened by the handsome -home he has built. The cost of this
fine residence, one of the most attractive in the County or State,
would not be far from $30,000 if built today, and it is one of
the show places of the County. The value of the Mcllwain farm,
which for salable purposes has not probably been very much
enhanced by the elaborate house which has been built upon it,
would not tall short of $75,000, so that what Mr. John Mcllwain
has accomplished in twenty years is a striking illustration of
what Aroostook has offered and still holds out to energetic and
ambitious young men.

Over in the town of Limestone may be found in the case of
Mr. Howard Nichols, another remarkable example of what has
been accomplished by straight farming, unmixed with other lines
of business. Limestone, which is a great potato town, is full of
prosperous farmers, but Mr. Nichols affords the most striking
example of the rapid and almost sensational rise many hundreds
of Aroostook farmers have made from the bottom to the top of
the ladder of prosperity.

Mr. Nichols, who is now perhaps fifty years of age, like Mr.
Mcllwain, came from that prolific nursery of thrifty farming
folks, Carleton County, New Brunswick. He migrated from New
Brunswick to Aroostook about twenty-eight years ago, bringing
with him only a few thousand dollars. The Nichols farm, which
now consists of 365 acres, with the exception of fifteen acres all
cleared and under cultivation, and for the most part fine potato
land, is the result of successive additions of adjoining land, after
the original lot was purchased.

After he got into his stride raising potatoes, Mr. Nichols's
average plant was about eighty acres. He has as a rule, raised
his crops at a profit, but his rise to affluence has been chiefly

102 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

due to the clean-ups of several big years, notably the one of the
year 1919 — 1920, when he raised 9,000 barrels of potatoes from
a plant of between 75 and 80 acres, and sold quite a percentage
of them at the rate of ten dollars a barrel. This made him a
rich man, and having a hobby in that direction, he set about
providing himself such a house and barn as would satisfy his
ambition-

The house, which was built in 1914, contains 32 rooms, in-
cluding three bath rooms, and is finished from top to bottom in
the most elaborate style, and fitted up with every possible ap-
pointment of comlfort and luxury. The barn, now in process of
construction, bids fair to eclipse the house. Including the main
barn, 60x120, the ell 44x60, and a shed addition, 10 feet wide
and 76 feet long, the structure covers 10,600 square feet. The
great basement has a cement bottom, cement walls 16 feet high,
and there were used in building it, 800 barrels of cement and
3,000 barrels of gravel, besides large quantities of rocks. The
height from the floor of the basement to the peak will be in the
neighborhood of 75 feet. Above the basement storage will
be afforded for hundreds of tons of hay and grain, while the
basement, if used for that purpose, would accommodate 33,000
barrels of potatoes. The cost of the big barn will approximate
$80,000, a big financial stunt for most farmers, but Mr. Nichols
is not exactly of the average farmer class financially, as he had
within convenient reach when he started on his barn building en-
terprise, something over $70,000 in cash.

Mr. Nichols is a hard-headed man, of seeming practical
business turn, whimsical and full of dry humor, and withal a fine
fellow. There are only himself and wife, the latter a most estim-
able woman, who to some extent fills the void caused by lack of
children through being able to tip the scales at about 250 pounds,
and by being in a general way a very pleasant and companion-
able woman.

A whole book of itself, and a fairly interesting one, might
be written giving the facts of the remarkable rise scores and hun-
dreds of Aroostook farmers have made from poverty to riches
through farming, and when one says farming, in Aroostook it
means potato farming.

There comes to mind, among the other individual cases we
are now citing showing the possibilities of Aroostook farming,
that of Mr. Walter Carmichael, a man of about forty-five, who
lives on what Is called the "back road" from Presque Isle to
Caribou. Somewhere around twenty years ago Mr. Carmichael

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 103

bought a farm on that road ol Mr. Athill Irving. The farm Mr.
Carmichael bought contained 120 acres. The purchase price
was $8,000, and Mr. Carmichael paid $200 down, Mr. Irving
taking a chance for the balance on the faith he had in Mr. Car-
michael's grit, energy and honesty. These latter assets panned
out well, for Mr. Carmichael not only made good and paid for
this original purchase, but later added to it another 100 acre,
$10,000 farm adjoining, then bought still another, and at last ac-
counts had bought a forty thousand dollar farm which had drift-
ed from its moorings by some default of management on the part
of its owner, and was floating about in the market, offered at
what Mr. Carmichael thought a very low price for so desirable
a property.

In Presque Isle the big scale on which farming is conduct-
ed and the enormous advance in farm values are everywhere evi-
dent. Examples of big farming, not equalled in any farm com-
munity in the East, are afforded by such men as C. E. Hussey,
F. T. Kierstead, Weston Hardy, T. M. Hoyt, and scores of others.
The latter combines the business of growing potatoes on a big
scale with the business of shipping his product to all the seed
markets of the country, his trade covering practically every sec-
tion of the South where potatoes are raised. The present sea-
son (1922), he has a plant of 600 acres on four different farms,
which he either owns or operates on lease. He hopes to raise
a crop of 90,000 barrels, practically all seed stock of the finest
quality. In planting this great acreage he used 900 tons of fer-
tilizer and 6,000 barrels of seed. By the first of July, when, if
a hill of the millions in his plant had been pulled up, nothing
but baby tubers of the size of marbles would have been found,
he had already made an investment in the crop of nearly $75,000-
This would seem to be taking long chances, considering the dif-
ferent enemies which lie in ambush for the potato crop, but Mr.
Hoyt has been taking such chances for a long time, after start-
ing life with no capital except his ability and energy, and his
courage and unbounded faith in the soil of Aroostook have been
abundantly rewarded financially.

