Full text of "History of Thomaston, Rockland, and South Thomaston, Maine, from their first exploration, 1605; with family genealogies"

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us (<44-'2' '5.5 df) 



Darvari) CoUeae Xibrari? 




BOUGHT WITH MONEY 
RECEIVED FROM THE 
SALE OF DUPLICATES 



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HISTOEY 

OF 

THOMASTON, ROCKLAND, 

AND 

SOUTH THOMASTON, 

MAINE, 

FEOM THEIB FIBST EIPLOEATION, A. D. 1605; WITH 
FAMILY GENEABDGIES. 



By CYRUS EATON: 

Cor. Member of the Mass. Hist. Society, also of the Viseonsia Hist Sooiety, 
* and Member Elect of the Maine Hist. Societj. 



' Gather up the fragments, that nothing be lost." — John, 6, 12. 



IN TWO VOLUMES. 
VOL. I. 



tHALLOWELL: 
MASTERS, SMITH & CO., PRINTERS. 
1865. 



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■ U 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1866, by 

Ctbvb Eatoh, 

in the Clerk's Office of the District Court of Maine. 



ERRATA. 

Page 8, line 31, fbr N, W. read S. W. 

" 31, " 42, ♦* these, " then. 

** 323, *< 16, *< excitement, ** reUgioue excitement. 
** 351, " 6, occurs an error, taken from the papers of the day, 
which the modesty of Dr. Levensaler makes him peculiarly desirous of 
having corrected; therefore instead of Medical Director of the Southern 
Dqaartmenty read one of the Medical Examining Board at Beattfort, S. C, 
rage 417, line 11, for according, read according to. 



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PREFATORY. 



.To the people of Thomastoic, Rockland, and South 
Thom ASTON, this work, executed under the pressure of many 
difficulties, sorrows, and anxieties, both public and domestic, 
is now humbly presented by the author and his devoted as- 
sistant, as the only return they can make for the generous 
patronage, uniform kindness, and ready hospitality, every- 
where extended to them, — without which, under the circum- 
stances, they could hardly have had the confidence and spirit 
to persevere in the arduous undertaking. If it shall be found 
a faithful and impartial transcript of the past, and reasonably 
free from those errors which necessarily ysult from the ex- 
amination and collation of so many facts and documents no- 
where to be found in print and with no living interpreter, for 
the most part, to elucidate, it will have accomplished the ut- 
most expectations of the author. If in any instance it should 
fail in this, he hopes the generous reader will pardon, and im- 
pute it rather to lack of ability than to any wilful negligence 
or sinister purpose. 

From the public at large, the author can hardly expect the 
favor bestowed upon his former publication of the kind, which 
in some respects was less local in its character. Should any 
complaint be made that the present work in its appearance 
and arrangement in the form of annals, too faithfully follows 
in the track of its predecessor, it may be well to explain that 
such was the wish and stipulation of the Thomaston Natural 
History Society under whose auspices the work was origin- 
ally commenced and continued tiU the almost total dissolution 
of that Society by death and the calls of the supervening 
war. Those portions of the early history of Thomaston 
which had been forestalled in the Annals of Warren, are 
now more lightly passed over to make room for additional 
particiilars, or varied by more liberal quotations from the ac- 
tors and cotemporary writers. 



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iv PREFATORY. 

The author takes great pleasure in acknowledging the val- 
uable aid of several persons at a distance from, and not par- 
ticularly interested in, the locality to which his present work 
is devoted. Among these, he would mention his unfailing 
friend, the worthy Librarian of Harvard University, John 
Langdon Sibley ; Hon. Nehemiah Boynton of Chelsea, Mass.; 
Frederic Kidder, Esq., an antiquarian of Boston, whose opin- 
ion», arrived at on the same spot where Weymouth's discov- 
eries were made in 1605, coinciding with those adopted im 
these pages, were, he regrets to say, received too late for in- 
sertion in the narrative; G. S. Newcomb, Esq., of Kingston, 
Mass. ; D. Williams Patterson of West Winsted, Ct. ; Col* 
Ellis 8pear,,while a resident of Wiscasset; E. Foote, Esq., 
of the same place; Dr. J. B. Walker of Union, while a mem- 
ber of the Senate; Rer. J. L. Locke, formerly of Belfast and 
Camden; and, at the national capital, Hon. 8. C. Fesscnden, 
Cipt. A. C. Spalding, Hon. Lot M. Morrill, and James Par- 
ker, Esq., a gifted and well beloved nephew of the author 
now removed by death; Hon. Joseph Williamson of Belfast; 
mod, of his own townsmen, Hon. A. H. Hodgman, A. Smith, 
Esq., and Dr. Benj. F. Buxton, wkise researches among the 
archives of the State, while a miember of the Legislature, 
were of a very laborious character. 

From many individuals in the three municipalities which 
form the subject of the work, the author has received much 
important aid and information, furnished in many cases at 
considerable sacrifice of time and patience, but which to par- 
ticularly acknowledge here might seem invidious to some and 
require too much space. May they all, and especially the 
sprightly little girl of twelve years, daughter of Capt. H. 
Spalding, ^o volunteered to guide the steps of the Wind au- 
thor in his wanderings through the village of South Thomas- 
ton^ and afterwards copied for his use all the inscriptions from 
the cemetery there, obtain their reward, here and in heaven ! 
And may the two unpretending volumes now offered, find fa- 
vor m thek happy homes and those of their descendants, long 
after the hand which has toiled and the brain which has 
wearied in the compilation, shall have been laid to rest! 

Wabben, Feb., 18W. 



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CONTENTS. 



CB4.PTBK I. DeseripUon of Old Thomaston m approached br the 8ea« 
Owl's Head, Rockland harbor and city, page 1. — By Oeorge's River, and 
the present town of Thomaston, p. 2. — PrimitiTe growth, mountain, and 
minerals, p. 3. — Lakes and streams, p. 4. — Meadows, p. 6. — Changes, 
p. 7. — Points, cores, ftc, p. 8 — Climate and health, p. 9. — Aborig&iea 
and their remains, p. 10. 

Chap. II. 1605- First discovenr by the whites. — Geo. Wermouth, his 
explorations here and at the islands, p. 13. — His Toyage up the Qeom*9 
River, p. 17.— His observations of latitude.&c.—Hts departure for Eng- 
land, p. 20. — Different views of antiquarians respecting the locality of 
these discoveries, and the final clearing up of doubts, p. 21. — Natives and 
their names of places, p. 22. — Name of the Oeprge's River, &c., p. 23.— 
Subsequent visitors to the islands and mouth of the river, p. 24. 

Chap. III. 1630. The Orant of the land here to Beauchamp and Lev- 
erett, p 26. — Some account of these gentlemen ; they send their vessel and 
agent here to build a truck-house; its locality. — Edward Ashley, p. 27. 
1635. Winthrop's mention of the place ; Foxwell and Swaden, residents; 
changes of jurisdiction, p. 28. — Under the Duke of York, J. Alden's 
case; Capt. Church at Owl*s Head, 1696, p. 29. — Cadillac's description; 
Gov. Phips's purchase. 1719-20. John Leverett; his family and note; 
and the new companies of the Ten and Twenty Associates, p. 30.— 
They build blockhouse, mill, put up house-frames, &c.-~lndians dissatis- 
fied ; T. Westbrook put in command of blockhouse, or fort, and twenty 
men. 1722. Lovewell's, or 4th Indian war commences ; attack on the 
infant settlement by 200 Indians, p. 31. — Westbrook's letter to Oov. 
Shute describing it, p. 32. 1723. His expedition up the Penobscot. — 
The Fort adopted by the Massachusetts government as a public garri- 
son— controversy respecting it in the two houses of Assembly and the 
S.rrison reduced, p. 33. — Increased, it sustains a siege of 30 days, Wm. 
ennedy commander., — Westbrook arrives, McFaden prisoner. 1724. 
J. Winslow, commander, his fate as described by Rev. C. Mather, and 
names of those killed with him, p. 34. — Wm. Jeflfries, p. 36. -^Indians 
make a naval attack. Smith commander. 1725. Scouts killed, but 
Indians disposed to peace — conference held at Boston — Mountfort 
track-master, Oyles commander- 1726. Ratification of treaty, p. 37' 
—T.Smith truck- master, and the goods kept. 1727. Rev. M. Hall, 
chaplain, Br. U. Angier, surgeon. -» Dissatisfaction between Smith, the 
Indians, and Gyles, p. 38. — Traffic on credit forbidden — truck-master's 
servant — and repairs on Fort. — Abraham Johnson aid to chaplain. — Of- 
ficers' and soldiers' pay. 1728. Gyles granted powder, shop for armorer, 
lodgings for chaplain, &c., p. 39.— is commissioned a justice. 1729. 
Gyles asks for missionary to Indians. — A minister and 120 families en- 
gaged to settle, interrupted by Dunbar. — Waldo's services and acces- 
sion to the Patent, p. 40. 1730. J. Noyes, truckmaster — Lt. Governor's 
excursion ea^itward. — Dr. B. Noyes, chaplain 1731. Fapapo wet's peti- 
tion for wolf-bounty refused; o.xen, cart, and sled granted. —- Wessa- 
weskeag marsh leased, p. 41. — Pierpont chaplain. 1732. Gov. Belcher 
▼isits the place, hears complaints, recommends rebuilding Fort, p. 42. * 

Chap. IV. 1733-4. Waldo now proprietor here, commences lime 
burning, first kilns. — R. Mclnt^re. — Waldo's surveys cause Indian 
jealousy. 1735. Repairs of Indian house, fort, &c , asked for and de- 
ferred^. 43. — Waldo here, meets the Indians, bargains with setders, p. 
- 44.— 'The first five lots in the place laid out. — One of the first deeds, p. 



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45. — "Waldo's reservations. — Rebuilds saw-mill, confers in November 
with Indians. — Their feelings and remonstrances in 1736 are favored by 
Legislative report, and further settlements up the river forbidden, p. 
47.— The first settlers in the place, p. 48. — First child bom. 1740. 
Br. M. Robinson, Andrew. Robinson. — Capt. Gyles and his wolves. — 
Other persons, employees of Waldo, now Brigadier, p. 49. — Fort rebuilt 
bv Capt. A. Robinson. — Gov. Belcher's letter to him, p. 60. 1741-3. J. 
Dennis, truckmaster. — Deeds and Contract registered. — Lower Town, 
now Gushing, settled, and WiUdo applies for incorporation of ^e 2 towns. 

— Death of Capt. A. Robinson. — Gov. Shirley's visit here, his opinion 
of the place, p. 51. — J. Bradbury, truckmaster; Beane, interpreter.— 
Bradbury, commander; Lithgow armorer. ^ Davis, p. 52. — Evans.- 
Qyles's retirement. — Meduncook settled. 1744. Town privileges pett* 
tioned for the place commonly called ** Lincoln.'* — Garrison increased 
and scouts enlisted, p. 53. 1745. Dissatisfaction with scouts. — The set- 
tlers here. — North to Femaquid. — Blockhouse built. — Capt. B. Burton, 
his coming, commands at the blockhouse, p. 54. —Attack on the Fort — 
Shirley's letter to Capt Sanders, p. 55. — Commencement of Spanish or 5th 
Indian War, p. 56. — Burton's premature attack on the Penobscots, p. 57. 
1746. E. Hunt killed. — Garrison strengthened and 20 inhabitants to be 
in muster-roll. 1747. Thiity men at the blockhouse. — Li thgow*s scouts. 
—Waldo's expeditibn, and persons drafted, p 58 —James Oliver, surgeon. 

— Dr. Robinson's account. — Rev. R. Rutherford. — Attack on the Fort, p. 
59. — Creighton, Voss, and McDough; killed. — Seventy men at Fort and 
Blockhouse. — Repairs on Fort, 1748. P. Woolen captured, p. 60. — Gar- 
rison reduced. 1/49. Indians friendly. — Garrison further reduced. — 
Peace. — The settlers remaining — Kilpatrick, captain. — Porterfield* 
North, p. 61. — E. Thomdike, p. b2. 

Chap. Y. Bradbury petitions for increase of garrison.— -Beane inter- 
preter. 1752. Bradbury, truckmaster. — Indian conference, p. 63.— 1753. 
William Watson arrives, p. 64. — Indian conference. 1754. Indians dis- 
satisfied —Fort furnished with cohoms and repaired, p. 65. — Kilpatrick's 
and other blockhouses, p 66. — Settlers take refuge in them from the 
FrencK or last Indian War. — Appearance of the place. 1755. Spring, 
&c., with the settlers in garrison, p. 67.— Dogs as guards.— Jealousy 
against Bradbury. — Death of the Browns, p. 68.: — Dissatisfaction and in- 
subordination. — Cargill's doings. — Death of Margaret Moxa, p. 69, and 
burial of her countrymen at the Shore now Rockland, p. 70. — Onset by the 
Indians. — War declared against them. — DissatisfacUon with Lt. Fletcher. 
Two men killed by Indians. 1756. France declares war. — Indian attacks 
on Burton, on vessels, p. 71. — Death of the chaplain. — Rangers em- 
ployed 1757. Indian flags of truce and skirmish of Freeman's company, 
p. 72. — Kye, Handleys, p 73. — Mrs. Thompson, Miss Lamb, and Ler- 
mond, Watson, Ac, p. 74 — Widow McNeal's son, &c. — Indians killed at 
Owl's Head , p. 75. — Bradbury's resignation. — North commander of the 
-^Mracieristic firmness, p. 76. 1758 Great and last attack on 



Puit, his 

the Fort. 1759. Gov. Pownal's Penobscot enterprise, p. 77. — Cargill 
kills another squaw, p. 78. — Death of the proprietor. Brig Gen. Walao, 
his family and note, p. 79.— Symptoms of peace, and p^rrison decreased. 
1760. Peace with Indians. — Kilpatrick and the lurking savage, p.' 80. — 
Cleft rock. &c , p. 81. 

Chap. VI. 1761. Drought. 1762. Col. Waldo, proprietor, sells out 
to T. Fluker — The Middle Neck. — First tax and assessors, p. 82 — Saw- 
mill rebuilt, garrison discontinued. — Arrival of settlers, Robbins, p 83. 
— Crockett, Gregory. 1763 Death of Capt. Burton, p. 84, — and of 
Capt. North, his will, inventory, See., p. 85. — Severe winter, p. 86.— M. 
Wheaton, his partners and business. — Brig^, the first tavern keeper. — 
Extracts from Watson's account book, p. 87. — D. Morse, T. Stevens, p. 
88. — D. Fales, first physician and schoolmaster.— Population. 1764. 
First militia muster. — Agriculture, and Mr. Filhom of Broad Bay, P- 89. 
1767. E. Snow and Mathews, their purchase at Wessaweskeag, p. 90.— 
Tenant, Coombs, Keating. Bridges, Orbetons. — First houses at Wessawea- • 



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keae, lotis &c , p. 91.— TndUtts —Timber, &o , p. 92.— For««t growth 
al Roekland, broken at Lermond's Cove. — Peabodv. 1768 Death of 
Watsoo, his will, p. 93. — J. and N. Fales, p. 94. 1769. Two plantotto&« 
and tax. — SeUltng of Rendall, Heard, N. Crockett, F. Haskell, Bennett, 
Bhines, Bartlett, p. 95. — Reed and Lindsey, J. Crockett, Tolman and his 
grifitHntll, C. Barrows. D. Watson, and J. Spear, p 96. — Earthquake and 
political troubles. 1770. The Jamesons at Leverett's Point, p. 97.— 
Hnnting. -» J- Keen, O. and A. Smith, p. 98. — Comet and armjr worm.— 
Loss of Briggs & Porterfield in the Industry, — and death of Mrs. Rhine« 
ftB^nnett, p. 99.— Death of Kilpatrick.— Porterfield, innholder, &c.— 
p. 100. 1771. Fever. 1772-3. Upper and Lower Towns on St. George's 
river meet together for choiee of assessors. — Opposition of Meduneook 
to- b^' incorporated with them, p. 101.— Snow licensed. — Political affairs 
in Boston, p. 102. — B. Burton's and J. Watson's part in the tea-party. 
1774. H. Knox's letters to Rivington and to Longman, p, 103, — his con- 
signment of tea, p. 104 —embarks in the cause of Areedom, p. 106, — his 
former history, —his injured hand, p. 107, — and letters in connection. — 
Ms flight from Boston, — expedition for cannon, — meeting with Anare, 
&c , p. 108. 



Chap. VII. Hail shower. — State Fast, how kept in Friendship.- 
Boston port-bill, p. 110. — J. Watson's let-pass. — His sloop Tnr 
Friends, p. 111. 177'5. Duings of St. George's committee of safety, 



Boston port-bill, p. 110. — J. Watson's let-pass. — His sloop Three 
Friends, p. 111. 177'5. Duings of St. George's committee of safety, p. 
112. — Parson Urquhart, — N. Eastman's permit, &c., p. 114. — Teal, D* 



Creighton, p. 115. — Relief of scarcity, — enlisting and transportation of 
soldiers, &c. 1776. Reorganization of militia, p. 1 16 — T. Ham — Coombs 
and his courtship, J. Snow, Jordans, p. 117-— D. Crouch, R. Keatinff^ 
1777. Thomaston, including Rockland and S. Thomaston. incorporateo, 
p. 118. — Bounds, — name. p. 119. — Gen. Thomas and W. Thomas,- 
meaning of the name, p. 120. — ^Incorporators not before mentioned. Weed, 
Browns, Lovett, Stackpole, Smallees, Lons, Thompsons, Killsas, Rankin, 
D' Watson, Bowler, Bachelder, Ross, Blackington, Barrows, &c., p. 121,— ^ 
Petition, Burton. — Warrant and first town meetin^p. 122 —First clerk, 
and records,- other officers and doings, p. 123. — First publishments.—- 
Capt. N. Fales's company of Coast Guards. 1778. Tax assessed, p. 124. 
— McLellan, Simonton, J Smith, p. 125. — Town officers. — D. Fates sus- 
pected, p. 12(5. — Pay. currency, p. 127 — Lime and its price.— Ministry, 
schools and masters, Fales, Sullivan, p. 128. — and Ryan, p. 129. —Men for 
army, J. Adams, S. Tolman. 1779. Town officers, p. 130. — Roads to 
Warren, and Wessaweskeag, carriages, &c. — Schools first brought before 
town, p. 131.— No representative chosen, — vote against a new constitu- 
tion.— soldiers —-Com. Tucker's letter, p. 132. — Biguyduee expedition, 
p. 133. — Pomeroy and Jameson, p. 134. 

Chap. VIII. Meeting and committee on prices. — Convention at Wis- 
casset. — Town's first representative. 1780. Snow storms, p. 137. — Bur- 
ton at Camden. — rumors at Union. — Gen. Wadsworth's arrival, p. 188.— 
Braun's execution, p. 139. — Rumois. — N. Palmer and courts-martial, p. 
140. — Long's letter, p. 141. — Tories, p. 142. — Shaving mills, Wheaton^s 
idoop. &c , p. 143. — His agriculture, removal, mills, &c., p 145. — Cur- 
rency and taxes, p 147. — No representative — New Constitution. — 
Fishing at Warren — navigation, p. 148. — Nutting, p. 149. — Heard's 
house set on fire. — Watts taken, p. 150. — Arrival of Post and Carney, — 
anecdotes, p. 151. — N. and Atwood Fales, at Beech Woods, — D.Rob- 
bins, p. 152— - Palmers, Healeys, Blackingtons, Woodcock, — Thomdikes, 
bear, &c., p. 153 1781. Ingrahams, sch. Dolphin, &c. — Say ward, Hix, 
Godding, p. 155. — burdens, convention at Wiscasset, p. 156. — Wads- 
worth's capture, p. 157. — His and Burton's escape, p. 160. — Further 
account of Burton, p 161. 

Chap. IX. Highways repaired by a rate, currency, &c. — Recruits, re- 
dress of grievances, &c. — Representative. — Business, salt, &c., p. 162. 
—Illicit traffic— Schooner of Keating and others taken by Bradford. — 
J. Perry's house, burned by British emissaries, p. 163. — Thanksgiving. 



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tui contents. 

1782. Highways, — elections, p. 164. — singular vote for register. — Be- 
solTe and circular from the committee. — Taxes^ — Committee on beef 
tax, and *'to inspect into town accounts," troublesome burdens* bad 
spelling, &c., p. 165. — Petition to supersede Wheaton in General Court. 

— Vote to hire minister. — Tolman gift and other cemeteries. — Commit- 
tee of safety and absentees, p. 166. 1784. First rel^ous movement, 1st 
Baptist Church, its deacons, &c., p. 168. — Perrys, Town officers, Dilla- 
way, Ac. T— Road west of Madambettox Mt., p. 170 — O. Robbins' pro- 
posed mills — Committee from General Court to be provided for. — A 
severe winter. 1785. Settlers on Waldo patent, &c., p. 171.-^ warning 
out — Butler, Tings, Lewis, Nutt, Thompson, I. Woodcock, Harrup,Blye, 
Jenks, Brewster, Stetson, p. 172. — Lime business, proprietors' claims, 
quarries, &c. — Robbins, Captain, Major, Sec. 1786. Highway tax.— 
County register, parsonage lot, pound, &c., p. 173. — Town landing.— 
Rowell, Pilisbury. Chapman. — New roads to St. George, Owl's Head Bay, 
Beech Woods, &c. — Convention. — Winter, p. 174. 1787. Fishery. — 
Town meeeting- house, committees, &e. — Land claims, Knox, &c., p. 
175. — T. & S. Yose. Bentley, Mcintosh, Spalding, p. 176. — Place of 
town-meeting, jand N. Fales's house. — New counties, jurymen, & courts. 

— Delegate to Convention, p. 177. — Schools, Walsh, Emerson, Fair- 
banks, hunting, dogs, p. 178. — paupefs, &c. 1788. Schools, p. 179.— 
New roads to Ash Pt. — Brown, clerk, — Packard, Lowell, Cooper, Sher- 
man, Chapman, Hix, Bartlett, Perrys, Witham, West, and appearance of 
" the Shore." now Rockland, p. 180. — First vote for Governor. 1789. 
Road to Wessaweskeag and Wads worth street. — Doctors Dodge and 
Webb, p. 181. — Dr Bernard, p. 182. —Dean, Emery, Sleepers, White, 
Gray, Green, &c. 1790. Federal constitution, census, &c , p. 183. 

Chap. X. Quaker's hats, weather, &c. — School districts, pounds. 
1791. Reed and store, p. 186. — Creighton, a bondsman, p. 187. — Ever- 
ton. Gay. — Vote on separation, p. ItS.— Schools, masters. — G. Killsa, 
drowned. 1792. Prince, p. 189. — Mineralogioal survey, p. 190. — Case 
resigns, and schism in Baptist church. — Place of town meetings, p. 191. 

— Kobbins's death, paupers, &c. — Representative declines. ^ Vote on 
separation. — Congressional and presidential election, p. 193. — Town rec- 
ords. — Throat distemper. 1794. Ulmer, p. 194. — Blackington's Comer, 
and traders down, p. 195. — S. Tolman's mill, new roads, &c.— Dollars, 
Cents, &c. — Pound and Abrams, p. 196. — Clark, Bradford, Tarbox.— 
Manufacture of lime. — Rev. T. Whiting employed, p. 197. — Snow's ordi- 
nation and anecdotes, p 199. — Minute Men. — Late frost- 1795. Com- 
mittee on accounts."— First Post Office, p. 200.— North Parish meetings 
house, p. 201. 

Chap. XI. 1795. Coming of Knox, his titles, p. 205. — His buildings, 
p. 209. — His guests, p. 2U. — Works carried on, p. 212. — Rogers, Wig- 
"in, Austin, Willis, Conants, Dunton, &c., p. 213. — Anecdotes, &c., p. 

15.— Mrs. Knox, p. 219. 

Chap. XII. South Pari.sh meeting-house, grave-yard, &c., p. 226. — 
Tillsons, Adams, Hanson, Stone, and tan works, WiiUamses, Weed, &c. 

— Shipbuilding at Wessaweskeag, and at Shore, p. 227. — Temperature. 
1796. Bov drowned, &c., first bridge at Wessaweskeag. p. 228. — Child 
lost, p, 229. —Coffin's diary, p. 230. — Appearance of the place, p. 231. — 
The Duke's 2d visit, p. ^2 — Coombs s survey. — Vote on revision of 
State Constitution. — Representatives. — S Jennison. — Dodge and Turn- 
er's lawsuit, p. 233. — Wniting, Sullivan, and anecdotes, p. 2»5. — Labor, 
&c., on roads. — First surveyors of lime. — No school tax voted. 1797. 
Congressional election, p. 238. — Deaths of N. Fales and Mrs. Stackpole, 
committee to look for burying eround, the first burials in it. — Levensaler, 
Jacobs, Dodge and Brewster affair, pp. 239-40. — New roads to Shore, &c. 
—Vote on separation. 1798. Militaiy stores, and lawsuits with Ramsey. 

— Schools and masters, p. 242. — Mrs. Clark's death. — Watsons an- 
nexed. ^ Keith, Lushe, p 243.*~-Toung, E. Vose, Barnard. — School dis- 
tricts, p. 244. — Shipbuiloing. — Keating, Pauls, Demuth, McLoon. — Yes- 



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CONTENTS. ix 

9&X otL GeofB^es River Bay, at Shore, dto 1799. First school conraiit^ 
tee, X' B. Watt, Joshua Adams, p, 245. — No minister's salary Toted. 
1860. Salt works of Gray. Batchelder, ftc.-*«£. Snow, ir , regaitis hi* 
Tessel. — Dunning lost, p. 246. — Ofster River bridge huilt — Small pox. 

— Blections. — Library, p. 247.. — Cavalry, number of regiment, Ac., p. . 
248. — Fales and Haetmgs's houses, cannon, &c., W. Stevens, p. 249. 

CHA.P. XIII. 1801. Parties, voU for Knox, &c.— Crow bounty.— 
School teachers Marsh, Holland, &c., p. 2*50. — Appearance, Tilson and 
tXlmer road its dwellings, &c., — Woods, thieves, p. 251. — Butier to mill. 

— Highlanders. 1802. Swine not to go at large. — Elections, D. Fales out 
of office, p 252. 1803. Roads re-surveyed by Gleason*— Mall.— Webb's 
Chaise- — Military spirit, colors, &c. — Overseers of the poor. —Jo. Stack- 
pole, p. 253. — Weather, vessel capsized, p. 255.— Man scalded to death. 

— Prosecution for usury. — Drs. French and Cushing, p. 256. — Gilt of 
weighkts and measures* — Montpelier launched. — Book for births, Ae* 
1804. School districts altered, jp* 257. — First lime shed. — Business at the 
Shore» Spoffords, Lovejoys.— Schocmer Wessaweskeag. p. 258. — Knox's 
kilns. — Hanson's death, Kenniston's ditto, p. 259. — rails. —Bakers. — 
Presidential electors. 1805. Parties, p. 260. — Dodge's influence, &c. — 
Lime, Knox's instructions to Wiggin, p. 261. — Freemasonry, Orient and 
Aurora Lodges, &c , p. 262. — ArtiUeiy company, E. Thatcher, p. 263.— 
Powderhouses. — Support of religion, Mr. Cheal^ arrives, p. 264. 1806* 
North parish affairs, vote, incorporation, p. 265. — Revs. Chealey and 
Chamberlain, p. 266. — Knox's death, fimeral^ tomb, &c., p. 267. 

Chap. XIV. Two representatives. — Workhouse, paupers bid oC — 
Jemm^r Watson and ferry, p. 269. — Weather, Isley wreck, p. 270. IW. 
Lawsttits. — E. Phinney. — Sup. school eommtttee. p, 271 — Business at 
MiU River, Mrs. Dunton, Paine* embargo. Reed & Knox, Martin, Parsons, 
Purand, D. Fales, jr.» & Webb, Blackington, &o , p. 272. — Anecdotes, — 
Shipmasters, Clough> and business at Shore, p 273.'- Vote on separMion 
of the State and town, on pounds, and stocks. — Revs. Dow and Briggs. 
1808. Brigg's disappointment, p. 274. — South parish and Elder Baker, p. 
275. — Temperate society. ^— Gristmill at Wessaweskeag rebuilt. — Cas- 
ualty. — 14 lime inspectors. — Effects of the embaiwo on parties and on 
the School tax. 1809, Aurora wrecked, p. 276— Weather.— Wild ani- 
mals. — The Holofemes, p. 277. — and Bristol Trader. -- Popes. — I. Kim- 
ball, &c., p. 278. — Rev. Mr. Lord, Congregational church formed, p. 279. 
1810. Agree to Mr. Lord's dismission. — General lime inspector. — Dis- 
asters. — D wight's marble fikctory, p. 280. 18 1 L Rev. Mr. Baker, a uni- 
versalist, p. 281. — Fish wardens and dam. — Eastern town-landing, p^ 
282. — Coal and mineral company, comet, p. 293. 

Chap. XV. 1812. White, Spra^ue — Berrys, &c — School tax low- 
ered, 3 representatives, p. 284 — War meeting, committee of safety, &c. 

— Delegates to conventions at Wiscasset, &c., p. 285 —National Fast. — 
recruiting by Durand, Childs, Lyon, &c. — Bentley killed. — Death of B. 
Blackington. 1813 Spear's coast guards, p. 286. — Their movements.— 
John Butler. — Enlistments under Morse, &c., p. 287. — J. Paul interro- 
gated. — Capture and recapture of schr. Oliver, p. 288 — I. Snow's adven- 
ture, p. 292. — C. Holmes's capture, p. 293.— Wild cat bounty. — Sheep. 

— Town meeting. — O. Robbins, jr., p. 294. — Burdens, British licenses, 
&c. 1814 Federalist representative. — Insolvent law, &c. — Privateers,' 
p. 295. — Georges Fort defended by E. Wylie, p. 296. — Enemy threaten 
Thomaston, p. 297. — Vessels captured. — Expedition to Camden, p. 298* 

— Alarm at McCobb's Narrows. — Letter of Lieut. Robbins, p. 299. — De- 
tachment of Coast guards at Shore, Wessaweskeag, &c., p. 300. — Affair at 
Owl's Head. — Smuggling boat taken. — Privateer Thinks I to Myself, p. 
301. — False alarm. — Fear of depredations, &c.— 2d expedition to Cam- 
den and guards discharged, p. 303. — Privateer Fame, p. 304. — Extracts 
from H. Prince's diary, p 305 — Woolen £&ctory. — Prince and Washburn, 
p. 306. — S. Fuller; milliners, &c.— Internal duties. — Casualties,, p. 307. 
1815. National Fast. — Peace, p. 308. 



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X CONTENTS. 

Cha^. XVI. Rev. E. Merrill missionary in 1813 & *14. —North Parish 
aiEedrs for 1815 & *16, Rev. J. Weston. — South Parish, Baker reclaimed; 
rerival, &c. — 2d Thomaston Baptist church, p. 309. — Foreign Missionanr 
Societj. — Alatesnow storm. — Celebration of Fourth of July. — 8. 8. 
Wilkinson. — School tax increased, vote. on town division, p. 311. — 
Clothing mills and clothiers. — Oakum. — Wolves, p. 312. — Toll bridge. 
1816. Store on town-landing, J. Paine, p. 313. — Business at Mill Biver. 

— Schs. Lavinia and Catharine. — Dodge and Healey, Holland lace, tan- 
ning, &c., G. Robinson. — Vote on separation, Brunswick convention, 
William M. Dawes, p. 314. — Season, death of Godding. 1817. Deputy 
collector's office and officers. — Rev. J. H. Ingraham, 315*. — Silver Grey 
Light Infantry. — Pound. — dram drinking in stores. — Change in the sea- 
sons. 1818. Dr. Kellogg, J. Ruggles, p 316. — Shipwreck of sloop Asa. 

— Closing notice of Elder Baker — p. 317. 1819. Death of Drs. Cusfaing 
and Dodge, p 318. — Gloyd, A.. Rice, —buildings, &c.— Meetings changed 
to April. — Charitable society, p. 319. — Separation, delegates to Portland 
Convention, and adoption of the Maine Constitution. 182^. First repre- 
sentative under it. — Brick meeting-house, p. 320. — Methodist Society, 
p. 321. 1821. Annual meeting, — vote on workhouse. — State election, 

— licenses bv town. — Price of lime put up. — Rev. S. Fogg ordained, Mr. 
Ingraham, &c., p. 322. 1822. Moral society. — Death of D. Fales, p. 
323. — North Parish bell renewed, — drought, &c. — Prosperity, p. 324. — 
Smuggler Fox, p. 325. — Regimental muster. — Fourth of July, — cas- 
ualties, O. Robbms, Jr., Esq., and O. Fales. — Mr. Ingraham and revival. 

— Mrs. Swan's letters on Thomaston affairs, p. 328. 1823. Q. Mellen, 
&c. — Changes in the Knox family, settlement of the estate, &c., p. 329. 

— More letters. — Mellen's career, p. 334. 

Chap. XVII. Remonstrance against division of County. — Plan of 
town. — State Prison, p 335. — Parties, 4th July celebrations, p. 337. — 
Post Office, — suit for missing money, p. 338. — Alpha society, — first car- 
avan of wild animals', — muster at Blackington's comer, p. 339. — Light- 
ning, drought, cook-stoves, &c., Lunar rainbow, business, p. 340. — 
Steamboat fine. — Death of Dr. Bernard and Col. Coombs. — Temperance 
societies, p. 341. 1824. Weather, crops, &c., p. 343. — Business, sail- 
making, pump and block making, watchmakers. — George's Hotel, J. 
Copeland, Mrs. Hastings, Mrs. Hyler, p. 3i4. — East Thomaston or Rock- 
land Post Office, its history down. — Fire companies, Alpha Societv cele- 
brate independence, p. 345. — Visit of steamboat to the river. — Muster 
and soldiers' rations. — Mr. Ingraham's difficulties, council, &c.. — Cas- 
ualties, p. 346.— Death of Miss Paine, Mrs. Knox, &c., p. 347. 1825. 
Thomaston Bank, p. 348. — Thomaston Register, p. 349. - - Independent 
Journal. — School agents and books ; Haynes, Cilley, Farley, Ludwig and 
his students, p. 350. — Merrill. — St. John's celebration. Gen. Lafavette, p. 
351. — 4th of July at Wessaweskeag. — Muster, Thomaston Guards, East 
Thomaston rifle company, — casualties, — p. 352. — Weather, dysentery, 
crops, Milo and other vessels. — Business, Owl's Head light-house ana 
keepers, p. 353. 

Chap. XVIII. 1828. Green & Foster— rope walk— Elliott, Metcalf, 
&c. — Mill River bridge widened — lottery tickets — end of North Parish, 
Universalists, 1st Cong, church, p. 354 — Sabbath schools — weather, dis- 
eases, casualties, p. 356 — Clelana; Bartlett, his death and that of Sprague 
and Jennison-.— The 4th at Mill River. 1827. Increase of business, p. 
857. — East Thomaston, its first law office. — mails, — small-pox, p. 358. 

— Insanity, — attempt at change in lime inspecting. — Mechanic's Asso- 
ciation. — Aid to Greeks, Mr. Cleland, p. 359. — freshet, &c. 1828. Town- 
landing, Albee, &o. — Schools, p 360. — Knox house, Commercial house, 
Stimpson's or Mason's Hall, — statistical account of the place, p. 361. — 
Lime-kilns and wharves, — first side-walks, ornamental trees, &c., p. 362. 

— Thomaston Mutual Fire Insurance Company. — Post Office burnt. — 
Weather, p. 363. — Casualties. 1829. Factory burnt. — Fire company ft 
wardens. — Temperance, p 364. — Marine disasters, weather, p. 365.— 
Deer, fires, &c. — Close of Col. Healey's business and decline of Mill 
River. — R. Elliott, sail-lofts, &c , p 366. 



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C0NTSKT8. xl 

Chap. XIX. 1830. Weather, Iom of schf . Thomas, Fame, and Brad- 
fcrd. — Census. — Independence at East Thomaston, p. 867. 1831. Ste* 
Tens, Lowell; Cillej popular, Ruggles indge. — Brides rebuilt.. — Rob« 
mson and Singer, p. 868. — Marble and business. Lime Rock Hotel,—* 
Weather and msasters — 4th July at Mill River, p. 360. 1882. Washing- 
ton centennial birthday, debating clubs, Ac. — Thomaston Coal & Mineral 
Company, p. 370. —Weather, bridge, sea wall. — Maintenance of poor, p* 
371 . — Board of health — Ruggles & Cilley narties, p. 872. — The National 
BLepubliean, &c. 1883. Town-house, and place of meetings. — First Bap^ 
tist church in Rockland, p. 374. — liawyers. Abbots and Smith, p. 375.— <• 
Store burnt, first reservoir, — Severe winter, lightning. — Mill Rivef 
bridge. 1884. George's Insurance Company, p. 376. — 2d Light Inikntry. 
— C^iandler, — Rockland Congregational Church, p. 377. — Cnristian Tel* 
escope, p. 378. — Rockland Universalist Church, &c. 1885. p. 379. — Se» 
vere weather. — Sux>erintending School Conmiittee's report published. -• 
Representatives, C. Pope, p 380. — Fair. — Knowles's house burnt I8864 
Poor-house built. — Upper toll-bridge, — Lime Rock Bank, p. 881. -Limits 
of militia companies. — CUley to Congress, sketch of him, p. JH^. 

• Chap. XX. 1837. First Baptist church in West Thomaston. — East 
Thomaston Marble 'and Lime Rock Quarry Company, p. 884. — Owl's 
Head House and steamboat. The Recorder. -— Surplus U. 8. revenue. — « 
Fugitive slave, p. 385. — Death of A. Austin. 1838. Hon. John Holmes, 
p. ^6. — Thomaston Theological Institution, p. 387. — ^ jght watches.— 
East Thomaston prosperity. — Agricultural bounties. — Thomaston Dry 
Dock. — Disaster at sea. — Death of Cilley, and consequent proceedings, 
p. 388. — E. Robinson, his successor, p. 394. — Death of Farley, p. 395. 

Chap. XXI. 1839 The East Thomaston Republican. — Aroostook 
war. — Independence. — Lime inspection project. — O. R. bridge and sea 
wall rebuilt, &c., p. 396 — Beacon. — Accidents at S'outh and East Thom* 
aston, small pox, weather. — Road indicted, 4th of Julyi political excite 
ment, p. 397. — Comet, lightning, &c. — Deaths of B. vose and H. Prince, 
p. 398. 1841. No licenses vot^, temperance celebrations — Bible Society, 
p. 399. — West Thomaston Universalist church, — East Thomaston high 
school, J. Fogg, p. 400. — Young ladies* school. — Muster. — Lightning, 
fire m the Stote Prison, death of S. Partridge, p. 401. — Drought, &c., — 
Temperance celebrations at East Thomaston, J. Madigan, &c. — Frigate 
Missouri's visit. — Oales, p. 402. 1843. Deep snows, shipwrecks, &c. — 
Death of H. Prince, jr., and J. Holmes, p. 403. — Houses b.umt. — Tyler 
grip. — Recording births. Clerk's bill.— Thomaston Village libranr As- 
sociation. — Independence, pi404. — Donation parties. — Georgian, Relief, 
and Eastern Star Lodges of I. O. of O. F. - Town by-laws. 1844. High- 
ways, dog-tax, &c., p. 405. — Cold weather, drought, whale. — Shipbuild- 
ing. — Thomaston Academy, p. 406. — 4th of Julv. — Houses burnt, brig 
Maine, &c., p. 407. 1845. Business flourishing, lime statistics. — South 
Thomaston Post Office and masters. — Death of S. Fales, p 408. — Cas- 
ualties, and fires. — Choice of Representatives. — Temperance Union, and 
Club, p. 409. — Sons of Temperance, Lime Rock, Kedron, Hyperion, and 
Wadsworth divisions. 1846. Daughters of Temperance, &c. — South 
Thomaston business, dam, and mills, p. 410. — Mill River navigation, 
side-walks, trees, Georges Canal, &c,. — Rockland Gazette, p. 411. — 
Steamers, and coasters. — Lime Rock Fire and Marine Insurance compa 
BY. — Mariners, Shibles« &c., p. 412. — lime and cask inspection.— 
Weather, peaches, and drought. — Fire at East Thomaston, Resolution 
and Boston fire ennnes and companies, p. 413. — Disasters, small-pox. 
1847. Registry of Deeds, p. ^U.— East Thomaston Highways, Holmes 
Block, Eagle Hall, steam power and iron foundry. — Toll bridge, and 
other casualties, p. 415. 1848. Division of Old Thomaston, p. 416. 

Chap. XXII. Thomaston, changes of boundary between it and East 
Thomaston. — William Butlfr, I. C. Bobbins.' — Catholic church. — Poor 
house and farm. — Telegraph office, &c., p. 418. — E. O'Brien and A. P. 
Gould, p. 419. — Jorda^ $(. W?l>^ block. — Iron foundry. 1849. Post Of- 



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xH CONTENTS. 

fice at Bank Comer.— Ten-hour system. — Unitarian church. Rev. O. J. 
FemaldL &c., p. 420.— Store burnt, p. 422. 1850. Lincoln Miscellany, 
Maine Sickle. — Deaths by drowning. — Fires, p. 423 1851. Fire and 
Marine Insurance company. < — Steamer T. F. Secor — Grade system, in 
schools, p. 424. — Block for Washington monument — Weather and cas- 
ualties. 1852. George's Bank, &c., p. 425 — New streets, dwellings, ship- 
yards, relics, lyceum and lectures, p. 426. — Fire, death of shipmasters, 
&c. 1853. Increase of business, shiobuilding, new streets through Knox 
place, &c. — Steam mill, decrease of lime-burning, p. 427. — Aid to New 
Orleans — Maine law movement — Lock-up built — Lightning in snow- 
storm, comet, accidents, p. 428. — Suicide. 1854 Lyceum — The Thorn- 
aston Journal and Lincoln Advertiser — Business, shipbuilding, steam 
navigation company, and boat Gen. Knox, p. 429. — State of Maine and 
Eureka Fire companies, &c. — 4th of July, p. 430. — Drought, fires, Wal- 
doboro' aid — Plums and black knot. — Singular surgical case. p. 431. 

1855. Gathering at the Prison. — Lectures, Know-Nothings. — Barbers. 

— New road to Rockland, p. 432. — Buildings. — New Shipyard, division 
of Knox estate, p. 433. — Knox remains, and correspondence, p. 434. 

1856. Mill River channel, &c. — Lincoln Republican, p. 436. — Lectures, 
Lincoln county fair. — Casualties. 1857. p. 437. — May-day, pricei| 
financial panic. — Union block, telegraph block. - -JPearls, deaths of E. & 
R. Robinson, p. 438. — Teacher's convention, fireman's parade, lyceum, 
literary association and libraries, — winter of tempests, wild cat. 1858. 
Shipbuilding depressed, p. 439. — Old burying ground and Elm Grove 
cemetery. — Methodist church and society, p. £U). — Accidents, fire, gale, 
Donati's comet 1859. Project of new county, p. 442. ~ County of Knox. 

— Natural History society. — Storms, casualnes, fires, &c. 1860. Visit 
of G«ngooly, scientific excursion, p. 443. — Industry of the place, &c., p. 
444. — The rebellion and its effects on the shipping of the place. — Lieut. 
Oilman, p. 445. — Patriotic movements here m Spring of 1861, p. 446. — 
Volunteers in 4th Me. Regiment, p. 447. — Cilley's company in 1st Me. 
Cavalry, p. 448. ~ Volunteers in 2d Mounted Battery, — in 20th Me. regi- 
ment, p. 449, — in 2l8t Me. regiment, p. 450. —doings at other calls of the 
President, - volunteers in other corps, —and in the navy, p. 452, — gun- 
boat Kennebec. — Ladies' aid, p. 453. •- United States taxes, p. 454. 

Chap. XXIII. South Thomaston incorporated and organised. ~ Peti- 
tions for changes, &c. — 1st Baptist church & death of Elder Snow, p. 455. 

— R. R. companjr, p. 456. — Road from Eastman's to Bartlett's. ~ House 
burnt. — Vegetation. 1849. Votes on Constitutional changes, the political ' 
year. — Accident. 1850. Weskeag Bank projected, shipbuilding, masters 
and ships, California emigration, p. 457. — New roads, storms, — losses by 
death, p. 458. 1851, a quiet year. - Hearse and house. - Schools, &c, 
1852. Owl's Head breakwater. — Death of the town*s first-bom child, p. 
459. 1853. Accident. -Ingrahamville. 1854. Owl's Head Post Office. 