One of the greatest farms in the County was owned by Mr.
Hoyt in partnership with Mr. F. C. Wheeler for a considerable
period. This farm, on what is known as the Reach Road, was
originally the homestead farms of Joel and Ozias Bean. Ac-
quired and consolidated into one farm by Hoyt and Wheeler, it
made a compact tract of about 400 acres, practically all with an
even, smooth slope toward the Aroostook River, and almost every

104 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

acre tillable for potatoes. With the Bangor & Aroostook Rail-
road running along its front, and with its own storehouses located
on sidings on that line, with splendid buildings and with ample
equipment to meet every requirement, this so-called Hoyt &
Wheeler farm was for years and is today the biggest business
proposition in farming within the limits of the County.

At the present time it is owned by Phillips Company, a big
potato concern with headquarters in Norfolk, Virginia, an active
figure in which business is Mr. D, W. Corey, long located in the
potato buying and shipping business in Presque Isle, and one of
the most active and capable men who have been associated
with the potato growing and shipping interests of Aroostook.
The active management of the big farm is in the capable hands
of Mr. Wheeler, who was formerly associated with Mr- Hoyt in
the ownership of the farm; Since coming into the hands of Phil-
lips Company the farm has been increased in size by the pur-
chase of an adjoining farm, and now comprises in the neighbor-
hood of 500 acres. Located on the same road as the State Sana-
torium, the institution and the farm are features of special inter-
est on that road, the farm especially being one of the show
places of the northern part of the County.

CHAPTER XIV.

The Scenic Attractions Of Aroostook, Its Forests And Fish And

Game, Its Roads And Its Automobiles.

In a series of sketches of this sort the claims of Aroostook on
the score of scenic beauty should not be overlooked. Aroostook
is attractive in many ways, but not the least so in the summer
season, by reason of its almost unrivalled summer climate, and
its scenery. Its summer season is brief, beginning about the first
of June, and ending, somewhat too abruptly, in the latter part of
September, which is often a very beautiful month in Northern
Maine. But while it lasts Aroostook basks in such soft sunshine
and balmy air, it has such a wealth of wonderful cloud and sun-
set effects, such coloring in the masses of verdure in the fields
and forests, there is such a tonic in breathing the clear and in-
vigorating air, and such joy in living as are found nowhere else.

In its hills and valleys, and its smooth, wide roads, which
everywhere, winding through charming rural neighborhoods, ap-
peal to the eye through their beauty, and what equally
cheers and satisfies, their many evidences of human thrift and

HISTORY OF AROOfTOOK

105

prosperity, Aroostook, in the four months of summer sunshine it
enjoys, is unrivalled.

It has the varied summer charms enjoyed by other sections
of Maine and New England, and it also adds to what they have
some special charms which they lack. For instance, in seasons
when the winters are favorable, and the clover does not winter-
kill, fields sometimes scores of acres in extent, burst into a
riot of bloom and fragrance such as can be found nowhere out-
side Aroostook, and the traveller may ride for days through their
fragrant verdure. Alongside the clover fields are the potato
fields, more luxuriant in foliage than even the clover meadows,
and when in full bloom not surpassed in beauty by any crop that
is grown.

A TYPICAL FEATURE OF WOODS LIFE
IN AROOSTOOK

Besides its broad and wonderful farms, which visitors to
the County so much admire, Aroostook is fortunate in the general
configuration of its landscape. In North Aroostook it is traversed
by the Aroostook River, a tributary of the St. John. The latter
has its source in the remote western wilderness of the State, and
after flowing for hundreds of miles through a magnificent valley,
empties its waters into the Bay of Fundy. In no part of its long
journey to the sea Is it surpassed in beauty of scenery by any
other river on the continent. Its tributary, the Aroostook River,
is as beautiful, both in itself and In the beauty of the valley

106

HISTORY OF AROO^"T0OK

through which it takes its course, as the parent river. In
some respects, indeed, the Aroostook River Valley surpasses the
St. John Valley in that it is far more extensive in area, receding
gently from the banks of the river in a broad map of the most
fertile and beautiful farming country to be found in all the east-
ern part of the country.

In addition to the scenic attractions of the settled portion of
Aroostook, there is its vast forest, an unbroken wilderness
stretching for a hundred miles between the last settlement and
the Canadian border- What this mighty forest domain is one
can feebly imagine, if he climbs to the tower of one of the look-
out stations, which are perched on the top of every commanding
elevation in the great wilderness country.

LAKE SCENE IN NORTHERN MAINE

From each of these lookout towers one looks down upon that
part of the sea of treetops which intervenes between the tower
he is in and the next on the crest of some hill on the distant hori-
zon, and from the top of that one in every direction tae same
view is repeated. Each tower has a watchman, whose eye, dur-
ing the dry months of summer is constantly scanning the great
expanse of forest committed to his care for signs of fire, and if
a wreath of smoke curls up above the tree tops anywhere within
the precincts of his watch and ward, he gives the alarm by tele-
phone to the fire warden of his district, with its location, as in-

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 107

dicated on his map. The warden in turn calls up the patrolman
•ji'ithin his district, and if this does not suffice, and the fire as-
sumes threatening proportions, he calls upon the authorities of
ine nearest settlements to summon a posse of fire fighters to
grapple with the emergency. For, though he may not be aware
of the fact, every able-bodied man is amenable to the authority
of the forest fire warden, and his summons to join a force that
is ordered out to fight the spread of a forest fire that one of the
lookout station watchmen has discovered and reported, is quite
as imperative as a court summons to attend as a witness or for
the purpose of jury duty.

These lookout stations have to do primarily with the protec-
tion of the almost boundless money value of the forested portion
of the State, and the organization of the system has an economic
and commercial object. But in preserving the millions of dollars
of wealth which these hundreds of timbered townships represent,
they also protect their scenic wealth from ruin and devastation
by fire, and nowhere else in the whole country perhaps, is there a
region of such scenic charm and fascination as is possessed by
the vast wilderness of Northern Maire, a large part oi which
region is in western section of Aroostook.

THE FISH AND GAME ATTRACTIONS OF AROOSTOOK

Closely allied with the great forest of the County, and made
possible by the extent and physical character of the wilderness
region, is the fish and game attractions it holds out to those fond
of hunting and fishing and of woods life in general. The great
■■.voods is full of lakes, ponds and streams, many of which teem
with trout, salmon and togue, and by the side of the lakes and
streams in the midst of the delights of forest freedom and soli-
tude, there are countless places to pitch a tent or build
a camp. For those who love such a life, and in most persons
nature has implanted the sane and natural instinct which responds
to the lure and fascination of a great wilderness, such as stretches
over Northern Maine, this sort of life has an irresistible charm.

In order to maintain the hunting and fishing attractions of
Northern Maine a system of laws for the protection of game has
been enacted, and these laws are as vigorously enforced as the
legislative appropriations for that purpose permit- In the lakes
and streams hundreds of thousands of trout and salmon, propa-
gated at the different hatcheries, are planted annually, the result
being that the supply is not only maintained unimpaired, but in
Txost of the waters of Northern Maine is on the increase. Dur-

108

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

ing the present season (1922) nearly a million young trout and
salmon, hatched at the Caribou Hatchery, have been deposited
in the different lakes and streams of the County, and it is pro-
posed not only to keep up this system of annual replenishment
of the game fish in the region, but to increase it from year to
year.

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THE DELIGHTS OF CAMP LIFE

The wilderness section of Northern Maine also abounds in
big game, such as moose and deer. Many years ago caribou were
as plentiful as deer are at present, but owing probably to the ex-
haustion of their food supply, they suddenly migrated, their ob-
jective ap^rarently being Newfoundland, where they are at pres-
ent found in large numbers.

THE ROADS IN AROOSTOOK

However charming a section of country may be in point of
scenery, it avails little in these days of automobile travel, unless
it has roads that invite the tourist, and that make trips for those
who have cars, easy and enjoyable to take. For a considerable
period after the automobile made its advent, Aroostook remained
isolated and inaccessible, because of the usually bad, and often,
after lains, oract cally impassable condit on of the stretch of
wilderness road located in part in the southern part of Aroostook,
and in part in the adjoining bounty of Penobscot. The traveller
never knew what he might expect to find in making a journey by
■ motor car through this section, and this fact for a long time
placed an embargo on tqurist travel into and out of Aroostook.

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 109

This road is now undergoing improvement, and will soon be
converted into a smooth and fine trunk line highway, which in-
stead of being dreaded by automobilists, will be one of the most
inviting routes for tourist travel in New England, no other af-
fording the same novel and delightful scenery. At all times in
the season of automobile travel this wilderness route will be a
continual feast to the eye of the traveller, and will make a trip
unrivalled for scenic beauty in the month of September, when the
gorgeous tints of autumn are spread upon the vast woods through
■which this road runs-
Road improvement is also making good headway generally
throughout Aroostook. From Houlton one is able now to travel
to Van Buren, a distance of about seventy-five miles, on an ex-
cellent highway, a very large percentage of it either trunk line
road or State Aid road. From the shire town of Aroostook one
can also travel to Fort Kent by way of Presque Isle, Ashland,
Portage and Eagle Lakes, a distance of about a hundred miles
over an equally fine road, and through some of the most delight-
ful farming, river and lake scenery to be found anywhere in the
eastern part of the country. What is called a Three-Town-Way
road is now in process of construction, which will link together
by a trunk line highway the splendid towns of Presque Isle, Fort
Fairfield and Limestone. This road will afford opportunity, also,
to swing around a thirty-six miles circle, on a fine road, which
will include the three famous farming towns of Presque Isle,
Fort Fairfield and Caribou. In order to appreciate the progress
that Aroostook is making in improved highways, one has only
to cross over into New Brunswick. New Brunswick is older in
point of settlement, its people are thrifty and prosperous, but at
the present time its roads are very poor indeed in comparison
with those of Aroostook and although our provincial neighbor is
waking up to the importance of improved roads, the long lead
Aroostook has, and the characteristic hustle and energy of Aroos-
took people in pushing forward improvements, will be likely to
keep our County well in the lead.