— Ship-building, mills, sail- loft, cigar-making, &c. 1855. Business at 
Wessa weskeag and Owl's Heao. — Bridge widened, p. 460. — 2d Baptist 
church. — House burnt. 1856. Other fires, store, post-office, bam, and ' 
dwelling destroyed, p. 461. — Severities of the winter. 1857. Weather, 
and losses by storms and fire. — Free lectures. 1858 Vote on the Maine 
liquor law, p. 462. — Depression of shipbuilding. 1859-60. Methodist and 
other denominations. — Industry of the place, p. 463. — physicians, lawyers, 
taverns. — Patriotic rally and efforts, 464. — Volunteers in the 4th and 2d 
Maine regiments, 2d Battery and Ist Cavalry, p. 465. — Bounties, and vol- 
unteers in 19th and other regiments. — Co. G of 28th regiment, p. 466. — 
Draft of 1863. — Volunteers in other regiments and the navy. — Taxes, 4rc., 
p. 467.- Close of Volume 1st , p. 468. . 



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HISTORY 

OF 

THOMASTON, ROCKLAND AND SO. THOMASTON, 



CHAPTER I. 

SITtTATION, TOPOGRAPHY, ETC. 

The territory to whose history the present work is particu- 
larly devoted, constituting the original town of Thomaston, 
from which South Thomaston and Rockland have since been 
separated, is most advantageously situated between the 
western entrance of Penobscot Bay on the east and St. 
George's River on the west, in the county of Knox, and State 
of Maine. It lies, according tq the observation of Dr. C. T. 
Jackson, made in 1838 at the house of Hon. J. Ruggles, in 
43^ 56' 12'' North latitude, and according to Capt. G. Prince,* 
nearly in 69® 2' West longitude; containing about 20,950 
acres of various but generally fertile soil. Its surface is 
agreeably diversified ; in some parts, gently undulating ; in 
others, hilly and mountainous ; and in yet others, especially 
• in South Thomaston, broken and rocky, exhibiting strong 
marks of the ancient and long continued warfare, during the 
geologic ages, between land and water, cliff and billow, in- 
ternal heat and external glacier. Approached from the ocean, 
the first object which attracts • attention is Owl's Headf in 

* This gentleman makes the latitude to be 44 deg. 5 min AH sec. at the 
residence of C. Prince. Esq , whilst Sullivan, in his ropographical descri;!- 
tion of Thomaston, 1794, puts it down as 44 deg. 20 min., and Holland, as 
44 deg. 8 min. 

t This name, so descriptive of the object, is said, by a writer in the 
Belfast Republican Journal of Dec. 16, 1863, to have been first given by 
Thos. Pownal, who was governor of the Province from 1757 to 1760 ; but 
this could hardly be. as tne name had obtained currency earlv in 1757 and 
is mentioned that year in the journals of Capts. Freeman and Remilly, as 
will appear under that date. By others it is asserted that the name is of 
Indian origin, and expressed in their language by a perfectly synonymous 
word, Mecadacut. 

Vol. I. 1 



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2 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

South Thoinaston — a bluflF poirtt of trap rock extending far 
into the water, with its eommojdious OwFs Head Harbor on 
the south, and its more spacious Owl's Head Bay, which 
makes up to and forms the harbor of Rockland on the north. 
This headland, which at the place where the light-house 
stands rises to the height of 81 feet, 10 inches, has been, 
from the earliest discoveries, a noted land-mark for seamen, as 
it had been, before, to the Indians. Its excellent harbor is a 
common refuge in storms for vessels both from the Penobscot 
waters and the more eastern shores ; some hundreds of which 
frequently take shelter here, and their passing sails in fair 
weather are often too numerous for the light-keeper to enum- 
erate and record. The passage through, however, from Owl's 
Head to White Head, is a dangerous one to strangers, on ac- 
count of sunken ledges. 

Owl's Head Bay or Rockland Harbor is capacious, deep, 
and sufficiently safe from storms except those from the east, 
from which it might easily be defended by an artificial break- 
water. This harbor with its shore-built city, canopied by 
day with the terebin thine smoke and illuminated by night 
with the brilliant fires of its innumerable lime-kilns, presents 
a pleasing appearance from the water ; and, seen from the 
oak- crowned heights in its rear, is full of magnificence and 
beauty, said, by some, to be second only to the far-famed bay 
of Naples. On the right of the beholder in the latter situa- 
tion, stretches a 'wooded promontory abruptly ending in Owl's 
Head, with its light-house tower, 

** "White as the angel wing of hope, 
Firm as the rock from which it springs ;** 

in front, and terminating the distant view over the bay, rises . 
a line of picturesque islands ; and to the left, stretching 
calmly and fearlessly out into the ocean, is the verdant penin- 
sula of Jameson's Point ; whilst still farther to the north the 
view is closed by the bald and rugged brow of old Megunti- 
cook in Camden. 

Approached by the river of St. George's, as was done by 
the first discoverers and by all who visited the territory for 
many generations afterwards, the land directly in front of the 
beholder appears sitting gracefully upon the waters, slowly 
rising and crowned vnth the majestic Madambettox to wel- 
come his approach. Here, in an elevated but comparatively 
level situation, with its fine air, elegant houses and churches, 
and its abundance of shade trees, fronted by the mansion of 
the isj-te Gen. Knox ponspicupus ever even in its decay, stands 



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BOCKLAND AND SOUTH THOXASTON. 8 

the beautiful village of Thomaston, acknowledged by strangers 
to be one of the pleasantest places in Maine. 

To the S. E. of this, lie the green farms of South Thomas* 
ton, whose principal village, though not far distant, is con- 
cealed from view by a high ridge of land, and situated on a 
beautiful stream of its own, called the Wessaweskeag. 

When first explored, the region was, for the most part, 
covered with a heavy growth of timber ; varying in different 
localities from the stately pine to the oak, the ash, elm, and 
hemlock. Some eminences were covered with the denser 
foliage of the beech, maple, and birch, whilst the swamps 
and low grounds formed almost impenetrable thickets of fra* 
grant spruce and fir. 

The principal elevation, and only one dignified with the 
name of mountain, is that mentioned by early writers as 
Madambettox, Mathebestick, or Methebesec,* as differently 
pronounced by the aboriginal tribes, and at present known, 
from its different occupants, as Dodge's or Marsh's Mountain. 
Its height above the sea-level reaches 558 feet; it is situated 
in the northern part of Rockland, and commands a magnifi- 
cent view both of sea and land. The soil especially on the 
top and western slope is very fertile, being derived from the 
decay of the micaceous and other slates of which the moun- 
tain is mostly composed. The plumbago and black oxide of 
manganese found here have been frequently mistaken for 
coal, of which, however, there are no real indications. 

By far the most important and extensive mineral in the 
place is the lime-stone ; which, notwithstanding the immense 
quantities it has been yielding for a century past, still seems 
absolutely inexhaustible. The principal mass or bed of this 
mineral extends from George's River near the State Prison in 
a N. Easterly direction, through Thomaston and Rockland to 
Jameson's Point and Chikawauka Pond. It is said to be 
about a mile in width, cropping out in various places, and 
dipping or inclining to the horizon at an angle of some 45^ or 
more. Another extensive and parallel bed containing the 
Meadow quarries, lies N. W. of this, and others, less known. 



* Massabesee means, according to Judge C. E. Potter^ in Vol. IV., Me. 
Hist. Coll. much-pond-plaee ; — Alassa, much; nipe, pond, m omitted and 
« put in for sound's sake; and auke. place. But, according to Mary, 
daughter of the old Penobscot chief Neptune, it is formed by combination 
and contraction as follows: — ^fiti, great, onit am, or um, suckers, which, 
with the besec or betticks, according to Potter, would make it mean Great- 
sucker-pond-place, implying that the pond was named first, and its name 
transferred to the adjoining mountain. Medomac and Medumcook are 
probably of kindred origin and signification. 



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4 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

make their appearance in South Thomaston at the Marsh, on 
the Brown lot, and at Ash Point. Wherever found, it lies 
between strata of talcose, micaceous, and argillaceous slates ; 
which, except where interrupted and broken through by trap, 
form the foundations upon which the diluvial deposit of 
greater or less depth rests. Granite also in some places 
makes its appearance ; a good quarry of which in South 
Thomaston has been worked to some extent on the McLoon 
farm near the E. bank of the Wessaweskeag, a specimen of 
which may be seen in the Cilley monument at Elm Grove 
Cemetery. It is still more abundant on the neighboring 
islands ; from one of which, Dix Island, large quantities have 
been exported, and known at New York and other places as 
Rockland granite, being usually carried in Rockland vessels. 
Other minerals of less importance, such as iron ore, plum- 
bago, beautiful crystals of quartz, calcareous spar, sulphuret 
of iron, and garnets, are found in different localities. 

The only lake or pond of any magnitude in the whole ter- 
ritory, is that known in early times as Madambettox Pond, 
later as Tolman's, and more recently as Chikawauka Lake. 
This is a deep, pure, crystal sheet of water, 210 acres in ex- 
tent, situated one-half in Rockland, and the other half in 
Camden. It is much resorted to by sportsmen, anglers, and 
parties of pleasure. It constitutes a never failing reservoir, 
furnishing an inexhaustible supply to the river that is its out- 
let, and to the city whose enterprising citizens have conducted 
its purifying waters to almost every dwelling. 

The whole tract is well watered, not only by the St. 
George's river, ocean, and bay before mentioned, but by 
numerous brooks and larger streams^ the principal of which 
are the Wessaweskeag and Mill Rivers. 

The natural features of the Wessaweskeag stream, make 
it stand forth pre-eminently as a tide- water power, unrivaled 
in the State, especially if we take into . consideration the 
capacity of the pond, and the shortness of the dam. From 
the old mill site, near where the bridge crosses the stream, 
the pond extends in length quite two miles ; in full tidest 
forming an area of between three and four hundred acres. A 
hard hornblende granite or sienite ledge forms the bed of the 
river from above the old mill site to below the bridge, with a 
tolerably even surface which prevents the possibility of its 
gullying out, — a circumstance of the highest importance in 
a mill site. A dam of 70 or 80 rods extent, running to a 
point on the E. side of the river, would form a capacious ebb 
or waste pond into which factory mills might empty their 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH TH0MA8T0N. 5 

expended waters, while the great pond above was being re- 
plenished twice in every 24 hours by the flood tides of the 
ocean. The. flow 6f the tides in the river is usually from six 
to twelve feet ; giving an average head of water of nine feet. 
This river is never aflected by freshets ; being, aside from the 
tide waters, an insignificant, shallow, and sluggish stream. 
It rises in the borders of Rockland, running south through 
the Qreat Marsh to the bridge and wharves in the present 
village of South Thomaston, thence S. Easterly a mile and a 
half to the ocean waters of the Muscle Ridge channeL Near 
Cherry-tree Point, at the mouth of the river, is a safe anchor- 
age in four fathoms ; as well as another less than a quarter 
of a mile from the lower deep hole inside the mouth of the 
river, where large vessels lie afloat as safe almost as in a 
dock. Vessels drawing twelve feet of water will float at the 
village wharves in a full course of tides. About a half mile 
below are the Narrows, resembling those of the St. George's 
River, and which are a place of some interest from the rapid 
rush of waters at half tide. There is no regular run of fish 
in this river ; but bass and sea-shad are caught sometimes in 
large quantities, and occasionally a few alewives ; which, in 
early times, with salmon, shad, herring, smelts, whitings, and 
eels, were abundant 

Mill River, one of the principal branches of the St. 
George's, lies within the limits of the ancient town, traversing 
what is now Rockland and Thomaston. Its main branch 
issues from Chikawauka Pond, runs a tortuous but generally 
S. Westerly course, meeting the tide waters at the dam below 
Mill River Bridge in Thomaston. It is navigable for vessels 
of 150 tons and drawing not more than eight feet of water, 
as far as Blackington's wharf, a little below the dam. About 
a mile above the bridge it receives the Northern Branch, 
which, rising near Madambettox mountain, passes through 
Muddy Pond, and, receiving some smaller streams near 
Sherer's saw, stave, and shingle mill, takes a general south- 
erly course to its junction in the present town of Thomaston 
below N. E. Clark's mill, formerly Jacob Ulmer's, and re- 
cently purchased by the Rockland Water Works Company. 
Mill river, fed by so large a pond, holds out well for its size 
in time of drought and has many valuable mill sites, nearly 
all of which are or have been in one way or another im- 
proved, but have been lately purchased also by the same 
Company to avoid litigation for damages, occasioned by its 
use of the Chikawauka water. This stream, now seldom 
frequented by alewives, is supposed to have formerly abounded 
1* 



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6 HI8T0RY OF THOMASTON, 

with them as far up as Chikawauka Pond; but, from the 
early erection of a saw-mill by Brigadier Waldo, near the 
present mills at the bridge, they were shut out at an early 
period and the run broken up. They began, however, to re- 
visit the plaee, and in seasons when the dams were carried 
away made some increase in their numbers. But by the 
multiplicati(m of dams and the neglect of the town to open 
them in the proper season, they have long since disappeared, 
and few people can remember ever having seen any there. 
The smelts^ however, continue their annual visits, are caught 
in the same abundance and eaten with the same relish as by 
the savages and pioneer settlers centuries ago. Boi^dering 
both sides of this river are the celebrated Meadows, originally 
an extensive glade in the forest much resorted to by the moose 
and deer as well as the neat stock of the early settlers, and 
now valuable appendages to many of the best fcurms, and 
giving name to one of the finest portions of both Thomaston 
and Rockland. How these Meadows were originally formed, 
what has been the action of floods and fires, frosts and fresh- 
ets, beaver-dams, and oth^ agencies, — are subjects upon 
which the limits of this work will not allow the writer to 
enter. A few facts, however, in relation to this and other 
parts of the town, may be given to prove that " since the 
fathers fell asleep, all things'' do not ''continue as they were 
from the beginning of the creation." About a quarter of a 
mile from the left margin of Mill River near the site of the 
clothing mill, at the head of a gully, Simeon Blood, Senior, in 
digging a well, discovered, at the depth of about thirty feet 
from the surface, some small masses of matter resembling 
stones with earth adhering to them. The»e, on examination, 
proved to be frogs; and one of them, when warmed by the 
sun and air, hopped off with the usual agility of the species. 
They were probably, whilst hibernating in the mud, covered 
over by a deposit of earth brought by a flood or current of 
water, and buried too deep for the ensuing Spring to reach 
and re-animate ; but at what epoch, and by how many suc- 
cessive deposits of earth, who shall pretend to say ? * 

In 1853, as Thos. Gould, Esq., of Winchester, N. H., then 
on a visit to his son in this place, was watching the opera- 
tions in the Fulling-mill lime quarry, he saw the workmen 
blast out from the solid ledge, 18 or 20 feet below the sur- 
face, a black and at first perfectly torpid toad. This soon 
showed signs of life, and, during his temporary absence, 

* Messrs. James Morse, Wm. H. Blood, &c. 



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ROCKLAND AND §OUTH THOMASTON. 7 

hopped away, as tbe workmen said, and was not again 
found, — leaving only a cavity in the rock to mark the prison- 
house of this remnant of the ante-diluvian world.* 

In several places in what is called the Ulmer district, when- 
ever the earth is perforated to the proper depth, a bed of blue 
clay, much resembling ^a<s' mud, is found; beneath which is 
a never failing supply of water, which, when reached, rises 
in some spots to, and even above, the surface of the ground* 
In different places not far from the banks of Oyster River, 
and also on land of Capt. S. M. Shibles, shells of the bival- 
vular species have been found well preserved and deeply im- 
bedded in banks of solid clay. 

In 1855, a fire broke out in a dense thicket of stunted 
evergreens, upon a piece of low, sunken land, half a mile 
north of the State Prison, belonging to J. D. Barnard; and 
consumed all of them. After a great length of time, the fire 
was extinguished by drenching rains; when Mr. Barnard 
commenced the work of " clearing ; " and, after removing the 
scattered remnants from the surface, to his great surprise 
came in contact with a buried body of heavy lumber, strewn 
promiscuously, to the depth of four or five feet. Some of the 
trees were twenty feet in length and measured a foot and a 
half in diameter at the base, with roots diminished in about 
the same proportion with the trunks, both as uniformly 
tapering as though whittled down with a knife; still there 
were no marks of any cutting instruments about them. This 
deposit overspread an area of ^yb or six acres; and the 
quantity removed (which proved the very best of fuel, when 
dry) was nearly two hundred cords. It had much the ap- 
pearance of having undergone a partial petrifaction. Many 
of the trunks were used for enclosing the lot, and are still to 
be seen. Their condition, when found, cannot be accounted 
for under any other hypothesis than that they were for a long 
time acted upon by troubled waters, f 

As late as 1839, during a violent storm of rain and wind 
which occurred Aug. 31st, a point of land containing about 
half an acre, covered with a thick growth of cat-tail flags 
whose roots were usually a foot or two submerged, by some 
means became detached from the adjoining land at the upper 
part of Wheat on' s mill-pond. Mill River, and floated majesti- 
cally down the same amid the wonder and admiration of the 
crowds which collected in spite of the rain to witness the 



* Communication of A. P. Gould, Esq. 
t Communication of Br. M. B. Ludwig. 



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8 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

novel scene. This floating island finally brought up against 
the land on the north of the bridge, after a voyage of about 
a quarter of a mile, and remained there some time an inter- 
esting object much frequented by delighted boys and curious 
observers. 

Besides the prominent features already described, the 
shores -of this ancient town, both on the ocean and river 
sides, were conveniently diversified and indented with 'points^ 
coves, and inlets, which may be cursorily enumerated. Jame- 
son's Point, on the borders of Camden, is a considerable pro- 
jection separating Clam Cove in that town from Rockland 
harbor ; from thence southerly to Ulmer's Point is an inden- 
tation early named Lermond's Cove, but called by the Indians 
Catawamteakj or Great-landing-place. Proceeding on, we 
pass Crockett's Point and Ingraham's Point; all in the 
present city of Rockland, to the Head of the Bay, South 
Thomas ton. Here the shore bends easterly at less than a 
right angle, to the extremity of Owl's Head; from which a 
line drawn north-westerly to Jameson's Point will enclose 
Owl's Head Bay or Rockland harbor including the points and 
coves before mentioned. Doubling the promontory south- 
westerly through Owl's Head Harbor, we pass on the left 
Munroe's Island, containing 180 acres, which derives its 
name from Hugh Munroe, who early settled and spent his 
days there, and Sheep Island of 74 acres ; both woody and 
at present if not generally uninhabited. Continuing in the 
same direction, we come to Ash Point and the small Island 
of that name, so called from the trees which formerly 
abounded there; thence, more westerly, we approach the 
mouth of the Wessaweskeag between Spalding's Point on 
the N. E. and Thorndike Point on the N. W., having passed 
on the right the peninsula of Ballyhac, and, within the river's 
mouth, Spalding's Island, if island it may be called, which 
at low water is united to the main land or Spalding's Point. 
From hence to the town of St. George, there is no prominent 
landmark. On the George's River side, passing up, we find 
Simonton's Point jutting boldly out and forming the lower 
boundary of the broad expanse or basin usually denominated 
the Bay. Near this point are Cat Island and Church's Rock, 
which received their names from a practical joke of some 
sailors who, having among them one by the name of Church 
whom they usually made a butt of, offered to bet when ban- 
tering hina on his want of strength, that the cat on board 
could out-pull him. The bet being accepted and judges ap- 
pointed, Church was placed upon the rock and the cat upon 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 9 

the island, with a line attached to each. The dupe not per- 
ceiving that the line, in a loop of which the cat's neck was 
inserted, extended further on into the hands of three or four 
stout fellows, feeling sure of victory braced himself up for a 
strong pull, when the word was given, and he was instantly 
plunged backward into the briny element. So, he got a 
ducking, his companions a laugh, and the island and rock 
their names. 

Above the Bay and at the exit of Mill River, are extensive 
flats, capable, if properly diked, of becoming one of the finest 
pieces of land in the region. Here, opposite the mouth of 
Mill River, is what is called " the Turn," where a pier or 
beacon has been erected to assist vessels in their passage up^ 
and down, and where the river's chanjjel bends N. Westerly 
at a right angle. Passing up, in a W. or N. W. direction, 
we leave the village portion of Thomaston with its wharves, 
ship-yards, and the Knox mansion, on our right, and on our 
left the commanding height of Watson's Point, till a short 
distance above the toll-bridge we come to the Narrows. 
Here the course of the river by another right angle shifts to 
the S. W. through a passage so confined between precipitous 
ledges as to cause a violent rush of water at every tide, pre- 
senting an exhilerating spectacle to the beholder, and a for- 
midable obstruction to the coasting vessels, which, formerly, 
before the lumber failed, used to pass constantly to and from 
the landings in Warren. From the head of these Narrows, 
the course of the river is again N. Westerly, to the original 
bounds of Warren ; shortly above which it receives the waters 
of Oyster River, which stream several times crosses the 
old line of Thomaston, and the Eastern branch of which, 
after leaving Camden, lies almost wholly within the ancient 
town, now Thomaston and Rockland. 

The clvmate of the place is generally allowed to be a 
healthy one ; but from the lack of records few data are 
found from which to deduce any very accurate results. Ac- 
cording to the published returns of the city undertaker of 
Rockland for the last five years, the mortality compared with 
the number of inhabitants given in the 8th census, is as fol- 
lows, viz.: — 1858, 106 deaths, equal to one in every 69 in- 
habitants; in 1859, 83, or one in 88 ; in 1860, 102, or one 
in 72; in 1861, 111, or one in 66; and in 1862, 103, or one 
in 71 ; anaking a total in five years of 505, and the very fa- 
vorable yearly average of one in 73. This, being a list of 
interments only, does not of course include those who have 
died at sea and in foreign lands, except when brought home 



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10 HISTOEY OF THOMASTON, 

for burial. During the same years, according to a private 
list kept by Hon. B. Tales, in which it is not improbable that 
many infants may have escaped his notice, the number of 
deaths in Thomaston was ^n 1858, 43, or one in 72; in 
1859, 17, or one in 181; in 1860, 11, or one in 280; in 
1861, 44, or one in 70; and in 1862, 46, or one in 67; 
making a total in five years of 161, and the still^more favor- 
able yearly average of one in 96. No list of deaths in South 
Thomaston having been found, no comparison can of course 
be made. Probably the difierent sections of the old town 
difier but little in the health and longevity of the people; 
though an opinion is somewhat prevalent that Rockland, 
especially the lime-burning district, is in a great measure ex- 

■ empt from diphtheria, and perhaps other putrid diseases, on 
account of the copious exhalations of carbonic acid from the 
lime-kilns. When in 1832 the cholera had caused a wide- 
spread panic through the country, the people there were told 
by an aged man from Waldoboro', of German descent, that 
they need have no fear, " the cholera canH come here, while 
the lime-kilns are kept going." But what foundation tjiere is 
for this idea remains to be tested. Rockland is more ex- 
posed to the easterly winds, and Thomaston to the south- 
westerly; both of which being surcharged with vapor from 
the ocean are very trying in the colder months to feeble con- 
stitutions. Epidemics sometimes prevail in one of the three 
municipalities, whilst the others are exempt, and vice versa. 

' For the only register of the weather which the author has 
been able to find kept in either of the sections, the reader ip 
referred to Table XI. 

*The primitive people who frequented these woods and 
waters, as far as we can judge from the absence of burying- 
grounds and other memorials, had no permanent residence in 
this particular locality. Few monuments of their existence 
here have come to our knowledge, though formerly frequent- 
ing the Fort in such great numbers. A stone instrument, 
worked out in the form of a wedge, was found, not many 
years back, in the garden of Mr. Stetson in Knox street, 
Thomaston; and other stone instruments, such as mortars, 
chisels, arrow and spear heads, have been picked up in dif- 
ferent places. On the eastern bank of the George's, at the 
head of the Narrows, was found, stuck in among the earth 
and rocks, an iron tomahawk or hatchet, formed, not with the 
modern eye common to our axes, but with one made by 
drawing out and turning over the head of the instrument, 
after the manner of the French at the time of their earliest 



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BOCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. H 

explorations and settlements in this country, and which were 
the first, it is said, to supersede among the Indians the use of 
those made by themselves of stone. On the Gilchrist farm 
in St. George, opposite the old stone garrison house in Gush- 
ing, many years ago, a gun-barrel and lock, together with a 
human skeleton, were found embedded in the mould near the 
surface of the ground ; but whether belonging to some Indian, 
or white man, no evidence remained to determine. At the 
mouth of the Wessaweskeag some arrow heads and other in- 
struments of stone have been picked up at different times ; 
and at that village, on the farm of Asa Coombs, Esq., a flat 
piece of soft granite, some two or three feet across, Vas found 
with several figures of arrows carved on its sides to the depth 
of one-eighth of an inch or more. On Spalding's Island, 
Capt. H. Spalding remembers to have frequently found skulls 
and iron tomahawks. On Dix Island, which lies about three 
miles distant, an ancient burying-ground was recently dis- 
covered, in which many skeletons, much decayed, seem to 
have been buried in a circle, with their feet pointing inwards 
toward the centre, though in somewhat coni^sed and indis- 
tinct condition from decay and time. Some of these skulls, 
now in the cabinet of the Thomaston Natural History Society, 
were found entire; and one leg-bone, sound enough to be 
measured, was ascertained to be some inches longer than 
those of the tallest persons among us. When Gen. Knox 
was repairing and enlarging the house built by Col. Wheaton 
in Wadsworth street, the workmen in digging for an enlarge- 
ment of the cellar, found, buried under the front door-steps, 
a number of bones which on examination proved to be those 
of a human skeleton. The rumor of it, spreading through 
the neighborhood, brought together a crowd of people who 
began to task memory and tradition to discover whose re- 
mains they might have been. It was remembered that a 
cooper formerly employed here had left the place no one knew 
when, and not having been heard of afterwards, was now sup- 
posed by some to have been murdered and concealed here. 
Others, and among them Gen. Knox, judged from the ap- 
pearance of the bones that they must have been deposited 
there at a much earlier period, and that they were those of 
some Indian there entombed before the building of the house. 
The mystery concerning them, however, together with a pecu- 
liar echo which in certain situations seemed to proceed from 
the house, preyed upon the imaginations of the credulous, 
and caused it for a time to be called the Haunted House. 
A keen observer may also trace memorials of the former 



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12 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

presence of these aboriginal people, in the numerous clam- 
shell deposits which were formerly conspicuous, and are still 
to be seen, where not disturbed by cultivation, along the east- 
em bank of the George's in South Thomaston. These heaps 
or little mounds of a shell-fish which still abounds in the 
locality, were in all probability gradually accumulated by 
Indian families who resorted here for subsistence, and en- 
camped for long intervals when the hunting season was over 
or food from other causes became scarce. Farther down the 
river, on the Hawthorn farm in Gushing, is a similar but much 
larger deposit of the same kind, indicating a more numerous 
encampment and perhaps a permanent Indian village. This 
deposit, in various stages of decay from the perfect shell at 
the surface to the black mould into which it has crumbled at 
the base, is about three rods wide, fourteen rods long, and 
from one to ten feet deep, situated on a beautiful sheltered 
plat looking towards the sun, and is, in the opinion of a good 
observer,* " the accumulation of ages." But though axes 
and other implements of stone are frequently found there, we 
do not learn that any burying-place or other evidence of a 
permanent residence there, has been discovered. 

These meagre relics are all that now remain of the once 
powerful tribes that fished in these waters, pursued the bear 
and moose across these grounds, strove to outwit the beaver 
along these green meadows, and stoutly contended with our 
intruding race for mastery and possession here. 

* Rev. D. Cushman, in the Ohristian Mirror of Jan. 26, 1864: — who in- 
forms me that a spring of fresh water is usually found near such deposits. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 13 



CHAPTER II. 

FIBST DI8C0TBBY A|rD LAKDIKQ BT EXTBOPEAHS AT 
THOMASTON. 

1605. The locality which fonns the subject of this 
wcnrk is one of no small interest, on account of its being the 
scene of the earliest discoveries by the English on any part 
of the main land of this State or New England. The coast 
indeed had been discovered by the Cabots as early as 1497, 
who sailed from England, feU in with Newfoundland, and 
proceeded southerly as far as Florida; but without landing 
on any part of the continent. These were followed by vari- 
ous private adventurers from England, France, and other 
European nations ; who, attracted by the abundant fisheries 
and profitable trade with the natives, flocked over to New- 
foundland, the Gulf of St. Lawrence, and the neighboring 
region. Newfoundland as well as the whole coast southerly 
was claimed, and, under the name of Virginia^ grants made 
of it in 1606, by the English in right of prior discovery; 
whilst the borders of the St. Lawrence and Bay of Fundy 
were, by a similar title, granted in 1603 and claimed by the 
French under the name of Acadia, As, in consequence of 
the great profits realized, voyages became more and more 
numerous, the claims of these two rival nations began to be 
looked after with greater interest and mutual jealousy ; both 
fitting out expeditions of discovery to strengthen and sustain 
their pretensions. Among those of the English, was the ex- 
pedition of Capt. George Weymouth, who, under the auspices 
of Lord Arundel and other persons of influence, on the 31st 
of March, old style, (10th of April, N. S.) 1605, just after 
his return from an arctic voyage, sailed from Dartmouth 
Haven in the good ship Archangel, weU victualled and fur- 
nished with munition and all necessaries, having on board a 
company of twenty-nine persons ; among them James Rosier, 
who was employed to write an account of the expedition. 
After making land about Cape Cod on the 14th of May, and 
being deterred from landing by the difficult shoals found 
there, and a strong S. W, wind that sprang up, Weymouth 
sailed north-easterly, and on Friday, the l7th of May, about 
6 o'clock at night, descried the land ; but, because it blew a 
gale, " the sea very high, and near night,' not fit to come upon 
an unknown coast," stood off again. Returning, next morn- 
ing, at 8 o'clock, the "mean high land" was found to be 
Vol. I. 2 



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14 HISTORY OP THOMASTON, 

" an island of some six miles in compass ;" on the north side 
of which the ship was at length anchored, at noon, about a 
league from the shore. To this island the discoverer gave 
the name of St, George, but the saii^e is now universally re- 
cognized by its Indian name of Monhegan. At 2 o'clock, the 
captain with 12 men visited the island in a boat, without 
penetrating its interior, and returned with a load of dry wood 
picked up on the beach. The appearance there is described 
as follows: — "woody, grown with fir, birch, oak and beech, 
as far as we saw along the shore ; and so likely to be within. 
On the verge grew gooseberries, strawberries, wild pease, and 
wild rose bushes. The water issued forth down the rocky 
cliff in many places; and much fowl of divers kinds breed 
upon the shore and rocks. From hence we might discern 
the main land from the west-south-west to the east-north- 
east ; and, a great way (as it then seemed, and we after 
found it) up into the main,* we might discern very high 
mountains; though the main seemed but low land." Two 
days after, being Whitsunday, Weymouth sailed two or three 
leagues farther north among the " islands more adjoining to 
the main and in the road directly with the mountains" and 
entered " a goodly haven" which he named Pentecost Harbor, 
now known as George's Island Harbor. There, says Rosier, 
as well as on Monhegan, " we found at our first coming 
where fire had been made, and about the place very great e^^ 
shells bigger than goose eggs, fish bones, and as we judged 
the bones of some beast." The next day they put together 
the pinnace which they had brought in pieces from England, 
dug wells for water, cut trees for yards and fuel, fitted out 
the shallop, took great numbers of lobsters and fish and ob- 
served that they all " of whatsoever kind we took, were well 
fed, fat, and sweet in taste.". On Wednesday, May 22d, 
they dug a plot of ground for a garden, the first in the State 
of Maine if not in the Union ; and here, among the fragrant 
firs and spruces, from which they " pulled off nrach gum, con- 
gealed on the outside of the bark, which smelled like frank- 
incense," they remained, finding large pearls, 14 in one 
muscle and 50 small ones in another, so well pleased with the 
harbor and fruitful islands that " many of our company wished 
themselves settled here." " Wednesday, the 29th day, our 
shallop being now finished, and our captain and men fur- 



* Viz. : — " to the N, N, ^." according to Purchas ; which, allowing one 
point westerly variation, would be equivalent to N. by E. — the true cUrec- 
tion of Madambettox and the Camden group from Monhegan. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 15 

Dished to depart with her from the ship, we set up a cross on 
the shore-side upon the rocks." These islands, from their 
contiguity to St. George as Weymouth had named Monhegan, 
took the name of George's or St. George's Islands, which they 
have ever since home ; and the one most frequented, where 
the cross was set up, was prohably Allen's Island of that 
group. 

"The 30th of May, about 10 o'clock before noon, our 
captain with 13 men more, in the name of God, departed in 
the shallop, leaving 14 men with the ship in the harbor." 
The latter at night-fall espied some natives in three canoes 
coming toward the ship, who, landing on an island opposite, 
kindled a fire and stood about it, gazing with wonder at^the 
ship. " Weffing unto them to come unto us," says Rosier, 
*' because we had not seen any of the people yet, they sent 
one canoe with three men, one of which when they came 
•near us, spake in his language very loud and very boldly,^' 
and, pointing his oar towards the sea, motioned that the in- 
truders should be gone. But being shown knives and their 
use, combs, and glasses, they came close aboard, and, having 
been presented with bracelets, rings, pipes, and peacock 
feathers which they stuck in their hair, departed, presently 
succeeded by four others in another canoe. Described as a 
people *' well-countenanced, proportionable, not very tall nor 
big; with bodies painted black, their faces some with red, 
some with black, and some with blue ; clothed with beaver 
and deer skin mantles fastened at their shoulders and hang- 
ing to their knees ; some with sleeves, and some with buskins 
of such leather sewed ; they seemed all very civil and merry ; 
and we found them a people of exceeding good invention, 
quick understanding, and ready capacity." The next day. 
May 31st, they came alongside very early and were easily 
enticed on board and below, where they ate freely of the 
ship's provisions, but of nothing raw. The kettles, the ar- 
mor, all excited their wonder ; and at the report of fire-arms 
they fell flat on their faces with terror. On being made to 
understand that the object of the ship's visit to their shores 
was the exchange of knives, and such things as they most 
liked, for beaver skins and furs, they promised to bring some, 
and departed. 

About ten o'clock, and to the surprise of the ship's com- 
pany within twenty-four hours of her departure, "we de- 
scried," says Rosier, '* our shallop returning toward us ; 
which, so soon as we espied, we certainly conjectured our 
captain had found some unexpected harbor, or some river ; 



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16 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

knowing his determination and resolution, not so suddenly 
else to make return ;" and as she neared the ship, in token 
of her good news and success she came ** shooting volleys of 
shot," and when within musket range, the ship and shallop 
mutually saluted and hailed in great joy at the happy dis- 
covery. For " our captain had in this small time discovered 
up a great river, trending alongst into the main forty miles ; 
and by the length, breadth, depth, and strong flood, imagining 
it to run far up into the land, he with speed returned, in- 
tending to flank his light horseman or gig, against Indian 
arrows, should the river become harrow enough to bring it in 
reach of them." 

Impending the two next days in mutual visits and exchange 
of presents, the Indians, pointing to one part of the main 
eastward, signified that their Bashabes or king, there, had 
great plenty of furs and much tobacco; and on Monday, 
June 3d,*by their earnest desire, Wejrmouth manned his light-* 
horseman and went with them along to the main for traffic. 
But suspecting by appearances that the Indians were attempt- 
ing treachery, and finding about 283 armed savages assembled 
at no great distance with their dogs and tamed wolves, after 
an ineflectual attempt to obtain hostages for security, he re« 
turned without landing. Weymouth was extremely desirous 
of obtaining, according to the wishes of his patrons, some of 
these natives to be carried to England and taught the language 
in order to act as interpreters in a colonial enterprise hither, 
then in contemplation. The Indians seem to have suspected 
this, and thus far frustrated the design ; but the next day six 
men in two canoes approached the ship, of whom three, by 
means of bread and peas of which they were very fond, were 
enticed on board and secured. The other three, being too 
wary to enter the ship, were induced to accept presents on 
their island, and, while seated by the fire eating from the 
platter of peas given them, were seized, with the exception 
of one who had fled to the woods, and, not without the ut- 
most exertion of five or six men, carried on board. 

The 8th of Jime was spent in thoroughly exploring the 
harbor ; which was found to be safe, deep, and to be entered 
in water enough by four several passages. In the afternoon 
two canoes came firom the eastward, containing *'him that 
refused to stay with us for a pawn, and with him six other 
savages not seen before," all beautified very gallantly, one 
wearing a peculiar kind of coronet made of stiff* hair colored 
red, whom **we understood to be sent firom the bashabes, 
and that his desire was that we would bring up our ship to 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH TH0MA8T0N. 17 

his house, beingj, as they pointed, upon the main toward the 
east;" — probably up the Penobscot This, Weymouth pru- 
dently declined, sending them off without aay knowledge of 
their kidnapped countrymen stowed below, and devoted the 
remainder of his stay to the exploration of the river whose 
mouth he had discovered. 

'' Tuesday the 11th of June," says the narrator, " we passed 
up into the river with our ship, about six and twenty miles," 
a distance which, if applied to the St. George's River, (and it 
can have been no other) must be taken as an over-estimate, 
such as would naturally be made, without actual measure- 
ment, in a new, strange, and highly diversified region. It 
probably did not exceed eighteen miles ; about to the site of 
the small fort built in 1809 in the town of St. George. The 
advantages of the river are described in glowing terms, as 
being " of a bold shore; most free from sands or dangerous 
rocks in a continual good depth, with a most excellent land 
fall." " For the river itself, as it runneth up into the main 
very nigh forty miles toward the great mountains, beareth in 
breadth a mile, sometimes three-quarters, and half a mile is 
the narrowest, where you shall never have under four and five 
fathoms water hard by the shore, but six, seven, nine, and 
ten fathoms all along ; and on both sides every half mile very 
gallant coves, some able to contain almost a hundred sail, 
where the ground is excellent soft ooze with a tough clay un- 
der for anchor hold and where ships may lie without either 
cable or anchor only moored to the shore with a hawser. It 
floweth, by their judgment, 18 or 20 feet at high water," — 
certainly another error in judgment, since no tide nearer to 
Monhegan than the Bay of Fundy flows that height. " Here * 
are made by nature most excellent places, as docks to grave 
or careen ships of all burthens secured from aU winds ; the 
land bordering the river on both sides is neither mountainous 
nor rocky, but verged with a green border of grass ;" the 
wood " not shrubbish but goodly tall fir, spruce, birch, beech,, 
oak, which, in many places, is not so thick but may with 
small labor be made feeding grounds. As we passed with a 
gentle wind up with our ship in this river, any man may con- 
ceive with what admiration we all consented in joy;" many 
of the company comparing it with the most famous rivers, 
and the narrator remarking, " I will not prefer it before our 
river of Thames, because it is England's richest treasure." 

"Wednesday, the 12th of June, (22d, N. S.,) our captain 
manned his light-horseman with 17 men, and run up from the 
ship, riding in the river up to the codde thereof" (an old 
2* 



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18 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

Saxon word now obsolete, variously spelled, used sometimes 
to designate a narrow bay or indentation into the land, and 
was probably that at the turn of the river opposite the Gen. 
Knox mansion in Thomaston) " where we landed, leaving six 
to keep the light-horseman till our return. Ten of us, with 
our shot, and some armed, with a boy to carry powder and 
match, marched up into the country towards the mountains 
which we descried at our first falling in with the land" and 
which were constantly in view.* '* Unto some of them the 
river brought us so near, as we judged ourselves when we 
landed to have been within a league of them," — probably 
Madambettox Mt., distant about three miles ; " but we marched 
up about four miles in the main, and passed over three hills;' 
and because the weather was parching hot, and our men in 
their armour not able to travel far and return that night to our 
ship, we resolved not to pass any further, being all very 
weary of so tedious and laborsome a travel. In this march 
we passed over very good ground, pleasant and fertile, fit for 
pasture for the space of some three miles," (probably the 
Meadows of Thomaston and Rockland,) "having but little 
wood, and that oak, like stands left in our pastures in England, 
good and great, fit timber for any use, some small birch, 
hazle, and brake, which might in small time with few men be 
cleansed and made good arable land, but, as it now is, will 
feed cattle of all kinds with fodder enough for summer and 
winter. The soil is black, bearing sundry herbs, grass, straw- 
berries, bigger than ours in England. In many places are 
low thicks like our copses of small young wood. And surely 
it did all resemble a stately park, wherein appear some old 
trees with high withered tops and others flourishing with living 
green boughs. Upon the hills grow notable timber trees, 
masts for ships of 400 tons ; and at the bottom of every hill 
a little run of fresh water; but the farthest and last we passed 
ran with a great stream able to drive a mill." This descrip- 
tion answers well to the locality; and, if the mountain aimed 
at were Madambettox, the last-named stream must have been 
Mill River; or, if their route lay toward Mt. Pleasant, also 
in sight, it might have been Oyster River or one of its 
branches. 

"We were no sooner aboard our light-horseman," con- 
tinues the narrative, *' returning towards our ship, but we 
espied a canoe coming from the farther part of the cod of the 
river eastward ; which hasted to us, wherein with two others 

* Purchas's Pilgrims. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 19 

was he who refused to stay for a pawn." His errand, which 
proved fruitless, seemed to be to inveigle one of the men to 
spend the night on shore with them, in order to be kept as a 
hostage for the release of one of those kidnapped, supposed 
^to be his kinsman. If this Indian's residence was on the 
Penobscot, he must have come from that river or bay, and 
crossed over by one of the two principal carrying-places used 
by his tribe in early as well as later times; — one of which 
was between Wessaweskeag River and the place in question, 
the other between what is now Eockland Harbor and Mill 
River, which has been used by the remnant of their tribe 
within the last thirty years, and perhaps at times even now. 

"Thursday, the 13th of June," continues Mr. Rosier, "by 
two o'clock in the morning, (because our captain would take 
the help and advantage of the tide) in the lighKhorseman, 
with our company well provided and furnished with armour 
and shot both to defend and offend, we went from our ship 
up in that part of the river which trended westward into the 
main to search that. And we carried with us a cross to erect 
at that point," since known as Watson's Point, " which be- 
cause it was not daylight, we left on the shore until our re- 
turn back when we set it in manner as the former. For this 
(by the way) we diligently observed, that in no place, either 
about the islands, or up in the main, or alongst the river, we 
could discern any token or sign that any christian had been 
before; of which, either by cutting wood, digging for water, 
or setting up crosses (a thing never omitted by any christian 
travellers) we should have perceived some mention left." 

After this they proceeded farther on up the river, increasing 
in admiration at its beauty and advantages; "its great store 
of fish, some great, leaping above water, judged to be salmon ;" 
its " divers branching streams," or creeks ; its '* many plain 
plots of meadow," as the writer calls the salt marshes, " some 
of 3 or 4 acres, some of 8 or 9, so as we judged in the whole 
to be between 30 and 40 acres of good grass ; and where the 
arms ran out into the main, there likewise went a space of 
clear grass, how far we know not." Thus, continually re- 
freshed by the loveliness of this primeval solitude, they went 
on up into fresh water, of which they all drank, probably 
near the present bridge and village in Warren, to a distance 
estimated at 20 miles. This, like the other distances, though 
in a larger proportion, was an over-estimate ; and may be 
accounted for by the superior attraction of the scenery, to- 
gether with their fatigue and hunger, as the men ** had with 
great labor rowed long and eat nothing, for we canned with 



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20 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

u^ no victual, but a little cheese and bread." The tide not 
suflfering them to make any longer stay, the exploring party 
returned with it, setting up the cross on Watson's Point on 
their way down ; and, the next morning at 4 o'clock, by aid 
of the tide, their two boats, and a little help of the wind, got 
their ship down to the river's mouth; the soundings to the 
entrance of which the captain spent the rest of the day in 
searching. Saturday, they sailed with a land breeze to their 
watering-place at the George's Islands, filling all their empty 
casks; and their "captain, upon the rock in the midst of the 
harbor, observed the height, latitude, and variation, exactly, 
upon his instruments." These observations, which " our cap- 
tain intendeth hereafter to set forth," are not given by Rosier, 
purposely, he says, for fear of foreign intrusion on their dis- 
covery; but^ Samuel Purchas, who wrote his Pilgrims about 
1620, and who probably had access to this private account of 
Weymouth or his log-book, says M the Ifititude he found to be 
43^ 20';* and the variation 11^ 15', viz.: — one point of the 
compass westward." "Sunday, the 16th June," continues 
Rosier, "the wind being fair, and because we had set out of 
England upon a Sunday, made the islands upon a Sunday, 
and as we doubt not (by God's appointment) happily fell into 
our harbor upon a Sunday, so now ... we weighed anchor 
and quit the land upon a Sunday." They arrived home 
safely in Dartmouth, making soundings in the channel, also, 
on a Sunday, July 14th ; and with them were the five hapless 
red-men of our shores, Tahanado, Amoret, Skicowares, 
Maneddo, and Saflfacomoit, three of whom lived three years 
with Sir Ferdinando Gorges, and most of whom ultimately re- 
turned to their country, as interpreters, with different expedi- 
tions, and, it would seem, with no unfriendly feelings toward 
their captors. 