THE AUTOMOBILE AS A FACTOR IN AROOSTOOK LIFE

Probably nowhere else in the United States is there a sec-
tion of equal population where automobiles so abound as in
Aroostook. And in the multitude of cars the great majority are
not moderate priced cars, but high-class and pretentious ones.
As a natural consequence of the gait it has struck in number and
price of cars, garages and gasoline stations are more numerous

lit HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

in Aroostook than saloons used to be in the thirstiest cities before
Prohibition wiped them from the map, and they are not only
aaore numerous, but are more costly and elaborate, and have i
Urger patronage than ever the saloons had.

Assume that Aroostook were wide open alcoholically speak-
ing, on no holiday of the year would so many gallons of grog be
poured down the necks of merrymaking crowds as are poured
into the tanks of motor cars on any pleasant Sabbath day in sum-
Kier, when Sunday joy riding is at high tide.

The sights on any fine Saturday night in any one of the
kustling villages of Aroostook, cannot anywhere else be dupli-
cated in New England as regards the automobile turnout. It is
■ot uncommon in Presque Isle, the home village of the writer,
•n a Saturday evening, to have as many as five hundred cars
packed like sardines into the business and the adjacent
aide streets. And what is true of Presque Isle, is true of Houlton,
Fort Fairfield, Caribou, and in proportion to size, true of every
village In the County.

In the same way that the wide-awake Aroostookans throng
all the villages of the County on summer evenings, so they over-
run any place that has a show or holiday with their generous
patronage, and it Is this spirit, and the fact that thousands of
automobiles make It possible to exercise It, that has boosted
such institutions as the Northern Maine Fair. If one doubts this
let him attend the big day of the Fair, or take a glimpse at the
cut of a big day scene at the Fair which is inserted in connection
with these sketches.

It is not much use to moralize on the exceeding prevalence
•f the automobile in Aroostook, or to speculate on the bearing in
various ways it has on the economic condition of the County.
In fact, one hardly knows whether to deplore or to admire and
enthuse over the kaleidoscopic picture of color and gaiety which
the automobile gives to Aroostook all through the summer sea-
son. One thing is save, that It vastly increases the scope and ex-
tent of social and business Intercourse in the County, makes life
much richer and more worth living, and has compensations that
may very largely counterbalance the unquestionable extravagance
and dissipation In a money point of view that now and then
wreck individuals and that have to be reckoned with In a collec-
tive sense.

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 111

CHAPTER XV

Thg Natitral Divisions and Sub-Divisions of Aroostook and
Their Distinctive Features
Broadly speaking, Aroostook, although a political unit, is
divided into North and South Aroostook, sections to a large ex-
teajt separate and distinct in their business and social relations,
©ntside the communication these two sections have one with an-
other by reason of their political identity, they have comparative-
ly small interests in common. This is not to say that there is
antagonism, jealousy, or lack of friendly feeling between them,
bu-t the situation arises simply from the great geographical ex-
teat of Aroostook, the diversity in soil conditions, as between the
lorthern and southern sections, and those factors social, business
and industrial, which operate to crystallize people into separate
communities, and which even define the bounds of such commun-
ities with distinctness-

Roughly speaking, the social and business "divide" between
North and South Aroostook is at a point where a line drawn from
east to west across the map of the County, would coincide with
the north line of the town of Mars Hill. Practically all of the
business of Mars Hill, and the towns in its vicinity to the south,
such as does not find a center at the growing village of Mars
Hill, flows southward to Houlton, which is the magnet which at-
tracts the population lying below the line mentioned. In other
words, a Mars Hill man, or a Bridgewater man, and even more
ttrongly, a Monticello or Littleton man, has his face turned to
ward Houlton and his back to North Aroostook, though he may
mot be giving the latter anything like a "cold shoulder."

To go further in the process of subdivision, Aroostook might
he divided into five sections. These would consist of those parts
»f the County of which Houlton is the immediate center: Mid-
dle Aroostook, which has its natural center at the growing vil-
lage of Mars Hill, that part of North Aroostook which the three
big villages of Pressque Isle, Fort Fairfield and Caribou serve
as business centers, the French section of Madawaska, and the
Ashland region. All these several sections are distinct commun-
ities, but they each have, nevertheless, the physical features and
the social and business characteristics which are broadly common
to Aroostook and its people. Each is, with the exceptior, of the
Ashland region and Madawaska, distinctly agricultural, the peo-
ple of each follow the same lines and the same methods of hus-
bandry, and with the exception of Madawaska, are of the same
stock, and represent the same type of citizenship.

112 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

When one goes below the line we have specified, into the
atmosphere of South Aroostook, he will find the farmers inclined
to farm on snugger and smaller lines. They plant fewer potatoes,
are less prone to reach out and try to absorb surrounding tracts,
they go more cautiously, and are inclined to take smaller risks.
in other words, they "bore with a small auger." Where the big
farmer of North Aroostook plants a hundred acres of potatoes,
the so-called big farmer of the southern part of the County plants
maybe fifty or seventy-five. As one goes further and further
toward the southern limit of Aroostook, the habit of conserva-
tism in farming is more marked, until when one gets down into
the towns below Houlton their people, if they journey up into
the big potato country of the North, are nearly as much astonish-
ed at the immense scale on which farming is conducted as are
the small farm folks of the extreme lower part of the State.