Thus it appears that the territory afterwards incorporated 
as the town of Thomaston was the spot first trodden by Euro- 
pean feet on any part of the main land of our State. The 
coast may have been seen and the islands visited before ; as 
those in Penobscot Bay certainly were the preceding year, 
1604, by Martin Pring, and named the Fox Islands from the 
silver grey foxes seen there. This claim of Thomaston and 
the St. George's River as the scene of Weymouth's explora- 

♦ The tnte latitude is about 43 deg. 50 min. ; this error of 30 min. may 
have been made either in copying Weymouth's notes, or bjr the printer, 
or by the navigator himself; and it is a remarkable coincidence that B. 
Gosnold, 3 years earlier, marked the latitude of sundry places along the 
coast half a degree below the truth. 



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BOCELAND AND SOUTH TH0MA8T0N. 21 

tion is somewhat novel, and was first discovered by one of 
her talented sons, Capt. George Prince, now a resident of 
Bath, but familiar from childhood with all the features of our 
river, who first made known his convictions on the subject in 
an article addressed to the writer and published in the Lincoln 
Advertiser in August, 185S. Prior to this time, it had been 
claimed, alternately, but neyer satisfactorily, in behalf of the 
Kennebec and Penobscot. The settlement of Popham and 
Gilbert, in 1607, was intended and instructed to be made on 
the islands or main land discovered by Weymouth ; but as in, 
consequence of farther information derived perhaps firora 
Pring in his second voyage in 1606, or from Weymouth's 
captured Indians, two * of whom came over with the colonists, 
they preferred a situation at the mouth of the Kennebec, and 
gave the name of St. George to the fort they erected there, 
Strachey and later writers supposed that nver must be the 
forty- mile stream Weymouth had explored. But when it is 
remembered that this colony came over and without difficulty 
found Pentecost Harbor and the cross erected there, giving 
the name of St. George's to the surrounding islands, and then 
in their boats sailed "to the westward to the river of Pema- 
quid, which they found to be four leagues distant from the 
ship where she rode," every one will perceive that Wey- 
mouth's Pentecost Harbor is fixed beyond all cavil among the 
George's or St. George's Islands; and, as the passage from 
those islands to the Kennebec, in the courses, distances, want 
of mountains in full view, and all the characteristics of the 
river, flatly Contradicts the desaription of Weymouth's river, 
it is no wonder that the claims of the Kennebec were ques- 
tioned by Dr. Belknap in 1796, and that, when he requested 
Capt. Williams of the revenue service to repair to the spot 
and, in view of the mountains visible, decide whether the 
Kennebec or the Penobscot was the true river, the latter was 
preferred. This decision was acquiesced in by subsequent 
historians, among them Williamson in the History of Maine, 
and the compiler of this work in the Annals of Warren; 
although it involved the inconsistency of taking Penobscot 
Bay ten miles wide at its entrance for the river described by 
Weymouth as from one mile to one-half raile in width, to say 
nothing of leaving the mountains behind in going up to its 
"codde" (Belfast Bay) instead of going directly toward 
them.f These inconsistencies led Capt. Prince to investiga- 

♦Viz.: — Skicowares, and probably Tahanado, though then written 
Dehamida. 
t Mr. J. L. Locke, in his interesting History of Camden, aoquieBcing in 



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22 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

tion, made with the sagacity and keen eye of a practical man 
and observing mariner, and to the final conclusion that the 
river in question could be none other than the St. George's, 
which somehow or other got its name with the islands at its 
mouth, from that of the discoverer or the patron saint of his 
country, arid from that time down has uniformly retained it. 
This view of his was further illustrated in an article commu- 
nicated by him to the sixth volume of the Maine Historical 
Society, and more fully, satisfactorily, and, we think, incon- 
trovertibly, demonstrated, in a pamphlet containing Rosier's 
narrative in full, with remarks of his own, published in 1860 ; 
insomuch that the only wonder now is that two and a half 
centuries should have elapsed before any one arrived at the 
perception of so palpable a truth. 

This river so early discovered and named, though much 
frequented by the native Indians, was never, that we are 
aware of, the permanent, though it may have been a tempo- 
rary, residence of any particular tribe. It was situated in the 
neutral or contested hunting ground of two hostile tribes, — 
the Wawenocks, whose principal chief kept his court at 
Damariscotla, and the Tarratines, who held possession of the 
Penobscot waters and claimed dominion westward as far as 
the power of their rivals would permit. The Camden moun- 
tains were at one time considered the boundary ; but the des- 
olating wars of 1615 and pestilence of 1617-18 so weakened 
the Wawenocks and their western allies, that their rivals ex- 
tended claims in that direction to an indefinite extent, and by 
occupancy established their right to St. George's,* which they 
ever afterwards maintained till relinquished to the whites. 
As the Indians designated localities by descriptions rather 
than proper names, and the languages of these two tribes 
differed, it is not strange that places in this contested ground 
should be known by different names. In Strachey's account 

the claims of the Penobscot, endeavors to make out Goose River to be its 
**codde;*' but has since, in a letter dated, April 21, 1863, informed me 
with his usual candor, that, on reviewing the grounds, (for which he had 
well qualified himself by visiting the spot where tne ** Archangel" 
anchored) he has changed his opinion and fully coincides with Capt. 
Prince. This opinion being further advocated by Rev. D. C ashman be- 
fore the Historical Society and favored by such learned antiquarians as 
Hon. Jos. Williamson, of Belfast, and, I believe, Hon. Wm. Willis, of 
Portland, the long mooted controversy may be considered as settled,— 
unless the recent attempt in the Memorial Volume of the Popham Cele- 
bration to revive the Kennd)ec theory should receive more consideration 
than it seems to merit, seeing it is little more than a repetition of the ar- 
guments of the late J. McKeen, Esq., of Brunswick, to whom the public 
was much indebted for being the first to question the Penobscot theory so 
long acquiesced in. 



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ROCKUIND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 28 

of the Popbam colony, which after coming to three islands 
with a ledge of rocks to the southward (Matinicus Rock), 
thence stopping at George's Islands, and on Sunday, Aug. 9tb, 
1607, going ashore where Weymouth had planted his cross, 
and hearing from Mr. Seymour their chaplain the first chris- 
tian sermon ever preached in this region,* passed on to the 
Sagadahoc, mention is made of three mountains " in on the 
land, the land called Segohquet^ near about the river of Pe- 
nobscot," which land, if Mt. Pleasant bo one of the moun- 
tahis, must have been Thomaston, Warren, and vicinity. 
Capt. John Smith of heroic and romantic memory, who in 
1614 made a voyage hitherward, and, after building seven 
boats at Monhegan for whaling and fishing, with eight of his 
men ranged the coast in his ship from Penobscot to Cape 
Cod, also speaks of the places along the shore, and, after 
describing Penobscot Bay and mountains, says ^^ Segocket is 
the next ; then Nuscongus, Pemaquid," &c. ; and, in a map 
which he prepared, marked our river as the site of an Indian 
village, to which Prince Charles of England gave the name 
of Norwich at the same time that he changed the name of 
what had been known as North Virginia to New England. 
Later authorities and traditions, confining the name Segocket 
to the river rather than the country, as perhaps Smith in- 
tended, have made it Segocket; which name in either of its 
forms evidently belonged to the Wawenock dialect, as the 
present Penobscots, the remnant of the ancient Tarratines, do 
not use it nor understand its meaning. Of other Wawenock 
names, though understood, the Penobscots express the same 
sense in words of their own, — calling Matinicus, Menas- 
quesicook or a collection of grassy islands^ and Monhegan, 
Kfnagook or grand island. For George's River they seem 
to have no other name than Joiges; and some have conjec- 
tured that this name was borrowed by the English and by a 
slight change of sound converted into George's or St. George's. 
Instead of this, however, I am inclined to suspect that the 
name George's may have been adopted by the Tarratines 
from the name left to the river and islanck by Weymouth, 
and from their pronunciation, Joiges^ associated with the word 
/oy, suggesting the kindred definition which when questioned 
they attach to it, viz.: — joyful^ delightsome. It is not always 
easy to ascertain to which language a word originally be- 



♦ The earliest in any part of the State, except perhaps one at a religious 
service held in a chapel built on Neutral Island in the St. Croix or Schoo- 
dic River by French Huguenots in 1604. Will. Hist, of Maine, &c. 



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24 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

longed ; as we find abannoch * is given as the Indian name 
for bready and acowanabool as the Feejee of neat caUle^ — 
each of which was probably bequeathed them by the Euro- 
pean donors of the first specimens of those articles. The 
great resort of the tribe to the place in later times, after a 
patent was granted and a trading-house established here, 
might naturally cause the English name to come into use 
among them and supplant any other ancient one of their own, 
as well as the "Segochet" of their Indian foes. The river 
having thus got the name of Joiges, the land, at least that 
part of it between Mill River and Oyster River, of course re- 
ceived that of Joigeekeag, or Oeorgeekeag^ — the termination 
Iceag being their usual term to signify land^ or bl point of land 
formed by the junction of two rivers. So that with them the 
name of the western portion of our territory, or the present 
town of Thomaston, was nearly equivalent to pleasant point ; 
that of the southern portion, now South Thomaston, particularly 
at the junction of the two branches of its river, the Wessa- 
weskeag, signified land of sights^ visions, — wizard point ;^ 
and the eastern portion adjoining Owl's Head Bay, or the 
present Rockland Harbor, was called Gatawamteak or Kata- 
wamteag, signifying greai-landing-place^ from which they 
took the trail across to Mill River.. Of these Indian trails, 
three principal ones in the territory of Old Thomaston w ere 
much used and frequently spoken of in early times. That 
above named, was used in passing to St. George's River for 
the purpose of fishing at the falls or proceeding to the ocean 
on their way westward. Another was that from the head of 
Owl's Head Bay directly across to the bay in George's River, 
the high intervening land of which they early called Quis- 
quamego, and, in later times, Quisquitcumegek, or high- 
carrying -place, A third was that from the same Head of the 
Bay to the .head waters of the Wessaweskeag, by which they 
avoided the tedious and exposed passage around Owl's Head. 
These were well known to the early settlers and hunters, as 
the Upper, Middle, and Lower trails. 

The country having thus, by the discoveries of Weymouth, 
Pring, Smith, and otl^rs, become well known, was annually 
visited by private adventurers for fishing, hunting, and 
trading; some of whom erected temporary huts on shore, 
but none except the Sagadahoc colony had as yet intended to 

* Me. Hist. Coll. Vol. V. — bannock, we believe, is a Scottish word. 

t Mansfield, in his History and Description of New England, says the 
Indian name Wessaweskeag signifies river of many points; but does not 
state his authority. 



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ROCKLAJO) AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 25 

become permanent residents. Monhcgan was the principal 
landmark, and was at times thronged with these adventurers. 
Smith found there in 1614 a ship belonging to "Sir Francis 
Popham which for many years had visited the waters of St. 
George's River only."* Conflicts between the natives and 
treacherous Europeans, as well as between the Europeans 
themselves, frequently took place at Monhegan; in one of 
which several of Smith's men were killed in the neighboring 
waters, and in others, cases of mutiny of ship crews, and cruel 
kidnapping of natives occurred. Abraham Jennins, a fish 
merchant of Plymouth, concerned in trade with Abner Jennins 
of London, employing a large tonnage in the cod-fisheries 
and trade on the coast, acquired the original ownership of this 
island. The French, Spaniards, and Dutch also came to this 
region for traffic and fishing, and may have attempted more 
permanent establishments on the islands or coast. Domestic 
utensils and the foundations of chimneys now many feet un- 
der ground have been discovered on Monhegan as well as on 
Carver's Island in George's River, where, it is matter of his- 
tory, there were formerly found the remains of a stone house. 
No doubt these islands, that form the threshold of our river, 
were the scene of many a wild foray or romantic adventure, 
wjiich for want of a contemporary historian must be allowed 
to slumber in the* dim haze of the unrecorded past. 



* Ancient Dominions of Maine, by Rufus K. Sewall, p. 98, who quotes 
Prince's New England Chronology, p, 15. 



Vol. h 



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26 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 



CHAPTER III. 

GKANT OP THE PATENT, AND ATTEMPTS TO SETTLE FRUS- 
TBATED BY INDIAN WABS. 

1630. The Council of Plymouth in England, which had 
been established for settling and governing New England, 
being, now in danger of dissolution by royal authority, made 
various and hasty grants to different adventurers of nearly 
the whole territory between the Piscataqua and Penobscot, in 
the expectation that its acts already past would be respected 
after the Council itself should cease to exist. One of these 
was the grant made of the lands on the river St. George's, 
March 13th, 1629, O. S, March 23d, 1630, new style, to 
Beauchamp and Leverett, called " the Lincolnshibe, or 
MuscoNGUS Patent," or grant. Its extent was from the 
seaboard, between the rivers Penobscot and Muscongus, to 
an unsurveyed line running east and west and so far north as 
would, without interfering with any other patent, embrace a 
territory equal to 30 mUes square. This grant contained a 
reservation to the King and his successors of " one-fifth part 
of all such Oar of Gold and Silver as should be gotten and 
obtained in or upon the Premises." It was procured ex- 
pressly for the purposes of an exclusive trade with the natives, 
and contained no powers of civil government. It seems to 
have owed its existence to the rapacity of certain merchant 
adventurers in England who had formed a copartnership with 
the puritan exile^ when in Holland, and agreed to -transport 
them to America ; but who, dissatisfied with the slow returns 
caused by the conscientious adherence of these pilgrims after 
their arrival at New Plymouth, to the regulation prohibiting 
the sale of gunpowder and ardent spirits to the Indians, were 
perpetually undermining their trade by sending out other less 
scrupulous agents and companies to compete with them, their 
own partners, in that infant settlement. The most active of 
these merchants were James Shirley and Timothy Hatherly 
of Bristol, Eng. When in later years the greater part of this 
Muscongus grapt passed into the hands of Gen. Samuel 
Waldo, it, or at least his portion of it, was called the Waldo 
Patent, and is the origin of all or most of the land titles in 
this vicinity. The grant was made '* to Thomas Leverett of 
Boston in the county of Lincoln (England,) gentleman, and 
John Beauchamp of London, gentleman," or " Salter," as 
styled in Bradfor.d's History of the Plymouth settlement. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 27 

which lay so long hidden and unknown in manuscript, and 
which was first puhlished by the Massachusetts * Historical 
Society in 1856. By that work it appears that Beauchamp 
never came to this country, but was merely one of the com- 
pany that sent over the Mayflower ; though rather a sleeping 
partner, who had little to do with its management, and, like 
the pilgrims of Plymouth, complained that he never could 
obtain any settlement with Shirley and Hatherly for the rich 
cargoes of furs sent them from that struggling colony. Lev- 
erett, an alderman in the city of his residence in old England 
and a member of Mr. Cotton's church there, came over with 
that clergyman and others, including his own wife and two 
daughters, to Boston in New England, in the ship Griffin, 
Sept. 4th, 1633.* These two, Beauchamp and Leverett, 
seem to have been selected as men of substance and probity 
sufficient to bear the dignity of patentees and give a plausible 
character to the grant, and at the same time not likely to 
greatly trouble themselves or the rapacious Bristol merchants 
who were to be associated with them, in the traffic to be car- 
ried on. The company thus formed, having persuaded the 
reluctant Plymouth pilgrims and their faithless agent, Isaac 
Allerton, then in England, to join in the enterprise, immedi- 
ately appointed Edward Ashley their agent, and Capt. Wm. 
Pierce an assistant. These were sent over in the spring of 
the same year, 1630, in a small new-made vessel, named the 
" Lyon," of which the said Pierce was master, with five la- 
borers, one of them a carpenter, and well furnished with 
provisions and articles of trade, which moreover were in- 
creased in the autumn by a supply of com and wampum from 
Pljrmouth colony. They arrived here safely, in June, and es- 
tablished a truck-house on the eastern bank of St. George's 
River, five miles below the head of tide-waters. This must 
have been in Thomaston, probably on or near the site of Wm, 
Vose's house, at the foot of Wadsworth street. Here posses- 
sion and traffic were continued down to the first Indian war, 
in 1675; and Waldo's petition of 1731 affirms that "consid- 
erable settlements and improvements" were made here. 
Ashley's agency, however, was of short continuance; for, 
being an unprincipled young man, he was disrelished and dis- 
trusted by the good people of Plymouth colony, and, having 
confirmed their opinion by conspiring with Allerton to defraud 

• Communication of Rev. J. L. Sibley, Librarian of Harvard College. 
Mr. Palfrey, in his elaborate history of New England, seems to intimate 
that he came *' later " than Cotton ; but this^could hardly be, as he was, 
Oct 10th, 1633, chosen ruling elder of Boston in New England. 



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28 HISTORY OF TH0MA8T0N, 

them as well as the partners over the water, he was at length 
sent by them to England a prisoner. After a confinement 
there some time, in the Fleet prison, he was released, but 
eventually perished by shipwreck on his return from a beaver 
trading voyage to Russia. How long Pierce, who sfeems to 
have been rather a ship-master than a commercial agent, 
making frequent voyages across the Atlantic, remained con- 
nected with the traffic here, we are unable to state.* 

1635. Although the French claimed to extend the 
bounds of Acadia as far as Pemaquid, and actually broke up 
the trading houses which the Plymouth people had established 
at Machias and Biguyduce, now Castine, the company main- 
tained this frontier possession on the St. George's. Here, 
many English vessels, sent out to the new and thriving colony 
of Massachusetts, often stopped on their return,, attracted by 
our rich and gigantic forest growth ; as, according to Winthrop, 
several cargoes of masts were taken in here in 1634 and 
1635. Aside from these casual visitors, and those stationed 
at the trading house, one lonely white man, at least, had al- 
ready made his abode here ; as about this time or a little 
later there were said to be two settlers at St. George's, de- 
nominated " farmers ;" one of whom, Philip Swaden on the 
east side of Quisquamego, was undoubtedly located within 
the limits of the future Thomaston, and, with or without a 
family, constituted its whole stationary population. The 
other, "Mr. Foxwell on the west side of St. George's at 
Saquid or Sawkhead Point," was probably in Gushing, at or 
near Pleasant Point which is still called by our Indians Sunk- 
heath.f 

During all the changes of jurisdiction from 1635 to 1688, 
made by royal government, and the cession and retrocession 
of the French province of Acadia by treaty, together with 
the assumption of the territory by the expanding colony of 
Massachusetts, and the grant of it by king Charles to James, 
Duke of York, to whose government at New York it was 
made an appendage, very little mention of our river St. 
George's is made, except incidentally as a boundary between 
the short-lived divisions and provinces established mostly on 
paper only. Under the Duke's rule, the only port of entry 



* Bradford's Hist. p. 275, et passim, — Prince's Ann &c. 

t Richard Foxwell* according to Mr. Willis (Hist, of Portland, 1 Vol. 
Me. His. Soc. Coll.. p. 29,) was at Blue Point, Scarboro, in 1635, and the 
following year at Saco sent two large packets of beaver and other furs to 
Boston. Could this, or son^e kinsman, engaged in the same business, be 
the solitary dweller at Saquid Point ? 



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ROCKLiLND AND SOUTH THOBIASTON. 29 

as well as the only seat of justice, east of the Kennehec, was 
Pemaquid ; where all vessels were obliged to enter and clear, 
and all civil and criminal causes to be tried by officials ap- 
pointed by the Duke's governor at New York. The only 
memorial of this government in connection with St. George's 
River and the subject of this work is the case of John Alden 
of Boston, whose ketch named the " Guift " with her cargo 
" was seized in St George's River to the Eastward, ... for 
trading in these parts with the Indyans or others, contrary to 
the order of this [the Duke's] Government," but which, on 
his pleading ignorance of the order and of the ducal jurisdic- 
tion extending so far, was ordered, June 12th, 1678, to be 
restored to him.* The Patentees' establishment here proba- 
bly remained little more than a trading house and fishing 
station. After the death of Beauchamp, Leverett, in right of 
survivorship, succeeded to the whole patent. On Leverett's 
death at Boston, Mass., April 3d, 1650, and of his wife six 
years later, the patent passed into the hands of their son, 
Capt. John Leverett, afterwards Governor of Massachusetts 
Colony and a distinguished man. He was frequently employ- 
ed by Massachusetts in her eastern affairs, especially at and 
after the conquest of Acadia by the English in 1654; and had 
probably kept an eye to the effect these changes might have 
on his interest here, where possession was maintained by 
traffic with the natives, till the trading house and all the set- 
tlements on Matinicus, Monhegan, and the neighboring coast 
westward, were broken up by King Philip's or the First 
Indian war, which terminated in 1678. 

1696. After this, the coast and islands lay desolate, and 
we are not aware that the territory whose ' history we trace 
was trodden by rtic foot of any white man but once, for more 
than forty years ; though it is not improbable that some tran- 
sient fisherman or fur trader may have touched at its coast. 
Capt. Church, in his fourth expedition against the eastern 
Indians, 1696, anchored his vessel at Monhegan, and, embark- 
ing at night with his men in whale-boats, by dint of hard 
rowing arrived at Owl's Head by daybreak; but, finding no 
trace of the enemy there, except a trail of a week old, he re- 
embarked and pursued his way up the Penobscot. f George's 



* Pemaquid Papers from Sec. of State's office, Albany, N. Y., in Vol. 
6 Me. Hist. Soc Coll., p. 29. 

t Sewall's Ancient Dominions of Mainis, p. 215, who erroneously calls 
it Church's Second expedition. Church himself gives no name, but de- 
scribes the place as ** a point near Penobscot " from which they **|;ot into 
their boats and went by Muscle-neck and so amongst Penobscot islands, 

3* 



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30 HIST.ORY OF THOMASTON, 

River is thus described, probably from second-hand informa- 
tion, by Cadillac about 1692 in a memoir to the French Gov- 
ernment concerning their settlements and the neighboring 
coast. " From Pentagouet (Penobscot) to the St. George's 
River it is eight leagues. The river is not very safe, on ac- 
count of numerous rocks. It furnishes excellent oak for ship 
building. To enter, you must steer N. N. W. There are 
three fathoms water. . . . This river has always served as 
boundary from east to west between the French and Eng- 
lish."* The land at St. George's, as far up as the lower 
falls or head of tide waters, had been sold in May, 1694, by 
Madockawando, the brave and wise chief of the Tarratines, 
or Penobscots, to Sir Wm. Phips at Pemaquid, who seems 
to have had no knowledge at the time of the Muscongus 
Patent. 

1719-20. John Leverett, the venerable President of 
Harvard College,! who, since the death of his father, Hudson 
Leverett, and grandfather. Governor John Leverett, had be- 
come the proprietor of this patent, now, the second Indian 
war being happily over, seriously contemplated its re-occupa- 
tion and settlement. But, considering the enterprise too 
formidable for a single individual, he, Aug. 14, 1719, asso- 
ciated others (sometimes spoken of as the " Ten Associates ") 
with him, and divided the grant into ten shares ; one of which 
was given to Spencer Phips, adopted son and heir of Gov. 

* * * getting up to Mathebestuck's hills,*' where they landed the next 
morning and hid their boats. 

♦ Me. Hist. Soc. Coll., Vol. 6, p. 282. Cadillac's description hardly ap- 
plies to the character. of the George's River, unless confined to its upper 
waters as formerly navigated by the Indians and their French allies. 

t Thomas Leverett, the patentee, came to Boston, Mass., 1633, where he 
was selectman, &c., and died April 3, 1650. His wife, Ann, died Oct. 16, 

1656. Their children, 1. Jane, z, Ann, married Addington, 3, John, 

bap. Ju. 7, 1616, elected lieut. of Ancient and Hon. Artillery Co. 1648, 
its Captain 1652, '63, and '70, Major General of the colony 1663 and '66, 
Speaker of the House 1651, '63, and '64; assistant '65 and '70; agent of 
colony to England 1655, where Charles II. knighted him, but the knowl- 
edge of which he kept secret till death ; was dept. governor 1671-3, and 
Governor, 1673-9; married Hannah, daughter of Ralph Hudson; 2d, 
Sarah, daughter or sister of Maj. Robert Sedgwick; and died of the stone 
March 16, 1679, aged 62, being buried with great ceremony. Gov. John's 
children were: — 1, Hudson, bom May 2, 1640; married Sarah Pay ton, 

2d, ; residence Roxbury, and died Dec. 16, 1714; 2 to 7, six 

daughters, names imascertained. Hudson's children by 1st wife, John 
(2d) grad. H. U. 1680; married Marmret (Rogers) Berry, 2d, Sarah 
(Crisp) Harris, 1722 ; was president of H. U. &c., and died May 3, 1724. 
By 2d wife, 2, Thomas Hudson ; residence Boston, a barber. President 
John's children by 1st wife, 1, Sarah, bom Nov. 12, 1700 ; married Prof. 
Ed. Wigglesworth, and died 1727 ; 2. Mary, born Oct. 29, 1701 ; married 
Col. John Dennison, 2d, Nat. Rogers ; and died J. 25, 1756. See Savage's 
Gen. Diet. The Gen. Register, &c. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOM ASTON. 31 

Wm. Phips, in exchange for the Indian title from Madocka- 
wando. It was subsequently divided into thirty shares; and, 
others, called " the Twenty associates," two of whom weret 
Jonathan and Cornelius Waldo of Boston, were admitted into! 
the company as tenants in common, under mutual obligations 
for procuring settlers for two towns of 80 families each, and 
making preparations for their accommodation. For this pur- 
pose, in 1719 and '20, they erected two strong block-houses 
on the eastern edge of St. George's River, with a covered 
way to the water side, and a large area between them en- 
closed by palisades. The spot chosen was at the river's bend 
or codde, as Weymouth would say, in what is now Thomaston 
in front of the mansion of the late Gen. Knox ; and was to be 
the nucleus around which they intended to form a settlement, 
or town, to which they gave the name of Lincoln. They 
also built a double saw-mill, probably on that branch which 
has ever since from that circumstance been called Mill River 
or Mill Creek ; bought a sloop " to transport people and their 
effects" hither, employed other vessels and a number of men 
in the undertaking ; introduced neat cattle ; and erected near 
thirty " frames for houses." They were engaging persons to 
begin the settlement, and had made overtures to a young 
clergyman by the name of Smith to settle with them. The 
Indians, contending that these lands were theirs, and that 
Madockawando had no right to dispose of them, " daily re- 
sorted there in great numbers, and oft-times threatened those 
employed in building and clearing the land, who used several 
stratagems to get them from off those lands."* In conse- 
quence of their jealousy and hostile disposition, the company 
put under command of Capt. Thomas Westbrook, one of the 
" twenty associates," a garrison of twenty men, which they 
maintained here for above twelve months, and furnished with 
"great and small Artillery to defend themselves and the 
workmen." 

1722. This discontent of the Indians, fomented no 
doubt by the Jesuits and other French agents, spread from 
tribe to tribe, and, in 1722, broke out into open hostilities, 
named ^^ LovewelPs or the fourth Indian war." After attacks 
on the settlements westward, an assault was made by them, 
June 15th, upon the fort and beginnings here ; when 200 
Indians surprised and burnt the company's sloop, killed one 
and took six men prisoners, "and these immediately made up 
in a body to the block-houses and the next day attacked them 

♦ Petition of Leverett and the associates to the General Court. 



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32 * HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

for several hours and used several devices to have burnt them 
but were defeated by the courage of the men," and with- 
drawing *' burnt their saw-mill, a large sloop, aftd sundry- 
houses, and killed many of their cattle."* The story of the 
next attack, which was made only two months later, may per- 
haps be better given in the words of Capt. Westbrook, who 
in his. letter to Gov. Shute, dated Falmouth, Sept. 23, 1722, 
after detailing his voyage from Boston to Arrowsic, writes, — 
** I was willing to make my best way to St. George's, fearing 
ye Enemy might attack it. Tuesday, about 5 o'clock, we 
Came to Sail, and Came to the mouth of St. George's River 
on Wednesday morning ; and not having a fair wind went up 
in Five whale boats to the Fort, Which I found in good order, 
the Indians having attacked it ye 24th of August,! and killed 
5 men yt were out of the Garrison. They continued their 
assault 12 days anci nights furiously, Only now and then un- 
der a flagg of Truce they would have persuaded them to 
yield of the garrison, promising to give them good quarters and 
send them to Boston, The defendants' answers were, that 
they wanted no quarters at their hands, Daring them contin- 
ually to come on, told them it was King George's lands and 
that they would not yield them up but with the last Drops of 
their blood. The Indians were headed by their fryer, who 
talked with them under a flag of truce and likewise by two 
Frenchmen as they judged them to be. They brought with 
them five captives that they took at St. George's, 15th June 
last, and kept them during the siege, but, upon their break- 
ing up, sent one of them, Mr. John Dunsmore, to the fort to 
know whether they would ransom them or no. Our people 
made answer they had no order so-to do, neither could they 
do it ; upon which Mr. Dunsmore returned to the Indians and 
they carryed the captives back to Penobscot Bay, and then 
frankly released three of them, viz. : — Mr. J. Dunsmore, Mr. 
Thomas Foster, and Mr. Wm. Ligett. One Joshua Rose, yt 
was taken at the aforesaid time and place and whom the 
Indians had left behind at Penobscot, made his escape and 
after six Days travell, arrived at ye Fort ye second day after 
the siege began, — he being obliged to make his way Through 
ye body of ye Indians to Gett to the fort and -was taken up 
at one of the Ports. I now detain the four captives afore- 
said to be as Pilots to Penobscot 

" Thos. Westbrook. 

* Petition to General Court, Jan. 27, 1731-2. 

t Sept. 4th, N. S. although Williamson, and Mansfield after him, (Hist, 
and Descrip. of N. E.) make it in JtUy. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 33 

• 

" P. S. The Captives informed me that the most part of ye 
ladians' food, during ye time of ye Siege, was seals, which 
they caught daily, keeping out a party of men for that pur- 
pose The Garrison at St. George's has expended 

most of their ammunition during the late siege, and I desire 
your Excellency to send ye first opportunity, 4 or 5 barrels 
of gunpowder with ball, swan-shot, and flints, answerable; 
for the Indians are resolved to take the fort, if possible."* 

It will be perceived that no mention is made of any under- 
mining of the fort in order to blow it up, as we learn from 
tradition and other sources was attempted during this siege, 
but which was frustrated by heavy rains and a caving in of 
the earth upon them ; neither of the enemy's loss of twenty 
men, — which is well authenticated and mentioned in Waldo's 
petition of ITSl.f These omissions were probably made in 
consequence of Westbrook's brief stay of one and a half 
hours only, he having hurried away to his sloop and set sail 
that the Indians should not hear of his visit and get wind of 
his intended expedition against them up the Penobscot. 

This fort having been supported thus far by the Proprietors 
of the patent at their own expense, it had been proposed by 
President Leverett, that, as the country was in a state of war 
and the work needed for the general defence, Massachusetts 
should make it a public garrison. This was accordingly 
done; and Capt. Westbrook returned, soon after the siege, 
with two slpops and a re-inforcement of 45 men. 

1723. Westbrook, now Colonel and Commander-in- 
Chief in this quarter, in February of this year, made his de- 
structive onslaught upon the Indians at Penobscot, and, having 
burnt the whole village, returned to the fort here, with the 
loss of his chaplain, Rev. Benjamin Gibson, and three men, 
whose bodies on his arrival were buried at the fort. Sup- 
posing this blow at the enemy would prove an effectual check, 
and much sickness prevailing also among the soldiers, the 
lower House of the General Court, on the 6th of Sept. 1723, 
voted " that it is not for the service of the Province to sup- 
port the Block-house at George's River, and that no further 
pay or subsistence be allowed to the men that are posted 
there." The Council, not wishing to see this frontier post 
thus abandoned to the foe, non-concuiTed ; and a spirited con- 
troversy sprang up, the House deeming it an assumption of 

* Original letter, Secretary's Office, Boston ; Pay-roll of the garrison, 
on which Jos. Hunter, Jos. Mackamog, and James Nigh are marked 
killed, Aug. 24th. 

t See Journal of House of Representatives under date Jan. 27, 1731-2. 



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34 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

• 
power in the executive to continue in pay a force which had 
been authorized only till the preceding May session. Various 
votes were passed and non-concurred in by each house, till 
at length, on a representation that the Proprietors of the pa- 
tent were willing, rather than have it abandoned, to maintain 
the garrison at their own expense, a compromise measure was 
adopted reducing the force to ten men; and, Dec. 17th, the 
Lieut, Governor was desired to post 12 men and a siergeant 
there. This was done, none too soon ; for, on Christmas day, 
1723, the Indians made an attack upon the fort. Sixty in 
number, and encouraged by information obtained from two 
prisoners taken, that the fort was in a defenceless state, they 
prosecuted the siege for thirty days, with a resolution that 
well-nigh amounted to madness. They seemed to be flushed 
with the absolute certainty of compelling a surrender. But 
Capt. Wm. Kennedy, who was now the commanding officer, 
being a man of intrepid courage, held out till Col. Westbrook 
Eurrived and put the enemy to flight. One of the prisoners 
spoken of was J as. McFaden, who was afterwards ransomed 
for £17.* 

1724. After this, probably more interest was felt in 
maintaining this post, and in the spring of 1724 the command 
of it was given to Capt. Josiah Winslow, who graduated at 
Harvard University in 1721, and was the grandson and great- 
grandson, respectively, of the two Governors Winslow of 
Plymouth. The prestige of his .youth, character, .and family, 
raised high hopes of his efficiency here, and added great 
poignancy to t^e grief caused by his untimely fate, which is 
thus related by the celebrated Cotton Mather at the close of 
a sermon which he preached and printed on the occasion. 
*' Being left at George's Fort in command of the garrison 
there, on the 30th of April, 1724, he went from thence with 
17 men in two whale-boats, down to an Island, called The 
Green Island, some miles below the Fort, hoping to come on- 
some Indians there, inasmuch as there had several times been 
seen Indians going thither in a Canoe, it being a notable 
Fowling place. He was observed for diverse Hours before 
he went upon this action, to retire very Serious and Pensive ; 
and no doubt full of such Thoughts as might have a Tendency 
to Prepare his young Soul. . . . And he let fall Words to 
the Company which he left, that seemed somewhat Presagious 
of what he was going to. When they came to the Island, 
they haled up their Boats among the Bushes, and lay close 

* His petition : House Journals. 

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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 35 

all the night, and the next day until almost Night. Not see- 
ing any Indians, they then went off the Isfand in their Boats, 
when the sun was about two Hours high, {Friday) in the 
Afternoon. Thus Divine Providence ordered it, that this was 
what might be called a launching into the Mare mortuum. 
After their going down to this Island, a great Body of Indians 
of the Penobscot Tribe (with some others) ... to the num- 
ber, as was judged, of 200 or 300 men, came down the River 
in their Canoes and lodged themselves with their Canoes on 
both sides of the River betwixt the Island and the Fort. Here 
they lay undiscovered by ours, as ours were by them, until 
they (Winslow's party) put off in their boats from the island. 
After they had come some distance from the Island, Capt. 
Winslow being in the foremost Boat, and Sergeant Harvey 
in the other, there came a Flock of Fowl within Shot of Har- 
vy's, at which one of the Men imprudently made a shot, and 
knocked down a Fowl in the water. Harvey turning to take 
up the fowl, Capt. Winslow advised him that it was best he 
should not follow the fowl, but that they should keep together; 
for, said he, we know not what we may meet with before we 
reach the Fort. Harvey replied, 'Syr, if you will go easy 
upon your Oars, I will be presently up with you.' But fol- 
lowing the Fowl too long, and going too near one side of the 
River, the Indians let fly upon Harvy and killed three of his 
men. Serg. Harvy found himself obliged immediately to 
land ;* where he was quickly killed, and all the men with 
him except three of our Christian Indians that were with him 
in this expedition who found their way to escape and got safe 
into the Fort. Harvy fought with abundance of Courage; 
and so did the men that were with him. The Wolves found 
that they had Lyons to engage withal. When the Indians 
fired upon IJarvy, Capt. Winslow, though he had gone slowly 
on his oars, was got near half a mile ahead ; but seeing the 
Indians fire upon Harvy, his Manly, friendly, ingenuous; and 
courageous Heart could not bear to leave them in their dis- 
tress; but immediately put about his boat that he might 
hasten to their succor. Before he could get near them, he 
found himself surrounded with between 30 and 40 canoes 
whereof several had four or six men apiece aboard, which 
came off from both sides of the river and attacked him with 
great fury. They set up hideous Yelling and Howling, ex- 
pecting thereby to have daunted him, as to have taken our 



♦ Viz. : — on the eastern shore, says "Westbrook's letter to Governor in 
Secretary's Office, Boston. 



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36 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

small handful without much resistance. But in this their ex- 
pectation failed them ; for Capt. Winslow and his bt^ve hand- 
ful notwithstanding the Horror of their approach, and tho' so 
outnumbered and like to be overpowered by such a multitude 
of the Dragons of the Wilderness, made ready to give them 
a warm reception. The Indians enclosing of him with their 
canoes . . when ihey were almost aboard him, he fired upon 
them. Notwithstanding which, they came up to the sidea of 
his Boat where he and his few men defended themselves and 
beat off the Indians with the Butt-ends of their muskets. 
Thus they did with such . . resolution, that the Indians . . . ' 
fell off and fought at a distance. They were so struck with 
admiration of young Winslow's courage that they offered him 
Quarter if he would surrender himself and company ; But he 
refused it, knowing their tender mercies to be cruelties. . . . 
Thus he kept fighting in Jiis boat until the Dusk of evening, 
when, the most of his men being slain, he put ashore* with 
two or three that were left; where, being way-laid by the 
Indians, they were all cut off. We are told that he being 
shot down, and having his thigh broken, the Indians when 
they saw him fall ran towards him ; And yet then, he recov- 
ered on his other knee and shot down another Indian. How 
many of the Enemy fell in this engagement we can have yet 
no certain Accounts. Thus died a Valient, an accomplished, 
a Good-natured young Gentleman in the twenty-third year of 
his age. At the same time with him there fell Nathaniel 
Harvey, Ezra Briggs, John Dennis, John Lee, Joshua Ran- 
some, John Walker, John Allen, and six of our Cliristian ^ 
Indians.*' 

One of the three friendly Indians who escaped was Wm. 
Jeffries of Harwich, who in November, 1724, and again, 
November, 1725, petitioned the General Court, for relief; 
" being poor and miserable, shot through by the enemys in 
the left arm near the wrist," in this terrible encounter. Ten 
pounds were granted him the first year, five the next,t and 
like sums continued many years, probably till the time of his 
decease. 

A remarkable feature of the Indians' warfare this year 
was the naval force they acquired by seizing upon fishing- 
vessels, boats and shallops to the number of 22 sail, which 
for a time proved very troublesome. "A part of this fleet," 
says Williamson in his history of Maine, " proceeded up the 



* ** On the west side." "Westbrook's letter. 

t Massachusetts Journals of House of Representatives. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 37 

river St. George's once more fully determined to lay the fort 
in ashes. To effect their purpose, the savage crews filled a 
couple of their shallops with combustibles, which were set^n 
fire and urged so near the block-house that they would have 
communicated the flames had not individual exertion pre- 
vented. The enemy then offered favorable terms, if the gar- 
rison would surrender. But every lisp of the kind was 
promptly rejected ; and as they were utterly unable to take 
or destroy the fortification, either by force or stratagem, they 
retired without doing any considerable injury." The fort was 
now, or not long after, under the command of Capt. Smith, 
probably Thomas, another of the 20 associated proprietors of 
the patent. 

1725. The Indians becoming tired of the war, proffers 
of peace began to be made. Yet vengeful feelings were not 
imme4iately allayed, on either side. A violent assault by a 
scout from the garrison here, was made upon a party of 
Indians bound to the fort under a flag of truce. There was 
for a few minutes a smart combat, in which one of the scouts 
was killed and another wounded. Notwithstanding this and 
other outrages, a disposition for peace was so apparent in the 
Indians who appeared at the Fort here on the return of a 
hostage, named Saccaristiss, and held an interview with 
Lieut. Joseph Beane, an interpreter, that a conference was 
agreed upon. This was held at this place, July 2d, by 13 
of their chiefs and Messrs. Stoddard and Wainwright, who as 
commissioners of Massachusetts, were allowed £86, 17s. 3d., 
expenses hither; but it was adjourned to Boston. There, 
Nov. 10th, the Indians long insisted that the block-house here 
and that at Kennebec should be abandoned ; but this riot being 
acceded to, a treaty was finally concluded and the Indians 
pacified by a promise to open a truck or trading-house at the 
fort in this place, to be constantly supplied with goods to the 
amount of £700 for their supply in fair and honorable trade. 
This was done, in part at least ; and a Mr. Mountfort acted as 
truckmaster, or manager of the trade; whilst the coniman^ 
of the fort and garrison was, Dec. 13th, 1725, committed to 
Capt. John Gyles, a native of Pemaquid, well fitted for his 
station by his knowledge of the Indian tongue, acquired at an 
early age during a nine years' captivity. 

1726. At a ratification of this treaty at Falmouth, Aug, 
6th, the Indians earnestly desired that no liquor might be sold 
to their young men, and that the fgrt here should be aban- 
doned ; averring that the Penobscots had never sold any land, 
Madockawando not beings native of the tribe nor authorized 

Vol. I. 4 



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38 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

to sell any, and that the English had gained no possession 
here by settlement, — *' we remember a pretty while," said 
they, " and as long as we remember, the place where the gar- 
rison stjyids was filled with Great Long Grown Trees." But 
this point was at length given up, and this the easternmost 
garrison of Massachusetts, now become its settled possession, 
was henceforth supported at no little care and expejise. A 
constant supply of goods, suitable for the Indian trade, (con- 
sisting mostly of blankets, beads, knives, axes, tobacco, rum, 
meal, pork, and fish, particularly a small kind caught in har- 
bors called strouds,) was provided, to. be sold to the Indians 
at cost with additions to cover the expense of waste and trans- 
portation only, in order to withdraw them from the French 
trade and influence. Thfe goods were kept at the truck-house 
built within the fort and this year repaired at a cost of £41, 
3s. 6d. ; and, Dec. 31st, Capt. Thos. Smith was chosen Iruck- 
master with a salary of £120 per annum. Capt. Gyles re- 
mained in command of the garrison, also occasionally receiving 
pay as Indian interpreter at the rate of 40s. a month, which 
was, the next year, increased to £4 a month through the year, 
and, the following January, to £6, in consideration of his in- 
terpreting in the public negotiations as well as in the traffic 
at the truck-house. 

1727. The physical wants of the Indians being thus 
provided for, the attention of the Government was now 
directed to measures for their moral improvement as well as 
that of the garrison. Accordingly, Aug. 25th, 1727, Rev. 
Moses Hall was appointed a chaplain at St. George's Fort 
" for the instruction of the soldiers and such Indians as shall 
resort thither for supplies;" and £100 appear to have been 
voted him for twelve months' service. This gentleman, how- 
ever, did not remove to his post here till the following Jan- 
uary ; as, on the 2d of that month, on his memorial stating that 
he was about embarking, and requesting a bed, a table, and 
cjiairs, to make him comfortable, it was voted that the trea- 
surer supply the articles named for the chaplain's use. A 
physician also, by the name of Urian Angier, seems to have 
been here firom June, 1726, to July, 1727, probably sent 
down by the associated Proprietors, but whose- bill *' for Sun- 
dry Medicines and Cures administered to and performed by 
him on the Forces at the Truck-house," was allowed and paid 
by Government to the amount of £fi, 2s. 6d. 

Some dissatisfaction seems to have sprung up this y&ar be- 
tween Capt. Smith on the one side and the Indians on the 
other ; and perhaps, also, between jkim and Capt. Gyles and 



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ROCKLAND AND SOTJTH THOMASTON. 39 

tHe Government in Boston, notwithstanding Smith, in a letter 
to his son, April, 1727, says that "you may assure any one 
tHat we have not had the least angry word or difference since 
my arrival here," though admitting that a rumor of such dif- 
ference existed in Boston. In answer to a petition and in- 
quiry of his, it was voted that "the Memorialist" as well as 
all others, " be forbid to trust or give credit to the Indians 
for any goods sold them, on any pretence whatsoever," and 
that other persons at the garrison be forbidden to trade with 
them at all. The traffic must have been considerable ; as the 
General Court, at the same time, voted the truck-master a 
servant to assist therein ; parsimoniously covering the expense 
by the withdrawal of one of the garrison. About the same 
time. Gyles and Smith were jointly 'directed to make such re- 
pairs on the truck and block-houses as they should judge 
necessary. The Indians, at their conference with Gov. Dum- 
mer, whilst speaking well of Gyles and the former truck- 
master Mountfort, seem to have omitted all praise of Smith, 
and complained that the goods were locl^ up when the 
truck-master was absent. The papers containing these com- 
plaints were at their request sent to the House of Represen- 
tatives, Dec. 19th, referred to a committee, and, though no 
report appears, Samuel Wain^iright was, Dec. 27th, chosen 
truck-master for the ensuing year. 

At the same time, one Abraham Johnson, a boy who had 
been ransomed by the Government from Indian captivity, was 
at his request taken into the service at £4 a month, and sent 
to this post to aid the chaplain in Indian language and inter- 
course, and in return to be instructed by him '* in writing and 
cyphering." During the year 1727, there seems to have been 
paid to Capt. Gyles, for officers' and soldiers' pay, not far 
from £700. 

1728. Mr. Wain Wright having been at his request al- 
lowed a servant at sentinel's pay to aid in the truck-house, 
and the Rev. Mr. Hall, with^his pupil above mentioned, being 
arrived, together with the armorer or gunsmith promised by 
the Governor to the Indians the preceding year, Capt. Gyles 
informed the General Court that " sundry things are necessary 
for repairing the Truck-house, and also for conveniency of the 
lodgings of the chaplain, a shop for the Armourer, and half a 
barrel of powder for the use of the Block-house ;" all which 
were granted, Jan. 9th, and his account of disbursements, 
viz.: £20, lis. 2d., allowed July 29th. Thus provided, 
the little community here seems to have moved on smoothly 
and satisfactorily ; Capt. Gyles keeping up a frequent corres- 



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40 HISTORY op THOMASTON, 

pondence with the government at Boston, sometimes trans- 
mitting letters complimentary or diplomatic from Wenangonet 
and other sachems, and at other times giving his own views 
as to what was necessary to promote a good understanding 
and salutary intercourse. On the 28th of November of this 
year, he was commissioned as a Justice of the Peace, the first 
civil magistrate resident in the place. 

.1729. On the 28th August, he united with Capt. Heath 
of Fort Richmond on the Kennebec, in memorializing the 
government for the appointment of missionaries " to Gospel- 
lize said Indians ;" upon which a committee was appointed to 
seek out suitable persons to be stationed for that purpose at 
the two forts. From this it appears that Rev. Mr. Hall, the 
first Christian minister that ever exercised the sacred func- 
tions of his office within the limits of what was afterwards 
Thomaston, or any where on the banks of this river, had now 
departed; yearning probably for a more genial society and 
less lonely situation. His pupil, Abraham Johnson, was re- 
tained, however^s Indian interpreter ; receiving pay, as such, 
in lieu of Gyles. 

In the mean time, the associated proprietors of this, the 
Muscongus patent, were bestirring themselves, and hiad actu- 
ally engaged a minister of the gospel and 120 families to 
come here as settlers. But they were interrupted by the ad- 
verse claims of David Dunbar, who, as an Episcopalian hos- • 
tile to the puritans, had obtained a grant, or rather order for 
the management, of the Sagadahoc province extending fi:om 
the Kennebec to the St. Croix, and positively forbade them to 
make such settlements except on condition of receiving titles 
from him to the disparagement of their own. Samuel Waldo 
of Boston, a gentleman of good capacity and great activity, 
now about 34 years of age, having, by purchase or inheritance 
from his father Jonathan Waldo before named, a considerable 
interest in the Muscongus patent, was chpsen agent by the 
proprietors and sent to London ; ^ho, in connection with the 
agentTof Massachusetts, so perseveringly represented their re- 
spective claims that, Aug. 11th, 1731, a legal opinion was 
given in their favor; and. Col. Dunbar's authority being re- 
voked, the jurisdiction of Massachusetts and the Patentee's 
lyght of soil were each acknowledged and confirmed. On 
Waldo's return, the Thirty Proprietors joined in surrendering 
to him for hiff services one-half of the Patent. This half be- 
ing deducted from 600,000 acres, the estimated number in the 
whole patent, left 300,000 acres to the Thirty Associates, viz. : 
100,000 to the original Ten Associates, and 200,000 to the 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 41 

Twenty who were added under certain obligations for procur- 
ing settlements. From these obligations they were subse- 
quently released by Waldo, on their agreement to give up to 
him one-half of their share, and take their own 100,000 
acres in whatever part of the patent they should select. Their 
selection, long delayed, was made in 1766 ; and comprehended 
the present towns of Camden, Hope, and Appleton. In the 
mean time, President Leverett had died as early as 1724, 
leaving no male heirs; his share in the 100,000 acres of the 
Ten associates descended to his daughter, Mary Rogers ; and 
the . illustrious name of Leverett, though lingering for a 
time as the appellation of what is now called Jameson's Point, 
henceforth disappears from the transactions and land titles 
of the place. 

1730. On the 30th September, 1730, John Noyes, per- 
haps a son or other kinsman of Oliver Noyes, another of the 
20-associates, was appointed truck-master here ; and, in con- 
sequence of letters from Gapt. Gyles in August and Septenj- 
ber, respecting a chaplain, the House recommended that Rev. 
Thomas Pierpont should "accompany the Lieut. Governor 
and the other gentlemen going eastward to view the fortifica- 
tions" as their chaplain, on whos^ return they could better 
judge of the matter. But it seems that this recommendation 
was not complied* with, as Belcher Noyes was, Dec. 31st, al- 
lowed £13, 12s., as chaplain and surgeon of this excursion, 
which comprised eight gentlemen and two servants, making 
the whole expense £147, 10s. 

1731. This post, being the most eastern, was regarded 
as a shield of protection and had influence over the feebler 
tribes scattered along further westward; one of whom, Papa- 
powet, in 1731, petitioned the General Court through Capt. 
Gyles for a bounty of £4, for " killing a very large grown 
Wolfe at or near Sheepscote river ;" which however was re- 
fused. But, on another suggestion of Gyles, it was voted, 
that " forasmuch as transporting of wood for the garrison in 
the usual manner \^s found top difficult, the said Gyles have 
liberty, at charge of the province, to purchase one yoke of 
oxen, one cart, and sled, for that service, (the soldiers to cut 
and cart the wood, and get hay for keeping the oxen in the 
season thereof.") For doing this, the extensive salt and fresh 
meadows of the Wessaweskeag and Mill Rivers furnished' 
excellent fhcilities, and bad induced the introduction of neat 
cattle to the place by the Proprietors as before mentioned, 
who also allowed Capt. Gyles at this time to improve ten acres 
of the Wessaweskeag marsh, for his own use. The necessity 

4* m"^"^ 



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42 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

of carting fuel, on this the first wheeled vehicle ever intro- 
duced to the place, other than the gun carriages, shows that 
the forest had begun to recede, somewhat, from the walls of 
the fort. The House seems to haye been at length gratified 
by the appointment of their favorite, Thomas Pierpoint, as 
chaplain here, and voted, Aug. 10th, 1731, to allow him £10 
for supplying him with sundry conveniences. 

1732. This fi-ontier post was .this year honored by a visit 
of the Governor, Belcher; who, after listening to mutual 
complaints (which amounted on the part of the Indians to 
having had two of their dogs killed here for only barking at 
a cow, having no building to lodge in when coming here to 
trade, and having had ."sour meal and damnified tobacco" 
dealt out to them some years before in the absence of truck- 
master Wainwright, with the well founded and general com- 
plaint of too much rum furnished their people,) gave them 
assurances that all these causes of complaint should be re- 
moved; and on his return recommended to the legislature the 
re-building of the Fort here, then in a state of decay, — 
adding that good stone and lime abounded in its vicinity for 
that purpose. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 43 

CHAPTER IV. 

PERMANENT SETTLEMENTS AND SPANISH WAR. 

Peace was now well established and likely to continue. 
Samuel Waldo therefore having, as we have seen, now agreed 
with the other Proprietors, and obtained a title to five-sixths 
of the whole patent, was at length in exclusive possession of 
the lands on the St. George's and Medomac Rivers, and began 
the settlement here in good esumest. Having made experi- 
ments upon the lime-stone found near the river at what is 
now called the Prison quarry and finding it good, he caused 
a lime-kiln to be erected and lime burnt in considerable quan- • 
titles for the Boston market. This lime-kiln, the first in this 
region, stood on the eastern bank of the George's, nearly 
abreast of the present State Prison, between the lower toU 
bridge and the site of Mr. Paine's old store; where its re- 
mains are still to be seen. This, with another soon added, 
lower down, was built and the business managed by Robert 
Mclntyre, an emigrant from the north of Ireland, who may 
justly be considered the father of lime-burners in this quarter. 
He resided here till his death in 1750, when his widow ad- 
ministered on his estate and removed to Charlestown, Mass. 
He probably resided within the^fort, near which he was buried 
and his grave marked by a stone; — the desecration of which 
at a later period excited great indignation in one of his sons, 
Col. Wm. Mclntyre, who settled at Pemaquid. Mr. Waldo 
also began to make surveys about this time, and other prepa- 
rations for an extensive settlement which he intended to ex- 
tend up to the head waters of the river. 

1*735. These, with similar preparations in other places, 
excited the jealousy of the Indians; though all care was 
taken to appease their alarm and secure their friendship. It 
appears that the house they had asked for, to lodge in when 
coming* here to trade, had been built ; as Capt. Gyles in a 
memorial to the General Court, July 2, 1735, states that 
** sundry s are necessary for the Repairs of the Block-house, 
Truck-house, and Indian house, at St. George's river." The 
subject of these repairs was referred to the next sitting, and 
again in December to a subsequent one, although the Gover- 
nor reminded the Court that from the wretched condition of 
the post " your people, and the goods lodged there for the 
truck-trade, will* become an easy prey on the first rupture 
that may happen." This Indian-house was without doubt 



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44 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

located at some little distance from the fort, deeper within 
the forest ; and was probably the building afterwards used as 
a bam not far from the present Congregational meeting-house. 
On the 18th of April, 1735, this lonely pbst, — tenanted 
only by a handful of soldiers with the officers, truck-master, 
and servants, and visited only by the taciturn red-man with 
his packs of beaver skins, or a solitary sloop now and then 
coming up the river with a supply of goods, provisions, and 
news, — saw its monotony interrupted and changed to a scene 
of lively interest and activity. First came the Indian sachems 
with their attendants in gay and picturesque costumes, ap- 
proaching by the Mill River trail and emerging from the 
woods, or coming from the mouth of that river across the bay 
in a swift gliding fleet of birchen canoes. These being duly 
received and provided for, were met by the well-dressed and 
gentlemanly, but scrutinizing, busy, and energetic Waldo, 
with his retinue of employees, and some thirty or more sturdy 
emigrants seeking for a home in these western wilds who had 
been gathered from Falmouth, Pemaquid, and other places, — 
coming in crafts of a different description, whose white sails 
moved gracefully up the river and were furled in front of the 
fortress. This assemblage was pervaded by feelings as dif- 
ferent as were their several interests. Waldo on the one 
hand was eager for realizing by an extensive settlement a 
profitable return for his outlay, and perhaps ultimately erect- 
ing his estate here into an hereditary lordship. The Indians 
on their part, jealous of what they considered encroachments 
upon their rights, were firmly resolved to oppose and resist 
them; whilst the emigrants, who had many of them been 
long enough on this side the water to judge of the soil by the 
growth it had reared, approaching from the rock-bound and 
spruce- cov'fered sea-shore, beheld with delight the stately oaks 
and majestic pines covering the banks hereabouts, and were 
already anticipating the crops they were to raise and the 
homes they were to make beneath their gigantic shadows. 
Mr. Waldo's first care was to confer with the Indian^, and, 
by plausible explanations and arguments, interpreted by Capt. 
Gyles, persuade them of his good intentions and gain their 
acquiescence. In this, he apparently succeeded. His next 
business was to arrange a bargain with the emigrants ; which, 
after careful consideration on both sides, was on the 18th of 
April, O. S. (29th N. S.) concluded by an instrument in which 
the conditions of their settlement of the " Upper Town on 
the St. George's," as it was called, were carefully arranged 
and defined, as described in the Annals of Warren. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 45 

How long these pioneer settlers remained here at this time 
is uncertain ; but there is some reason to think that they staid 
a while, and, after fixing each man's location by a drawing of 
lots at Pemaquid, commenced felling the trees and making 
some progress toward building the little dwellings on their 
new farms ; as, on Waldo's return to Boston, in a bond which 
they seem to have exacted of him in the penal sum of £10,000 
for the performance of his part of the contract, dated July 
7th, they are named as already of St. George's River. This 
bond asserts that he had " complied with that part of his en- 
gagement as to the giving of deeds to the obligees for the lots 
first agreed for." Some of these deeds being dated on the 
l8th of June, and having been stipulated for as soon as the 
lots should be surveyed, we infer that they were first laid out 
in May or June of 1735. The survey, however, which was 
made by John North, was incomplete ; the boundaries at the 
river and the division lines a short distance, only, being 
marked. Of these fifty Upper Town lots thus contracted for 
and deeded, all but five were situated within the limits of the 
present town of Warren, whose history has been published. 
These five, since incorporated in the town of Thomaston, 
were those of John Alexander on the boundary line of War- 
ren, near to and often intersecting Oyster River, numbered 
in the old plan 46, now occupied by George Lermond, Esq., 
number 47, Henry Alexander, now that of Messrs. Wood- 
cock, Oliver, Cobb, &c. ; number 48, Moses Young, soon 
succeeded by John North, and now occupied by Capt. J. 8. 
Jeyler and others; number 49, Thomas Kilpatrick (or as 
written in the ' contract, Kirpatrick or Kirkpatrick) ; and 
number 50, John Kilpatrick; both of which together with 
their back lots subsequently passed into the hands of the 8 bib- 
les family, with \ihom much of it still remains. Kilpatrick's 
deed is here inserted as a specimen of those given and as one 
of the earliest conveyances of lands to an actual settler, in the 
place. It will be seen that though Waldo had contracted to 
give the lots " gratis, without any quitrent or acknowledge- 
ment," he did actually reserve a quitrent of one pepper com, 
which, however valueless, amounted to an acknowledgement, 
and %as probably intended to preserve a sort of titular lord- 
ship over the territory. 

** To aU Persona to whom these presents shaU comet Samuel Waldo of 

Boston, in the County of Suffolk, and Province of tlie Massachusetts 

Bay, in New England, merchant, sendeth Gbeetinq. 

" Whebeas Thomas Kirpatrick of Harrington, in the County of 

York, and Province aforesaid, tanner, hath agreed with the said 

Samuel Waldo to settle the lands herein after mentioned to be grant- 



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46 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

ed by these presents, in the manner following : — that is to say, to 
build thereon a dwelling house of eighteen feet square at the least 
. within six montlus from the date hereof, and continually dwell therein 
either in his own person or by a tenant the full term of three year s 
from building the same, and, within the space of two years next en- 
stiing the date hereof, clear and subdue four acres of said land ; now 
know ye, that in consideration thereof, and also of rent herein after 
reserved, the said Samuel Waldo hath given and granted and by these 
presents doth give and grant unto the said Thomas Kirpatrick, all 
that certain tract of upland situate lying and being at a place called 
St. George's River, in the Eastern parts of this Province,, containing 
ninety acres, being butted and bounded, viz. : — beginning at a stake 
on tlie Eastern side of the Western river so called, and thence running 
down said river forty rods to a stake ; and from said two stakes to 
run into ihe Country a course north 32** E. till ninety acres of upland 
and swamp be made up ; the said lot being number 49, and lies be- 
tween Moses Young and John Kirpatrick's lots, and the reversion and 
reversions, remainder and remainders thereof, and all the estate, right, 
title, inheritance, claim, and demand whatsoever of him, the said 
Samuel Waldo, of, in, and to the same. To have and -to hold the 
said ninety acres of land and premises herein before granted with all 
and singular the appur'ces unto the said Thomas Kirpatrick, his 
heirs and assigns, to the use and behoof of him, the said Thomas 
Kirpatrick, his heirs and assigns forever, yielding and paying there- 
for yearly and eyery year, on the twenty- ninth day of September, unto 
the said Samuel Waldo, his heirs and assigns, the rent of one Pepper 
corn, if the same shall be lawfully demanded ; Provided, always, 
nevertheless, and these presents axe upon thi? condition, that if the 
said Thomas Kirpatrick, his heirs and assigns, shall not build thereon 
a dwelling house of at least eighteen feet square within six months 
from the date hereof and [constantly] dwell therein, either in his own 
person or by a tenant, the full term of three years from building the 
same, and within the space of two years next ensuing, clear and sub- 
due four acres of said land, then in such case and immediately from 
and after the said Thomas Kirpatrick, his heirs and assigns, making 
default in any of the above named particulars to be done and per- 
formed on his and their part, the present deed and the estate hereby 
granted, shall cease, determine, and be void, and it shall and may be 
lawful to and for the said Samuel Waldo, his heirs and assigns, into 
the said ninety acres of land, or any part thereof in the name of the 
whole to re-enter and to hold the same as in his and their first and 
former estate before the making of these presents, any thing herein, 
contained to the contrary thereof in any wise notwithstanding ; and 
the said Samuel Waldo the aforesaid ninety acres of land and prem- 
ises hereby granted unto the said Thomas Kirpatrick, his heirs and 
assigns, against him, the said Samuel Waldo, his heirs and assigns, 
by these presents doth covenant forever to. warrant and defend. 

" In .witness whereof, the said Samuel Waldo hath hereunto #t his 
hand and s^al, the eighteenth day of June, in the ninth year of the 
reign of our Sovereign Lord George, by the Grace of God, of Great 
Britain, France, and Ireland, King, Defender of the Faith, &c., and 
in the year of our Lord Christ one thousand seven hundred and 
thirty-five. 



Signed, sealed, and delivered, in ^ --^^-- ^ . 

presence of Paul Gerrish, Sa'l Waldo. J Seal. > 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH TH0MA8T0N. 47 

"SupFOLK, 88. — Boston, July 8tli, 1735, Mr. Samuel Waldo per- 
sonally appearing, acknowledged the foregoing instrument to be his 
free act and deed. Coram, H. Hall, Jus. Pacis."* 

Besides and below the lots already mentioned, was a tract 
extending from the lowermost of them along the bank of the 
George's to the Eastern or Mill River branch, including the 
mill privilege, the land about the fort known as the Fort- 
farm, the lime-stone quarry at the present Prison, and the 
kilns at the river shore, all which, as well as the lime-quar- 
ries and mill sites generally, were reserved by the Proprie- 
tor for his own use or that of his tenants and employees. At 
this Mill River privilege, Mr. Waldo this season re-built the 
saw-mill, placing it at or near the site of Wheaton*s, now 
Counce's grist-mill. He was here, in person, again in Novem- 
ber, and held a second conference with the Indians, whom he 
thought well reconciled to his proceedings. 

1736. But, however unable to withstand his arguments 
and diplomatic skill, these simple denizens of the forest could 
not but understand the effect of what they saw with their 
eyes. Waldo's mill and dam at Mill River, together with 
the preparations for another at the upper falls in what is now 
Warren, they could not but foresee would wholly cut off or 
greatly interfere with their highly prized salmon, shad, and 
alewife fisheries. Accordingly, marking a tree on the shore 
at the head of tide waters on the present Crawford lot in 
Warren, they positively forbade all intrusions of the whites 
above it; and, sending a delegation to Boston, June 25th, 
1736, with Capt. Gyles for their interpreter, they represented 
to the General Court that they had never consented to let 
Englishmen build houses above the tide waters of the St. 
George's ; and yet Mr. Waldo and his people were encroach- 
ing upon Indians' lands and rights to a fearful extent ; and 
they could no longer endure the sight of such flagrant wrongs. 
In spite of the active opposition of Waldo, the report of a 
committee favorable to the Indians' claims was accepted, 
July 3d ; settlements farther up the river were forbidden till 
the lands were fairly purchased; presents worth £100 were 
sent to the tribe; and th^ delegates returned home well 
satisfied. Such was the general tranquillity after this, that 
the garrison here was reduced to one commissioned officer 
and ten sentinels. Capt. Gyles continued in command, and 
John Noyes was re-elected truck-master. 

♦ York Records, Register's Office, Book 22, page 156-7. 



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48 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

The five settlers included in this town, as well as their up 
river associates, with whom they continued to act, this year 
recommenced or continued clearing operations, secured hay, 
brought a ."few cattle probably froM Harrington, a name im- 
posed by Dunbar on Pemaquid now Bristol, and in the au- 
tumn removed their families to their new dwellings, or rather 
log cabins, in this wilderness which Thomaston still was in 
spite of the 106 years that had elapsed since the first trading- 
house was built on its soil. These, like those who came with 
them to what is now Warren, were all from the northern and 
Protestant portion of Ireland, and were, in that country, 
called Scotch, because they or their ancestors emigrated 
thither firom Scotland, but here, Irish or Scotch-Irish, 
though having little affinity with the native Celtic Irish, who 
are mostly of the Roman Catholic religion and speak a dif- 
ferent dialect. The Alexanders came from Londonderry in 
1719, with the first settlers of Londonderry in N. H. North 
had been employed as a surveyor at Pemaquid and Kennebec 
before coming here, and may have come over in 1718 with 
those of his coui^ymen brought by Robert Temple and 
located on the eastern side of the Kennebec River. It is not 
known, with certainty, from what place in Ireland the Kil- 
patricks came. The name seems to have been common in 
Colrain. There was among the early Scotch-Irish emigrants 
a Thomas Kilpa trick from that city who settled first in Wells 
and removed to Biddeford, where he died in 1762, at the age 
of 88 years, leaving one daughter and nine sons; but if it 
were true, as stated, that these " all lived to have families," 
those of the settlement here could not have been of that fam- 
ily, as they, viz. : Thomas, John, and Andrew, another 
brother who settled in what is now Warren, lived and diexl 
unmarried. Their sister Elizabeth, who came with them, ^nd 
kept house for her brother Thomas, had one child, John Shib- 
les, born at Pemaquid in 1732, whose father she had left in 
the old country, preferring to follow the fortunes of her three 
brothers in the new. She, (Miss Lizzie, as her brother al- 
ways called her,) was remembered by those living but a few 
years back, as a fine, well-bred l*dy, though then, aged and 
crippled from an injured hip. The birth of her son fixes the 
time of her arrival, and renders it probable that the family 
came over directly from Ireland and first landed at Pemaquid, 
about 1732. Her descendants are the only relics here, of 
this ancient family. The elder Alexander had both wife and 
children ; as it was his lady who, on her husband's election 
to the office of Captain in 1739, served up the boiled and 



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BOCKLAin) AND SOUTH TH0MA8T0N. 49 

buttered leaves instead of the broth made from a pound of tea 
assigned to the assembled women of the settlement whilst he 
outside of his log cabin was refreshing the men who had 
elected him with the gallon of rum, which, with the equally 
famed but here before unknown article of tea, he had pur- 
chased for the occasion at the truck-house. John Alexander 
appears to have had children, also, and both families removed 
or at least disappeared during or soon after the Indian war of 
1744 ; their posterity being found in Providence and Attle- 
boro', in 1780. Of Young nothing is positively known; but 
it is probable he removed or died early. John Young who 
settled above in Warren, perhaps a brother, seems to have 
come from Pennsylvania with his son-in-law Kelloch. 

Here then, in these five families, emigrants from green 
Erin or the brown heaths of Scotland, behold the infant 
Thomaston, yet unchristened, nursed by a wealthy patron 
and guarded by a dozen soldiers, quietly stretched in her 
cradle or reposing on the lap and nestling in the arms of the 
stronger settlement above. Children were probably born in 
these families; but as no recordIP remain and tradition is si- 
lent, it is impossible to teU which of them is entitled to the 
honor of being Thomaston*s first-bom. Since the Annals of 
Warren were published the true date of the birth of Archibald 
Robinson, the first white child born on the river, has been 
fixed by record evidence as Jan. 31, 1737, — ^^on a lot in the 
borders of Gushing and Warren. 

1740. From this circumstance it appears that Waldo* 
had located one settler, probably a few others, on the western 
bank below the Narrows, in Gushing and perhaps also 
on Watson's Point. Moses Robinson, father of the above 
named Archibald, having some knowledge of roots, herbs, 
and the use of the lancet, and hence called Doctor, resided 
there on the lot afterwards inherited by the said Archibald 
and his posterity ; although he also early took up a lot, num- 
ber 22, farther up the river in Warren, whither he removed 
and which still remains with his descendants there. Capt. 
Andrew Robinson, probably a brother of the doctor, was also 
here, employed about the government works. Gapt. Gyles 
was still in command of them; and, June 13th, 1740, on his 
petition to the General Gourt representing that " he had 
caught and caused to be killed three Grown Wolves within 
seven miles of the fort," was allowed the usual bounty of £4, 
old tenor, on each wolf. Other persons were employed here 
by Mr. Waldo, either in the manufacturing of lime, the cut- 
ting of lumber, and working the saw-mill, or in building a 
Vol. I. 6 



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50 raSTOBY OF THOMASTON, 

grist-mill, which he this year erected a littl^ above the present 
bridge at Oyster River, and the meeting-house which accord- 
ing to his contract he now built on the west bank of the 
George's, further up, in what is now Warren. This^ gende- 
man, having this year been appointed to the command of one 
of the two brigades into which the militia of York county, 
embracing the whole of Maine, was now divided, is hence- 
forth better known as Brigadier Waldo, and still resided in 
Boston.* 

Some apprehension of war being felt. Gov. Belcher repre- 
sented to the General Court that the works at this post, ac- 
cording to information received from Capt. Gyles and others, 
were too ruinous to be repaired, and earnestly recommended 
that a strong fortress should be built of stone and mortar; 
but the House dissented and asked him to put the same in a 
good defensible state by rebuilding with timber. This work 
was accordingly commenced under direction of Capt. Andrew 
Robinson, before mentioned ; who seems to have had the en- 
tire control of the business independent of Capt. Gyles, which 
perhaps gave rise to the tftdition of his having for a time 
commanded the garrison. The following letter of the Gover- 
nor may throw some light upon the matter. 

" Capt. Robinson, I have yours of the 9th inst., and am 
well pleased you are getting on with the repairs of the gar- 
rison and wharf. I have now wrote Capt. Gyles that he 
gives a general order for your having the oxen and gundola 
as often as you send for them and without delays, and that 
he should encourage the men to work at easy wages since 
they have the pay and subsistence of the Province, and in 
general to do all he can to forward the work, so you'll let me 
know; if he does not I shall take it ill, as I shall, very much 
so, if the men have any just cause to say they are hardly or 
unreasonably dealt by in any respect; perhaps ^t hey may 
complain without cause. 

" I depend you'll be so prudent while you are in the service 
as to make all things easy between you and the captain, for 
he must and shall be supported in his command. The sooner 
you can get the work completed the better — altho' there is 
no French war at present, yet we may hear so sooner than 
we expect. I am, Sir, your ready friend, J. Belcher. Boston, 
May 29th, 1741."t 



♦ Not removing to Falmotttht as stated in the Annals of Warren, p. 67. 
His son of the same name settled there ; which led to the error. 
t Original in Secretary's Office, Boston. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH TH0MA8T0N. 61 

1741-3. Mr. Noyes, having been to long annually 
elected to superintend the traffic with the Indians at this fort, 
was, July Slst, 1741, superseded by the election of John 
Dennis as' truck-master. The settlers here, fearing that 
Indian 'hostilities were about to ensue, (among other un- 
friendly s}nnptoms an ox belonging to one of the upper set- 
tlers having been killed by them,) took this year, 1741, the 
precaution to secure their possessions by getting their deeds, 
and also Waldo's contract for settling them, recorded in the 
register's office at York, the shire town of the county. About 
this time, also, Brigadier Waldo formed another settlement, 
called the Loweb Town of St. George's, on the western side 
of the river extending from the lot of Dr. Robinson before 
mentioned, quite down to the mouth of the river and shore of 
the ocean ; giving about 40 lots to as many settlers, on terms 
nearly or quite similar to those of the upper settlement. Of 
these forty, however, a considerable portion, like those in the 
upper settlement, were taken in behalf of children, or minors, 
reducing the number of families actually settled probably be- 
low thirty. These two settlements constituted the two towns 
which the Patentees had early contemplated, and which Brig. 
Waldo was now anxious to see incorporated as such. Ac- 
cordingly we find petitions to that effect, presented by him as 
"attorney to sundry inhabitants upon St. George's River," 
were, March 29th, 1742, considered by the General Court 
and referred to the next May session. But that body in those 
days was extremely cautious of incorporating new towns in 
remote places, without, being satisfied that the inhabitants 
were capable of defending themselves against Indian assaults, 
and of maintaining a gospel minister of the faith and order 
so zealously cherished by the parent colony; and, the ap- 
proaching war engrossing attention, nothing was done. 

Capt. Andrew Robinson, on the 2d of Jan., 1742, prayed 
that a committee of the General Court might be appointed to 
audit his accounts for work done here ; but, in the spring or 
summer of the same year, while still diligently employed in 
rebuilding the fort, he died of disease, and was buried near 
by. Gov. Shirley, with a committee in August, made a visit 
here and reported to the General Court, September 3d, that 
*' at St. George's I found the new Fort well piqueted and, so 
far as it was proceeded in, faithfully performed. Capt. Rob- 
inson who first undertook it being dead and considerable ma- 
terials being provided by him which was not used in his life- 
time, by the advice of the committee, and to save an expense 
which would have arisen by dismissing these workmen who 



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52 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

were well capable of compleating it, I ordered them to pro- 
ceed with all despatch in finishing the fortification, that (if 
possible) it may be perfected before winter." For this pur- 
pose, £300 were appropriated. The Governor afeo spoke in 
high terms of the lands about this river, ''as so rich and 
adapted to produce all kinds of grain, that, if well settled 
and cultivated, as they are now begun to be" they might be 
useful in supplying the Boston market. He also spoke of a 
conference which he held here with the Indians, who contrary 
to their former practice came with the British instead of the 
French colors at the bow of their canoejs, and appeared in 
favor of continuing at peace; and in compliance with their 
request he earnestly recommended that a truck-master should 
he appointed who understood their language, and that all at- 
tempts to encroach upon their rights and means of subsistence 
should be rigidly suppressed. Accordingly, on the 9th Sep- 
tember, 1742, Jabez Bradbury of Newbury, (a son of Wymond 
Bradbury, grandson on his mother's side of Rev. John Cotton 
of Plymouth, and great grandson of Rev. John Cotton of 
Boston,) now near fity years of age, and who had previously 
been truck-master at Fort Richmond, was chosen to that oi- 
fice here. Whether he was expert in the Indian language or 
not is doubtful. Joseph Beane, who had been an interpreter 
at different places for 17 years, was it seems at the fort here 
at this time, and June 4th, 1743, petitioned "in his advanced 
age" that his pay, £6 a month, might be enlarged. This was 
done, and £2, 10s. of the new emission currency, granted; 
and in a petition to the same effect the following year he is 
still styled " Indian interpreter of St. George's truck-house." 
The Governor reminded the General Court this year, June 
17th, that a considerable sum, £85, 7s. 8d., was still due the 
estate of Capt. Andrew Robinson for materials and work on 
the buildings at the fort, and that a further sum was wanting 
to complete the works. This having been referred to the 
next session and again urged by the Gpvemor, the Court ap- 
propriated £100 that the overseers of the work might com- 
plete the same before winter; and, Nov. 11th, an additional 
£100 was added. Bradbury also seems to have been' ap- 
pointed to succeed Capt. Gyles as commander of the garrison, 
which was now, 1743, increased by the addition of 13 men. 
In this garrison of 25 men, Wm. Lithgow was lieutenant and 
armorer. There does not appear to have been any surgeon 
or chaplain at the establishment ; as private John Davis, after 
being taken sick about the time of Robinson's decease, was 
carried to Boston for medical treatment and there died. The 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 53 

name of one other soldier, James Evans of Berwick, lias sur- 
vived the wreck of years, by means of a petition from that 
town that part of his wages might be withheld for the main- 
tenance of his idiot child there. Capt. Bradbury also held a 
justice's commission, as Capt. Gyles had before. The latter, 
when about giving up his command here of seventeen years 
continuance, petitioned, March 22d, 1742, that the General 
Court would allo^ his pay as Indian interpreter to continue 
during his life-time ; but this, after debate, was refused. He 
appears to have been a judicious and faithful oficer, pub- 
lished in 1736 a narrative of his captivity, and was living as 
late as 1753 in Roxbury, Mass. 

In 1743, a small settlement was made at Meduncook, noW 
Friendship, by emigrants of English extraction and puritan 
faith from Plymouth, Cape Elizabeth, and other western 
places. These, with the addition of others during the war 
that followed, amounted in 1754 to 22 families; viz.: — those 
of Samuel, Alexander, and Paul Jameson ; Abial and Sedate 
Wadsworth; Joshua Bradford; Zachariah, Griffith, Samuel, 
and John Davis; Mr. La wry; Wellington Gay and his two 
brothers; Capt. Gushing; Nat. Bartlett; John Demorse; 
John Bickmore; Cornelius Morton; and Elijah, James, and 
Zenas Cook. They first settled on the eastern side of the 
harbor, and, eleven years later at the commencement of the 
last Indian war, erected a block-house on the island, or penin- 
sula, of about eight acres, which still bears the name of Gar- 
rison Island. 

1744. France having joined with Spain in declaring war 
against England, March 15th, 1744, and Indian troubles be- 
coming imminent, preparations were made to strengthen the 
frontier posts and the settlers encouraged to remain and de- 
fend themselves. For this purpose town privileges were 
deemed necessary ; and we find, March 6th, " a petition of 
the settlers and inhabitants of the upper part of St. George's 
River, commonly called»LincoIn, containing seven and a half 
miles square, praying to be erected into a township." This 
was looked upon with favor ; but the Council and House dis- 
agreeing whether such town should be allowed a representa- 
tive or not, nothing was accomplished. Had this measure 
prevailed, the new town would have embraced what is now 
Warren and the greater part of Thomaston and Eockland. 

Great pains were taken to prevent the Penobscots from 

joining with the eastern Indians who had already commenced 

hostilities in Nova Scotia. At the same time the garrison 

here was increased to 40 men, and of the 100 scouts ordered 

5* 



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54 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

to be enlisted for the protection of the eastern frontier, during 
the winter of 1744-5, "fourteen at Capt. Vaughan's block- 
house (Damariscotta) were to scout to Broad Bay," (now 
Waldoboro',) "and 14 at the head of Broad Bay to scout to 
the block-house at St. George's River." The settlers here, 
under their captain, Henry Alexander, were taken mto the 
service and received pay from June 15th, 1744, to March let, 
1745; their wages amounting in all to £442, 9s, 2d.* 

1745. These scouts, June 14th, were ordered to be con- 
tinued till the first of November; but a committee of the 
General Court reported, June 22d, " that some of the officers 
and soldiers in the public service, especially at George's 
Jliver, (fee, have been very negligent as to scouting;" tbat 
some were not otherwise known to be in the service than by 
coming for their rations ; and that soldiers sent thither have 
been released for money, and the inhabitants of the place en- 
listed in their room " who have only followed their own pri- 
vate business." Thus early were jealousy and discontent 
manifested between the colony or its representatives on the 
one part, and those who enjoyed, even in this remote post, 
the pay and patronage of the royal governor, on the other. 

In the celebrated expedition of this year against Louisburg, 
in which Brigadier Waldo took a distinguished part, many of 
the settlers on this river enlisted ; and from this diminution 
of their numbers and the danger of Indian hostilities, be- 
coming every day more threatening, many others were in- 
duced to remove or take up their abode in the fort: Of 
those previously mentioned as settling in the limits of Thom- 
aston. North removed to Pemaquid, and took command of 
the fort there, occasionally acting as a surveyor.; Capt. Alex- 
ander, with some half dozen others from up the river, sought 
refuge with friends and countrymen in Massachusetts ; while 
Thomas Kilpatrick remained and united with others in ener- 
getic measures for the general defence. Independent of the 
Governmental establishment at the Fort, the inhabitants at 
their own expense built near the northern end of the present 
toll bridge a Block-house, so termed, constructed of heavy 
timber, with projections and loop-holes at each corner, plat- 
form and parapet i^ the roof, and other contrivances, by 
means of which a few men might repel the assaults of a much 
superior number. The command of this was assigned to 
Lieut. Benjamin Burton of this river, immediately on his re- 
turn hither from the capture of Louisburg, which took place 

♦ Council Records. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 55 

June 16th of this year, and in which he had acquired consid- 
erable credit. His father, as it is said, but more probably 
grandfather, a native of Wales, was in CromwelFs army when 
lie reduced Ireland to subjection under the Commonwealth. 
At the close of that war, he probably settled in the northern 
part of that island. At any rate, our Lieut. Benjamin Bur- 
ton, his descendant, had seen in that country Waldo's adver- 
tisement, or proclamation as it was called, offering lands in 
the Waldo patent to actual settlers without price, and, at the 
age of 21 years, induced his father to embark with him and 
many others for this country. All of them, except the old 
gentleman his father, who died on the passage, arrived safely 
and landed at St. George's River in 1736. Finding employ- 
ment here, or spending a time in examining other localities 
settled by their countrymen, they finally joined with others 
in settling the Lower town of St. George's, (now Gushing,) 
in 1741 as before mentioned. How many men Lieut. Bur- 
ton, or Captain, as he began to be styled, had under him at 
this time is uncertain ; the number probably differing at dif- 
ferent times according to the danger apprehended. 

These preparations were not made too soon ; as the Indians, 
exasperated by th^ recent liOuisburg victory over their French 
allies, on the 19th of July made a furious attack on the 
place. Gov. Shirley, in his message of July 22d, says '*on 
Saturday evening last I received an account from Capt. Brad- 
bury of a great number of Indians attacking the Fort at St. 
George's River, burning several houses on that river, l^illing 
a great number of cattle, and killing or taking one of the in- 
habitants." The saw-mill at Mill River, and one of the 
block-houses were also set on fire ; but little impression was 
made on the garrisons. Shirley also wrote to Capt. Thomas 
Sanders, then in command of the Province sloop-of-war 
" Massachusetts," under 'date of July 20th, " I have just re- 
ceived advice by a letter from Capt. Bradbury, that the 
Indians in a body of about saventy attacked them at St. 
Georg^, and took or killed one man, and killed fifty or sixty 
head of cattle, besides hogs and horses. You must therefore 
come without a. moment's delay, and get your full comple- 
ment of men to sail forthwith to the Eastward. Mr. Wheel- 
wright tells me your sloop is ready with everything on board. 
Fail not, by any means." This Capt. Sanders, a native of 
Gloucester, had distinguished himself in the Louisburg expe- 
dition as commander of the transports, and was now retained 
in command of the sloop, as his father of the same name had 



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56 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

long been before him.* The two probably often accompanied 
each other; and on one occasion during this war, probably 
about this time, having anchored off Owl's Head, the son was 
decoyed on shore by an Indian, surrounded by a party in 
ambush and taken prisoner. He was however brought to the 
Fort here and ransomed for about ^200 by his father who 
had already arrived there, but on the condition that the pris- 
oner would accompany his captor a sufficient distance to pro- 
tect him from scouting parties. Sanders went with him, 
keeping the money in his possession, as far as Camden. 
There, requesting to be discharged, and the Indian not con- 
senting, he began to suspect him of bad faith. Without be- 
traying his suspicions, however, he accompanied him on to 
Ducktrap, where, reouesting the Indian's gun to shoot at 
some ducks in sight, ne received it, and, on pretence of get- 
ting nearer them, gradually receded from the Indian, took to 
his heels, and fled homeward. Somewhat encumbered by the 
money, in his flight, he hastily concealed it under a root of a 
tree, and arrived safe at the fort. Some fifteen years later, 
in one of his eastern voyages when becalmed off* the place, 
he went on shore and recovered his deposit. f 

The Indians who made this attack on the fort were sup- 
posed to be from Canada, Cape Sable, and St. Johns, assisted 
probably by a few Penobscots ; and demands were immedi- 
ately made upon the latter, through Capt. Bradbury, to de- 
liver up within a fortnight those of their tribe concerned in 
this outrage, or war would be declared against them, *' only 
giving liberty, for 14 days, to such as shall be iso inclined, to 
come and live with us." This demand not being complied 
with, war, usually denominated the Spanish or 5th Indian^ 
was, Aug. 23d, declared against all the Eastern tribes ; and 
large bounties (viz.: £100 to paid soldiers, and £400 to un- 
paid volunteers) were offered for every Indian captive or 
scalp. 



* Thomas Sanders was one of the early settlers of Gloucester, Mass., 
and there was a Thomas for six successive generations in the family. 
Dvirelling houses built by six different generations of the family, three m 
Gloucester, and three in Salem, were in 1853 still standing and in good 
order. Rev. J. L. Sibley, Librarian of Harvard College. 

t This account, which differs in many respects from that in the Annals 
of Warren, was prepared for that work, but was mislaid before it went to 

{>ress, and not found till some ten years after. It was prepared on the re- 
iable authority of Wm. Lermond, who was a boy in his tenth year, re- 
siding at the fort when the money was found, and whose recollection of 
the circumstances as he heard them there talked over, was much more 
clear and corroborated by other events, than that of the aged lady from 
whom the first account was received. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 57 

Nevertheless, a large body of the Tarratines x>r Penobscots, 
|Mx>bably not aware of the declaration, encamped at the Wes- 
saweskeag Marsh ; from whom four of the principal chiefs, 
who had assumed English military titles, proceeded, Sept. 
6th, to visit the Fort for the purpose of procuring ammuni- 
tion. Bradbury, not feeling justified in detaining these men 
as captives, inasmuch as the 14 days allowed them to come in 
peaceably to live with us had not expired, and they seemed 
ignorant of their danger, told them on leaving to return di- 
rectly to their companions without the least delay, or they 
were dead men. But, either through fatigue, or more proba- 
bly an intemperate use of ardent spirits, they encamped on 
the margin of Mill River for the night. Being informed of 
the visit, Capt. Burton and Lieut. Proctor of the militia, with 
a band of 19 men, pursued and found them in their camp. 
One of the four red-men, whose name is not recollected, hav- 
ing stepped down to the river for water, escaped ; but Burton, 
with a single stroke of his sword, cut off the head of another 
called Col. Morris; Capt. Sam was despatched by Proctor, 
or some of the party ; and Col. Job was taken prisoner.* 

Whether any bounty was ever received for this hasty and 
inconsiderate act, is doubtful ; as Gov. Phips, in a communi- 
cation to the General Court, Dec. 25th, says, "about 14 days 
since, sundry persons came up from St. George's with the 
scalps of two Penobscot Indians which they had killed, and 
one of that tribe they had taken captive, with an expectation 
to receive the bounty for them; but the circumstances at- 
tending this affair . . . were such as rendered it necessary 
to defer granting the bounty till we can be more perfecdy in- 
formed." Some of the settlers here, regretted the event, so 
early in the war and so exasperating to the Penobscots ; others 
rejoiced, especially at the death of Morris, who had been " a 
great terror to them." His son, in revenge for his father's 
death, frequently, after the peace, threatened to kill Burton, 
but found no opportunity. The captive. Job, died in Boston ; 
and government, to appease his kindred, made his squaw a 
valuable present after the peace, viz.: — a 7-8th blanket.f 

1746. Retaliation for this Indian blood spilled by those 
of the block-house, soon followed upon the denizens of the 
Fort. On the 22d of May, thirteen men being sent about 
half a gun-shot from the latter to strip some bark for the 

* Narrative of Col. B. Burton found in the MSS. of the late Hon. 
Wm. D. Williamson, now in possession of his nephew, Hon. Jos. Wil- 
liamson of Belfast. 

t House Journals, Jan. 5, 1750. 



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58 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

preservation of the whale-boats, and a part of them having 
strayed from the rest and carelessly laid down their arms, 
seven or eight Indians suddenly sprung up from their con- 
cealment, got between the men and their weapons which 
they seized and commenced a brisk fire, killing one man, 
Eliakim Hunt; wounding four; and taking one, Timothy 
Cummings, prisoner. This fire was returned by such of our 
men as retained their arms, and soon after by the whole gar- 
rison. The party made good their retreat into the fort, ex- 
cept one man, who, retarded by age and closely pursued by 
an Indian, suddenly turned and shot him dead whilst in the 
act of raising his tomahawk to despatch him. The fire of 
the garrison was so sharp as to deter the other Indians from 
coming up, and the old man stopped long enough to scalp his 
victim. Another Indian fell at the first onset, and was car- 
ried away by his companions, who, from the traces of blood 
on their retreat, were supposed to have had others wounded. 

1747. The garrison was now strengthened; and the 
General Court, which had the preceding November voted 
** that the Officer at East-George's be directed to make up in 
his Muster-Roll the twenty inhabitants there, as usual," or- 
dered, April 1st, 1747, that, in addition to the garrison at 
this fort " pay and subsistence be allowed to thirty men at 
the Block-house near." A petition, however, for similar pro- 
tection of the inhabitants at Pleasant Point and places ad- 
jacent, was dismissed. A company of volunteers under Capt. 
Wm. Lithgow, who had been serving as scouts in the woods 
hereabouts, during the winter and summer of this year, were, 
September 2d, allowed pay by the General Court. Brigadier 
Wal^o, who was ordered to detach for the eastern service a 
portion of his regiment raised for a contemplated expedition 
against Crown Point and Canada, seems to have projected 
some important enterprise against the Indians in this quarter ; 
as the House voted, September 2d, that such " expedition be 
encouraged, and that ten whale-boats be procured at the 
charge of the Province and delivered to him for the use of 
said forces ; the expense to be deducted out of the bounties 
on scalps and captives." The Province sloop was kept rang- 
ing the coast, occasionally coming up George's River and 
supplying provisions to the garrisons in the Fort and Block- 
house, which now probably contained all the settlers and 
their families remaining on the river, except those who took 
refuge in Thomas Henderson's fort at Pleasant Point near its 
mouth. 