The North Aroostook style of breadth and boldness has its
merits as compared with South Aroostook, and it also has ob-
vious defects, for while it makes bigger gains in the big years,
it makes those who follow the broad-gauge system liable to much
greater losses in bad years. When there are good years — and
some amazingly rich ones have fallen to the lot of Aroostook in
connection with the potato raising game, great clean-ups are
made by the big North Aroostook farmers — sometimes fortunes
in a single year. Conversely, when bad years come, and Aroos-
took has plunged into not a few "sloughs of despond," when
■either the crop was a partial failure, or the price went below the
cost of production, then sackcloth drapes the homes of North
Aroostook farmers much more heavily than it has to be hung out
by the more careful farmers of the south end of the County.

In the southern part of the County we call to mind no really
big farm as compared with the big farms of North Aroostook,
with the exception of what was long known as the Whited farm
at Bridgewater Corner. The original farm of 160 acres was
bought by Mr. Fred Whited, who came from New Brunswick,
shortly after the Civil War, the purchase price being less than
$2,000. To this Mr- Whited added later an adjoining farm of
eighty acres. When the first starch factory came within his
reach, he began raising potatoes. He also raised along with his
crops of potatoes, a family of three husky sons, and the sons all
got busy just as soon as they were able to handle a rake or pitch-
fork, to drive a horse or steer a plow. The Whited family lived
simply. A mammoth stack of buckwheat pancakes always
loomed up at the beginning of every meal like a small mountain.

^^

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 11^

but when the meal was finished, the place it had occupied on the
family board was a level plain. What is now termed "overhead"
expenses were unknown to Fred Whited. He was scrupulously
honest, a hard worker and though not at all an educated man, a
most excellent planner and manager. The result was that he
constantly got ahead, fairly fast during the starch factory era,
and in some big years later on, wonderfully fast. He knew
nothing of banks, and for many years had no use for them, his
bank being a pasteboard box, which he kept under his bed. Mr.
Whited got his first jolt as to the wisdom of this simple, home-
made banking system one day when his buildings caught fire and
were burned. As the fire spread from the big barn to the house,
Mr. Whited naturally thought of his paste-board bank and the
thousands of dollars it contained. He rescued it, and then, car-
rying it under his arm, went out among the crowd of neighbors
who had collected, and began to give directions about salvaging
other movable effects. While he was so engaged, the twine
string which held the cover on to the bulging hoard of currency,
became untied, and several wads, containing hundreds of dollars
each, crept out of the box and fell to the ground. Fortunately,
all the neighbors who had gathered at the scene of the fire, were
honest, and as fast as a roll was discovered and picked up, it
was returned to its owner. After this fire Mr- Whited thought it
best to invest his surplus cash, rather than leave it lying around
loose, and began to buy adjoining land. This he continued to do
until the Whited holdings represented a big, compact tract of 500
acres.

In due course of nature Mr. Whited died, the big farm passed
into the hands of his youngest son, Karry, and the latter some
years ago sold it to the Edmunds Seed Potato Company of Bos-
ton, for between $60,000 and $70,000, which company still owns
and operates it as a seed farm. Its history is that of typical
Aroostook farming, and it would be interesting to know, if it could
be computed, how many scores of thousands of dollars this great
farm has made for its owners since Mr. Whited came across from
the Province and purchased it many years ago.

Without regard to comparison of their respective merits and
attractions, there is much to admire both in North and South
Aroostook. In South Aroostook the splendid village of Houlton,
besides having a history it can well afford to be proud of, is one
of the finest and most attractive towns in the State. It is known
far and wide for its business strength and stability, having the
unique distinction of possessing the largest amount of wealth per

114 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

capita of any town in New England, with the exception of Brook-
line, Massachusetts. It is a town that has social culture and re-
finement in a high degree, is noted and much admired for the
beauty of its residences, and possesses perhaps the largest num-
ber of fine and attractive residences, in proportion to its size, of
any town in the State. It is well worthy of the pride its citizens
take in it, and is also worthy of its title and office as the shire
town of the great County of Aroostook.

Houlton has had in the past and has today many strong and
deservedly influential citizens. At its bar, as the shire town, have
figured many able men, notably the late Governor Llewellyn
Powers and other members of the Powers family, which in the
person of Hon. F. A. Powers, now a resident of Houlton, fur-
nished the judiciary of Maine one of the ablest in its line of jus-
tices. It has had many able business men, and it contributed to
the potato trade, which has flourished for so many years in
Aroostook. Hon E- L. Cleveland, who is, if we are correct, the
dean of the business in Southern Aroostook, and one of the most
successful and conservative men in the trade. Besides potatoes,
Mr. Cleveland has ventured into other lines, such as buying and
developing real estate, and made various investments, in which
he has been very successful. He is at the present time the Pres-
ident of the Aroostook Anti-Tuberculosis Association, and is an
admirable choice for the position.