We have no traditions of the result of this expedition of 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 59 

Waldo's ; but it would seem that the following persons from 
Bradbury's garrison here, had been enlisted into the above 
named regiment, viz. : — " Able Eton, Jeremy Griffin, Samp- 
son Greenile, Joseph Robinson, John Kenny, Chasels Leurs, 
Jona. Nickels, and Jonathan Page." With this detachment 
came James Oliver of Boston as its surgeon; but Dr. Moses 
Kobinson seems to have been the stationary physician at the 
fort, as his account for medicine, administered to sundry sick 
persons there, was presented in the following April. It was 
about this time, also, that the Rev. Robert Rutherford came 
to the place, and officiated as chaplain of the fort. But his 
petition of June 2d, " praying that he may be allowed a suita- 
ble sum for his necessary expenses at his Table," was dis- 
missed by the General Court. The services of this worthy 
and educated man, of the same race, country, and Presby- 
terian faith, with most of the settlers, were duly appreciated 
and very acceptable here. But perhaps his being a Presby- 
terian, as well as the intimate friend and agent of the obnox- 
ious Col. and Gov. Dunbar, operated to his prejudice and 
caused his petition to be rejected. He had come over with 
that official in 1729, had preached at Pemaquid, Brunswick, 
and Georgetown, enduring many hardships in his travels from 
post to post as a missionary in the wilderness, and, on the 
marriage of Dunbar's widow to Capt. Henderson, had found 
his way hither. Here he remained nine years, preaching to 
the people and garrison, till 1756; when he died at the age 
of sixty-eight, in the fort, near which his remains were in- 
terred and a stone erected to his memory, which is or lately 
was to be seen among the mournful ruins around the Knox 
mansion. 

Unawed by the various plans and preparations against 
them, early in September of this year, 1747, a large body of 
Indians, with some French, laid siege to the fort here for 
some time. .They made two attempts to form a subterranean 
passage from the bank of the river to get under the fort on 
the eastern side, where the distance was about ten rods. In 
one place they had proceeded nearly half that space when the 
earth broke in; and the tradition is, that many Indians were 
at work within at the time, and were killed and buried be- 
neath the mass. But this seems hardly probable, as the 
caving in of the earth was said to be occasioned by a heavy 
rain which fell at the time, and no human bones have been 
found, to the knowledge of the writer, by modern explorers. 
In the other place a few rods distant from the first, along the 
bank, they had excavated but a rod or two, when it was 



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60 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

abandoned; and they were obliged to move off without eflfect- 
ing anything. The trenches which marked the places where 
these attempts were made, remained plainly to be seen and 
familiar to the inhabitants of Thomaston a hundred years 
afterwards ; and it is said that Indian knives and other imple- 
ments were frequently found there by the early settlers. 

Straggling parties of the enemy contmued to lurk in the 
woods. David Creighton, one of the upper settlers, and 
some others going out a little distance from the fort, were 
fired upon, killed, and scalped, the former at or near the 
place since occupied by Fort wharf. A soldier by the name 
of Vass or Voss, was also killed this year in this or some 
other encounter with the Indians here, and his mother, Eliza- 
beth Vass of St. George's, some years later, petitioned that 
she, being the only heir, might receive the wages due to hier 
son without the expense of administration, including a long 
journey to York the shire town. 

Possibly it was also in this party, though it may have been 
later even in the war of 1756, that one McDougle, a gun- 
smith, was killed. His services being indispensable to the 
garrison, he was not allowed to go out on the volunteer scout- 
ing parties which occasionally went from the fort and block- 
house ; but after much importunity he obtained leave to do 
so, for once only. Having shaved his head to prevent being 
caught or scalped, he made use of his privilege, went out 
with a party, feU into an ambush, and was slain. He left 
two daughters, whose posterity still remain here, in the Spear 
and Smith families. Others were taken captive, and carried 
to Canada. After the siege in September of this year, the 
force at this post was increased, October 1 7th, to seventy men 
for the fort and block-house together. Sundry repairs, also, 
were made on the works, to the amount of £225, 19s. 6d., 
old tenor.* 

1748. On the 27th of April of this year, one of the 
garrison, Presbury Woolen of Sandwich, " was captivated by 
an Indian enemy and carried to Canada, and returned thence 
the 5th October, having suflfered great hardships therein."! 
This, however, was the last hostile act at this place that we 
hear of in this war; as, July 2d, 1748, the joyful news ar- 
rived at Falmouth that the contending powers had agreed up- 
on the preliminaries of peace, though the definitive treaty was 



♦ Mr. Leonard Smith ; The Spear and Smith records ; Journals of the 
House, &c. 
t His petition for aUowance, &c., House Journals. 



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BOCKLANB AND SOUTH THOBfASTON. 61 

not signed at Aix-la-Ckapelle till the 7th of October. In 
congequence, less danger was apprehended from the Indians ; 
aad, November 4th, the garrison here was reduced to thirty 
men at the fort and fifteen at the block-house. 

1749. On the 6th' April, Gov. Shirley informed the 
House that, " by my last advices from Capt. Bradbury, I per- 
ceive that the Indiai& are still disposed to peace smd are de- 
sirous that some of their chiefs should treat with me here for 
that purpose; and I shall therefore order Capt. Saunders, 
who will sail from hence in a few days, to bring some of them 
up hither at his return.*' This was done, and they arrived in 
Boston June 17th, where their friendly professions were fa- 
vorably received. They were promised that a supply of goods 
should be kept for sale to them both here and at Fort Rich- 
mond; axid, October 16th, the former treaty was renewed 
and signed at Falmouth. «Confidence in their peaceable dis- 
position was so strong Uiat, August 10 th, the garrison was 
still further reduced to twenty men at the truck-house and ten 
at the block-house. To these, at the earnest request of the 
Indians, was added not long after an armorer or gunsmith, 
an office which had probably remained vacant since the death 
of McDougle. 

Peace being now firmly established, the settlers that had 
gathered here and so long lived at the fort and block-house, 
came out with their families and scattered to their several 
farms up the river ot down it to the Lower Town ; leaving 
what is now Thomaston comparatively deserted and desolate. 
The two mills, together with most of the log-houses and 
other buildings here, except the barracks and truck-house in 
the Fort and Block-house, had been destroyed and were now 
to be rebuilt. But many of their former occupants, having 
formed other connections in safer and better settled localities, 
returned no more. Among those remaining, was Thomas Kil- 
patrick, who about this time was selected as a suitable per- 
son to command the militia of the Upper Town ; and he was 
accordingly commissioned as their captain. Patrick Porter- 
field, who came from Falmouth, but at what time is uncer- 
tain, is said to have been lieutenant under him. He had 
been, probably, in service at the Fort or Block-house, and 
ultimately purchased the farm of John North, and lived at first 
in that gentleman's old log-house near the river. The latter, 
on leaving his command at Pemaquid, returned here, although 
often absent, surveying lands at Kennebec and Pemaquid; 
and his and Kilpatrick's log-houses again arose, the humble 
pioneer dwellings in the future Thomaston. 
Vol. I. 6 



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62 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

Fishermen, and private traders with the Indians, now re- 
turned to the coast; many of them temporarily or perma- 
nently occupying favorable stations on the islands or maiti 
land. Among others, Ebenezer Thorndike from Beverly, one 
of the 20-associates, took possession of a site in the still un- 
broken forest below the mouth of the Wessaweskeag, and, 
the following year, 1750, measured off for himself, or took wp^ 
as the phrase is, 600 acres of land on boih sides of the line 
between the present towns of South Thomaston and St. George. 
Here he put up some rude buildings; manufactured salt; 
carried on the fishery, — catching salmon in the mouth of the 
Wessaweskeag and drying his nets on the small island, still 
called, from him, Eben's Island; planted a garden; and oc- 
cupied his possessicm at intervals at least, but without re- 
moving his family from Cape Elizabeth where he had resided. 
He was engaged in the Indian tradfe, and took from the tribe, 
the same year, 1750, a lease for 99 years, of Matinic Island, 
which he cultivated as a farm and of which he maintained 
possession uninterrupted except by the British toward the 
close of the Revolution. A portion of Matinic is still owned 
by his descendants. The French and Indian war coming on, 
his business on the main land was interrupted four years 
later, but resumed again on the return of peace. In one of 
his trading excursions up the Penobscot Bay, with his young 
son, Joshua, on board the small craft in which he traded, a 
number of moose were discovered on shore; and the party 
landing to secure some of them, found a young one so small 
and feeble as to be easily captured and carried on board. 
This, the boy fed with milk or such substitute for it as he 
could obtain ; till, going ashore with the rest one hot sum- 
mer's day, and leaving his little pet in the boat with no sails 
spread, or other shelter from the scorching rays of the sun, 
to his great grief and surprise he, on his return, found it 
dead.* 

* Hon. George Thorndike, Capt. Joshua Thorndike, Mrs. Martin, Ac. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 



CHAPTER V. 

COinCENCBMENT AND INCIDENTS OF THE SIXTH AND LAST 
INDIA.N OR FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR. 

1751. The garrison here having now been reduced to 
sixteen men, with one captain, one sergeant, and an armorer, 
and considerable alarm having been excited in consequence 
of the murder of an Indian in an affray at Wiscasset in 1750, 
Capt, Bradbury petitioned, January 29th, 1751, for an in- 
crease of the garrison; and an addition of four effective men 
was accordingly voted. The Penobscots however remained 
friendly ; and sagamores from that and other eastern tribes 
met the government commissioners at this place, August 3d, 
and gave the fullest assurances of amity ; at which time the 
aged Joseph Beane was still here as interpreter. 

1752. The Indian traffic being now revived, Capt. Brad- 
bury was, June 3d, chosen truck-master, and so continued 
till that office and all further trade was broken up by the suc- 
ceeding war. Some discontent still remaining, a grand con- 
ference was proposed to be held at this place ; and, in June, 
six hogsheads of bread and six barrels of pork were sent here 
for the use of the Indians, if any should come in and await 
government advices. At length, October 20th, four commis- 
sioners were met here by Sagamores from all the eastern 
tribes except the Mickmacs of Nova Scotia and those of St. 
Francois in Canada. Col. Louis, a Penobscot chief, in be- 
half of the rest, expressed his joy at this meeting for the 
preservation of peace. In order to bury the mischief that is 
past, he said, we must proceed upon Dummer's treaty, by 
which the English were to inhabit as far as the salt-water 
flowed, and the Indians to ha^ the rest. If we are not dis- 
turbed in our right, it will end in peace ; otherwise '* it would 
set all these lands on fire." He went on to express his ap- 
probation of the commander and truck-master, but complained 
that the prices of goods were higher than at Albany, whither 
some of their tribe went to traffic ; and that too much rum 
was dealt out to their women and young men, to the former 
of whom they wished none to be given, and only moderate 
quantities to the latter. They also requested that a house 
might be built for them to lodge in, near the mill, a bridge 
made across the stream there, and a causeway over the long 
meadow adjacent. The commissioners endeavored to satisfy 
them on all these points, promising compliance, so far as 



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64 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

practicable, with their requests. Louis also complained that 
" one Hall and family who live at Matinicus interrupt us in 
our killing seals and in our fowling ; they have «o right to 
be there ; the land is our own." Complaints were made by 
and against some of the other tribes; but, after mutual ex- 
planations and promises, all appeared satisfied ; and the pro- 
visions of Dummer's treaty were solemnly renewed, a salute 
fired from the guns of the fort and the Province sloop, and 
three loud huzzas given by both English and Indians. The 
next day, presents were distributed, belts of wampum deliv- 
ered, an ox given them for a feast, and they mutually took 
leave and departed. The ratification was executed under 
seal and witnessed by 32 persons, among whom were Rev. 
R. Rutherford, chaplain, Jabez Bradbury, captain, Thomas 
Fletcher, Jos. Robinson, son of the doctor, Thos. Kilpatrick, 
and his nephew John Shibles, Benj. Burton, David Kelloch, 
Moses Robinson, and John XJlmer, — probably the first of 
that name, his son who afterwards settled in Rockland being 
at this time but 14 years old. 

In January of this year, what was called the New Style 
was adopted by act of Parliament, extending to all the British 
dominions; — by which eleven days were to be expunged 
from the calendar, and the 3d of September, 1752, be reck- 
oned the 14th, in order to correspond with the seasons of the 
year which had gradually got in advance. The beginning of 
the year was at the same time changed fi:om March 25th to 
January 1st; and consequently it became necessary in many 
instances to designate dates by O. S. for old style, N. S. new 
style. 

1753. This year there anrived in the place the some-v 
what numerous family of Capt. William Watson, one of the 
emigrants from the North of Ireland, who had been for some 
time a resident of Falmouth and Scarboro' ; where, as com- 
mander of a wood-coaster, he became acquainted among other 
parts of the coast with this river and its maritime advantages. 
Purchasing the title of a former occupant to the beautiful 
tract of land which still bears the name of Watson's Point, 
on the right bank of the George's near the present lower toll- 
bridge, he built a house and removed his family fronTScar- 
boro', — landing at this place from his sloop on the 26th of 
August, 1753. The war coming on, his family probably re- 
turned to Scarboro', where and at this place he and his sons 
continued coasting. After the war, they returned to the 
Point; on which he and his surviving sons, William and 
James, commenced and carried on with energy and success 



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ROCKLAND AIH) SOUTQ TH0MA8T0N. $5 

farming, lumbering, and coasting, with other kinds of bu$i« 
ness, for many years; and the property to a great extent 
still remains with their posterity. 

An Indian conference, similar to that of 1752, was held 
here, September 20th, so largely attended that the talk was 
held at a large table in the open air near the fort, where, after 
mutual explanations and .assurances, the treaty was ratified 
and signed by thirty or more of then: chiefs ; presents were 
made them by the commissioners ; a dance was performed by 
the young Indians ; and the conference ended by drinking the 
health of King George, and wishing the peace might continue 
** as long as the sun and moon shall endure." 

1754. Human resolutions, however, are less enduring 
than the heavenly bodies. Waldo continuing to enlarge his 
settlements by the Germans at Broad Bay and the Scottish 
c^ony now settled at their forest city named Stirling in the 
present town of Warren,* gave great offence to the ever 
watchful Tarratines, who regarded them as being above the 
tide waters so tenaciously insisted on as the limits of the land 
purchased of Madockawando. This and other causes of com- 
plaint were made use of by French agents and missionaries 
to alienate their minds and encourage new aggressions against 
their English neighbors. These symptoms of disaffection 
caused new measures to be adopted for the defence of the 
frontier. On the 4th of January, 1754, a committee of the 
House of Representatives reported "that the walls of the 
truck-house at St. George's River be forthwith repaired, and 
shingled or clapboarded on the out and inside, as shall be 
thought best, — that there be two good Cohorns with a suffi- 
cient number of shott and shells ; and that a sufficient num- 
ber of wheels of Cast iron be procured for the cannon;" 
adding that for this purpose they " found a considerable num- 
ber of old guns at St. George's, Richmond, and Castle Wil- 
Bam." These cohorns were small mortars for throwing 
shells, and, besides these, a dozen or more of iron cannon 
were mounted on the fort or on an outwork at the water's 
edge connected with it by a covered way and completely 
commanding the river. The body of the fort was about 100 
feet square, constructed of the largest sized trees, hewn about 
twenty inches square, and laid solid about sixteen feet high ; 
with flankers or projections at the angles, and loop-holes for 
guarding the sides and annoying assailants in flank. This is 

* Not Brittolf whither Mr. Sewall has miraculously transferred it, in 
his " Ancient Dominions of Maine," page 284. 

6* 



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66 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

described to have been about 200 feet from the water ; and 
occupied nearly the same situation as the present Knox man- 
sion, but nearer the river. Within, around the sides of this 
main body of the fort, were the barracks for the soldiers and 
dwellings for the settlers who now again looked thither for 
refuge. These were also built of solid timber let into the 
walls of the fort, twenty feet square, and, some of them at 
least, two stories high, — each accommodating one or more 
families. In the centre of the fort was a good well, which 
afforded an ample supply of water for all within. The out- 
work at the water's edge and the covered way leading to it, 
were also of solid timber, with a small wharf in front. 

The Block-house before described, at the foot of what is 
now Wadsworth Street, was also amplified, and consisted of 
two paraUel rows of these dwellings or barracks, — the whole 
surrounded by a strong palisade, made by driving posts ten 
feet high into the ground as thick as they could stand to- 
gether. Besides this, Capt. Thomas Kilpatrick constructed 
at his own shore, near the head of the Narrows, a similar 
Block-house, of ample dimensions to accommodate the fami- 
lies of those who chose to put themselves under his com- 
mand, or were obliged to do so by the militia regulations 
then in force under which he was.now. captain. The remains 
of this stronghold are still to be seen on the land of Capt. 
Simon M. Shibles about eighty rods from the river. All 
these were in the present limits of Thomaston, and so situated 
as to be within sight and to exchange signals with each other. 
Several others were built ; one toward the close of the war 
on McDowell's hill upon the present farm of Geo. Lermond, 
now used as a private burying-ground ; one at Pleasant Point 
by Henderson; and one of stone in the present town of 
Gushing by Capt. Burton, who at the close of the Spanish 
war had settled there about 1750-1. Being a man of fore- 
cast, and not believing the peace would be very lasting, he, in 
1753, judiciously and strongly built and fortified his dwelling- 
house ; which, serving as it did for a place of refuge to the 
neighbors, and a small garrison being for a while under pay 
there, acquired the name of the Stone Garrison House or 
Burton's Fort; — the remains of which, degraded into a hog- 
pen, are still to be seen in or near the spot. 

The sixth and last Indian war, which, from the part that 
the French at first secretly and afterwards openly took in it, 
is usually denominated the French, or French and Indian^ 
war, having been commenced by an Indian attack on the new 
fort at Kennebec, the alarm was general; and most of the 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 57 

settlers took refuge in the garrisons, passing the winter in 
fearful anxiety. 

All there was of Thomaston, at this time, consisted of the 
fort and block-houses along the river; a cleared space in their 
rear widening during the war and extending before its close 
firom the present burying-ground to the Prison quarry, backed 
by an unbroken forest of heavy growth interrupted only by 
the narrow glades at the fresh Meadows of Mill Riv6r and 
salt Marsh of the Wessaweskeag ; a large barn standing at 
some little distance north-easterly from the fort near where 
the Congregational meeting-house now stands ; a log school- 
house on the bank between the fort and block-house ; and a 
few deserted log-houses farther up, toward Oyster River and 
on Watson's Point. Lime burning had been continued, up 
to the present time, by the proprietor Brigadier Waldo ; the 
rock being dug at the before mentioned and only quarry then 
opened, and burnt at four small kilns near the block-house, 
where was also a small wharf and lime-store, from which two 
sloops were kept constantly running to Boston. Those of the 
settlers who were able to bear arms were organized into 
companies, and for a great portion of the time during the war 
drew pay and rations, which formed the principal means of 
support for their families. 

1755. As the spring opened, each family cultivated, 
either here or on their more distant farms, a patch of pota- 
toes, which was manured with rock-weed carried up the bank 
on hand-barrows by men and their wives assisted by all their 
children who could labor. The potato was the principal veg- 
etable, was easily raised and least likely to be destroyed ; 
and, with game from the woods, fish from the river, and 
clams on the shore, when any could venture out to take them, 
formed a tolerable subsistence. Such as went to labor at a 
distance were well armed ; and, when the signal of a general 
alarm was given at the fort by the discharge of a heavy gun, 
all who were abroad made a speedy retreat to the garrison. 
There were a fe\Y yokes of oxen; some of the settlers had 
horses, many had cows,* and all had pigs and poultry. The 

* For conrenience sake, in their narrow quarters, the owners sometimes 
clubbed together and each took the care and produce of the milk for one 
week in rotation. When Mrs. Crawford's, the canny Scotchwoman's, 
turn came, some complained that, from her skill with tne skimmer, there 
was too great bltteneas and want of cream in their daily allowance of milk. 
Out of respect to her amiable and pious husband, however, they brought 
no railing accusation against her ; but^ some of the more sly and roguish, 
ascertainihg well the geographical position of her chum, went below it, 
as the churning day drew near, and with an auger bored up through the 



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^ HISTORY OF TH01IAST0N» 

stock was wintered on hay cut on the meadows and marshes^ 
the men going in strong parties for that purpose, and part 
mounting guard while the rest labored. One expedient, often 
practiced to great advantage, was the training of dogs, espe^ 
cially those of the Newfoundland breed, to accompany par- 
ties going out from the garrisons as a kind of flank guard at 
a gun-shot's distance on. each side. These were seldom flred 
upon by lurking Indians, lest their place of concealment 
should be betrayed ; whilst the dogs were pretty sure to scent 
out the savages and give timely warning to the whites. In 
hunting for game too, these faithful, tractable animals were 
of essential service. 

The troubles continuing, and attacks having been made at 
Newcastle and settlements farther west, the General Court, 
June 10th, 1755, declared war against all the eastern tribes 
except those on the Penobscot. The settlers, however, un- 
accustomed to discriminate between the different tribes, con- 
sidered a single Indian agression as chargeable to the whole 
race ; and allowed their sympathy for the sufferers to kindle 
into indiscriminate resentment. This manifested itself in 
jealousy and murmuring against Capt. Bradbury, whom they 
charged with trading with the savages from motives of interest, 
and even silpplying the arms and ammunition used in the 
destruction oi his countiymen. This jealousy occasioned 
the commander great difficulty in the discharge of his duty. 
Indians, caressed by the officers and weU treated at the fort, 
were insulted and sometimes attacked by the settlers; of 
whom those who lived in the fort generally took part witK 
Bradbury, whilst the discontented rallied under Kilpatrick at 
his block-house above, and under Burton in the stone garrison, 
below. This state of things was greatly aggravated by an 
occurrence on the morning of June 5th, 1755, when, about 
nine o'clock, all were startled by a discharge of musketry up 
the river, whither several persons in two parties had gone that 
morning unsuspicious of danger. Immediately after, a guq 
at the fort, echoing through the woods, sent the alarm to all. 
One of the parties consisting of Mr. Lermond, Archibal() 
Gamble and son, of the Upper town, soon came in unhurt; 
but not so with the other, composed of two young men, sons 
of John BroAvn, one of the Stirling emigrants in Warren but 
now residing at the fort. They had been sent up the river 
for some staves which they had previously got out near the 

floor and into the clium, well supplying themselves and punishing the 
■upposed unfairness of the thrifty housewife. 



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BOCKLAKD AND SOUTH TH0MA8T0N. 69 

Ripplings. When as far up as Cooper's shore, (now Dun- 
bar's in Warren,) they were seen by some Indians on the 
eastern shore who would have taken them prisoners, but, 
seeing them attempting to escape to the other side, fired upon 
them. One was killed, and his body subsequently found on 
Cooper's marsh. The other got across the river, but was 
wounded and never afterwards heard of; though the Penob» 
scots, who attributed the mischief to the Canada Indians, as- 
sisted in looking for him. The father of these lads, who 
served in the company of rangers until November 20th of this 
year, subsequently went up the river for alewives, and, not 
returning, is supposed to have been drowned near Montgom- 
ery's shore in Warren, where, long after, his supposed skeleton 
was found in the water and buried by his friend and country- 
man Kirkpatrick. The widowed and childless mother then 
returned, like Naomi, to her native land.* 

An account of this fatal attack was immediately trans- 
mitted by Burton to his friend Capt. Proctor in Boston, and 
to Gov. Shirley by Killpatrick, the latter of whom adds that 
" within two days after, a man and a boy were carried cap- 
tive from Pleasant Point," and that " our woods round our 
garrisons are crawling with lurking Enemies." The letters 
of both appear to have been laid before the Council and are 
still among the public archives at Boston, that of ELillpatrick 
being correctly written and well spelled for those times. This 
dissatisfaction and excitement went on increasing, till, three 
weeks later, Bradbury found it beyond his power to control ; 
when most of the settlers and garrison, with the company of 
scouts that Capt. Thomas Fletcher had enlisted here, rose in 
arms and peremptorily declared that nine Indians, then in the 
fort, should never depart till they had given satisfaction for 
the late outrages, or joined in war against the Canada tribes 
according to the treaty so repeatedly ratified. The com- 
mander was obliged to make the best of this riotous proceed- 
ing, and compromised the matter by detaining some of the 
Indians as hostages until three others could go, as they pro- 
posed, and treat with the Governor at Boston. Then follow- 
ed, on the 1st of July, the brutal murder of the friendly 
Indian woman, Margaret Moxa, with her infant child and in- 
toxicated husband, on or not far from the Stackpole lot in 
South Thomaston, by Capt. Cargill and his company from 
Newcastle, as particularly detailed in the Annals of Warren. 
This company of rangers, who, to avoid any interference on 

* Testimony of Mrs. £. Montgomery, daughter of Boiee Cooper. 



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70 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

the part of Bradbury, had crossed the river four or five miles 
below at Burton's fort, after a further march and the perpe- 
tration of this inhuman deed, lef^ nine men to guard that im- 
portant Indian trail, and proceeded on, four miles, to the 
Head of OwFs Head Bay. There they discovered a party of 
Indians, fired, and killed nine of them. The bodies, robbed 
of their scalps for the £200 bounty then offered for them, 
being afterwards found, were buried where they lay on the lot 
since owned by Capt. Josiah Ingraham, by the side of a gully 
or declivity near the sea-shore in what is now Bockland. 

Sleep soundly, children of the forest, sleep 

There in the [grassy glen ! 
Hear the soft dirges of the restless deep, 

Apart from other men ! 

In safety sleep ; no white man's dust is near you. 

Grasping in death your land ; 
No wretched mother with her babes to fear you, 

Nor prowler's bloody hand. 

Strangely the times have changed, since ye in life 

Boamed through the dusky wold« — 
From the dark thicket rushed, a bloody strife 

With white men fierce to hold ; 

Or mustered subject tribes from the far east 

By daring sachems led, 
And fired our hamletp, slaughtering man and beast. 

While wives and children bled ; 

Or, when your rage was glutted, bade war cease, 

And, round the council fire, 
Buried the hatchet, smoked the pipe of peace, 

And drowned in feasts your ire. 

Sleep soundly, now ; no foe is at your back. 

No danger at your door ; 
No pale-faced murderer, wolf-like, dogs your track. 

Or haunts your slumber more. 

A different work is now your foe engaging 

Than that which laid you low ; 
A fiercer strife throughout the land is raging. 

And millions feel its woe. 

If from the red man's heaven, the happy West, 

Your souls our havoc see. 
Thank the Great Spirit that your bones here rest 

From such dire conflicts free ! 

Though the fate of Margaret was sincerely mourned by 
many at the Fort who knew the value of her services and the 
sincerity of her attachment to our peO(3le, and though (Gov- 
ernment invited her tribe to be present under a safe-conduct 
at the trial of Cargill for the murder, yet, as he was not con- 



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BOCKLAKD AND SOUTH THOHASTON. 71 

victed, the PenobBCots now felt themselves aggrieved by fresh 
injuries that must not pass unrevenged. Accordingly, on the 
24th September, a large body of them made a furious onset 
here, firing upon two men who were out a little distance from 
the garrison, only one of whom escaped, and then commenced 
shooting the catde, which they continued to do from near noon 
till almost night. Capt Fletcher, who at times acted as Brad- 
bury's lieutenant in the garrison, seems to have been in com- 
mand on this attack, while 30 of his company of rangers, 
under Lieut. Alex. Lermond, were out on a march in the 
woods and did not return till evening. 

Induced by such occurrences as these, the Government at 
length, November 5th, declared war against the Penobscot 
tribe, also ; yet its forbearance up to that time had increased 
the dissatisfaction of many; and 59 of the inhabitants on 
this river and adjacent places signed, the following year, a 
memorial against the conduct of Fletcher in not allowing them 
to go out against the Indians. Whether they were most in- 
fluenced by patriotic desire for the public good, the love of 
excitement, hatred of Indians, or by the bounty offered for 
scalps and captives, — is not for us to know or to judge. 
Soon after this declaration of war against them, the Indians 
manifested their resentment by killing and scalping two men 
near the fort on the 24th of November.* 

1756> The tribes, now united, opened their spring cam- 
paign by ^ spirited attack, March 24th, on the stone block- 
house of their hated enemy, Lieut. Burton; in which they 
succeeded in killing two of his men, scalping and leaving 
another half dead. This, after the declaration of war against 
France in June, was followed, among other depredations upon 
the coast, by the burning of a schooner off Monhegan early 
in July, in which were one Chapels of Cape Newagin, two 
other men, and a boy, fishing, who were all slain ; and Sep- 
tember 26th, as three schooners lay at anchor in George's 
River about eight miles below the fort, five of the men being 
on shore were fired upon and killed by a dozen Indians. 
These then assailed one of the schooners that had got aground, 
which they set fire to, after killing the two men that remained 
on board. Upon this, the other two vessels were abandoned ; 
the men, 14 in number, taking to a boat and getting safely 
up to the Fort. Here, alarm guns were fired and answered 
at Pemaquid and Arrowsic* To these exciting scenes, was 
added an irreparable loss to the garrison and people here, in 

* Mass. Hist. Coll., toI. 3-5, pp. 389, 433 and 461. 



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72 HISTOBY OF THOMASTON, 

the death of their heloved chaplain, Bev. R. Rutherford, as 
previously noted. He died October 18th, leaving a wife who 
survived him twenty-three years, and seven daughters whose 
posterity is numerous in this vicinity. Judging from a ser- 
mon of his in possession of the author, he seems to have 
been a man of respectable literary atta'mments, and he bore 
the character of a pious orthodox minister. 

It was ordered that 150 able bodied men be raised to range 
the Indian hunting grounds between the eastern frontiers and 
Canada, the commanders to return a journal of their proceed- 
ings. A company under Capt. Joshua Freeman of Falmouth 
did duty on this river until November 20th, when the Indians 
usually withdrew for hunting in the interior. 

1757. A similar company rendezvoused here in 1757, 
imder the same commander; who, after receiving his com- 
mission in Boston, April 22d, arrived here with five men and 
enlisted the remainder. After various marches to the forts 
down the river, to Broad Bay, and back through the woods 
to the block-house here, early on Monday morning. May 16th, 
all were excited by the appearance of a company of eleven 
Indians with a flag of truce on a hill forty or fifty rods north 
of the fort, (probably that back of the present Unitarian 
church,) and a further discovery of nine more, beyond Lime- 
Stone hiU, — the eminence on which the State Prison has 
since been erected. Capt. Bradbury immediately responded 
with a similar white flag, and held a discourse witj^ eight of 
the Indians near the fort, till about three o'clock in the after- 
noon; when the flag was struck, and the Indians left, with 
theirs. Capt Freeman's men were very eager to follow them 
up, but were forbidden on account of the truce ; nevertheless, 
about half-past five o'clock, some of those on guard further 
back did so, for near a mile, and found an Indian asleep, 
whom they brought to the block-house and insisted on send- - 
ing to Boston as a prisoner. This being objected to, and the 
Indian being afraid to go off because as he said " the rest of 
his company was got as far as the Owl's Head," he remained, 
till, shortly after, another flag of truce appeared, brought in 
by Neptune'; who informed Capt. KiUpatrick that the number 
of the Indians was 26, and that he expected 39 in the morn- 
ing, but said there was no likelihood of any trade, and after 
few minutes departed with the prisoner. Upon this, Free- 
man, fearing so large a body of disappointed savages would 
attempt some mischief, allowed about eighteen of his men to 
go out, near ten at evening, with orders to send for him and 
the rest of the company if Indians were discovered. These 



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EOCKLAND AND SOUTH TH0MA8T0N. 73 

were led by David and Alexander Kelloch, or Kalloch, as 
their descendants in Rockland and South Thomaston, for the 
most part, spell the name. Marching silently in close single 
file through the darkness about one mile along their trail, 
toward the eastern shore, the file-leader came upon a pack, 
and, supposing it a deco^ to entrap them into an ambuscade, 
gave a pinch as a signal to the man behind him, which pass- 
ing firom man to man, the whole came to a silent halt. Lis- 
tening a moment, they heard the snoring of an Indian proba- 
bly left on guard but betrayed into sleep by the occopee ob- 
tained at the fort, when a musket was aimed at the sound, 
and at the first fire a stalwart savage leaped into the air, 
fell, and never moved again. A skirmish ensued in the dark- 
ness ; the now excited and yelling combatants aiming at the 
flashes of opposing muskets, and with such exactness on the 
part of the Indians that David Kalloch had his gun, at the 
moment of its discharge, shot from his hand, the stock broken 
with a bullet, and a piece of fieah carried off" between his 
thumb and fingers. Finding the savages on both sides ot 
them, the party, able to effect little in the dark, returned 
about 11 o'clock, bringing the scalp of the Indian they had 
slain, which, with the beaver and other booty found in the 
pack, yielded them each about $15. As these Indians made 
no hostile demonstrations, and came by the way of Lime- 
Stone hill, it is probable thev had been, in this the usual sea- 
son of salmon, shad, and alewives, on a fishing excursion to 
the Falls of George's River, and stopped at the fort in hope 
of a temporary renewal of their former trade. 

Freeman's company continued to range the woods in the 
vicinity and guard the people, especially during the haying 
season in July. Had this been done earlier, some lives might 
have been saved; as, in the Spring, three men, venturing out 
firom the fort for smelts, had been ambushed and slain near 
the -saw-mill ; one of them, probably Robert Kye, a Scottish 
emigrant of 1753, who, at this or some other time, was cer- 
tainly killed at that place. At another, probably a later pe- 
riod, Henry and Joseph Handley, or Hendley as the name 
stands on the muster roll, one about 22, and the other 17 
years of age, went out to the Mill River for frost-fish, or 
smelts, as some authorities have it. While there, they were 
suddenly fired upon by f ndians lurking in ambush ; and both 
were shot, scalped, and left for dead. Joseph, however, so 
far recovered as to be able to crawl back to the fort with his . 
bowels protruding through the wound. There, after telling 
them to look for his silver sleeve-buttons which he had hid- 
VuL. I. 7 



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74 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

den on his way in a certain stump, to prevent their falling a 
prey to the enemy in case he should not reach home, he asked 
for a draught of water as he lay upon the bed, and, immedi- 
ately after drinking it, expired. Both of them had been en- 
rolled and done duty as soldiers, as well as their father, John 
Handley, who had probably come to the place in tliat capa- 
city.* At another time Mts, Thompson and Agnes Lamb 
of the Lower town, with Margaret Lermond and some others 
of the Upper town, were milking up the lane a little way 
from the fort, when the savages fell upon them and took Mrs. 
Thompson prisoner ; the others escaping to the garrison. So 
great was the fright that Miss Lamb, though she had some 
distance to flee and bars to surmount, kept the pail in her 
grasp, without spilling a drop of its contents or being aware 
of its possession till safe within the fort. Miss Lermond, 
also, had just finished milking a cow and, taking up two 
pails of milk, looked round and saw Indians rushing directly 
upon them; she ran in such terror that she even kept the 
milk in her hands till she came to the bars in the lane, which 
being up, she dashed the pails against them in attempting to 
get over, and came into the fort well covered with milk. Mrs, 
Thompson was redeemed by her husband, for $40. Capt. 
John Watson, about 26 years of age, then commanding the 
family sloop, sent two of his men on shore near Pleasant 
Point for water, where they were seized by the Indians, and 
carried to Canada. The Captain going in his wherry to look 
for them was hailed by a Frenchman and ordered to come on 
shore. Not complying, he was immediately killed by a mus- 
ket shot ; and, it is said, that his body when found had been 
disemboweled and hung to a tree by the savages. The men 
captured, were Wm. Watson, younger brother to John, who 
subsequently returned to reside and die on the Point here, 
and one Larrabee of Scarboro*, who afterwards represented 
his town in the Legislature, and was a- captain in the Biguy- 
duce expedition. It was probably also on board this sloop 
of Watson's that Mrs. Gamble of the Upper town had started 
as a passenger to spend the winter in New Hampshire, but 
now after the encounter on shore found herself left with only 
an aged man for company or defence, night coming on, and 
the stealthy foe already approaching to attack the vessel. 
The old man took his station on d'eck with what muskets 



♦ Mrs. Leeds, a niece of the yoiinj? men killed. Also a paper contain- 
ing testimony of the daughter of B Cooper, of Wm. Lermond, and others, 
lost when preparing the Annals of Warren, but since found. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 76 

'twere were on board, and with the aid of Mrs. Gamble, who 
reloaded as fast as they were discharged, kept the Indians at 
bay till they became discouraged and withdrew. Among the 
occurrences also of this war, probably, (though it might have 
been the preceding one, for tradition is silent as to the time,) 
was the death of a young man by the name of McNeal, the 
only son of his widowed mother. At a time when no Indians 
were supposed to be about, he had been sent out to look for 
the cows, and not knowing how far the search might lead 
him, took a piece of bread and butter in his hand, and set 
off. Having proceeded some distance toward Mill River, he 
was probably waylaid, shot, and scalped by some lurking 
party of the enemy, as his lifeless body was found beyond 
Byron's brook,* with some of the bread still remaining in his 
mouth, t 

The Indians, notwithstanding the vigorous warfare they 
were thus waging, were greatly afflicted with the small-pox 
the present year, and began to be weary of the conflict ; but 
the power and influence of France remaining hostile, their 
overtures for peace through Capt. Bradbury, could not be 
trusted, and resulted in nothing. Besides the companies of 
scouts or rangers constantly traversing the woods, vessels 
were often fitted out by private persons for the sake of the 
bounty for prisoners and scalps, and such booty as they might 
be able to obtain. One such expedition sent from Falmouth, 
accomplished a part of its design within the limits of this 
town, as will appear from the following extracts. Capt. 
Remilly, commander of the Broad Bay scouts, writes in his 
journal: "June 7th. It hath rained, so could not march, 
but had guards on board the coasters ; about one o'clock the 
George's Company returned and brought an account of 30 
canoes being landed at the Olds [Owl's] Head, and 2 Indians 
being killed and scalped by Capt. Cox." Rev. Thos. Smith 
of Falmouth wrote in his journal; "April 20th. Joseph Cox, 
Bailey, and others, sailed upon a cruise for six weeks after 
the Penobscot Indians." ..." June 2d. Cox and Bayley 
returned from their cruise after the Indians, bringing with 
them the scalps of 2 men whom they killed." . . . "June 
18th. I received £165> and 33 of Cox, my part of scalp 
money. ''X Such were the times and the feeling, that it ap- 

* A small affluent of Mill River, passing by at no great distance N. E 
from the Fort, to which the women m garrison often resorted to do their 
washing. 

t Mrs. Hyler, Capt. S. M. Shibles, &c. 

+ Smith's Journal, pp. 170-1-3. 



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76 HISTORY OF TH0MA8T0N, 

pears even so worthy a man and pious minister could without 
much scruple receive a share in the price of blood. 

In the latter part of the summer of this year, Capt. Jabez 
Bradbury resigned his command of the Fort here, and re- 
tired to Newburyport, where he died in January, 1781, aged 
eighty-eight years, and leaving an estate of £1 5,000.* Lieut. 
Fletcher also resigned and was succeeded by John McKechnie, 
a physician and practical surveyor, who had been some time 
in the fort as clerk, and married a daughter of Capt. North. 
Bradbury was succeeded as captain and commander by John 
North, one of the first settlers here, who had before been 
commanding the fort at Pemaquid. While there, he was, it 
is said, applied to for a supply of provisions by one Wm. 
Loud, who had formerly commanded a^vessel at Portsmouth, 
but, leaving a worthy wife and her respectable connections, 
was then living with a disreputable woman on the island 
which now bears his name. North, who was firm but mild 
in his disposition, refused, on account of his conduct; and 
Loud in retaliation attempted to get him removed, saying to 
the Governor and Council, *' Oswego is gone, Ticonderoga is 
gone, and two old squaws can take Pemaquid." While the 
failure of this attempt still rankled in Loud's breast and in- 
tensified his hostility. North went to survey the island with 
Drowne, a Pemaquid proprietor who claimed it. Loud stood 
on the shore, and, holding a pistol in his hand, declared with 
many oaths that he would shoot the first man that set foot 
on the island. But North, as soon as the boat struck the 
shore, stepped out regardless of the menace and was very 
coolly approaching him, when Loud finding threats vain, gave 
up, and very pleasantly said, " Ah ! Johnny, is it you?" — and 
the survey was made without interruption. After his return 
here, he commanded the garrison till the end of the war; 
and, like his predecessor, he was not able with all his popu- 
larity to escape the suspicions of the more jealous of the 
people that he was sometimes guilty of trading with the 
Indians. He continued after the peace to reside in the fort, 
held a justice's commission, and in June, 1760, on the estab- 
lishment of the County of Lincoln, was appointed one of the 
four Judges of the Court of Common Pleas. 

17 58. Notwithstanding a second capture of Louisburg 
which drew off many soldiers from these eastern parts, 35 
men were continued at the fort here, and the usual number 
at the block-houses. Thomas Pownal, who had arrived in 

* Communication of John M. Bradbury, Esq., of Boston. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 77 

Massachusetts as Governor, the preceding year, having now, 
in August, 1758, received information from Nova Scotia that 
a body of French, in conjunction with the St. John, Penob- 
scot, and4^assamaquoddy Indians, were meditating an attempt 
upon the fort here and the destruction of all the settlements, 
immediately embarked with such forces as were at hand, on 
board the ship King George and sloop Massachusetts, Ar- 
riving here, he threw these auxiliaries with some additional 
warlike stores into the fort at a most fortunate juncture ; for 
within 36 hours after his departure, the fort was actually as- 
sailed by a body of 400 French and Indians. But so well pre- 
pared was the garrison to receive them, that they were unable 
to make the least impression. Nor did any representations of 
their numbers, nor any threats, communicated to the fort by a 
captive woman whom they purposely permitted to escape 
thither, occasion any serious darm. Despairing of anything 
further, the besiegers gave vent to their rage by killing the 
neighboring cattle, about 60 of which they shot or butchered. 
Before this, not so many had been destroyed as might have 
been expected from their exposure in the woods and distant 
meadows, since they seem to have caught the fear of their 
owners and always fled at the sight of an Indian. Though 
out of command, Bradbury was still in the fort at the time of 
this engagement. Among the incidents of this attack, it is 
related that on one occasion, while the enemy were about the 
fort and the garrison afraid to go out, the sound of their 
tomahawks, employed in digging potatoes behind the bam, 
was heard by the inmates of the fort ; who thought they were 
intrenching, and began to apprehend a protracted siege and 
perhaps capture with all its terrors. This, to many, was a 
fearful and anxious night. But the next morning a few 
bombs were sent over, and the besiegers were compelled to 
disperse, to the great relief of the timid and inexperienced. 

1759. Among the many enterprises against the enemy 
this year, that of Gov. Pownal, in going up the Penobscot 
with 395 men and building the fort which took his name on 
that river, was peculiarly fortunate for the settlements here, 
rendering this no longer the frontier post. The governor was . 
accompanied in this expedition by the proprietor. Brigadier 
Samuel Waldo, at that time a member of the Council or up- 
per branch of the Provincial Legislature. Their arrival, with 
the troops and transports, in this place, from which, as the 
most eastern post of the province, the expedition was to take 
its departure, formed an epoch in the comparatively monoton- 
ous life of the settlers and garrison here, and became still 
7* 



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78 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

more memorable as it proved to be the last visit they vrere 
ever to receive from their patron, the active and patriotic 
Waldo. Having first rendezvoused at Falmouth, they em- 
barked the 8th May, and, according to the Governor^ journal, 
on the *' 9th, at 3, A. M. arrived at the mouth of George's 
River. At 10, set out for the Fort in the Barge, Yawl, and 
six Whaleboats, for the Fort St. George's. At 3 P. M., ar- 
rived. Visiting the Garrison'd houses as we pass'd." His 
welcome reception and the hearty greeting of Henderson, 
Burton, North, and Kilpatrick, with whom he had already 
made acquaintance and accorded much good fellowship, may 
be more easily imagined than described. A portion of the 
troops, 100 men, were left down the river under command of 
the redoubtable Capt. Cargill, while others came up in a 
large sloop and were joined the next day by the companies 
from Broad Bay, Pemaquid, and Kennebec. One of the first 
measures adopted by the Governor was to call in as many 
Indians as could be found, and strongly impress upon their 
minds the nature and importance of the design he was re- 
solved to execute. Five of these, found at the garrison, were 
sent out to gather in those of the tribes supposed to be lurk- 
ing in the woods, with assurances that they could be safe no- 
where but under the guns of the Fort. Cargill was ordered 
to land on the Eastern side of the river, proceed to the lower 
Carrying place, and, leaving an Officer's Guard there, go on 
to the Middle and Upper Carrying places, stationing similar 
guards with orders to let all Indians coming to the Fort pass 
unmolested, but to stop all going from it and bring them in, 
by fair means if possible ; if not, by force of arms. In ex- 
ecuting these orders Cargill, in the morning of May 11th, fell 
upon some fresh tracks, traced them by himself alone to a 
camp of ten Indians, *' came back, took with him Lt. Preble 
and 10 men, ordering four on the Right Flank, Four on the 
Left, and proceeded directly himself with the other, with or- 
ders not to Fire. When he came near the Camp, he discov- 
ered himself, call'd to the Indians to come in, as he expressed 
it. Good Quarters. The Indians started up, cryed out no 
. Quarters, no Quarters, and fired upon him. He then Fired, 
and ordered his men to Fire away. The Indians Ran, — *two 
fell, one rose again, and got off into the Swamp, — the other 
rose no more, and proved to be an Old Squaw." 

After this exhibition pf Cargill' s aptitude for killing Indian 
women, and an examination of such other Indians as could 
be collected, and a talk with them, in which Gov. Pownal 
mingled threats and promises in his own energetic manner. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 79 

the four companies started, May 12th, on their march through 
the wilderness, guided by "one Robinson, a hunter," proba- ^ 
bly one of the six sons of Dr. Moses Robinson. The Gov- 
ernor himself proceeded with the 20-gun ship King George, 
Capt. Benj. Hallo well, and the transports loaded with mate- 
rials, including *'40 hogsheads of Lime which I laded at 
George's." Their further proceedings and the laying out of 
Fort Pownal on an eligible point in the present town of 
Stockton, we pass over, except what relates to Brigadier 
Waldo, whose death occurred on the East side * of the Pe- 
nobscot in the present town of Brewer, and is thus noted in 
the Boston News Letter of May 31st, 1759. *' On Wednes- 
day, the 23d instant, the Hon. Brig. Gen. Waldo, who went 
with His Excellency in his late expedition to Penobscot, 
drop'd down with an Apoplexy, on the march . just above the 
first Falls ; and notwithstanding all the assistance that could 
be given, expired in a few moments. His Excellency had 
the corpse brought down with him to the Fort Point, where 
it was interred in a Vault built for the purpose, on Friday, 
with all the Honours due to so faithful a servant of the pub- 
lic, and so good a Commonwealth's man as the Brigadier had 
ever shown himself to be."f It is not known that his re- 
mains w&ce ever removed or any monument erected. Thus 
tills enterprising and successful merchant, the military hero 
of Louisburg, the founder of the settlements on this river, by 
whose influence and exertion they had thus far been fostered, 
protected, and sustained, ended his busy career, leaving his 
large estate, much of which was vested in this patent and 
other lands in Maine, to his sons Samuel and Francis of Fal- 



* Not west side, as stated in the Annals of Warren on authority of the 
historian of Maine and other writers. What is said there^ also, of the 
Brigadier's exclaiming, " here are my hounds V* rests on a widely current 
tradition among the settlers here, and is said to have heen confirmed hy 
an eye-witness, R. Stimson, an early settler of Belfast : see Locke's Hist, 
of Camden ; but is not mentioned, that I am aware of, in any cotemporary 
writer nor especially in the above quoted Journal of Gov. Thos. Pownal, 
furnished for the 5th Vol. of the Me. Hist. Soc, by Hon. Jos. Williamson 
of Belfast, to whose researches the public is greatly indebted. This gen- 
tleman remarks in a note, that ** the Waldo patent did not extend across 
the river" Penobscot; but the Proprietors always contpnded that it did^ 
until by compromise it was otherwise determined by the Legislature. A 
misapprehension also was adopted in my former work from high authori- 
ties, respecting the leaden plate buried in the ground . which was to com- 
memorate, not the death of Waldo, but the formal possession of the 
country taken by the English. See Pownal's Certificate furnished 6th 
Vol. Me. Hist. Soc. Coll., by Hon. Jos. Williamson. 

t Extract from the News Letter communicated by Rev. J. L Sibley, 
librarian of H. U. to the N. E. Hist, and Gen. Register of April, 1859, 
p. 167. 



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so HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

mouth, and his two daughters, Hannah, wife of Thomas 
Fluker, or Flucker as sometimes written, of Boston, and 
Lucy, wife of Isaac Winslow of Roxbury.* 

1760. In 1760, the Indians, disheartened by the erec- 
tion of the fort before mentioned, and by the taking of Quebec, 
began to make proposals for peace; and, though the treaty 
was not signed by the Sagamores at Boston till April 13th, so 
little was there to fear from them that the people, from the 
towns above and below, mostly left the garrison and went on 
to their farms ; still leaving their most valuable furniture here, 
and occasionally returning on any alarm of danger. One 
Sunday during divine service by some transient clergyman or 
missionary, an Indian came into the fort with intelligence that 
his countrymen were coming to attack the settlement; an 
alarm gun was fired and people came flocking in on all sides 
with their cattle and property, leaving little for the Indians 
to plunder. This ill-used people had yet many private wrongs 
to be avenged ; and several of their most active enemies, as 
Killpatrick here, who from his success in their destruction 
had been nick-named Tom-kill-the'devil by Gov. Pownal, to- 
gether with Boggs of the Upper town, and Burton of the 
Lower, were supposed to J}e marked for vengeance. A single 
Indian had been observed lurking about Killpatrick's block- 
house, and, one day, was discovered in the top of a lofty pine 
about fifteen rods distant, as if endeavoring to overlook and 
spy out the condition of things within. Means were imme- 

* The following is all we have been able to collect of the family history : 
"Waldo, Jonathan, of German descent, resided and traded in Boston, *- & 
fair dealer and a liberal benefactor to the poor, died May 26, 1731, in his 
63d year, leaving lar^e donations to pious uses." Of his children, 1, Brig. 

Gen. bamuel, bom in England, 1696, married Lucy , who died Aug. 

7, 1741, aged 37 years, was a merchant on King now State street, Boston, 
JProprietor, Councillor, &c., died May 23, 1750. His children, 1, Col. 
Samuel (2d) grad. H. U. 1743 ; married Olive Grizzle, 2d, SariEkh Ervihg, 
Feb. 26, 1762 ; resided in Middle street, Portland, was Judge of Probate, 
and died Ap 16, 1770, aged 47 ;— *' buried, the 20th, with great parade under 
the Episcopal Church," says Rev. T. Smith.' 2, Francis, collector of His 
Majesty's Customs at Falmouth, several times member of Gen. Assembly 
of Ma^s. Bay, died at Tunbridge, Eng , J. 9. 1784. 3,. Ralph, died aged 
about 20 years. 4, Hannah, married Hon. Thos. Flucker of Boston. 5, 
Lucy, married Isaac Winslow of Roxbury. Col. Samuel's children, 1, 
Sarah, bom Nov. 30, 1762, married Judge wm. Wetmore of Boston. 2, 
Samuel (3d,) born Mar. 4, 1764, married, Feb. 1789, Mrs. Sarah F. Cfaiase, 
daughter of Isaac Winslow. 3, John E., born Aug. 28, 1765, died Ap. 17, 
1787. 4, Lucy, born Aug. 13, 1766, married Alexander Wolcott of Mid- 
dletown, Ct. 5, Francin (2d,) all bom in Portland. 6, Ralph (2d,) bom 
in Boston, Sept. 1770. Samuel Waldo (3d,)'s children, 1, Saiuuel (4th). 
2, Hon. Francis Wainwright, a lawyer and judge in one of the Western 
States, who spent some of his last years in Thomaston, where he died 
about 1837. 3, William T. a mercantile gentleman of property, still re* 
tiding, it is believed, in Boston. 4, Sarah E. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 81 

diately taken to dislodge him; and the cohorn, already 
mounted and loaded, was aimed so exactly or guided so prov- 
identially, that on its discharge the Indian fell to the ground, 
dead ; and that was the last act which passed between the 
Indians and this their unflinching antagonist. On another 
occasion a party of about thirty Indians, who had kindled a 
large fire upon a great rock in the present field of Mrs. Mary 
Hyler, were observed dancing, whooping, and carousing 
around, in a manner which seemed likely to end in mischief; 
but they were frightened away by the discharge of a 4 or 6- 
pound ball from the fort, crashing through the branches of 
the scattered trees near them. A cleft in the rock, supposed 
to have been made by the heat of the fire, still remains as a 
memorial of the mcident. 



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HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 



CHAPTER VI. 

NEW SETTLERS, AND INCIDENTS PBECEDING THE REVOLU- 
TION. 

1761. Op the year succeeding the war, 1761, little has 
been transmitted except traditions of a remarkable and early 
drought, coQtinuing from June till the 20th of August. 

1762. Col. Samuel Waldo of Falmouth, after the death 
of his father, occasionally visited the place to look after the 
estate, sell or rent lands to applicants, and fulfil any subsist- 
ing contracts; but in 1765 he sold the two shares which fell 
to him by right of primogeniture to his brother-in-law Thos. 
Flucker, Esq., who thus became the principal owner of the 
lands hereabouts, except the Middle Neck^ three-fourths of 
which had been previously sold by Francis Waldo in England. 
This Middle Neck, so called, was a narrow tract of land, or 
isthmus, lying partly in the present South Thomaston and 
partly in St. George; extending from the Wcssaweskeag 
stream and the ocean on the east to St. George's River on 
the west, and from near the mouth of Mill River on the north 
as far down as Cutler's cove, or a little beyond, on the south. 
This tract, being more exposed to Indian incursions from the 
two or three trails which crossed it, and its owners residing 
in England with no agents here to give titles, was not early 
entered upon. Its first settlers were without title-deeds till 
after the death of Gen. Knox, when the one-fourth not previ- 
ously sold was bid off at auction by Messrs. Snow, Coombs, 
Bridges, and Keating, in behalf of the occupants. The other 
three-fourths ultimately passed into the hands of Mr. Vaughan 
of Hallowell, from whom deeds were obtained on satisfactory 
terms after the separation of Maine from Massachusetts. 

The first tax ever assessed upon the people here, was that 
of this year on the new county of Lincoln formed in 1 760 ; 
of which £4, 5s. 8d. were apportioned to the Upper St. 
George's plantation, which included the present Warren and 
Thomaston as far as Mill River. Capt. Killpatrick and Hugh 
McLean were chosen assessors, — the first officers of the kind 
in the place, and who are said to have despatched the business 
in a summary manner by assigning a pistareen or 20 cts. to 
each of the ablest settlers and exempting most of the others. 
Killpatrick, as the reader may have seen, was the leading cit- 
izen of what is now Thomaston, still living at his block-house 
at the head of the Narrows, and having in possession 700 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 83 

acres of land.; the lots of his brothers, for which he originally 
subscribed, having now mostly passed 4nto his hands. McLean 
had by inheritance one of the best and most privileged farms, 
now that of Mr. S. Andrews in Warren; followed coasting be- 
tween here and Boston ; and this year, 1 762, was engaged at 
this place in re-building the saw-mill at Mill River. The 
conditions on which this mill was re-built, as agreed upon by 
the Waldo heirs and McLean, were that he should re-build 
the mill and a sufficient dam across the river, ai>d have the 
use of the same for seven years, as also the privilege of cut- 
ting lumber upon any of the Proprietors' lands and *' the use 
of ten acres of Salt marsh at Wessaweskeag, formerly im- 
proved by Capt. Gyles," with five acres of the large fresh 
Meadow above, for the same seven years; accounting to the 
said Waldo heirs for one-third part of all the lumber sawed, 
if cut on their lands, or one-fourth part if cut on the lands of 
other owners, retaining the same however till his expense of 
building the mill and dam was fully reimbursed. A proviso 
was added that if "the French or Indian Enemys" should 
prevent the working of the mill, the agreement should then 
terminate.* As yet, we have found no evidence thai any 
bridge had been built over the Mill River, as requested by 
the Indians in 1752. But something of the kind was proba- 
bly now put up, — though perhaps not for some yecurs yet; 
as Thomaston was still dreary, wild, and uninviting, and no 
mention of any bridge is found on record till the laying out 
of the road in 1779. 

The garrison was this year, 1762, discontinued; and the 
cooking utensils and other property sold ofi" at auction, — the 
guns, ammunition, and works, being left under the care of its 
late commander, Capt. North, still residing within the bar- 
racks, and this year licensed to sell spirituous liquors. But, 
encouraged by the cessation of war, emigrants began to come 
to the place; and for them, also, these barracks at the fort 
were found very convenient as temporary residences until 
others better suited to their purposes could be put up. 

Among the earliest of these was Oliver Robbins, with his 
wife and seven children, from Altleboro', Mass., who this 
year built the ^rs^ framed dwellivghouse in the present limits 
of old Thomaston, including Rockland city and South Thom- 
aston. It was raised at Christmas, Dec. 25, 1762, qn one 
of the three lots just below Mill River, which he took up and 
occupied during his life and which, through his sons Otis and 

♦ Original agreement, in possession of Judge B. Fales. 

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84 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

Shepard, have come down to the present owners, Messrs. 
Viram and W. Robbins. ' This house was situated in the field 
of the latter, near the banks of the George's. Here, May 
11, 1764, was born his daughter, Milea or Melia, supposed 
to be the first white child born to the eastward of Mill River. 
Jonathan Crockett, born at Falmouth, who, together with his 
father, (of the Scottish stock from the north of Ireland,) and 
brother Nathaniel, had resided awhile in the garrison here, 
having been driven by the Indians from their residence, then 
we believe on one of the Fox Islands, was now at the close 
of the war a resident in this place ; and the following year, 
1763, married the oldest daughter of Mr. Robbins, but per- 
haps returned to the island. Seven years later, however, he 
became one of the first settlers of what is now Rockland; 
and his brother Nathaniel was an early, perhaps the earliest 
settler at Ash Point; the descendants of both having been 
numerous and including no inconsiderable portion of the 
business talent of the community. The same year, 1762, 
Wm. Gregory, brother-in-law of O. Robbins, came from 
Walpole to the Fort, where he had before been employed a 
few years, with the intention now of becoming a permanent 
settler. He carried on the Fort farm, as it was called, about 
seven years; — living part of the time in the Fort, and part 
of the time in a log house which stood near the present 
Thomaston burying-ground and was afterwards occupied 
awhile by Jonathan Lampson. But when the town of Cam- 
den was surveyed in 1768, Gregory took up 400 acres of land 
adjoining the sea at Clam Cove ; and, having constructed a 
log house roofed with bark, removed thither in January, 1770. 
There, May 5, 1771, was born his son Josiah, the first male 
child of European extraction born in Camden, as Bridget 
Richards, whose birth preceded his, was the first female.* 
Gregory kept a house of entertainment during the Revolu- 
tion, and, although nominally belonging to the society of 
Friends, was subsequently captain of the Camden militia 
company. 

1763. This year was distinguished by the death of two 
eminent actors in the affairs of this vicinity. Capt. Benjai^in 
Burton, senior, on the 20th of March, perished in his float on 
George's River. He had been up from his stone garrison 
house before mentioned to the Fort here ; but in the evening 

* Mr. Locke in his History of Camden, p. 31, says, ** Robert Thomdike 
was the first white male child born in town." He was probably the first 
in the Ooose River settlement, but, according to the same excellent au- 
thority, he was not bom till Sept. 17i 1773. 



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BOCELAND AND SOUTH THOMA^STOI^. S5 

having some dispute with Capt. North, he rejected his invita- 
tion to stay, and set off for home in a very cold windy night. 
The recently formed ice is supposed to have prevented his 
landing; he was seen next morning opposite McCarter's, 
and people went to his assistance, but found him frozen to 
death. He was brought up and buried at the fort burying- 
ground here, where his grave-stone remained among the 
kindred fragments till after the sale of the Knox estate, 
when it was brought by Mrs. E. Miller, his grand-daughter, 
to Warren, and placed in the burying-ground near the Baptist 
church. Capt. Burton had been a brave and zealous officer 
during two wars ; through the last of which his house was 
frequently attacked and his life endangered. At times in the 
absence of a garrison his daughters would mount guard on the 
roof of his stronghold, whilst he was laboring in the potato 
field or the clam-bank. On one occasion, but in which war 
we are not informed, being at some distance out with his 
wife and four children, when an alarm was given by the dogs, 
he took one child on his back, one under each arm, while his 
wife took the other ; and all escaped safely into his fortress.* 
The other death was that of Capt. or, as styled in his will, 
Hon. John North, himself; then in charge of the fort which 
was ndt yet entirely dismantled. This gentleman, though 
none of his posterity remain here, may be considered one of 
the fathers of the town; and his m^pnory, as a magistrate 
and military officer, is fair and unblemished. His faculties 
had become impaired by age or disease in his last days, and 
his brain so far affected at times as to cause him to see unreal 
shapes and frequently strike with his cane at some imaginary 
dog, wolf, or oUier phantasm which none but he could dis- 
cern. He probably was not long in following his old ac- 
quaintance Capt. Burton, as the inventory of his estate is 
dated June, 1763. His will had been made previously. May 
26, 1760; in which his personal property was devised, one- 
half to his wife Elizabeth; one-quarter part to his eldest son, 
Joseph ; the other quarter part to his youngest son, William ; 
and to his daughter, "Mary McKechnie, 10 pounds and no 
more," on account of " undutifulness in contracting marriage 
with a man who is not to my good liking." This object of 
his disfavor was the Doctor and Lieutenant under him in the 
garrison, before mentioned, a Scottish adventurer, who was 
also a surveyor, and, as tradition says, his mathematical cal- 
culations, sometimes conflicting with those of North, gave 

* Col. Burton's MS. narrative. 
Vol. I. 8 



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86 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

rise to controversies which the long practice of the one and 
the science of the other rendered it difficult to reconcile. 
The dislike, however, seems not to have been shared by the 
family, as both McKechnie and Joseph North obtained situa- 
tions at Fort Halifax, and afterwards, with the rest of the 
family, settled in what is now Augusta. Capt. North, both 
from. his personal characteristics and material acquisitions, as 
well as offices held, seems to have been entitled to be con- 
sidered one of the magnates with whom in these early times 
every settlement of importance on this eastern coast was gen- 
erally favored. Among the many articles of value contained 
in the long inventory of his estate, are the following: 104 oz. 
plate at 6s. lid. per oz. ; 92 lbs. pewter; 16 lbs. old pewter; 
one pair gold buttons, weighing 5 pwt. 16 grs; 1 suit broad- 
cloth clothes, £8; 1 blue coat; 1 red jacket; 1 black ditto; 
1 suit duroy clothes; 1 Beaver cotton coat; 1 great coat; 
beaver hat, 16s. : 2 pairs breeches, (1 of leather and 1 cloth) ; 
5 ruffled shirts, 1 7s. 4d. ; tobacco tongs ; 3 two-hour glasses ; 
1 set surveying instruments; 1 doctor's box; 1 barrel of 
powder, £10; 1 drum, 6s.; bullets- and shot, 14s.; small 
skins, £1,. Is. 4d. ; 5 lbs. beaver, poor, at 5s.; 151 lbs. 
feathers at Is. 4d. per pound ; 98 gallons of rum at 2s. ; 3 
barrels at 3s. each; 3 cows, £12; 1 cow at £3, 12^.; and 
one Negro man named Esdram, with bedding and clothes, 
£40. This last item gf property may seem somewhat start- 
ling to modem ears and in this latitude, but the doctrine of 
popular rights and human equality was not publicly avowed 
till the commencement of the Revolution, some years later ; 
and nothing was more common, among the more pretending 
or aristocratic families, than the purchase of a negro man or 
woman, as the most unequivocal mark of rank and distinc- 
tion. Capt. North is said to have been buried at the Fort 
cemetery, and his grave marked by a horizontal slab of stone 
in which was inlaid a heart-shaped plate of lead containing 
the name and inscription. This, after the desecration of the 
place, was appropriated by some one, and, it is said, melted 
and run into musket balls ; so that, but for the memory of 
one* who in childhood and youth often saw and noted the 
stone, the resting-place of the honored master might have re- 
mained equally unknown with that of his humble slave, 
Esdram. 

This winter of 1 762-3 was remarkable for severe storms 
and a great depth of snow, which, being badly crusted, 

* Mrs. Mary Hyler of Thomaston. 



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EOCKLAND AND SOUTff TH0MA8TDN. 87 

greatly impeded the flight of the moose and rendered them 
an easy prey to the hunters. No less than 70 were -this year 
taken on the^ Middle Neck alone ; and these animals were 
never after found iii so great abundance as formerly. The 
snow remained, and, late as the 21st of March, was four feet 
deep, with " a crust sufficiently solid and hard to bear a 
loaded team."* 

The place this year made an evident advance. Mason 
Wheaton came from Providence, R. I. in 1763, and, under a 
lease from the Proprietors of a large part of the Fort farm 
(which extended from the present & bibles lot to Mill River) 
commenced and for many years carried on the manufacture 
of lime from Lime-stone Hill, the present Prison quarry. 
Associated with him as partners in this business, as also iti a 
store of goods kept first in the Fort and then where Wm. 
Vose now resides, were Simon Whipple and Samuel Briggs ; 
the last of whom was, the following year, 1764, licensed as 
an innholder and opened the first tavern in the place, proba- 
bly in the buildings within the old Fort. Of Whipple little 
is known, but from sundry charges in Wm. Watson's account 
book against Captain Whipple made in 1764, and onward, 
it is not improbable that he was or had been engaged in the 
coasting business. Mr. Watson's book contains accounts 
with each of these three persons, separately, as though no 
partnership existed between them ; and it is uncertain when 
the firm commenced or ended. He charges Mr. Briggs, May, 
1764, with part of four daya hauling wharf timber, also with 
115 sticks of ditto, besides boards, gondola loads of wood, 
mending and making shoes, and in May, " one Bushell and 
half of patotes Delivered Willm Gregory, £1, 10s.," &c. 
We may infer therefore that the small wharf, afterwards 
greatly enlarged by Knox, and now owned by Hon. E. 
O'Brien, and which was in being through the late war, was 
this year re-constructed or enlarged. As specimens of prices, 
articles of trade, and the currency, of that day, we give the 
following from Mr ^^'atson's book. April 16, 1765, Mr. 
Wheaton, Credit, 6 bushels corn, £9 ; May 8, 3^ yds. Linen 
Cloth, £7 ; five yds. cotton and linen, £4 ; sixteen yds. 
osnabergs, £11, 2s.; seven lbs. coifee, £3; handkerchief, £2, 
10s. 8d. ; one pair of garters, 5d. ; one quart rum, 7s. ; four 
lbs. sugar, IBs.; eleven yds. ticklenbergs, at 15s., £8, 5s.; 
half quintal fish, £3, 15s.; half lb. tea, £1, 10s.; four oz. 
indigo, 16s. ; half lb. soap, 3s. 6d. ; June 28th, one yd. broad 

♦ Col. Burton's narrative, &c. 



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88 • HISTORY OF THOMASTON, " 

cloth, £10, 10s.; two scythes, £4, 10s.; three pair heels,* 
58.; fiveJbs. flax, £1, 12s. ; Aug. 1,0th, one hat, £11, 5s. ; 2 
felt hats, £3 ; one gallon molasses, 18s. ; quire of paper; 10s. ; 
and one lb. powder, 15s. Mr. Wheaton, deblor, April 18, 
1765, to 3 days at the kiln, £3 ; David one day driving oxen, 
10s. ; one day of man and four oxen, hauling rock, £3 ; six 
feet wood, £l, 2s. 6d. ; one day at the sloop, loading, £1 ; 
Jude, 1000 boards delivered Capt. Nutting, £12 ; one day at 
the P. Kiln,t £1 ; Dec. 3, 1768, 2 bush, salt, £1, 28. ; mak- 
ing 1 pr. shoes for Mr. Wheaton, £1 ; ditto, for the boy, 17s., 
&c. These were probably in the old tenor currency, in which 
45s. were equal to one Spanish dollar, or 6s. of the lawful 
money established in 1749. 

The lime quarries having been reserved by the Proprietors 
for their exclusive use, this firm, Wheaton, Briggs & Whipple, 
in their name, monopolized the whole business. Wheaton 
lived at first in a log-house, back or east of what is now 
Wadsworth Street, Thomaston, near the well known spring 
sometimes called the Knox spring ; and here his only son, the 
late James D. Wheaton, was bom. He subsequently built, 
a little further west, a small, one-story, framed or planked 
house, in which he resided some years, and which, after hav- 
ing been transformed by enlargement and the addition of a 
second story, is still standing on Wadsworth Street, in a dilap- 
idated condition and known by the name of the Wadsworth 
House, or the Old Castle, With the increase of business, 
Wheaton seems to have risen in popular favor, as, in 1775, he 
held a Major's commission in the militia, as he had done that 
of Captain before. He was followed, though probably a few 
years later, by Daniel Morse, a wheelwright, born in Attle- 
boro', but who married, in Rhode Island, a sister of Mrs. 
Wheaton. He went on to one of the Meadow farms, where 
many of his descendants still remain, and proved a useful ac- 
quisition to the place, — making and repairing carts, ploughs, 
wheelbarrows, and other articles of the kind, then scarce and 
in great request. Thomas Stevens, another settler at the 
Meadows, came to this place about the same time. He was 
a shoemaker of Falmouth, and his wife a native of one of the 
Islands, the Great or Little Gebeag, in that harbor. After 
working at his trade, some time, near Mr. Wheaton's, and 
above or west of Dr. Rose's present house, he finally settled 
in near neighborhood with Mr. Morse; where he long lived. 



* Of wood, for women's high heeled shoes. 

t The " P. kiln " probably stood for the " Proprietor's kiln." 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 89 

his humble dwelling surrounded with a dense spruce thicket, 
upon which his axe made little or no impression. 

Another acquisition was made to the place in the person of 
Dr. David Fales, who came here about this time as surveyor 
and agent of the Waldo Proprietors, to take care of their 
rights and superintend the sale and location of lands to set- 
tlers. When invited to do so, he, with his newly married 
wife, was residing in Dedham^ where, and in the State of New 
York, he had practised surveying, and, having received a 
medical education, was now well qualified to engage in either 
of these professions ; — though ultimately becoming more ex- 
tensively known by the title of Esquire rather than Doctor. 
He took up his abode at first in the fort, where two of his 
children were bom, and where he taught school and followed, 
as occasion required, his other vocations. In all these he was 
careful and cautious; as the settlement increased, acquired 
property; in 1767, received a justice's commission; and, at 
the close of that year, removed to and opene$i a tavern in his 
own log-house which he built on his lot above Robbins's, and 
where, in di£ferent houses of his erection, one of which was 
consumed by fire, he lived the remainder of his days. 

Many emigrants also came about this time to the territory 
of Warren above and Gushing below, but the whole popula- 
tion of all the settlements on the George's River is said to 
have numbered only 17*5.* 

1764- It is handed down that the first militia muster of 
the regiment in this quarter, which included half the settled 
portion of the State, was held here on Lime-stone Hill in the 
autumn of this year, under command of the old Indian-killer, 
Col. Jas Cargill of Newcastle, who wore on this occasion a 
drab pea-jacket and comarney cap. But, as this seems to be 
the only incident that has come down to us concerning this 
and the two succeeding years, we can only infer that they 
were seasons of peaceful, healthy, and monotonous prosperity. 
In the course of them, agriculture received a new impulse. 
It had hitherto been chiefly confined to the raising of potatoes, 
peas, beans, and barley, with some wheat and rye, and a few 
cabbages. About this time, however, Indian com began to 
be cultivated, probably brought here by some of the recent 
emigrants mentioned above, and, notwithstanding its liability 
to injury firom early frosts, soon, from its abundant increase, 
came into general favor. It was first made known to our 
German neighbors in Waldoboro' by Daniel Filhorn, a resident 

• Family traditions. Writer in Thomaston Recorder, &c. 
8* 



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90 HISTORY OF TH0MA8T0N, 

of Loud's Island, whose memory still pleasantly lingers in the 
traditions of that place. The knowledge of Indian com was 
not the only benefit received from this somewhat eccentric 
and waggish personage. On one occasion he had drawn to- 
gether a crowd by announcing his ability to make mice — 
living mice, and offered to exhibit his skill before their eyes 
on the payment of a four-pence-half-penny bit, by each. 
Having received the money, he scraped up a little dust upon 
the bridge and, after wetting and manipulating the paste, he 
shaped it into the proper forms, and called upon the specta- 
tors to watch and observe their first efforts at motion before 
they should have time to run away. The animals did not stir. 
After looking anxiously for a while, he announced to the au- 
dience that his experiment had failed; he found he was not 
able to do what he had promised ; *' but," said he, " I have 
made a far more valuable discovery. I have found that, 
though I cannot make mice, I can make confounded fools."* 
1767- At Wessaweskeag few or no attempts to settle 
had been made prior to 1767. In that year, Elisha Snow of 
HarpsweU, whilst seeking a good chance for lumbering, vis- 
ited the place, and, be ng struck with its singular water priv- 
ileges, fine growth, and other advantages, immediately, with 
his natural keen discernment and prompt action, took mea- 
sures for commencing a settlement there. In connection with 
John Mathews of Plainfield, Ct., whom he induced to join 
him, he purchased a possessory claim of a Lieutenant in the 
British army then in Boston, but whose name has passed out 
of memory, to 300 acres of land, on which they erected a 
saw-mill and went to work at the lumber on the ground for 
the means of making payment. Succeeding in this. Snow 
went to Boston for the purpose of completing the contract 
and procuring a deed. There, so favorable an offer was 
made, that he was induced to purchase the entire tract of 
1750 acres; and, Mathews not being present, took the deed 
of the whole in his own name and arranged the matter with 
his associate afterwards. Paying what money he had, and 
giving notes together with a mortgage of the whole tract for 
the remainder, he returned, well pleased with his bargain. 
Fortune, however, had not yet exhausted her favors ; for, it is 
said, the mortgagee, having ^iled for England in a ship that 
was never afterwards heard from, was supposed to have been 
lost with the notes and unrecorded mortgage with him, and no 
payment was ever made or demanded ; though the right of 

t Dr. M. B. Ludwig. 

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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOM ASTON. 91 

soil was, Nov. 18, 1773, purchased of Mr. Fluker for £664, 
lOs.* This, to them, fortunate commencement gave such an 
impetus to the business of Snow and Mathews, that it soon 
attracted other settlers to this the future South Thomaston. 
A Mr. Tenant, who had married Mathews's sister, came early 
to the place, built a small house, and, {\fter the rupture with 
the mother country, joined the American army and died at 
Plainfield, Ct., leaving a widow and one son, Joshua Tenant. 
He was followed in 1773 by Joseph Coombs and Richard 
Keating from New Meadows, John Bridges a native of York, 
Thomas and Jonathan Or be ton, all of whom came either as 
hired men sent dowo by Snow, or as emigrants in pursuit of 
an advantageous place for settlement. The first dwelling- 
house built in the settlement was that of Snow, who did not 
move his family hither till after 1771; — the next that of 
Mathews; — -both small, low, framed houses, containing two 
rooms only and a bed-room. Mr. Snow hired his brother 
Samuel to come down and superintend the erection of his 
buildings. To these, at a later period, he added a grist-mill, 
which ran successfully for many years till it was accidentally 
consumed by fire. He also commenced ship-building at an 
early period. 

This large tract, purchased by Mr. Snow, was wholly situ- 
ated on the N. or N. E. side <jf the Wessaweskeag River, and 
was laid out by him into convenient lots for farms, mostly sold, 
or eventually given away to his own children, including seven 
sons who all became active and enterprising men of business 
and most of them masters of vessels. The north-westernmost 
of these lots, on the extreme boundary of the tract, called the 
JEJphraim Snow lot, now constitutes the farm of S. Brinton 
Butler, and was first settled upon by Wm. Rowel I in 1801. 
The next, or adjoining lot below, called the Elisha Snow lot, 
became that of Franklin Ferrand. The third, called the 
Israel Snow lot, became that of Barzillai Pierce; the fourth, 
called the Larkin Snow lot, passed into the hands of Briggs 
and Brackett Butler, as did, also, the fifth, called the Isaac 
Snow lot. The sixth was transferred to Leonard Wade, which , 
on his removal to Union, was bought by the Butlers. The 
seventh was taken by the purchaser's brother, Joseph Snow ; 
the eighth by Jonas Dean ; the ninth by John Bridges ; the 
tenth by Elisha Snow (2d), transferred to Wm. McLoon; the 
eleventh by Israel Snow, now occupied by Jesse Sleeper ; the 



• R. Rowell ; Capt. A. C. Spalding ; Deed in Register's Office, "Wis- 
catset; &c. 



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92 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

twelfth reserved to the original purchaser and occupied by 
himself and his son-in-law Capt. James Spalding, whose son, 
Capt. Henry Spalding, and Robert Snow (3d,j with their 
families are the only descendants of the first owner, Mr. 
Snow, remaining on the original tract. The 13th was taken 
by Capt. Ephraim Snow, and is now occupied by Jas. Sweet- 
land; the 14th by John Mathews, lately that of Rice Rowell, 
deceased, whose house, where he was born and died, was 
built in 1788, raised Christmas day. The 15th was taken by 
James Stackpole, who commenced making brick there, but, 
getting discouraged and removing over to George's River, 
sold the lot to Hezekiah Bachelder. It was afterwards sold 
to Luther Hayden, with whose son William it now remains. 
The 16th was shared by Robert and Ambrose Snow, who 
transferred their respective portions, the former to Anthony 
Mathews, and the latter to Benjamin Snow. 

The Wessaweskeag stream was at this time, as it had been 
in earlier periods, much frequented by the Penobscot and 
other eastern Indians, who, in their passage down the Penob- 
scot bay to their fishing and fowling stations among the islands 
and more western shores, often made it a part of their trail, 
to save passing around Owl's Head. Landing at the Head 
of the Bay, a short portage would carry them to this stream, 
from which the Lower trail probably extended to Cutler's Cove 
in St. George, as a branch of it did to the Bay in Thomaston. 
Their power was indeed broken, but they were still numerous, 
and continued to visit the Wessaweskeag in great numbers 
for many years, but exciting less and less alarm among the 
settlers. The banks of this stream and much of the adja- 
cent region were at this time covered with a magnificent 
growth of pines, whose age, judging from the younger speci- 
mens left and more recently examined, must have ranged 
from 300 years downwards. In the first lumbering operations 
the rule was to cut no trunks so small that two men standing 
on opposite sides and extending their arms could completely 
encircle; and most of these, when sawed into boards, were 
perfectly free from knots larger than a man's thumb would 
cover. When the lands becanrje divested of these larger trees, 
the rule was to cut none smaller than what would fill the 
arms of one man only. This pine growth, ancient and noble 
as it was, had however, been preceded, it was thought, by 
one of a different kind; for the ground was strewn with huge 
trunks of poplars, 3 or 4 feet in diameter, covered with moss, 
but still undecayed and partly imbedded in mould. It is not 
known whether these shorter-lived trees had been simultan- 



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ROCBXAND AKD SOUTH THOBfASTON. 98 

ousTy prostrated by some tempest, or, intermingled at first 
with the pines, had successively died and givea room to a 
race more aspiring and of greater longevity. 

This magnificent forest, though of different and varying 
kinds of timber, extended along the shore of Owl's Head 
Bay and inland as far as the mountains. It entirely covered 
the present city of- Kockland, except a few insignificant in- 
roads made by lumbering parties from George's River. These 
occasionally came over when that river was frozen, and got 
out a sloop-load of wood, staves, or timber, on the sea-borders, 
to be sent to Boston for early supplies of provisions before 
the rivers broke up. Among these, John Lermond of the 
Upper Town, now Warren, came over to the Cove between 
Jameson's and Ulmer*s Points, built a camp, and, with the 
occasional aid of his two brothers, got out a cargo of oak 
staves and pine lumber there. Not intending to settle, he 
put up no buildings; but the harbor was long aftierwards 
known as " Lermond's Cove," rather than by that of its Indian 
name of Catawamteag. 

Stephen Pea body, from Middleton, Mass., came to Owl's 
Head at the same time Snow did to the "Gig," — a name 
into which Wessaweskeag was soon abbreviated. He pur- 
chased from some former squatter a possessory tide to 600 
acres of land, and attempted to get a living partly by his 
trade and partly by farming. He was a blacksmith, the first 
in the place, other than the arnwrers or gunsmiths at the 
Fort. But lacking energy and perseverance, he got in debt, 
was harassed with lawsuits, became discouraged, removed, 
and set up his trade near Oyster River in Warren. 

1768. This year, died the elder William Watson ; a man 
of enterprise and property. His last will and testament, 
dated Dec. 21, 1761, devises as follows: "I give and be- 
queath unto my dutiful son, William Watson, two-third parts 
of my real estate on Ye West side of St. George's River, to 
have the same, his heirs, &c., forever. Item — I give, &c., 
to my second son, James, one-third part of my real estate in 
St. George's aforesaid, the Pivision line or bounds between 
him and his elder brother William to begin at a brook empty- 
ing nearly opposite to the Block-house or lime ... in St. 
George's; Provided, nevertheless, that he, my son James, 
shall not have liberty to sell or dispose of said one- third part 
of ye sd estate to any one whatsoever, only to occupy it for 
his ... or the lawful heirs of his body, forever. Item. I 
will and devise out of the aforesaid Bequeathed Estate that 
my sons, William and James, Do and sha . • . and instruct 



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94 HISTORY OF THOMA.STON, 

my younger sons, David and Mathew, in reading, writing, and 
shoemaking, and William give to David a yoak of oxen and 
a Cow, and James give to Mathew a yoak of oxen and a Cow ; 
and, in case of non- performance of the above directions, that 
my sons, David and Mathew, shall have sixty acres of Land 
laid out to them out of the above bequeathed land at the head 
of the Narrows on St. George's River. And further I desire 
that my sons, William and James, do Equally give and put 
out to interest the sum of six pounds, four years ensuing the 
date hereof, for the use and benefit of my Grandson, John 
Watson, in case he survives to ye age of twenty-one years, 
and if not, to be divided between David and Mathew. Item. 
I give to my daughters Jean, Mary, and Margaret, Each of 
them a new Bible to be purchased by ^y sons, William and 
James, and Likewise a Cow to my daughter Elizabeth. 
Lastly, I do hereby constitute my Loving friend, John North, 
Esq., the sole Executor of this my last Will and Testament."* 
The instrument is in Mr. North's handwriting, and witnessed 
by him, Boice Cooper, and Andrew Malcom. The testator, 
however, outlived the executor. John, the grandson here 
mentioned, was probably the son of Capt. John Watson, 
killed by the Indians as before related. 

The same year, a new emigrant, James Fales, a cousin of 
Dr. David Fales before mentioned, came from Dedham, Mass., 
January 7th, and went on to the farm consisting of one-half 
of lots numbered 5, 6, and 7, and situated next below the 
Bobbins lots. He was followed, June 16, 1770, by his father 
and mother, but who, probably disheartened by the somewhat 
gloomy and unpromising state of the settlement, returned May 
7, 1771, The son remained, apparently doing well; selling 
from his farm, beef, butter, cheese, sheep, mutton, and cord- 
wood ; besides spokes, hubs, and ox-bows, which he probably 
brought from Dedham ; charging days' works with two yokes 
of oxen, plough, &c. But he soon, July 23, 1774, sold this 
farm to James Stackpole, and removed to a new lot in that 
part of the town bordering on Lermond's Cove, then and 
later usually called "the Shore," in contradistinction from the 
settlements at Wessaweskeag and George's Rivers. In Octo- 
ber of the following year, 1769, Nathaniel Fales, brother of 
Dr. David, came, after a residence in various places, from 
Norwich, Ct., and with his wife and seven children settled on 
the lot next north of his brother's, where Otis Edgarton, 



* Original will in possession of Messrs. E. & A. W. Brown of Thomas- 
ton. The spaces left blank were obliterated. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 95 

who married his grand-daughter, now resides in a house huilt 
in 1786. Mr., afterwards Capt. Fales, was a hous'^-carpenter, 
and with Benj. Burton was employed by Dr. Taylor in 1776 
to build the first framed house in the present town of Union. 
1769a Up to this time the territory whose history we 
are attempting to write was included, at least the greater part 
of it, in the two plantations of St. George's Upper and Lower 
Town ; the name of Lincoln given at an early period to the 
abortive settlements near the Fort, having gone out of use 
and been forgotten. The division between these two planta- 
tions was recognized to be at Mill River stream. The Upper 
extended thence up the George's to the head of the tide ; and 
the Lower to the mouth of the George's, including both of 
its banks, although in the latter township, from the greater 
exposure to Indian incursions, few or none of the early set- 
tlers before Mr. Bobbins, located on the eastern side. In the 
county tax of this year the Lower town was rated at £23, 
lis., and the Upper at £33. But now, independent of these 
two settlements and the beginnings at Wessaweskeag before 
described, scattered inhabitants had begun to place themselves 
at different points aloi^ the seashore ; some earlier and some 
later, without any especial connection with each other. 
Among these, was John Hendeli, an Englishman, who, after 
residing some years at Round Pond, Bristol, came with his 
family to Owl's Head about 1770. Probably about the same 
time William Heard from New Hampshire, with his brother 
James, fixed his residence at Ash Point, near to Nathaniel 
Crockett, before mentioned, who had preceded them by no 
long space of time. James Heard did not remain long in the 
place; William, besides farming, soon commenced and car- 
ried on the manufacture of salt, which he gradually extended 
to seven, eight, and ultimately to twelve, kettles. These 
were kept constantly boiling in the summer season, except in 
the time of high freshets ; but, before the close of the Revo- 
lution, the works, or all that was combustible about them, 
were burnt by British privateers or marauding tories. Francis 
Haskell, another of the early settlers at Ash Point, estab- 
lished salt-works first at Portsmouth, then at New Meadows, 
and finally in this place near his brother-in-law, Crockett; 
coming last it is believed from Deer Isle. About this period 
at difterent times, settlers sat down between Owl's Head and 

Lermond's Cove, as follows : David Bennett, and Rhines, 

probably on the south side of the Bay; Samuel Bartlett at 
the Head of the Bay ; and one Reed, whose log-house in 
1769 was the only dwelling in what afterwards became the 



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96 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

principal village, now the most densely peopled portion of 
Hockland city. It stood on the site of the stores built by C. 
HoJmes and J. Spofford in Lime-rock street near Kimball's 
corner; and was shortly after transferred, together with a 
possessory title to 100 acres of land, to John Lindsey, for 
the sum of £10. Lindsey had entered the service at Rox- 
bury as a soldier in the French and Indian war, but came 
here from North Haven, where he had settled and where, 
early in the Revolution, his whig principles had rendered his 
longer stay too unsafe and exposed to British and tory ag- 
gression. On this valuable tract, thus purchased for only 
about $33, he built and for the rest of his life resided in a 
house situated about four rods from the present Lindsey Hotel, 
which was built and is still owned and kept by his son, Geo. 
Lindsey, bom here in 1792. Further to the northward and 
toward Camden, there settled about the present year, 1769, 
Jonathan Crockett, last from either the River side of the set- 
tlement or Fox Islands, and Isaiah Tolman, with a large fam- 
ily of children. Tolman had come in 1765 from Stoughton, 
or that part of it which is now Canton, Mass., and took up 
500 acres of land adjacent to the Camden line and the lake 
long known as Tolman's Pond, formerly called by the Indian 
name of Madambettox Pond, and more recently Chikawauka. 
This tract had been variously divided and sub-divided among 
his numerous descendants, in whose hands a large portion of 
it still remains. Much of it was run over by fires during the 
early clearings; and the beautiful oak timber now on it, is of 
a second growth, eighty or ninety years old. Bears were 
troublesome for twenty years or more, after his coming; but 
since that period only a few stray ones have made their ap- 
pearance. Tolman was or became a wealthy farmer, and 
early erected a saw and grist-mill on the outlet of the pond 
about fifty rods above the present Water Company mill, near 
the residence of Gilbert Marsh. This grist-mill, for a long 
time called Tolman's, and since, from iis different owners. 
Spear's, Mosman's, and McLain's, was the general resort for 
grinding in the whole vicinity, sometimes in a season of 
drought, as far as Warren. Caleb Barrows, from Attleboro', 
also settled on the farm now owned by Otis Barrows, but re- 
turned and was succeeded by his brother Ichabod, in 1770, 
who was the first trader in his part of the town, now Rock- 
land. These were followed five or six years later by James 
Fales before mentioned, young David Watson from Watson's 
Point, and Capt. Jonathan Spear. The last came from Brain- 
tree, Mass., where he had served as Lieutenant in the French 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 97 . 

and Indian war under Gen. Monroe, was present at the sur-« 
render of Fort Wm. Henry to the French General Montcalm, 
and escaped the subsequent Indian massacre of the disarmed 
garrison by fleeing to the woods with two soldiers and making 
good his retreat. . He married his third wife here at the Fort, 
where she had probably remained after the tragical death of 
her father, gunsmith McDougle, as before mentioned. They 
lived for a time on a neighboring farm there, which he sold 
to David Jenks by deed dated June 2, 1785, having pre- 
viously removed, as just stated, to the Shore and settled near 
the Meadows.* 

In addition to the comet, or blazing star as it was called by 
the people of that day, which appeared near the Seven-stars 
or Pleiades in August of this year, 1769, with "its fiery 
train of length enormous," and continued about a month, a 
slight shock of an earthquake, ndted by James Pales as oc- 
curring October l7th, added to the fears and apprehensions 
of the superstitious part of this small and scattered commu- 
nity. The troubles between the American colonies and the 
mother country, commencing with the Stamp act of 1765, 
and the tax on tea, &c., in 1767, augmented as they were 
this year by the strict enforcement of the acts of trade, and 
the interdiction of the French W. India lumber trade, were 
now assuming a serious aspect. Seamen found difficulty in 
obtaining employment, and the eastern people their usual 
supplies. Associations for disusing tea became general 
throughout the country. 