Houlton also takes a just pride in being the home of Col.
Frank M. Hume, one of the most gallant soldiers Maine sent
abroad in the World War. It was fortunate for many years in
having a citizen of remarkably versatile ability and usefulness
in the late Michael M. Clark, Esi., for many years Clerk of
Courts, and during the period of his active life the real "Mayor
of the City." It has today in the person of Register of Deeds,
James H. Kidder, a man of such unique popularity that in that
respect he is recognized as being in a class by himself. It also
has the distinction of having been the home for many years of
Hon. Albert A. Burleigh, truly in his latter years the "grand old
man" of Aroostook, and deservedly entitled to occupy the place
of honor in the esteem and gratitude of the people of Aroostook
for his service in promoting the welfare and development of the
County.

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 115

CHAPTER XVI
Middle Aroostook A Flourishing Section Of The County

For many years after North Aroostook, or at least a consid-
erable percentage of its area, had been provided with railroad
transportation, what may be termed "Middle Aroostook," repre-
sented by the towns of Mars Hill, Blaine, Bridgewater and Mont-
icello, were without any rail facilities, and their growth and
progress were held in check on that account.

Up to the date of the building of the Bangor & Aroostook
Railroad, farmers in these several towns were obliged to team
all their produce to Houlton, a distance all the way from twelve
to twenty-five miles, and the most of this teaming had to be done
during the fall and winter months, involving besides hardship
and severe exposure, so much expense that this section of the
County was entirely unable to compete with sections favored
with a rail outlet.

With the advent of the railroad all this was changed. Mid-
dle Aroostook was put on a footing of equality with other sec-
tions of the County. All the previously sleepy and listless little
villages woke up with the coming of the railroad, the waking up
being especially pronounced in Mars Hill and Blaine- These two
villages, separated by quite a clear gap up to the time the rail-
road came, fostered more or less of a spirit of rivalry so long as
it remained an open question which was to be the leading place
on the County map. In deference to this feeling, and in order
to keep peace in the family, the management of the Bangor &
Aroostook gave the station at this point the name "Mars Hill &
Blaine," which it carried for some years. Then the two villages
began to fill up the gap between them, until they became prac-
tically one, with the growth predominating in the Mars Hill end
of the community. The fine and flourishing school, known as the
Aroostook Central Institute, was built on a commanding eleva-
tion intermediate between the two villages, and now the two
have merged into one fine business center, and are a unit except
as to name, and the conduct of their municipal affairs, which
remain separate and distinct.

The twin villages make one very fine community, and owing
to the fact that they have around them a big territory of as pro-
ductive land as there is in the County, tilled by industrious and
progressive farmers, and as the business men of the two villages
are wide-awake and enterprising, they have a very promising
future.

116

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

We do not know that either Mars Hill or Blaine owes its
start to the late Benjamin Jones, but undoubtedly Mr. Jones'
activity and enterprise were a good deal of a factor in laying the
foundation of the two villages. In the course of the later devel-
opment of the community the ability, public spirit, and various
movements for the public good originated and promoted by the
late H. W. Safford, were a decided factor in advancing the wel-
fare of both Mars Hill and Blaine. At the present time they
have many men in their list of strong business citizens. Among
these may be mentioned the Husseys, who conduct now, as
they have for many years past, the largest mercantile business
between Presque Isle and Houlton. The original Hussey Store,
then located at what was called Blaine Corner, was founded by
the late S. H. Hussey. Some years since, the business was trans-
ferred to Mars Hill, where it is at present conducted, practically
as a department store, under the management of Mr. Hal Hussey-
The latter's son. Stetson Hussey, Jr., is a young and very prom-
ising lawyer, who for two terms occupied a seat in the House of
Representatives at Augusta, and, as the candidate of the Repub-
lican party, will be one of three State Senators from Aroostook.

HON. GEO. W. COLLINS, BRIDGEWATER

An Old-time Business Man of Aroostook, and Prominent

As Worker for Railroad

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 117

Besides its extensive mercantile business, as one of the
principal trade centers of the County, Mars Hill is one of the
biggest shipping points for potatoes and other produce in Aroos-
took, having many storehouses of large capacity, and being
equipped both in this way, and through having a large list of
strong and reliable buyers, to handle the extensive potato rais-
tng and shipping industry, which centers at Mars Hill.

Next to Mars Hill, Bridgewater is the principal town in
Middle Aroostook. The village of Bridgewater Centre is quite
a hustling business place. The Bridgewater farmers are noted
for their snug thrift, and many of them who make small preten-
sions, are not only moderately well off, but even wealthy. This
is because the Bridgewater habit is to practice industry, and to
save instead of spend.

The founder of Bridgewater Centre was the late Hon. Geo.
W. Collins. When Mr. Collins took possession of its site for
business purposes, planting there, first a store, then a starch fac-
tory, then a lumber mill and then a large sole leather tannery,
he planted the seed from which has grown the prosperous village
of today. Mr. Collins was a pre-railroad figure in the business
life of his section of the County, but as such was one of the
most active, energetic and capable men in the County, and
Bridgewater Centre owes much to the work he performed in lay-
ing its foundation in the early days.

It is impossible, within the limits imposed in the prepara-
tion of this series of sketches of Aroostook progress and devel-
opment, to go into details in describing the three splendid farm-
ing towns of Presque Isle, Caribou and Fort Fairfield, and the
flourishing villages where their business, and to quite an extent
the business of surrounding towns, centers. Three towns more
on an equality in all that goes to make up community thrift and
attractiveness, cannot be found anywhere in New England- In
respect of this even balance in business enterprise, in the pos-
session of wealth, fine farm and village homes, handsome and
up-to-date business establishments, and creditable and useful
public institutions these three North Aroostook towns and vil-
lages are unique.