1770- Besides Gregory before mentioned, other settle- 
ments were made near Clam Cove, in 1770, at what was 
afterwards called Jameson's Point, but which had hitherto 
home the name of Leverett's Point from Thomas Leverett the 
Patentecr These were made by Alexander Jameson within 
the limits of Camden, and his two cousins, Robert and Chas. 
Jameson, in what is now Rockland ; all of them coming from 
Meduncook, now Friendship. From their advantageous situ- 
ation and enterprising character they soon became thriving 
and wealthy men, insomuch that during the Revolution which 
quickly succeeded, their cattle and other possessions were too 
tempting to escape the eager eyes and hostile visits of hungry 
and marauding privateersmen. At this time game still 
abounded in the forest, and hunting was, particularly in the 



• Messrs. W. & M. Heard, of South Thomaston ; Dea. D. Crockett, G. 
Lindsey, Jeremiah Tolman, W. E. Tolman, Esqrs., of Rockland ; and R. 
C. Counce, Esq., of Thomaston. 

Vol. I. 9' 



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98 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

I latter part of winter when snows were deep, no inconsidera- 
ble business of the inhabitants. Moose and deer were pur- 
sued on the upper waters of the George's and Medomac, by 
parties, who, after camping out for weeks, returned, bringing 
their booty on handsleds. They were alsQ at times, though 
less abundantly, found nearer the sea-shore. A large moose 
was at one time shot by Gregory within fifty rods of his 
house. This, by the aid of Daniel Rokes then working there, 
and a yoke of oxen, was hauled up, taken in, skinned, and 
dressed in the house, furnishing a rich feast to the inmates.* 
So great was the encouragement of hunting, and such the ex- 
hilaration and excitement attending it, that it is not strange 
that some gave it the preference over other pursuits and de- 
voted most of their time to the chase. Such, particularly, 
was Jacob Keen ; who, about tlris time, came with his family 
from Bristol, and settled back in the mountainous region of 
what is now Rockland, near the borders of Camden ; to which 
town, and other places, perhaps, as suited the conveniences 
of his calling, he at different times removed. 

Among other emigrants, who came to the place probably 
between this time and the breaking out of the Revolution, 
may be mentioned Oliver and Abiathar Smith, natives of 
Norton, Mass. The former was a blacksmith, and. had a 
shop seventy or eighty rods N. E. of Mill River Bridge, where 
Josiah Reed subsequently built the house lately occupied by 
Noyes Fales. The farm connected, which, he took up but 

.never obtained a deed of from the Proprietors, ultimately 
passed into the hands of Dr. Dodge, and is still occupied by 
his son, E. G. Dodge, Esq. Having married a daughter of 
Capt. Nat. Fales, Smith's relatives and friends did what they 
could to sustain him in business; but his temperament and 
habits ill-fitted him for the acquisition of property. His 
brother, Abiathar, having first squatted on and sold out 
Simon ton's Point, lived a long time in a log-house about three 
rods back of Isaac Mathews's, near the present Prison corner, 
and, as well as his brother, was much employed by Wheaton 
and Whipple in burning lime. He afterwards removed ; his 
house having been, previously destroyed by fire. The follow- 
ing anecdote will give us some insight into the character of 
Oliver, the elder brother. Having taken some offence 
against one of the Butlers, he extended, and for a long time 
obstinately retained, his resentment against the whole fiimily 
of that name. A stranger coming to the place for the pur- 

* Capt. John Gregory of Camden. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOJiASTON. 99 

pose of purchasing a cow, and learning that Smith had one 
for sale but was then absent at OwFs Head, rode over to that 
place to find him. On his way, meeting a man in the woods, 
he inquired if his name was Oliver Smith, and if he had a 
cow for sale. An affirmative answer was given, and, after 
some further conversation as to quality, price, &c., of the 
animal, a bargain was struck, and the stranger was to pay 
the money and take the cow the following day. Just as he 
was taking leave however, Smith took the liberty to inquire 
his name. "Butler," said the stranger. "Then you can't 
have my cow;" said the other. " Why not, pray?" "Don't 
like the name." "But," said the stranger, "my money is 
good, I presume, if my name is not; and as to that, I am 
wholly unconnected with any of the Butlers hereabouts." 
"Can't help it;" replied Smith; "if your name is Butler, 
you can't have the cow. I am poor enough, heaven knows ; 
but all the money a Butler ever owned cannot buy my 
cow."* 

There seems to have been another " fiery comet," which 
made its appearance nearly in opposition to the sun Juno 
29th of this year, 1770, and, July 1st, was seen near the 
north pole, according to the journal of Rev. Dr. Deane of 
Falmouth, though I have found no mention made of it by the 
settlers here. The month of its appearance and its location 
in the heavens, remind one of the unexpected and, it was 
said, before unknown, comet of 1861. That remarkable in- 
sect called the army-worm appeared here, according to an 
entry in the book of James Fales, on the 16th of July of this 
year, 1770; devouring the grass, grain, flax, and all other 
vegetables that came in its way, moving in regular phalanx 
like soldiers marching, and in one direction only. 

The people of the place, in the autumn of this year, ex- 
perienced much anxiety and ultimate mourning from the loss 
at sea of two of their number, John Porterfield, a promising 
youth, and Samuel Briggs, an enterprising man of business 
before mentioned ; both of whom perished on the voyage to 
Boston in the new sloop Industry, — the first vessel ever 
built on George's River. An equally tragical event occurred 
in October at the head of Owl's Head Bay, in the death of 
two women recently added to the settlements there, Mrs. 
Rhines and Mrs. Bennett. Availing themselves of a calm, 
warm, and lovely day, they had been over to the vicinity of 
the Meadows on a visit, and, on their return, were overtaken 

* Mr. Oliver Smith, Jr. Capt. B. Webb, &c. 



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100 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

by a sudden snow-squall from the north-west, so violent as to 
obscure the path and landmarks ; during which they got be- 
wildered in the woods, lost their way, became chilled and ex- 
hausted, and perished near Perry's hill, in the borders of 
South Thomaston. On the 13th of November, 1770, Capt. 
Thomas Kilpatrick, so often mentioned, and so distinguished 
for his prowess in Indian warfare and general activity and 
capacity, died at the age of 77 years. His body was in- 
terred at the burying-ground on the western bank of the river, 
near the Presbyterian or first meetinghouse in what is now 
Warren, — then standing with open unglazed windows, testi- 
fying to the ravages of the late war, its pulpit supplied only 
by an occasional missionary. 

The office of captain in the militia being now vacant, the 
inhabitants selected Lieut. Patrick Porterfield of this place 
to fill it ; but, through the influence of Capt. Goldthwait, com- 
mander of Fort Pownal, the commission was given to John 
Mclntyre, an inn-keeper and ferryman of the settlement above. 
Porterfield was also licensed as an inn-holder, this year, and 
opened his house as such. This was now a small framed 
house, built by him, and which long stood on the site of the 
present house of Capt. John S. Feyler. An old log-house 
near by still remained standing, and was, for some years 
about 1780, occupied by Mr. Lampson, before mentioned, 
who finally settled west of the Meadows in the present Rock- 
land, where he had charge for many years of the mill built 
by Capt J. Blackington on the site of the present Sherer and 
Ingraham mill. Of Porterfield's sons, William settled not 
long after this time in the then new township of Camden. 
The Lieutenant, though energetic, liberal, and popular, was 
passionate, rash, and somewhat profane — asperities which 
the drinking habits that followed the Revolution and tempted 
his later years, had, probably, no tendency to soften. " Don't 
drink ?" exclaimed he to a boy of some nine years, to whom 
among the rest of the by-standers in a store at Mill River he 
had offered a glass of rum, " don*l drink f in the name of 

how do you live, then ?" Like all passionate people he 

was sometimes subjected to needless provocations; at one 
time especially by his old friend and crony, Boice Cooper of 
the Upper town. Having been at work with others making 
hay on the salt marsh, they were pausing for a drink and rest, 
when they got to betting whether Porterfield could jump 
across one of those small bottomless quagmires, hard by, 
usually denominated " honey-pots." The rest of the gang 
gathering round to witness the result, Porterfield started oa 



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ROCKLAND AND SOXJTH THOMASTON. IQl 

the run at some little distance in order to increase his mo- 
mentum, and had arrived at the very point of taking his final 
leap, when Cooper suddenly threw up his hands and gave such 
a* frightful yell that he was completely disconcerted, and 
plumped into the very centre of the adhesive mire. Here he 
was detained long enough to allow his friend to* make good 
his escape from the angry storm that was sure to follow. 
His violent temper was said to have hastened his death, ho 
having died suddenly in a fit of anger caused by finding that 
his son Robert had lent the oxen to a neighbor, when he him- 
self had designed using them for a particular purpose.* 

1771. Much distress was occasioned in the settlement, 
this year, by a malignant fever which carried off many. It is 
thus noted by James Fales. " A very sickly season, of a 
kind of the yellow fever, 1771." Mrs. Porterfield, the wife 
of Lieut. Patrick before mentioned, was one of its victims; 
her remains were deposited in the old Fort burying-ground 
near the Knox mansion; — her grave-stone having been re- 
cently, in 1860, turned up by the plough. 

1772-3. The Upper and Lower towns on the St. 
George's River were from this year included together as one 
in the apportionment of the County tax, and the sum of £21, 
10s. Id. assessed upon them. Meetings were held alternately 
in each for the choice* of assessors. The settlers having, 
however, now considerably increased, and being desirous of 
the usual privileges of towns in laying out roads, providing 
schools, and maintaining public worship, the Lower plantation 
^ in which the southern part of Thomaston was then included 
began to take measures to get incorporated into a town, and 
proposed to the settlers in Meduncook to join with them and 
form a part of a new town extending from Mill River to 
Broad Bay (now about being incorporated as Waldobo rough) 
on the west, and to the ocean on the south and east. But the 
people of Meduncook, being averse, took measures in opposi- 
tion as will appear from the following letter. " Meduncook, 
Sept. 14, 1773. To the Honored Mr. Secretary Fluker. Sir. 
With our best wishes to your. Honor, we, the inhabitants of 
Meduncook, inform your Honor that the inhabitants of the 
lower part of St. George's River have made a proposal to us 
to be incorporated into a township with them, which, if 
granted, will be of unspeakable damage, if not total ruin to 
us, partly by reason of our incommodious situation with re- 
spect to them, [partly by reason of strong prejudices in these 

* Mr. N. Fales (3) j Capt. D. Lermond, and others. 
9* 



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1Q2 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

people against us]* with other reasons of which your Honor 
perhaps is not altogether ignorant — do therefore beg the* 
favor of your Honor's interest and influence that we may by 
no means be joined with them, but rather if of necessity an 
incorporation must take place with respect to us, to be joined 
. as a patish to Broad Bay, or if that may not be obtained, 
that we may be a town by ourselves including the adjacent 
islands, whicb although a burthensome alternative, we bad 
rather bear than be joined with them, if we may not be suf- 
fered to remain as we are for a while longer. Your Honor 
will likewise remember that the instruction of Your Honor's 
Predecessor, Brigadier Waldo, deceased, was to make this an 
English settlement. We have likewise inclosed a petition to 
the Honorable Court which we pray your Honor to present if 
need require and your Honor's wisdom shall so direct. 
(Signed) Jacob Davis, John Demorse, sen.," (and 24 others.) 
This reluctance was probably occasioned by their English 
descent and Puritan faith, whilst their neighbors on George's 
River were mostly Scotch Irish, and Presbyterians. Yet so 
far as the territory of Thomaston was concerned, a change in 
that respect was beginning to take place, by reason of emi- 
grants from the towns further west. 

The first license for retailing liquors at Wessaweskeag was 
taken out this year, 1773, by Mr. Snow, who had opened the 
first store in what is now South Thomaston, had removed his 
family hither, and was rejoicing in the onward progress and 
prosperity of the settlement he had so successfully founded. 

In the political horizon, however, the clouds which had be- 
fore appeared, were now fast thickening, and the gloom of 
the coming tempest began to be felt even in this remote set- 
tlement. The stock of tea having accumulated in England 
in consequence of its disuse in America, many cargoes were, 
this year, shipped to the latter, in the expectation that, when 
once landed and the duties paid, it would find its way into 
the country and meet with purchasers. Three cargoes ar- 
riving in Boston, various means were used to induce the con- 
signees not to receive it; and when these failed, and the town 
meeting held on the subject prolonged its deliberations to a 
late hour in the night without coming to any determination, 
17 men disguised like Indians boarded the ships on the eve- 
ning of Dec. 16th, and broke open ^nd threw 342 chests into 
the water. In this aftair two young men from this river were 



* ** The clause in brackets was erased before Mr. Bradford signed the 
above." Friendship Records. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 103 

participants. One of these was Benjamin Burton, son of 
Capt. Benjamin so often before mentioned, who, happening 
to be at Boston on a visit, went in the crowd to the Old South 
meetinghouse, and', as soon as the patriot orator had closed 
his animated address, hearing the shout tea-party^ tea-party^ 
and being touched with the spirit of the times, joined the 
party, was stationed in the hold of one of the ships to fasten 
the slinks upon the tea-chests, and labored with his might be- 
tween two and three hours. in the work of destruction. It 
being about the time of low water, the detested tea rested on 
the ground and, when the tide rose, floated as a scum upon 
the water and was lodged by the surf along the shores. The 
other resident of this place present at this celebrated tea-\ 
^ party, was Capt. James Watson, who, at the time command- J 
ing a small coaster from this river, and being in Boston, as- 
sisted in breaking up the chests with a negro-hoe ; as the 
tide abated, he went down the vessel-side to push it afloat, 
and filled his pea-jacket pockets with samples of the objec- 
tionable herb. 

1774. Gov. Hutchinson, in disgust at the people's op- 
position to his administration and the late measures of the 
British parliament, having left for England, his successor, 
Gen. Thomas Gage, assuming the attitude of a military 
despot rather than that of a civil magistrate, only added fresh 
fuel to the fire of opposition; and, having adjourned the 
legislature, June 17th, whilst the House with locked doors 
were in the act of choosing delegates to a Congress at Phila- 
delphia, neither he nor any other royal governor ever met a 
Massachusetts legislature afterwards. The people here, hav- 
ing from the first had many friends and connections in Boston, 
and done most of their trading there, naturally participated 
in their sentiments and feelings at this crisis. To give some 
idea of these feeliijgs we make the following extracts from 
the letters of a promising young man of business, then a 
bookseller and stationer in Boston, afterwards a distinguished 
citizen and munificent benefactor of Thomaston. Henry 
Knox, writing May 30, 1774, to Messrs. Wright & Gill of 
London, says, " If the act to block up this harbor should con- 
tinue in force any length of time, it must deeply affect every 
person in Trade here, and consequently their Correspondents 
on your side of the water. But it is expected the British 
merchants mil see their own interest so clearly as to induce 
them to exert their whole influence in order to get so unjust 
and cruel an edict repealed." To James Rivington of New 
York, a printer and publisher whom he was in the habit of 



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104 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

supplying with stationery, and who eventually, we believe, 
took sides with the tories, Knox writes at the close of a busi- 
ness letter of July 18th. "P. S. I forgot my politics — or 
rather I have none to communicate at present. Things seem 
pretty much at a stand, since I wrote you. The troops en- 
camped on the«common keep up a most excellent discipline, 
and seem cautious that no affray begins on their part. The 
Citizens, taught by experience to be quiet, are equally cau- 
tious to avoid any disturbance. The Non Consumption 
agreement or the solemn league and covenant has made a 
very rapid progress since the Governor's proclamation forbid- 
ding it; by the last accounts I have been able to collect, it 
will be general throughout this Province, New Hampshire, 
and Connecticut. The New Acts for regulating this Govern- 
ment, will, I perfectly believe, make great difficulties. The 
people are in no disposition to receive an act pregnant with so 
great evils. What mode of Opposition will be adopted, I do 
not know ; but it is the general opinion it will be opposed ; 
hence the key to the formidable force collecting here. Any 
Material event that may happen here,! will take the earliest 
opportunity to convey intelligence of to you."* 

To the same person, who had shipped a quantity of tea for 
him to dispose of, he writes, August 4th, of the same year. 
"Sir: I received yours of the 28th of July, and am much 
obliged to you for your kind recommendation of the Officers 
of the 23d, but am extremely sorry for your mistake in con- 
signing Hyson Tea to this place. I have conversed with the 
first tea dealers in town, who say this is the dullest time for it 
they ever knew, and that 100 lbs. would supply the probable 
demand for a twelvemonth. The person who informed you 
about the price is also mistaken, as my informers say they 
would be very glad to take $3 per pound for theirs which is 
exceedingly good. Souchong tea would have answered much 
better than Hyson — but as they are both entirely out of my 
way I should be well pleased to have nothing to do with 
them. If by any good Fortune the ship should be detained 
till this arrives, by all means take it out. The Gentlemen of 
the army and navy brought their Tea with them, as they were 
informed it was not to be had here ; and a report of its being 
scarce has occasioned great quantities to be poured in from 
the neighboring seaports." On the 18th August, after some 
further remarks upon the difficulty of disposing of the un- 



* Letter Book of Gen. Knox, late in the possession of Capt. B. Webb 
of Thomaston. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUf H THOMASTON. 105 

popular article consigned to him, lie continues : '* we have no 
foreign news here. Mr. Gage by a letter has dismissed Col. 
Hancock from the command of his Independent Company of 
Cadets; upon the reception of which the Company were 
called together, who voted a Committee to wait on the Gov- 
ernor with the Standard which his Excellency gave to the 
Company upon his taking the chair, and also to inform him 
that from the day Col. Hancock was dismissed from his com- 
mand they considered themselves as disbanded. His Excel- 
lency accepted of the standard and told them Col. Hancock 
had not treated him well, and he would not be treated ill by 
him nor any other man in the province, and added " had I 
known this to be your intentions, I would have . disbanded 
you hefore now." 

Again he writes : " Mr. Thomas Longman, London. Sir : 
I have received yours, per Capt. Callahan, and the books in 
good order, also the Magazines to August inclusive. I am 
sorry it is not in my power to make you remittance per this 
opportunity, but shall do it very soon. This whole Continent 
have entered into a General non-Importation agreement until 
the late acts of Parliament respecting this Government, &c., 
are repealed, which will prevent my sending any orders' for 
Books until this most desirable End is accomplished. I can- 
not but hope every person who is concerned in American 
trade will most strenuously exert themselves in their respec- 
tive stations for what so nearly concerns themselves. I had 
the fairest prospect of entirely balancing our account this 
fall, but the almost total stagnation of Trade in consequence 
of the Boston Port Bill has been the sole means of prevent- 
ing it, and now the non-consumption agreement will stop that 
small circulation of Business left by the Boston Port Bill — I 
mean the internal business of the province. It must be the 
wish of every good man that these unhappy differences be- 
tween Great Britain arid the Colonies be speedily and finally 
adjusted — the influence that the unlucky and unhappy mood 
of Politicks of the times has upon trade, is my only excuse 
for writing concerning them. The Magazines and new pub- 
lications concerning the American dispute are the only things 
which I desire you to send at present, which I wish you to 
pack together well wrapped in a brown paper as usual. Be 
pleased to accept my sincere wishes for your health and wel- 
fare and believe me Sir, 

"Yourmost Obt. Hb. St. H.Knox." 

As the reader may feel Qome interest in the fate of the 
troublesome tea thus forced upon the future patriot and hero, 



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106 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

we give one more extract from a letter to his New York cus- 
tomer, being the last we find concerning it. '*I beg some 
directions about your tea. I have tried every person in this 
town who u^ally deals in it, but have not been able to suc- 
ceed. One chest I sold to my particular friends at the rate 
of 12s. sterling per pound, but have not been able to sell one 
ounce to any other persons. Pray give me your speedy com- 
mands about it. As the Provincial and Continental Con- 
gresses have determined to suspend the use of it after the 
first of March, it will be too great a risque for me to vend 
any of it after that time, altho' I should be glad to-do every 
thing in my power to serve yow." This was written on the 
6th of February, 1775; and on the 19th of the following 
April the blood shed at Lexington brought matters to a crisis 
between the colonies and the mother country, and called the 
young book -binder and stationer of Boston to display his tal- 
ents and energy in a broader field and a more glorious cause. 
. The decided stand thus taken by Knox on the side of free- 
dom and the colonies, reflects the more honor upon his char- 
acter, when it is recollected that he had, but about one short 
year before, married the second daughter of the Hon. Thomas 
Flucker, a man of wealth, rank, and influence, strongly at- 
tached to the British cause, and at that time holding the office 
of Provincial Secretary under Gov. Gage. She was said to 
be a wjoman " of strong mind, fine education, and lofty man- 
ners;" who, being struck by the handsome countenance, 
graceful form, and manly bearing as an officer, displayed by 
Knox on occasion of some military parade, conceived an at- 
tachment, which, on further acquaintance resulting from a 
call made by her at his store for the purchase of a book, 
proved mutual, and soon ripened into a union likely to exer- 
cise no small influence upon his future career. It was thus 
announced in the Massachusetts Gazette of June 20, 1774. 
" Last Thursday was married by the' Rev. Dr. Caner, Mr. 
Henry Knox of this town (Boston) to Miss Lucy Flucker, 
second daughter to the Hon. Thomas Flucker, Esq., Secretary 
of the Province. 

Blest tho' she is with ev'ry human grace, 

The mien engaging, and bewitching face, 

Yet still an higher beauty is her care, 

Virtue, the charm that most adorns the fair; 

This does new graces to her air inspire, 

Gives to her lips their bloom, her eyes their fire ; 

This o'er her cheek with brighter tincture shows 

The lily's whiteness and the blushing rose. 

may each bliss the lovely pair surround, 

And each wing'd hour with new delights be crown'd ! 

Long may they those exalted pleasures prove 

That spring from worth, from constancy and love." 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 107 

A brother of the bride is said to have been at this time a 
Captain in the British army j and, brought up as she had been 
in all the wealth and pride of aristocracy with the expectation 
of a large inheritance, it must have cost her many a pang 
and caused some hesitation on the part of her chosen com- 
panion, before it was resolved to sepal-ate their fortunes from 
those of a respected parent and brother, to embark in a cause 
from the failure of which so much might be lost and from its 
success so little apparently was to be gained. 

Knox, however, could not keep aloof from the conflict 
which was now begun ; but, regardless of wealth, family, and 
friends, plunged into it with all the energy of his nature and 
the ardor of his patriotism. He had in early life exhibited 
a predilection for military exercises, gunnery, and other kin- 
dred amusements, having on one occasion* whilst hunting 
lost the two smaller fingers on his left hand by the bursting 
of a fowling piece ; and was at the early age of eighteen 
chosen one of the commanding officers of *a company of gren- 
adiers composed of young Bostonians, so distinguished for its 
martial appearance and the precision of its evolutions that it 
received the most flattering encomium from a British officer 
of high distinction. This officer's prediction that ^' a country 
that produced such hoy soldiers, cannot long be held in sub- 
jection," was soon verified. Knox gave up his business 
and took an active part in the contest that was now begun 

* A writer in the Belfast Republican Journal supposes, but no doubt 
erroneously, Knox's hand to have been injured by a shot in the battle of 
Monmouth which forever disabled it. Two letters, preserved in a Letter 
Book of Knox owned by the late Capt. B. Webb of Thomaston, were 
probably written in reference to this very occurrence ; one of which is as 
follows : 

**Boston, Feb. 10, 1774. 

" Sir : The mariner, when the danger is past, looks back with pleasure 
and surprize on the quicksands and rocks he has escaped, and if perchance 
it was owing to the skillfulness of the pilot or great activity of some 
brother seaman on board, the first ebullitions of his gratitude are violent 
but afterwards settle to a firm respect and esteem for the means of his 
existence So, Sir, gratitude obliges me to tender you my most sincere 
thanks for the attention and care you took of me in a late unlucky acci- 
dent. 

*"The readiness with which you attended, your skill to observe and hu- 
manity in executing, are written upon my heart in indelible characters. 
Believe me. Sir, while memory faithfully performs her office the name of 
Doct. White yf'iW be retained with the mo^t pleasing sensations. Accept 
then, Sir, the annex'd as the smallest token of respect from him who is 
with the greatest pleasure your much obliged and most obd't H'ble Ser- 
vant. Henry Knox." 

*-To Doctor White of the King's Hospital, Boston." (with 3 guineas.) 
The other of the same date and much the same purport, is directed '* To 
Doctor Peterson of the ship ' Captain ' and Surgeon to his Excellency 
Admiral Montague, Boston." (with 5 guineas.) 



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108 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

between free democratic equality and aristocratic privilege. 
He left Boston on the evening before the battle of Bunker 
Hill ; and, as every person suspected of being friendly to the 
patriots was forbidden by the British to leave the city, he was 
obliged to e^pape their vigilance in disguise, accompanied in 
his flight by his wife who concealed his weapons in the lining 
of her mantle. Though only a volunteer, not in commission, 
at that battle, '* he was constantly exposed to danger in recon- 
noitering the movements of the enemy ;" and in the immediate 
succession of events "his ardent mind was engaged with 
others in preparing those measures that were ultimately to 
dislodge the British troops from fheir boasted possession of 
the capital of New England." Of the different fortifications 
constructed by the American army now closely besieging the 
British forces in Boston, the strong work crowning the hill in 
Roxbury was planned and superintended by Knox and Waters. 
But the almost total want of artillery was a serious impedi- 
ment to the prosecution of the siege; and no resource ap- 
peared for supplying the deficiency. But the seemingly 
desperate scheme of procuring it from the Canadian frontier 
occurred to the mind of Knox ; and, having obtained permis- 
sion and instructions from the commander-in-chief, he started 
for Ticonderoga, almost unattended, in the depth of the win- 
ter of 1775-6. Young, robust, and vigorous, supported by 
an undaunted spirit and a mirid ever fruitful in resources, he 
relied solely for the execution of his object on such aid as he 
might procure from the thinly scattered inhabitants of the 
dreary region through which he had to pass.* His deter- 
mined perseverence overcame every obstacle of season, roads, 



* Whilst engaged in this service, it chanced that Knox was compelled 
to pass a night in the same cottage and even the same bed with the cele- 
brated Major John Andre, who, as a prisoner of war, captured at the then 
recent surrender of Fort St. Johns, was on his way to Connecticut and 
Pennsylvania. Between these two there were many points of resem- 
blance. *' Their ages were alike ; they had each renounced the pursuits 
of trade for the jjrofession of arms, each had made a study of his new oc- 
cupation, and neither was devoid of literary tastes and habits. Much of 
the night was consumed in pleasing conversation on topics that were 
rarely, perhaps, broached in such circumstances ; and the intelligence and 
refinement displayed by Andre, in the discussion of subjects that were 
equally interesting to Knox, left an impression on the mind of the latter 
that was never obliterated. The respective condition of the bedfellows 
was not mutually communicated till the ensuing morning as the^ were 
about to part; and when Knox a few years later was called on 'to loin in 
the condemnation to death of the companion whose society was so pleasant 
to him on this occasion, the memory of their intercourse gave aaditional 
bitterness to his painful duty." "W. Sargent's Life and Career of Major 
John Andre, pp. 85 and 86. 



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EOCKLAJ^D AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 109 

and climate; and, in a few weeks, the heavy ordnance* of 
that renowned fortress, drawn over the frozen lakes and moun- 
tains of the north, were planted in the fortifications before 
Boston. This service was duly appreciated by Washington 
and by Congress, .who, before Knox's return from the expedi- 
tion, had appointed him to the chief command of the Artillery ; 
an office which he discharged with increasing reputation- un- 
der the successive ranks of Colonel, Brigadier General, and 
Major General, to the end of the war. 

" And now the strong Artillery claims its birth, 
Terrific ^ardian of the trembling earth, 
With voice of vengeance, and tremendous breath, 
That wake the fiends of ruin, flight, and death: — 
What daring arm directs its dangerous way ! 
What Chief beloved, ye brave Columbians, say ! — 
*Tis thine, intrepid Knox, on Glory's car 
To shield the ranks, and guide the voUied war, 
And thine the clime of Freedom's early boast. 
Where the cold isthmus ioins the stormy coast : — 
What time thy much-enduring country draws 
Thy active valor to her suffering cause, 
Warmed at her call, in winter's dreary reign 
Thy hardy step explored the northern plain ; — 
1 see thee dauntless tread the trackless way. 
Where frowning forests quench the glimmering day, 
Through the bleak wild, and iip the boreal steeps 
Where, wrapped in frost, the stilled artillery sleeps, 
I see that arm its ponderous weight prepare 
And call its thunder to the distant war."t 



* These were, 8 brass mortars, 6 iron mortars, 2 iron howitzers, 13 brass 
cannon, and 26 iron cannon, with 2300 lbs. of lead and a barrel of flints. 

t Beacon Hill, a Local Poem, Historic and Descriptive, 1797. By Mrs. 
Sarah Morton. 



Vol. I. 10 



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110 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 



CHAPTER VII. 

KEVOLUTIONABY INCIDENTS AND INCOBPOBATION OF THE 

TOWN. 

From this aiiticipation of time into which we have been 
led by the fascinating character of an ardent and patriotic 
young man, we return to 1774. A remarkable shower of 
hail and wind occurred here July 15th, and must have done 
considerable damage; some of the hailstones being found as 
large as the eggs of a hen.* Monday, July 14th, on the 
recommendation of the General Court at Boston, with- 
out the advice of the Governor, was observed as a day of 
Fasting and Prayer on account of the perilous state of political 
affairs; but of the manner in which it was kept in this settle- 
ment we have no record or tradition. In Meduncook, now 
Friendship, which was settled by the genuine sons of the 
Pilgrims, it was celebrated by meeting in the ministerial 
house and, after religious exercises, signing the Solemit 
League and Covenant, alluded to by Knox on a preceding 
page. This was a mutual pledge not to import, buy or use 
any British manufactures or other goods that shall arrive in 
America after the last day of August ensuing, and to break 
off all trade, commerce, and dealings whatever with the island 
of Great Britain and all persons who, preferring their own 
private interest to the salvation of their now perishing country, 
shall continue still so to import goods, or shall purchase of 
those who do import, " until the Port or Harbor of Boston 
shall be opened, and we are fully restored to the free use of 
our constitutional and charter Rights." It was signed at 
Meduncook by 55 adults, male and female, besides many of 
their children. 

The passage of the act alluded to, called the Boston Port 
Bill, the news of which arrived at Boston May 10, 1774, in- 
terdicting as it did all intercourse by sea with that place, had 
caused a scarcity of provisions and proved a great interrup- 
tion to the wood, lumber, and coasting business of the settlers 
here ; whose trade was forced to Salem, Marblehead, and 
smaller places. Cord wood, the great staple from here, there 
found a less ready sale at greatly reduced prices; and its 
scarcity in Boston at the same time raised its price so high as 
to occasionally tempt a breach of the act by smaller craft, or 

* James Fales's account boo'c. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. m 

the safer introduction of it by means of special passes granted 
by the official authorities of the Port. The sloop Sally of 50 
tons, of this river, under command of James Watson, whom 
many of my readers may recollect to have seen in his old age, 
having gone into Marblehead with a load of this article, was 
favored in this way, and duly cleared with a "Lett-Pass" at 
the Salem office for Boston with 30 cords of wood on the 14th 
of December, 1774. This, according to a tradition in the 
Watson family, was the first cargo taken into Boston after 
the passage of the Port Bill. , His Lett-pass with Cocket an- 
nexed, reads as follows: — 

<<Mabblehead in the Fort of Salem. 
** Lett' Past, 

" In pursuance of an Act passed in the fourteenth year of His present 
•Majesty's reign intituled **An Act to discontinue in such manner and 
for sttch time as are therein mentioned, the landing and discharging, 
l^uUng or Shipping of Goods, Wares, or Merchandise, at the toton and 
within the Harbour of Boston,^* S^c, Suffer 

** The Sloop Sally, James Watson, Master, 50 tons, Guns, nav- 

i\gated with men, plantation Built, registered at Boston, 13 Ap. 

1774, to proceed t5 the town of Boston with Fuel, as per Cocket here- 
unto annexed, it having been certified to us by the proper Officers 
that the said Sloop hath been by them duly searched and examined. 
Custom House, Salem, the 14th of Dec. 1774, and in the 15th year 
of His Majesty's Reign. 

%Cocket,) 

«« Know ye That James Watson hath here entered Outwards for the 
tise of the Town or Harbour of Boston, Thirty Cords Wood now on 
board the Sloop Sally, J. Watson, Master, bound for the Town or 
Harbour of Boston. Dated at the Custom House, Salem, the 14th 
Day of Dec. Anno Domini, 1774." These documents are sealed and 
signed in the margin, by R. Routh, Dept. Collector, C Shimmen, 
Dept. Commissioner, and N. Taylor, Treasiurer." ♦ 

This Capt. Watson continued to run the Sally, whenever it 
seemed prudent, as late as 1778, — a part of the time, as ap- 
pears from his book, in connection with Reuben Hall of War- 
ren. It would seem, also, that he had been, occasionally at 
least, in the sloop Three Friends ; as in the beginning of 1774 
there are charges of wages paid Robert Young and others on 
board that vessel. Other vessels, mostly from the south 
shore of Massachusetts, were occasionally here; and one, 
name unknown, belonging to Capt. Mason Wheaton, with 
others above or below this place, were kept running awhile 
longer, as well as two or three from Wessaweskeag. 

* See the originals in possession of Messrs. A. W. & E. Brown of 
Thomastoi). An entry by Jas. Fales says, "Boston Harbor was blocked 
up by the British in June the 20, 1774." 



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112 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

1775. But the time had now come when the commerce 
of the country and its affairs were to be subjected to other 
restrictions and to other authorities than those of the British 
parliament. During the interval between the legal authority 
of the Royal government, and the resumption of that of the 
Province in its own name, some authority had to be substi- 
tuted; and Committees of Safety and Correspondence were 
organized on this river as in almost all other places in New 
England, -r- who, without much regard to the habeas corpus 
and other personal rights and immunities, imdertook to in- 
quire into the doings and designs of people in general, and 
to inspect, regulate, and in a measure control, all matters and 
transactions, as the public good in their judgment might re- 
quire. There being as yet no incorporated towns here, the 
inhabitants of the different settlements on both sides of the 
George's and at Wessaweskeag, about 250 in number, held a 
meeting early in the season, and seem to have directed Capt. 
Samuel Gregg, of what is now Warren, to enlist a company 
of minute men for the defence of the place and enforcing the 
regulations respecting coasters. In consequence of the British 
Capt. Mowett's conduct at Falmouth, Townsend, and Fort 
Pownal, in taking away cannon and ammunition, seizing and 
killing pattle, and committing other acts of arbitrary power, 
a part of these minute men were called into actual service ; 
and Capt. Gregg with 20 of his men well armed made a visit 
up the Penobscot to Fort Pownal, April 27th, to enquire of 
the commander, Thos. Goldthwait, the reason of his deliver- 
ing up the cannon to the British, and also to request a supply 
of arms and ammunition for the defence of the settlers here. 
These were obtained to the amount of 7 muskets, 10 lbs. of 
powder, and 24 lbs. of ball, for which a receipt was given by 
Gregg, Robt. Mclntyre, and Benj. Burton, as a committee 
from St. George's. But as Goldthwait afterwards complained, 
apparently with justice, that this place was better supplied 
than he was, it is probable these stores were taken as a pre- 
caution against the suspected treachery of that officer and 
the improper use he might make of them. 

Another similar meeting of the people was held at the 
house of Micah Packard, on Tuesday, June 6, 1775, and, 
after choosing Mason Wheaton, moderator, and John Shibles, 
clerk, constituted the first Committee of Safety and Corres- 
pondence in the place of which we have any record ; consist- 
ing of M. Wheaton, Haunce Robinson, George Young, Wm. 
Watson, Samuel Creighton, Moses Robinson, Thos. Starrett, 
Jona. Nutting, and Elisha Snow. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 113 

Four days after, this Committee met and ordered " that tho 
money collected as a county tax be laid out in powder, lead, 
and other warlike stores," that the same be divided on June 
14th at the house of Capt. J. Nutting, that Mason Wheaton 
be appointed to wtite to the Provincial Congress, Thos. Star- 
rett to receive the drum and colors, and that six pounds of 
powder be divided between Messrs. Dunbar Henderson, Geo. 
McCobb, and B. Burton, for alarming the inhabitants in case 
of need. A day sooner than that appointed for its division, 
the committee met and distributed .their powder amounting 
to 90 or 100 lbs. between Capt. Hanse Robinson, Capt. J. 
"Nutting, Moses Robinson, and Geo. Young, of what is now 
Gushing, Capt. T. Starrett and Samuel Creighton, of what is 
now Warren, and Wm. Watson, Elisha Snow, and Capt. M. 
Wheaton, of what was soon to be Thomaston. This dis- 
tribution was made for the convenient supply of the people of 
these places in any emergency, and also, probably, from the 
fear that, if deposited in one place only, it might be seized 
and carried off by the Tories, as one of the parties into which 
the people were now divided began to be called. The Com- 
mittee also ordered that if any vessel come into the harbor 
ampposed to be of the Tory party, one or more of the com- 
mittee should take a sufficient force and go on board such 
vessel to make inquiries ; that any persons that shall make 
parties against the committee or their orders shall be deemed 
tories ; that no mobs or parties join to go on board any vessels 
within our boundaries or do any unlawful action, without 
leave of the committee; that any person wanting to hire 
marsh or meadow belonging to the heirs of the late Brigadier 
Waldo apply to Capt. M. Wheaton, who should return the 
hire to the committee ; and that this committee obligate them- 
selves to repay what monej^they shall receive of John S bibles, 
collector of the county tax, whenever it shall be demanded 
by the county. Mr. Fiucker, the principal proprietor of the 
Waldo estate here, having, as one of the Tory party, now 
left the country, this Whig committee seems to have deter- 
mined that one of its members should not be too much of a 
gainer from that absence, but voted that Mason Wheaton be 
accountable for what rents are due for the Waldo farm which 
he now enjoys. It was also voted " that Mr. Orquart's letter 
be recorded and sent to the Congrass." The person here 
named was the Rev. John Urquhart, a Scottish Presbyterian 
minister just settled by the inhabitants of the two townships 
oh George's River, acting in their individual capacity, who 
preached in each place alternately and as a whig took an ac- 
10* 



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114 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

tive part against the mother country in the politics of the 
day. Though his stated meetings for the Upper town were 
held in the old unglazed church built by Waldo in what is 
now Warren, he seems to have held occasional services in 
what is now Thomaston, as Mr. Watson notes in his account 
book, "July 9, 1775, Mr. Urquhart preached at Mr. Shibles's 
bam ;" when lie (Watson) paid him nine shillings. ' Tradition 
also speaks in high praise of a stirring discourse of his 
preached on Lime-stone Hill after the battle of Lexington, 
from the text, "behold how great a matter a little fire 
kindleth !" — and it is probable that his influence contributed 
much to the success of the Whig cause in this quarter. 

Among other doings of the Committee, was the assignment 
of a part of Capt. Gregg's men as guards in different places ; 
of which two were at Geo. Young's, and 5 at Hanse Robin- 
son's, in what was afterwards Gushing, 2 at S. Creighton's in 
what is now Warren, 2 at Wm. Watson's, and a party at 
Wessaweskeag, which on the 10th Sept. was ordered to be 
stationed at Tenant's Harbor, in what is now St. George, to 
double the guard there. These were probably employed 
mostly in the enforcement of regulations respecting coasters ; 
the Committee in the exercise of its ill-defined functions or* 
dering one Capt. Atwood, bound for Boston as they suspected 
with a load of cord wood, to be detained till he should give 
bonds to stop and enter at Salem, and warning Capt. Wm. 
Pendleton not to contract any trade with the King's troops 
contrary to the orders of the Provincial Congress. It also, at 
a meeting at Wheaton's, Sept. 19th, of which Mr. Snow was 
chairman, gave permission for Capt. Samuel Hathorn in sloop 
Sally, and Capt. James Watson, probably then in the sloop 
Three Friends, to sail to Ipswich ; Capt. Wheaton's schooner 
to sail to Portsmouth ; Lieut. B. Bu^on to take Capt. Phillips's 
schooner to go a fishing, said Burton to return the fourth part 
of his earnings to the committee or to said owner ; and that 
said schooner together with Capt. Wm. Hutchings's sloop re- 
main in custody till further orders. The schooner, it seems 
by a later entry, was lost; and the committee in 1777 paid 
the owners £37, 10s. lawful money as indemnity. 

Whilst some vessels were thus occasionally licensed by the 
newly created authorities here, similar favors were granted to 
others by the British authorities in Boston, either to supply 
their own necessities or to favor some of their own adherents. 
The following, to one of this vicinity, is a specimen. • "By 
Samuel Graves, Esq., Vice Admiral of the White, &;c. 

" Permit Nehemiah Eastman of the Sloop Advance with the 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOBiASTON. US 

three men named in the margin (John Annis, Robt. Mclntire, 
and Wm. Hilton) to pass as a floaster with fuel for the use 
of the King's Fleet at Boston, this Pass to remain till the 
Vessel returns to Boston. Given under my hand on board 
His Majesty's Ship Preston at Boston the 4th day of October, 
1775. Samuel Graves. To tke Respective Captains and 
Commanders of His Majesty's Ships and Vessels in North 
America."* 

This Capt. Eastman came from Gilmanton, N. H., mar- 
ried a daughter of Capt. Benj. Burton, senior, but aflerwards, 
we believe, abandoned her, left this part of the country, and 
is supposed to have been a tory and refugee in the British 
provinces. 

Other duties, less agreeable, were performed by this com- 
mittee. Capt. Gregg was ordered, "Sept. 19th, to bring 
Linneken f to justice on Friday next ;" and, Aug. 28th, one 
Teal of George's Islands .was ordered to receive ten stripes 
well laid on, at a post prepared for the same, for stealing a 
piece of tow cloth from Archibald Gamble on the 25th of 
July ; which last sentence, if not the former, appears to have 
been duly executed. This Mr. Teal, according to tradition, 
was on some other occasion taken up by a posse of citizens 
on a charge of abducting Mr. Watson's salt-kettle from his 
wharf or shore near the present lower toll-bridge. John 
Shibles was selected by them to act as magistrate, who, after 
hearing all the evidence and finding it conclusive, sentenced 
him to be tied up to a tree, his back stripped bare and each 
man present to cut a rod from the neighboring bushes, march 
round the tree, and in passing give the culprit one stroke with 
the same. As the process began, David Creighton (2d,) a 
soo of one of the first settlers of the Upper town, perceiving 
that the castigation was likely to be bloodless and mild to 
what he had been accustomed to witness on board of a man- 
of-war, cut a branch from a thorn-bush, and, when his turn 
came, gave si^ch a bloody stroke as excited compassion in the 
crowd and turned their indignation from the prisoner and 
against the unfeeling executioner.^ 

Creighton at this time was settled on the farm at Oyster 
River, since thai of the late Hon. J. Patterson in Warren, but 
after the Revolution removed to the Meadows in Thomaston. 
He had in early life been pressed into the service of the 

* Presenred among the Watson papers, and now in possession of Messrs. 
A. W. & E. Brown, 
t One of the tories of the Lower Town. 
X Capt. S. M. Shibles, &c. 



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116 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

Britisli navy, in which he served seven years without ever 
setting his foot on shore, hut «ice. In this time, he acquired 
if he did not inherit much of a man-of-war's man's habits, 
bluntness, rude humor, and love of hilarity. In reference to 
his impressment and the war of the Revolution, he used to 
say that of all nations he had»ever heard of, the English was 
the worst nation, except (damnation. 

In consequence of representations of great scarcity of pro- 
visions as well as arms and ammunition on this eastern coast 
and islands, the Provincial Congress, which had now taken the 
place of the Royal government, directed the Newburyport 
committee of safety to exchange 100 or 200 bushels of corn 
for fuel and lumber at moderate prices ; and a part of one of 
the regiments which had been enlisted in Maine was put un- 
der the command of Col. Freeman of Falmouth, to be sta- 
tioned '* on the seaboard in the counties of Cumberland and 
Lincoln, as he and Gen. Preble of the same place, and Major 
Mason Wheaton of St. George's River should appoint." How 
many of these, if any, were assigned to this river we are un- 
able to state. Capt. James Watson credits the sloop Sally, 
Jan. 15th, 1776, .with £115, 10s. cash for carrying soldiers; 
and, as he seems to have made a trip to Falmouth about that 
time, it is not improbable that this credit was for soldiers 
transported to or from that place. This, however, is uncer- 
tain; as, though Lincoln county in consequence of her ex- 
posed situation was exempted from the levy of 5000 men 
imposed on the rest of Massachusetts, yet recruits were en- 
listing here, some for the army in Cambridge, and some in a 
company raised on this river and Broad Bay, under Capt. 
Jacob Ludwig, Lieut. Joseph Copeland, and Sergt. Samuel 
Counce, that went down in November and did garrisoi^ duiy 
at Machias through the winter. 