Southern Maine towns of the same size have the appearance
of having reached their growth and then having fallen into a
slumber from which they have not wakened, but these three North
Aroostook towns are always in a hustle. This statement might
be qualified by saying that one dav in each year this hustle is
suspended That is when, on the Fourth of July, two of them

118 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

empty their population into the third, it being the pleasant and
amicable custom of the three towns to rotate Fourth of July cele-
brations. When this great event comes around, elaborate prepar-
ations are made, and instead of having rival celebrations, one
village pulling against another, they boost for each other, their
local papers declare in great headlines, what a glorious celebra-
tion their sister town is to have, and describe at length its fea-
tures and attractions.

In general, though the territory they occupy necessarily
makes them competitors in trade, everythingi is carried on pleas-
antly and without any unseemly strife. They speak well' of one
another, evidently think well of one another, though of course, a
Presque Isle man must have the subconscious idea that Presque
Isle is the hub of North Aroostook, and so must also a Caribou
or Fort Fairfield man be possessed of the idea that they live in
the only town in Northern Maine.

Each of the three towns has strong and able leading citi-
zens in it, and each has, as a whole, a sound and highly re-
spectable body of citizens to carry on its business affairs and
its various social and civil activities.

At the present time, both in North and South Aroostook,
business is being carried on largely by young men. Young men
predominate in all lines, whether it be in the business life of the
villages, or in conducting the operations of the big farms. Conse-
quently Aroostook is a forward looking county, full of courage
and spirit. Business, both on the farms and in all other lines, is cut
out on a big, broad-gauged scale. A bad year or a succession of
them, are not accepted as final. In Aroostook men in all lines
make big gains in a good year, sometimes surprisingly big gains,
and in off years they make big losses, sometimes almost stagger-
ing ones, but in good and bad years alike, things go along with
the same vim and cheerfulness, optimism, courage and resiliency.
This same spirit, in a different way is apparent in social affairs,
and in everything that goes on in these fine towns. Either of them
can mobilize more strength in numbers and substantial aid to
boost anything that is worthy of being pushed and boosted than
any other towns in New England. This makes each and all of
them very pleasant places to live in, and to try to do business- in-

Before concluding these rather hasty and imperfect sketches,
which may be corrected and amplified at a future date, to deal
more adequately of Aroostook development, it would not be
proper to ignore the Ashland region or the French or up-river
section. The Ashland region is one which is defined by natural

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 119

local limits and characteristics quite as clearly as any other sec-
tion of the County. It has its peculiar attractions, and its pecu
liar lines of activity which distinguish it from the Aroostook
River Valley towns, the latter section being to all intents and
purposes purely agricultural. The Ashland region was in past
years, and to quite an extent still is, a great lumbering section.
Ashland itself was for many years a lumbering center of great
importance, and up to the present time the lumber, fish and game
interests have a tendency to overshadow agriculture.

Within a narrower area, the Ashland region has as fertile a
soil as any other part of the County, but the farms are not culti-
vated so intensively by any means as in the Caribou — Fort Fair-
field— Presque Isle section. The conditions are changing, how-
ever, in this respect, and farming is coming more to the front in
the Ashland region. The pulp octopus, represented in the Ash-
land region by the International Paper Company, is gradually
killing out the saw-mills, and with the disappearance of these
from the industries of Ashland, that section will be thrown back
more upon agriculture. The fish and game mterests will remain
.and their importance will increase in this section. The vast forest
which stretches west from Ashland will remain, it is to be hoped,
perpetually preserved and protected. As it is not a probable de-
velopment of the future that its great forest should be improved,
and converted into cleared townships, then, as the next best thing
for Northern Maine, they should be kept intact and protected
against waste and devastation by the pulp makers, so that the
big game in its forested area and the fish in its hundreds of lakes
and streams may attract increasing thousands of hunters and
iiishermen to the region.

The Ashland section is one of the most interest'rg hunting
and fishing regions in the entire country, and every year as thi.s
fact is recognized, there will be an increasing influx of sportsmen
to this region, and to the end of featuring this great asset, all
who are interested in the County, and especially directly in-
terested, namely, the residents of Ashland and the other towns
of that section, should make every effort to make the region bet-
ter known and more attractive. One of the measures to this end
should be a realization on the part of people of what these inter-
ests mean to the prosperity of their section, and there should be
a zealous effort made to preserve what they have by co-operation
with the Fish and Game Commission in the protection of fish
and game, and the education of the public mind to the import-
ance of the passage of laws to conserve and protect the forested

120 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

townships in Western Aroostook from the devastation which has
been the fate of so many other forest areas of the country.

A whole book might be written, and interestingly written,
giving the history of the development of what is known as the
Madawaska region. Indeed, such a book was written by the late
Patrick Therriault, and has been published, but whether there is
an edition in English, the writer is not aware. Mr. Therriault
prepared himself by research and investigation for this work,
and the volume he prepared is said, by those who have read it,
to be a very interesting history of this most interesting section
of our State.

As the writer understands, the inhabitants of the towns of
the Upper St. John River are the descendants of the ancient
Acadians. Outside of the history which has been prepared by
the late Mr. Therriault, probably Mr. Wiggins's history, givea' in
the first part of this work, is the best account available. The
tragic features and incidents of the migration of the French peo-
ple to the homes they now occupy on the Upper St. John, has
nothing cf the commonplace experience which entered into the
lives of those who migrated into the wilderness of the lower part
of the County, and carved homes there out of the wilderness.

The romance and adventure in which this community of Nor-
thern Maine had its origin, still lingers in the qualntness and
simplicity in the habits and customs of the people, which reflects
very faithfully the image of Acadian life as it was drawn by
Longfellow in the sweet and beautiful poem of Evangeline. Add-
ed to this quaintness and simplicity in the life and general hab-
its of the "Up-River" French, is the fact that this life has, as a
setting, the most charming natural scenery to be found in New
England. These considerations make a trip through the region,
of great interest, and as the highways of auto travel are improv-
ed, it will be increasingly visited from year to year by tourists
from different parts of the country.

But the Madawaska country is by no means anchored in the
past, or living placidly in bygone times, however much the past
may still be mirrored in the life of its people. No part of Aroos-
took is undergoing more of a business transformation, and no
part is making greater progress than the towns of the Upper St.
John River. No towns in the County have more hustling busi-
ness men, and none are growing faster. Indeed, the Hon. Peter
Charles Keegan, who has figured more prominently, at least in
a public way, in the development and progress of Van Buren,
and in the other communities of Madawaska, than any other

HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK 121

man, declares that Van Buren is destined to be the biggest town
in Aroostook. This may be an extreme statement, but when one
visits Van Buren and views it from various angles, so as to com-
prehend the different factors of its growth and prosperity, the
snug thrift of its people, the great lumbering interests, which the
vast territory covered by the St. John River and its tributaries
seems to afford assurance of reasonable stability, the enterprise
of the business men of that section, the activity of the people in
fostering schools, and the progress they are making in education
— all these things seem to give Mr. Keegan's prediction an air
of plausibility at least-

The so-called Madawaska region was brought out of obscur-
ity by the advent of the railroad. For the extension to Van
Buren, that young city has Hon. Peter Charles Keegan to thank
to a great extent — at least for greatly hastening the date of its
coming. For the Fish River Extension there was more of a pur-
pose on the part of the projectors and builders of the Ashland
branch to enlarge that field, and to reach, as an objective, the
great lumbering manufacturing center of Fort Kent. The result
has been to bring these upper towns in a railroad way to the
front and to put them and especially Van Buren, still more on tihe
map by railroad developments which have taken place in Canada,
across the St. John River from Van Buren.

At Van Buren proper they have now what has been classed
as the biggest lumber manufacturing plant east of the Pacific
Coast, the one operated by the St. John Lumber Company. Van
Buren also has the advantage of lumber and other business activ-
ities carried on by Mr. Allen Hammond, one of the most energetic
and successful business men in the County. It also has other
men of the calibre of Mr. Hammond, so that in business and
social life and last but by no means least, in the political affairs
of the County, the up-river part of Aroostook is a very decidedly
important factor to be dealt with and recognized. At Keegan, a
short distance above Van Buren proper, there is a very smart
pulp mill, the extent of whose operations may be imagined from
the fact that in the mere matter of electric power consumption,
it pays the Gould Electric Company $50,000 a year.

Educationally, Van Buren has, in St. Mary's College, a very
flourishing and finely conducted school, a counterpart of which
may be found in the State Training School, which is being con-
ducted so successfully at Fort Kent. These and other schools
are important factors in promoting the successful development
of this great upper country, and their influence is very evident

122 HISTORY OF AROOSTOOK

in the bright and wide awake young men and women who are
coming up in that section. Many convent schools are also tak-
ing a very helpful part in the educational training and develop-
ment of the rising generation in Madawaska.

The writer is aware that vihat has been written herein con-
cerning the development of AroDstook, is only a superficial pic-
ture of what is being accomplished in this great County. The
purpose is to round out the record so admirably and studiously
prepared by Mr. Wiggin, and to give at least a glimpse of what
has taken place in Aroostook since he wrote his early history of
the County. We are aware that in what we have written little
has been done except to give an imperfect glimpse of the progress
that has been made, but, as we have said, this may be later re-
vised, improved and enlarged so as to be a worth while contribu-
tion to the history of Aroostook progress and development, and
as such it is submitted to the kind consideration of the reader.

Index to Full Page Illustrations

Mcllwain Farm Buildings Part 1 Page 32

Aroostook Potato Field Part 1 Page 64

Columbus Hayford Part 1 Page 96

Ginn Farm Buildings Part 1 Page 128

Christie Farm Buildings Part 1 Page 144

Northern Maine Fair Thirty Years Ago Part 1 Page 176

Loane Farm Buildings Part 1 Page 202

Northern Maine Sanitorium Part 1 Page 234

Northern Maine Fair, Modern Part 1 Page 266

Geo. H. Collins Part 2 Page 1

Franklin W- Cram Part 2 Page 32

Presque Isle Public Library Part 2 Page 48

A. R. Gould Part 2 Page 64

Normal School Dormitory Part 2 Page 80

Residence of A. M. Smith Part 2 Page 96

Aroostook Valley from Christie Hill Part 2 Page 112

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