1776. One of the first measures adopted in 1776 was 
the re-organization of the militia. That of each county in 
Maine was placed under the command of a Brigadier Gen- 
eral. Charles Cushing of Pownalborough was appointed to 
that office for the county of Lincoln. The regiment which 
included St. George's, extended to Newcastle. It had been 
recently under the command of Col. James Cargill, but how 
long he retained his office is uncertain. The regimental of- 
ficers in commission during this war were, as near as can be 
ascertained, Col. Farnsworth of Waldoboro'; Major, after- 
wards Colonel Mason Wheaton ; and Major Hanse Robinson 
of St. George's, now Cushing. The two last had previously 
commanded companies. The settlers of this town above 



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ROCKLAND AKD SOUTH THOMASTON. 117 

Mill River, being included in the Upper Town settlement, did 
military duty under Capt. Starrett, of what is now Warren ; 
the remaining settlers were probably included with the com- 
pany of the Lower Town, in which, it is supposed, John 
Mathews at Wessaweskeag had a lieutenant's commission. 

Notwithstanding the thickening gloom of the war, Wessa- 
weskeag in 1776 began to assume the appearance of a rising 
settlement. Joseph Coombs, a young man who three years 
before had come with no property but his axe and worked 
for Snow till now, this year married and became a permanent 
settler on a lot which he took up on the S. W. side of the 
river, opposite Snow's. Thomas Ham, also, from Brunswick, 
took up an adjoining lot, which after some time he sold out 
to Coombs and removed. Coombs, now in possession of 371 
acres of land, built a saw-mill in close proximity with Snow^s, 
and, aided by this, soon went vigorously into the lumber, 
lime, ship- building, and salt business, and became one of the 
leading men in the place. As a specimen of courtship under 
difficulties, we give some particulars of that of Mr. Coombs. 
Miss Elizabeth Gamble had received the addresses and was 
supposed by some to be engaged to a Mr. Norwood ; but, at a 
ball or rather rude gathering of young men and maidens col- 
lected from* the whole region between Warren and Wessa- 
weskeag at Mr. Shibles's, for a hearty untaught trial of skill 
on the not "light" though "fantastic toe," she became ac- 
quainted with Coombs and gave him the preference, which he 
sedulously cultivated by further visits. To make these, it 
w^s necessary to travel miles in unworn foot-paths through 
the woods, and cross George's River to her log-mansion in 
Warren in such floats or wherries as most of the settlers kept 
at hand. When one of these could be found at the shore he 
used to cross over, and, when his visit was ended, re-cross, 
leaving his canoe where he found it. But when, as it often 
happened, the boat was on the other side, he used to swim 
across, Leander like, let the weather be what it would, return 
with the boat, dress himself, and then cross again in proper 
style, — singing, perhaps, to the winds and waters, like his 
ancient prototype, 

** Make me a wreck as I come back, 
But spare me as I go !'* 

Several of Mr. Snow's connections were also now settled, 
or about settling, in the same quarter of the town. Besides 
his brother Joseph Snow, his brother-in-law Robert Jordan 
came from Cape Elizabeth and settled on the West side of the 



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118 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

river, on the lot now owned by Dea. Hanse Kelloch. David 
Crouch married Jordan's sister and settled on the same side, 
lower down. Capt. Israel Jordan, a cousin, it is believed, of 
Robert, married another sister and settled about this time at 
Ash Point. Richard Keating, before mentioned, was now at 
the head of a family, located on the lot next above Crouch's. 
Being a warm patriot, he enlisted and served six months in 
the army, and, with the time spent in preparing and returning, 
together with coast-guard and other service on several occa- 
sions nearer home, gave about one year more to his country's 
cause. This was rendered in a time of poverty and hard- 
ship, when it could ill be afforded ; but when in later years 
pensions were provided for such services, he could never be 
persuaded to apply for or indeed accept one, on any account. 
After the war, going into the lumber business and ship-build- 
ing, he became a man of substance and influence, and was 
for many years a worthy deacon of the Baptist Church.* 

1777. Thj^e Upper plantation of St. George's having 
been incorporated as the town of Warren, Nov. 7, 1776, and 
having included that part of what was afterwards Thorn aston 
as far as the old saw-mill at Mill River, the settlers here, be- 
ing reluctant to be separated from their neighbors the other 
side of that river and not altogether pleased with the new 
town above and the minister it had now adopted, immediately 
got up a petition for another new town. Their petition was 
granted; and, on the 20th of March, 1777, an Act was passed 
*'for disannexing the Easterly part of the town of Warren in 
theCouhty of Lincoln from said town and incorporating the 
same with the Easterly part of a plantation called St. George's 
in said County, into a Town by the name of Thom aston." 
The tract set off from Warren, about six thousand acres, was 
bounded on the N. W. by a line "beginning on the Easterly 
side of St. George's River at the Westerly comer of John 
Alexander's lot, from thence running N. 32® E. about seven 
miles to the line of the township called Camden;" and this 
constitutes! the present line between Warren on the one 
side, and Thomaston and Rockland on the other. The other 
boundaries were as follows, viz.: beginning at the same 
western corner of John Alexander's lot, "thence running 
South Westerly and Southerly by St. George's River to a line 

♦ Hon. G. Thomdike, &c. 

t The line bet\yeen Thomaston and Warren has recently, 1864, on peti- 
tion of Erastus Lermond and others, been altered, so far as to make Oys- 
ter River the boundary from its junction with the George's up to Elder 
Point at the head of its tide waters. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. UQ 

at a spruce tree marked No. 23 and 24 on the Neck on the 
Eastern side of said river, thence running E. S. E. about 
three miles between the Lots No. 23 and 24 across the Neck 
to the sea shore ; thence Southeasterly by Muscle Ridge Bay 
so called. Easterly and Northeasterly by Owl's Head Bay; 
thence Northwesterly about five miles by Camden line afore- 
said to where it intersects the first mentioned line, together 
with all the Islands that lay within three miles of the main 
land and within the direction of the lines that run to the 
Sea." 

It does not appear from the records by whom the name of 
the town was selected, nor whose memory it was intended to 
honor. Major Wheaton seems to have been most actively 
concerned in getting up and carrying the measure through, — 
judging from his account of services and expenses in procuring 
the incorporation, which, as allowed by the town in July fol- 
lowing, amounted to £39, 8s. 8d. D. Fales's account allowed 
at the same time, probably for a description ^of boundaries 
and other writings, was £5, 148. The name, according to 
Williamson's Maine on the authority of H, Prince, Esq., was 
given in honor of John Thomas, a Major General in the United 
States Army. This officer was born at Marshfield, then called 
Green Harbof, in 1724. He studied medicine at Medford 
and commenced practice at his native place, but soon re- 
moved to Kingston, where he practiced successfully, except 
when connected with the army, till his decease. In 1746, he 
accompanied the troops to Annapolis, N. S., in the capacity 
of Second Surgeon. In 1755, he joined Shirley's regimeht, 
as Surgeon's Mate, but was soon appointed Lieutenant. In 
1759, he received a Colonel's commission, and commanded 
the Massachusetts and New Hampshire troops at the capture 
of Montreal. In 17T5, he was chosen Lieut. General by the 
Provincial Congress ; but the Continental Congress, in making 
appointments for the army, overlooked him, and he left his 
command at Roxbury. At the earnest solicitation, however, 
of Washington, Lee, and others, he was induced to resume 
it, and, in March, 1776, was sent by Washington to fortify 
Dorchester Heights. While commanding there. Congress ap- 
pointed him Major General and sent him to take command of 
'the army which had been led into Canada by Montgomery 
and Arnold. After a. fatiguing journey through the ^vilder- 
ness, he reached the camp before Quebec, only to find the 
army to which he had been appointed, dying with small-pox ; 
not more than nine hundred men being fit for service. He 
raised the siege and retreated to the mouth of the Sorel River. 



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120 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

While there, he was himself attacked by small-pox, and died 
June 2, 1776. "The remains of this beloved son of Green 
Harbor and of Liberty, are resting on the frontiers of our 
country, in an unrecorded grave. 

He midst the forests of our land 

By a dark stream was laid : 
The Indian knew his place of rest 

Far in the cedar shade.'** 

A marble cenotaph, in the old grave-yard of Kingston, 
bears the following inscription: "Erected to the memory of 
John Thomas, Major General: Commander-in-Chief of the 
Army in Canada in the Revolutionary War; who died at 
Chamblee, June 2, I776."t 

The honor of giving name to Thomaston has also been 
claimed for Waterman Thomas of Waldoboro', a nephew of 
the General, who had come from Marshfield some half dozen 
years before, and was now doing business at the former place 
as a merchant* As he was at that time -a man of great popu- 
larity, doing an extensive business, and also a zealous politi- 
cian on the whig side, as well as intimately allied by friend- 
ship and marriage to Mr. Wheaton, it is not improbable that 
a compliment to him, together with his deceased uncle, was 
intended. But when, in later times, this gentleman's fortune 
departed, and he, as collector of the customs, proved to be a 
defaulter, his popularity and reputation having declined with 
his fortune, it was natural that the people here should not be 
over sedulous to keep up the connection between his name 
and that of the town. It probably, therefore, gradually 
dropped from the memory of the first inhabitants, and was 
wholly unknown to their successors ; so that when it was un- 
derstood here that he had been represented to be the godfather 
of Thomaston, by one of his sons in a distant State, the mat- 
ter created surprise and was treated with ridicule as an idle, 
assumption. 

The suggestion that the name might have been adopted 
from Thomaston in Ireland, by the original emigrants, is of 
recent date, and, as few or none of those were living when it 
was first named, and none of them that we are aware of came 
from that place, we think it undeserving of credit. A friend 
of the compiler, Wm. Stowe, Esq., of Boston, who in the 
midst of an active business life has ^^ found time for much 
topographical and antiquarian research, informs me that the 



* Memorials of Marshiield, by Marcia A. Thomas, 
t G. S. Newcomb, Esq , of Kingston. 



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EOCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 121 

name Thomaston in the Saxon language of our ancestors is 
compounded of Tho^ signifying a village; Mas^ fenny or 
marshy; and Ton a hill; — making the very appropriate de- 
scription of the place, a hill town, with marshes or meadows. 
But still, this must have heen a mere coincidence, wholly un- 
known to its sponsors. 

At the time of its incorporation, Thomaston contained 47 
persons (including one female, Mary, widow of the late' John 
Shibles) possessing ratable estates ; and ten others paying only 
a poll-tax. Besides such as have been already mentioned, 
tl^e were James Weed, Samuel and James Brown, and 
Israel Lovett, all of whom, together with James Stackpole on 
his farm purchased of James Fales, came, it is believed, from 
New Meadows or Harps well, in 1774 or earlier, and settled 
below the Bobbins lots, along the Bay of George's River 
toward Simonton's Point. Being from the same region and 
mostly connected by marriage or. otherwise, they formed a 
friendly and congenial neighborhood. Taler^ Joseph, and 
David Smallee, probably brothers, were residing at the 
Southern part of the town, but removed we believe at an 
early period to St. George. Michael Long was residing on 
the farm since called the Phinley Kelloch lot, adjoining the 
town line of St. George. Wm. Thompson, who was soon 
joined by his brother John, settled east of the Meadows; 
though the latter afterwards removed to the southern part of 
the town on the St. George road, and his place at the Mead- 
ows was probably taken by his brother Ebenezer. Hugh 
Killsa settled not far distant, '^ at a place called Madam- 
betticks," according to the deed of his brother James Killsa, 
who, Nov. 5, 1776, purchased of David Bobbins the adjoin- 
ing lot, since somewhat celebrated as " the Killsa farm," and 
on which he resided till his death. To the Shore settlement 
had been added Constant Bankin, who, in 1775, came from 
York in York County, took up land on or near the mountain, 
but subsequently exchanged with Tolman and removed nearer 
the shore ; and perhaps John Bowler, of whom, however, 
nothing has been handed dovm. At the Wessaweskeag, 
also, had arrived -Hez^tlah Bachelder, probably from New 
Meadows, whg had married the widow and succeeded to the 
farm „i John Hoss, an earlier settler from the same place; 
also Thomas Clark lyho died not long after. David Welch 
and Joseph Sjmith we have been unable to locate; and, 
' among those who paid only a poll-tax, were John Adams and 
Henry Fling. To these, were added, this year, 1777, Benja- 
mm Blackington, who settled west of the Meadows, and, one 
Vol. I. 11 



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122 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

year later, Comfort Barrows in the same neighborhood, now 
Rockland. 

The petition for incorporation seems to have been intrusted 
to Benjamin Burton; lor we find in his memorandum-book 
an account of getting a town on the St. George's incorporated ; 
from which it appears that he set off on horseback, Nov. 26th 
preceding, and, Dec. 1st, crossed Winnesimmet ferry into 
Bos^n, — thus making a journey in six days which is now 
performed in about twelve hours. This prompt and versatile 
man was left, near the close of the last French and Indian 
war, an orphan at the age of thirteen, at his father's residence 
in the old stone block-house in Gushing. Under the influence 
probably of a good mother and especially of a fond and influ- 
ential aunt, he early imbibed many excellent principles, 
among others an utter aversion to the use of ardent spirits 
which he retained through life. He showed a good me- 
chanical genius, commencing the use of tools when quite a 
boy, eventually with little or no instruction became a skill- 
ful house, mill, and shipcarpenter, and seems to have under- 
taken this journey almost at the moment of closing his sum- 
mer's work in the present town of Union, where he had been 
employed, with B. Packard and Nat. Fales, on the buildings 
of Dr. Taylor. Whilst there, in September, 1776, probably 
through the influence of Taylor, he was commissioned a 
Lieutenant in the Gontinental army, and, in April following 
the town's incorporation, was promoted to a Gaptaincy in Col. 
Thorburn's regiment on Rhode Island. In person he was a 
very tall, large, straight man, though in age somewhat bent 
and stooping; quick and animated in motion and conversa- 
tion; his complexion light, with expressive features and 
strongly marked and prominent nose. He was probably on 
his way to join the army when the petition was intrusted to 
him by Col. Wheaton, who was the principal agent in getting 
it up, and who is represented in some of the floating tradi- 
tions to have himself made such a journey on horseback for 
that purpose. If this were so, he must have returned imme-> 
diately after the passage of the act of incorporation, as, in 
eleven days thereafter. Waterman Thomas before alluded to, 
by virtue of authority conferred upon him by said Act, issued 
a warrant to Mason Wheaton, requiring him to notify and 
*' warn the freeholders and other male inhabitants above the 
age of twenty-one within the town of Thomaston to assemble 
on Monday the 21st day of April next at ten of the clock iq 
the forenoon at the Dwelling House of Oliver Bobbins in 
said town, to choose all Town officers as the law directs." 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 128 

Accordingly, fourteen days' notice having been given, the cit- 
izens met and held their first town meeting at the place and 
time appointed ; and, having chosen David Fales moderator, 
immediately voted to adjourn the meeting to his house. The 
reason of the last vote does not appear from the records ; but 
may with great probability be inferred from the fact that he 
was then an innholder skilled in the manufacture of flip, 
punch, and other alcoholic mixtures; and the, custoin of 
treating the company with such on being honored with a 
town office, probably prevailed then as it certainly did for a 
long period afterwards. After the adjournment, the meeting 
made choice of Dr. Fales as town clerk, an office seemingly 
incompatible w^ith that of moderator already conferred ; but 
lie appears to have had no difficulty in the simultaneous dis- 
charge of both ; as the meeting seems to have been properly 
conducted and the record made up with correctness in his 
well-known clear and beautiful hand-writing. For the first 
four years the records were kept on loose sheets; but in 
March, 1781, the town voted "to accept and pay for the 
Town Book that is now offered; and pay for entering on 
record such matters as have been transacted in the town, 
proper for recording." 

The meeting then proceeded to choose the usual town of- 
ficers, as follows: "Col. Mason Wheaton, Lieut. John 
Mathews, and David Fales, Esq., selectmen;, the same gen- 
tlemen, assessors ; Col. Wheaton, town treasurer ; Capt. Jona- 
than Spear, Lieut. Mathews, and Jonathan Crockett, com- 
mittee of correspondence, inspection, and safety; Elisha 
Snow, constable; Oliver Robbins, Capt. Spear, and David 
Smallee, wardens ; Isaiah Tolman, James Stackpole and Taler 
Smallee, surveyors of highways; O. Robbins, tythingman; 
Wm. Thomson and Wm. Heard, fence viewers; Joseph 
Smallee, informer of. deer; Lieut. Mathews and Constant 
Rankin, hog-reeves; Lieut. Mathews, surveyor of boards; 
Daniel Morse, culler of staves; Wm. Thomson, hayward; 
Col. Wheaton, sealer of weights and measures; Samuel 
Bartlett, sealer of leather; and Messrs. Stackpole, Mathews, 
and Tolman, a committee for examining the accounts of those 
persons that have demands upon the town for Services and 
Expenses in procuring the Incorporation." 

Thus, having been duly named and launched upon the 
political waters, the new town was now fully manned, and 
* ready to spread her sails to the breeze and commence her 
voyage into the as yet unknow^i ocean of years. The Select- 
men, thus chosen, being duly sworn to the faithful discharge 



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124 HISTORY OP THOMABTON, 

of their office, began immediately to inquire into the wants 
and necessities of the town, and issued a warrant for a town 
meeting to be held at the house of Oliver Robbins on the 
29th of July. At this meeting, James Stackpole was chosen 
moderator; D. Fales, Mathews, Wheaton, Stackpole, and J. 
Crockett, were appointed to run the town lines ; " and Capt. 
Israel Lovett, Mr. Samuel Brown, and Lieut. Mathews" to 
examine the accounts. It was then voted to raise the sum of 
£100 for defraying charges and paying debts, and to allow 
the constable 9d. on the pound for collecting* Mathews, 
Wheaton, and J. Crockett, were chosen a committee for lay-' 
ing out roads; and the sum of £100 was voted for making 
and repairing roads, to be raised by a tax and expended at 
the rate of 12s. foe a pair of oxen and cart. 

The first intentions of marriage wore those erf David Crouch 
with Joanna Jordan both of Thomaston, and James Weed of 
ditto with Annah Williams of Harpswell, entered with the 
clerk May 9th of this year. Three others only were entered 
the same year; viz.: ^' Alex. Jameson of a place called Cam« 
den with Sarah Blackington of Thomastcm, Samuel Browo' 
with Prudence Thompson both of Thomaston; and Samuel 
Williams of Harpswell with Ruth Lassel of Thomaston." 

To guard the coast and islands in Penobscot Bay from the 
attacks of privateers and marauding parties and to prevent 
illicit traffic, companies were this year enlisted ; one of which, 
consisting of 67 privates and eight non-commissioned officers, 
was commanded by Capt. Nathaniel Fales, who, with Benj. 
Blackington, sei^ant, John Blackington and Wm. Thompson, 
^as* of this town, and did duty from July 6th to August 
26th. 

1778. The sum of £100 voted for town expenses, to- 
gether with a further sum of £31, 10s. Id., the town's pro- 
portion of a tax " granted by the Great and General Court of 
the State of Massachusetts Bay in the year 1776 (to be as- 
sessed on the town of Warren and plantations adjacent)" 
was committed to the constaUe, Elisha Snow, for collection, 
Jan. 12, 1778. 

Notwithstanding the war and other discouraging circum- 
stances, some new settlers continued to arrive. About 1778 
Thos. McLellan came from Falmouth and settled on Gteorge*s 
River on the lot above Simon ton's Point ; so called from his 
brother-in-law, John Simonton, who came about the same 
time from the same place, bought out the possessory title of 
Abiathar Smith, and settled on this Point and the adjoining 
lot. McLellan was a shoemaker, fanner, and master of a 



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ROCKLAITD AND S0X7TH THOHASTON. 125 

eoastter, by turns, as business and profit offered indoeement. 
He was remarkable for bis strong love of money and econo- 
mical not to say penurious babits, wbich in bis later years 
amounted to little less tban monomania. He is said to bave 
compelled bis boys to stop tbe cow-bell every nigbt witb a 
wisp of bay to prevent the tongue from wearing, to wbip off 
tbe bumble-bees from bis corn-stalks to prevent tbe loss of 
saccbarine matter from tbe sap, and to go tbrougb bis fields 
and jduck up every root of wbite weed, wbicb being a novelty 
here was tben regarded as detrimental to tbe grass crop. 
Aside from tbis peculiar cbaracteristic bowever, be was an 
industrious and religiously disposed man, and, becoming a 
wealtby money-lender, left to be divided among bis cbildren 
a large estate, including, it is said, a full barrel of cents and 
otber copper coins. Simonton also was a sea-captain, and, 
in the early part of the Revolutionary War, bad been cap- 
tured in a schooner owned one-balf by bimself and tbe other 
half by bis father in Falmoutb, was carried to the W. Indies, 
and kept as a prisoner nine montbs. At tbe end of tbat time 
he, with nineteen other prisoners mostly masters of other 
captured vessels, was put on board a prize schooner which 
had been dismasted and burnt to tbe water's edge, but now 
rigged up for this purpose witb jury masts, and sent home- 
wards witb a scanty supply of provisions. She got into 
Charleston, S. C, from wbich place Simonton, friendless and 
penniless, found bis way home on foot. Thus deprived alike 
of his property and employment, he turned his steps hither- 
ward to attempt tbe recovery of both. Jonathan Smith from 
Ebode Island, after marrying at tbe Fort in 1 776, became 
tbis year, 1778, a permanent resident in the eastern part of 
tbe town (since Rockland) on land back of the lot of his 
brother-in-law, Jonathan Spear. There, in his secluded situ- 
ation by the mountains, be found in tbe cold and dreary seasons 
that ensued, a plenty of bard work and scanty fare. He and 
his family once lived six weeks without bread ; but, keeping 
two cows, made out to sustain life by means of their milk eaten 
with boiled beech leaves, aided by tbe clams wbich he dug at 
Wm. Spear's shore, — going on foot sometimes to Warren 
for a back-load of alewives, and the next day, perhaps, to 
Wessaweskeag or even Tenants's Harbor for salt to cure 
them with, brought home in the same way. Many remon- 
strated, and especially Oliver Robbins, who told him be would 
starve to death there ; but Smith persevered, until he in a few 
years bad corn and grain in abundance, and this same Mr. 
Robbins came in a scarce season all the way up thgre to 
II* 



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126 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

purchase com, — the produce of a farm he had thought so 
worthless.* 

At the second annual meeting, March 23, 1778, some 
change seems to have been made, and Dr. Fales wholly 
omitted, among the town officers. As . he was eminently 
qualified for the office of town clerk and had discharged its 
duties the preceding year in a very correct and exemplary 
manner both legally and chirographically, it is more than 
probable that political motives rather than any other were the 
cause of his being dropped. The success of the American 
arms, in the capture of Burgoyne the preceding autumn, had 
given increased confidence to the friends of independence; 
and the alleged conduct of their opponents, in encouraging 
hostile visits from privateers, had been such as to raise in 
the community a resolute determination to draw the lines 
more definitely between friends and enemies, and sufier no 
official station to be filled by hesitating or suspected persons. 
Dr. Fales, eminently conservative and law-abiding, had in the 
beginning of the revolution manifested a leaning toward the 
royal cause, as it was also natural he should do considering 
the relation he stood in with the Waldo Proprietors. Of 
these, Francis Waldo and Secretary Thos. Flucker were in- 
cluded with the 310 persons late inhabitants of the State, 
whose property, by an act passed in September, was all con 
fiscated. As these persons had retired to the enemy, they 
were called ''absentees;" and the Judges of Probate were 
authorized to appoint agents to administer upon their estates 
as if the late possessors were in fact dead. An act also had 
been passed authorizing the arrest of any suspected person, 
and the oath of allegiance to the United States to be required 
of him on pain of banishment from the country and of death 
in case of his return. It is not known that any attempt to 
enforce this act was made against Mr. Fales ; but either at 
this or some preceding period a party headed by Capt. Gregg 
and Lieut. Kelloch from up the river came to his house and 
offered him his choice between pledging himself to the Amer- 
ican cause or taking a ride upon a rail. He was not a man 
to do anything on compulsion, and chose to do neither. But 
his wife, less obstinate or more politic, succeeded in appeas- 
ing the party by means of a paUful of flip ; and some of his 
sons offering to be sureties for their father's good conduct, 
they dispersed without further action. Whether this or any 
similar transaction at this time had awakened the old suspi- 

^ * J. Butler (4th) ; Capt, Wm. J. Fales, &c. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 127 

cion and kindled a fresh resentment, or whether the new con- 
fidence and consequent zeal of the whig party had operated 
to exclude him from office, cannot now be ascertained. How- 
ever this might be, the election resulted in the choice of E. 
Snow, moderator; Stackpole, town clerk; Mathews, Whea- 
ton, and S. Brown, selectmen; Mathews, Lovett, and S. 
Brown, assessors; Robbins, constable; Mathews, treasurer; 
Tolman, T. Smallee, and J. Stackpole, surveyors of high- 
ways; Jonathan Orbeton, sealer of leather; Snow, surveyor 
of lumber ; Lovett, Isaiah Tolman, Jr., and James Orbeton, 
tithingmen; Brown, Wheaton, and Lovett, committee of 
safety; O. Robbins, Jr., S. Brown, and J. Coombs, hog- 
reeves; — all, or nearly all, western emigrants, or genuine 
Yankees, and who were, or ought to have been, genuine 
friends of the American cause also. Committees appointed 
the previous year were requested to proceed and complete 
the laying out of the town roads and surveying the town 
boundaries. The meeting was then adjourned to the last 
Monday of May; at which time the town seems either to 
have softened in its feelings towards Dr. Fales, or to have 
found his services were too important to be dispensed with ; 
as Lieut. Mathews then resigned his offices of selectman and 
assessor, and Fales was chosen to fill both vacancies. 

At a subsequent meeting held the. same day to which the 
last was adjourned, it was voted that fifty pounds be raised 
for defraying town charges, and that the assessors be allowed 
12s. a day for making rates the past year; a sum equal to 
that fixed for a day's work on the highways, and sufficiently 
indicative of a considerable de'preciation in the paper cur- 
rency. But since any attempt to depreciate that currency 
was at this time a penal offence, and there was every patriotic 
motive for concealing such depreciation, it is probable that 
the sum fixed was but a meagre and insufficient compensation. 
According to a scale of depreciation used in the State Treas- 
urer's' office, the value of paper money was, in September of 
this year, as four of paper to one of silver. At this estimate 
the 128. allowed the assessors would be worth in silver only 
3s.; and the fifty pounds raised for town expenses would 
amount to only twelve and a half pounds, or $41,67; — a 
reasonably moderate allowance for one year's town expendi- 
ture. But the depreciation was constantly going on, and, 
according to Williamson, became in the course of this year 
as thirty to one ; which ratio would reduce the day's work to 
6f cents, and the £50 for town charges to $5,55. The actual 
depreciation, however, is not easy to be ascertained, as it 



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128 mSTORY OP THOMASTON, 

was, probably, different in different places, according to the 
amount of foreign trade carried on. In October of this year, 
1778, Capt. Jas. Watson sold 21 hogsheads of lime in Beverly 
from his sloop at £9 each, and one ditto at £12*; but whether 
put up in the second-hand molasses casks as was the method 
at first, or in the lOO-gaUon casks of a later period, we can- 
not state. At the same meeting £50 were raised for paying 
a minister, and E. Snow, S. Brown, and O. Robbins were ap- 
pointed a. committee to hire some one. This being in the 
same depreciated currency, could not go far in the support of 
public worship; but it was necessary to do something, as all 
towns were then required, by law, to provide for ilistruction 
in the Christian religion, as well as in common school educa- 
tion. 

In neither of these departments, however, did the town as 
yet and indeed for many years to come, feel able, amid the 
distresses occasioned by the war and unpropitious seasons, to 
make much provision for instruction. What schools there 
were, now as before the incorporation, were got up by private 
individuals at their own expense. Dr. Fales, from his first 
arrival, had taught more or less in the old fort or his own 
house. Other persons, mostly transient, taught in different 
neighborhoods for short periods. Among these was one who 
for many years continued to exercise in this and the neighbor- 
ing region a considerable influence in education and literature. 
This was John Sullivan, a native of Dublin,. Ireland, who, 
af^er an indefinite period spent in teaching and shoemaking 
between here and Pennsylvania, found his way to this place 
in a somewhat dilapidated condition, to which one of his 
habitual intervals of intemperance had reduced him. Land- 
ing froVi a coaster at Wessaweskeag in company with one 
other passenger of more respectable appearance, and calling 
at the house of Mr. Snow as the principal one in the place 
and usually resorted to by strangers, he saw his companion 
invited to a seat at dinner, whilst he, from his shabby cos- 
tume, together with his queer and ambiguous countenance, 
was left behind to wait for the second table. After they had 
dined, he inquired of Mr. Snow if he knew of any one wish- 
ing to employ a shoemaker, but was answered in the nega- 
tive. On asking if there were any other business in which 
he could get employment, he was told there was none, except 
that of a school-master, which was then greatly needed. 
Sullivan observed that he himself had sometimes been em- 
ployed as a teacher. " If you can satisfy me of your qual- 
ifications,'' said Snow, " I can soon get you employment." 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 129 

Sallivan oflTered to submit to any examination. " Well then," 
said Snow, "let me ask you one question. What is the 
ground of Justification ?" " Satisfaction for the offence," 
said Sullivan. " Right 1 right !" said his host, " that is suf- 
ficient; go in and take some dinner." And, from that time, 
an intimate friendship grew up between the two so opposite 
in character, the one a sober Galvinist, the other a merry and 
drunken Catholic. The one, at intervals, furnished a home 
and employment ; the other, scientific information and literary 
entertainment. Sullivan's fund of historical and other anec- 
dote was inexhaustible ; — be could argue without heat, joke 
without offence ; and many were the bon-mots and repartees 
their intercourse gave rise to. 

It is not known what success the following application, 
written in a fair and distinct hand, met with, nor, for want of 
a date, can we determine at what era it was made, though it 
was doubtless prior to the incorporation of any town upon 
this river ; and, if " words of learned length and thundering 
sound" are the only requisites in a school-master, Mr. Ryan 
certainly ought to have been employed. Here it is : " To the 
Inhabitants of the Town of St. George's : Gentlemen, permit 
me to address you with a few lines at yr. publick Meeting, if 
we seriously reflect on the various Advantages resulting from 
Education we shall unanimously Conclude that the Knowl- 
edge of letters is one of the greatest Blessings that the Divine 
Majesty of Heaven has bestowed upon the Children of Men, 
learning furnishes us with uncommon preternatural Endow- 
ments of the mind and leads us to full observation of every 
decent Regulation of the Human life, if illuminates our 
natural faculties to Discern the Source or Origin of action, 
•which Compels or Induces us to Act according to our Duty 
to God and Man, finally 'tis an Estate that no outward Vio- 
lence or Arbitrary power can interrupt or take from us, in 
consequence of so many Advantages it is a duty incumbent 
on every Parent to Cultivate their Children in Literature and 
initiate them in the Knowledge of the secret* Writings, that 
they may have an early taste of the Beauty and Excellency 
of them. Therefore, Gentiemen, in hopes of yr. General 
Approbation, I am encouraged to offer my service in scholastic 
Tuition, that I may have the honor To Instruct your Youth, 
should I be so happy as to Merit your future Esteem, it would 
give me the greatest pleasure, I would also most humbly ap- 
ply to you for the Schoolmaster's Lot in your Town, which if 

* Probably meaning sacred. 

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190 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

you Grant, will oblige me to make the most grateful Ac- 
knowledgements, I shall leave it to your Wise Determination, 
and Wish you success in all your Annual proceedings Whilst 
I remain your sincere friend and humble Servant. . 

" Michael Ryan."* 

The difTerent and constantly decreasing value of the paper 
currency, together with the difficulty of raising men for the 
army, having induced the General Court this year to levy a 
tax in provisions and clothing, and also men for the army to 
the number of 2000 in the whole State, this town seems to 
have been called upon for "two men," only; as appears from 
the following entry in the town records. "July 23, 1778. 
At a meeting of the Selectmen ordered that the sum of £14 
be paid out of the Treasury of said town to John Adams (a 
private detached to serve in the State to the first day of Jan- 
uary next) and also the sum of £5, 5s. for Milage agreeable 
to a Resolve of the General Court." "August 11th. At a 
meeting of the Selectmen ordered that the sum of £5, 5s. be 
paid to Samuel Tolman (a private detached or enlisted as a 
soldier in the service of this State till the first Day of January 
next) out of the Treasury of said Town, being for Milage 
and carrying Packs, agreeable to a Resolve of the General 
Court" Both of these were signed by the Selectmen. It 
does not appear whether any articles of clothing and provi- 
sions were furnished or not The records of this year are 
much less correct and elegant than those of the preceding; 
some of them having been omitted at the time and entered 
after some years in a different place. 

1779. The annual town meeting at J. Stackpole's house 
in March of this year, like that of the last, exhibits signs of 
dissatisfaction and division among the inhabitants; but wheth- 
er arising from personal, interested, or political motives, it is 
now difficult to ascertain. After electing the usual officers, 
the meeting was adjourned to a subsequent day, at which 
time I. Tolman resigned his several offices of moderator, 
selectman, and treasurer, and N. Crocket that of selectman; 
when it was voted to reconsider the choice of P. Porterfield 
the third selectman also. An ^tire new board was then 
chosen, as seen in Table V; ancjFl. Tolman, Samuel Brown, 
and Wm. Heard, a committee of safety. Wm. Thompson, 
John Dillaway, and J. Coombs were chosen surveyors of 
highways ; and the selectmen, in April following, assigned 
them their several districts as follows ; viz. : to Dillaway, " all 

* Original in possession of Messrs* A. W* & £. Brown. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 131 

the roads from the town line at Warren eastward to the old 
saw-mill and from thence southward to the dwellinghouse of 
Oliver Bobbins inclusive ;" to Coombs, " all the roads to the 
southward of O. Robbins*s house ;" and to Thompson, " all 
the roads from the old saw-mill, northward to the town line 
at Camden." Dillaway was a cooper from Boston, employed 
by Wheaton in making lime hogsheads, and now married to 
the widow of J. Shibles, The committee appointed in 1777 
to lay out the roads, reported that " we have laid out the 
the roads in the following manner, to wit : Beginning at the 
town line at W^arren, (where the Cart Way, as it is now 
trod, is the middle of the road,) thence running Southeasterly 
and Easterly by marked Trees, Stumps, Stakes, &c., to the 
old Saw-mill; and from thence Northeasterly by marked 
Trees, Stakes, &;c., to the town line at Camden. And also 
from the said old Saw Mill Southerly and Southeasterly by 
marked Trees, Stumps, Stakes, &c., to the Head of a Cove 
being part of the River or Pond at Wesaweskeeg. . . . The 
Persons respectively through whose Lands the said Roads 
are drawn, we expect voluntarily give the same without any 
Expence or Charge to the town. Provided that others, through 
whose lands it may be necessary in future to carry Roads, 
shall do the like. The roads are four rods wide." Signed 
by " Mason Wheaton, John Mathews, Jonathan Crockit." 
The town voted to accept this report and establish the roads 
as described, except near the old saw-mill ; where an altera- 
tion was voted, so as to " run over the bridge where it now 
is; unless some Person shall appear to make a foundation 
for a bridge at his own Expence in the other way." These 
were the first public roads established in the place ; though 
there is no doubt but that they had been previously used, as 
such, by passengers on foot and horseback, and, in many 
parts at least, by sleds and carts ; wagons, sleighs, and light 
carriages, not having been yet introduced. From the fact 
that no road was at this time laid out down the river to the 
present St. George, we infer that the settlers there, living 
near the river ^ still made use of that as their highway, as was 
the general custom in earlier times. 

The subject of schools was first brought before the town 
by an article inserted in the warrant for this meeting; but 
nothing was done except a vote to raise £100 in addition to 
the £100 voted the preceding year "for the maintenance and 
support of the Ministry, Schools, the Poor, and other neces- 
sary charges." No assessment of this sum, however, was 
made this year "any more than of the last, probably on ac- 



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132 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

count of the declining value of paper money and the distur- 
bance occasioned by the military operations going on in this 
part of the country. The assessors' pay was this year fixed 
at 30s. per day ; though it does not appear that they had any 
business to perform, as the records show no vote for raising 
anything for the repair of roads. 

At a meeting, May 19th, on the article to see ** if the town 
will choose a person to represent them in the Great and Gen- 
eral Court," it was decided in the negative ; and the question 
whether the town would unite with Waldoboro* and Warren * 
(or either of them) in sending a representative, was also 
negatived. As representation under the old charter was con- 
sidered a right belonging to the corporation as such, each 
town was obliged to pay its own representative ; and. the de- 
sire to avoid this expense without doubt infiuenced this vote, 
as it generally did in small and distant towns. On the ques- 
tion this year submitted to the people of this State, " whether 
they choose to have a new constitution or form of govern- 
ment made at this time," the vote here stood, yeas, none; 
nays, ten. And on the question whether " to impower the 
next year's representative to vote for calling a State conven- 
tion to form a new constitution," that also was decided in the 
same manner and probably for the same reason — the fear of 
increasing expenditures in the midst of the distresses of the 
war. 

A .vote was passed for paying Samuel Tolman £45 for his 
service in the army ; but the fourth article in the warrant *' to 
see what the general mind of the town is, concerning the 
Money that was raised by Subscription, for hiring John Carl- 
ton and John Thompson to go into the Army, and to act 
further thereon," appears, so far as the records show, to have 
been passed over without notice. These were the two men 
apportioned to this town by a resolve of the General Court, 
June 8 th ; and their pay was probably made up by voluntary 
contributions. 

Besides these two men, other recruits from here were ob- 
tained by voluntary enlistment, particularly for the naval ser- 
vice, as may be seen by the following hastily written letter 
from the gallant but somewhat rough and eccentric Commo- 
dore Tucker. "To Mr. Samuel Gragg at St. George. 
Boston, Feb. 27th, 1779. Mr. Gragg, Sir, I am very glad 
you have got some hands and should be very glad if you 
would make as great Dispatch as possible in getting what vou 
can, and what Expences your are at make a Char**- nd'the 
Navy Board will settlet with you as to Necfess^ ^ ^^ , 



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BOCEXAND AND SOUTH THQMASTON. 133 

are at. I would have [you] make all Possible Dispatch that 
lies in your power for I shall sail in ten days from this Date. 

'' Yours, Saml. Tucker."* 

But the famous Biguyduce expedition undertaken by Mas- 
sachusetts in concurrence with Congress for the dislodgement 
of the British /rom that place, now Castine, which had been 
taken possession of Jime 12th preceding, was the greatest 
cause of excitement during the year, and, like the Bull Run 
defeat of the same month of July eighty-two years later, 
filled with dismay many a patriotic breast. Of Capt. Philip 
M. Ulmer's company in Col. McCobb's regiment, formed of 
drafts from this and the neighboring places between Waldo- 
lx>ro' and Penobscot Bay, John Mathews, 1st Lieutenant, 
Joseph Coombs, Ist sergeant, Matthew Watson, corporal, 
Jonathan Crockett, John Miller, Chas. Jameson, John Black- 
ingtoQ, Ephraim Snow, Richard Keating, Ichabod Barrows, 
Jacob Keen, Joseph Ingraham, and James Heard, privates, 
were of this town. Many vessels along the coast were 
pressed into this service as taransports, and among them, as 
we judge from entries in his account-book, was the sloop of 
Capt. James Watson, who makes the following note : " July 
28, 1779, Landed at Bagaduce in the morning as the Sun 
Rose." Of this well concerted but ill conducted expedition, 
it is not to our purpose, nor have we space, to give the de- 
tails. Suffice it to say that Capt. Ulmer's company was among 
the first to ascend, in the face of an opposing body of troops 
above them, the bank where they landed, (so steep that it 
could only be surmounted in broken ranks by clinging, each 
man as he could, to the bushes,) and, forming anew as they 
reached the summit and were j Dined by the rest, speedily 
drove the enemy to the fort, which, as was thought, might 
have been easily taken by storm. But, by an unfortunate ad- 
herence to military etiquette and a criminal disagreement be- 
tween the naval and military commanders, a delay ensued 
till a British fleet arrived and compelled our forces to make 
a precipitate retreat up the Penobscot and home as they best 
could, most of the vessels being taken or burnt. The soldiers 
from here all returned in safety, having been absent, or at 
least under pay, according to the muster-roll, from July 8th 
to Sept. 24th. 

This foothold being thus retained by the enemy in our im- 

♦ Original letter, in possession of Messrs E. & A. "W. Brown, which, 
in a neat fair hand, on coarse paper, folded in square form, with waxen 
seal, and no post -mark for the very good reason that there were no mails 
then, presents a very good specimen of the letters of those days. 

Vol. I. 12 



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134 HISTORY OF TH0MA8T0N, 

mediate vicinity, the militia of the regiment now under Col. 
Wheaton of this town were frequently called out, and more 
permanent detachments stationed in particular places. But 
the depredations of the British or their tory adherents, and 
the acts of retaliation and revenge which they gave rise to, 
had now arrived at their greatest height. One QJapt. Pomeroy, 
a native of Meduncook, in a British privateer brig, on one 
occasion landed with 19 men at Jameson's Point, took Robert 
Jameson, whom he found mowing in the field, prisoner on 
board his vessel, and, on account of his unyielding disposi- 
tion, put him in irons. His men then drove up Jameson's 
cattle and killed a good yoke of oxen for beef and three fat 
hogs, which, without stopping to dress them, they hurried on 
board the vessel, together with three firkins of butter and two 
guns which they forcibly took from his log-house. Jameson, 
naturally of a violent temper, became so enraged at this con- 
duct of an old schoolmate who had been brought up in the 
same neighborhood with himself, that he made use of all the 
abusive language and opprobrious epithets his tongue could 
command, and, in reply to the threats of Pomeroy, who bran- 
dished his sword over him, would bare his breast and dare 
him to injure him. Finding that neither threats nor force 
would silence him, Pomeroy was glad to put him ashore and 
get rid of him. Jameson departed with a threat that, if ever 
fortune put it in his power, no distance of time or regard to 
consequences should prevent his taking revenge. 

Some time after this, Capt. Pomeroy, having taken a prize, 
ran in for a harbor at OwTs Head and anchored, in a fo^y 
night. Capt. George Little, who commanded an American 
armed vessel, ran into the same harbor and anchored a short 
distance from him. In the morning when the fog cleared 
away, the two hostile flags were flying almost within pistol- 
shot of each other. Pomeroy lost no time in getting under 
way with his prize and escaping from so formidable an oppo- 
nent. Little was equally alert, and soon sailed in pursuit. 
Pomeroy, having the start and his vessel being a fast sailer, 
gained upon his adversary and arrived safe at Biguyduce. 
But his prize sailing more slowly. Little manoeuvered and cut 
her off whilst concealed from the view of Pomeroy by an 
island. This prize was then immediately manned by Little, 
and, with a crew of picked men, followed Pomeroy as if 
nothing had happened. It was night before they arrived in 
Biguyduce harbor. Little stood by the late prize-master and 
with a pistol at his breast compelled him to give such answers 
when hailed by Pomeroy as put him at ease and induced him 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. I35 

to order ber alongside. No sooner was this done than Little, 
with a stamp of bis foot, brought his crew upon deck, and 
springing on board the brig exclaimed with an oath, ^* this is 
a States' vessel, and whoever stirs or speaks is a dead man.^' 
Pomeroy bad just time to slip over the bow into the boat and 
make for shore ; whilst Little, cutting the cables, hoisted sail 
and left the harbor with both vessels. The alarm was spread 
and a few guns fired from the fort, but in the darkness of the 
night they had no effect. 

Pomeroy being thus deprived of his vessel and his prize 
together, failed to obtain another, and got reduced to poverty; 
so that, some years after the war closed, he was compelled to 
serve as a common sailor. Paul Jameson, brother to Robert, 
was master of a coaster, and, coming across Pomeroy down 
east, wished to engage him as a hand. Pomeroy was willing 
to ship, but feared he might encounter his old antagonist, 
who, he knew, would not forget the oxen and porkers. Capt. 
Jameson promised to protect him, and assured him of perfect 
safety, as he was more than a match for his brother. Robert's 
revenge, however, was not so easily diverted from its purpose. 
He got intelligence of his brother's having his enemy on 
board, and studied only an opportunity to get at him. This 
he at last effected in the following manner. The vessel hav- 
ing anchored at Clam Cove, he went down one foggy morn- 
ing and, counterfeiting his cousin Alexander's voice, hailed 
and requested to be set on board. The captain took the boat 
and sculled ashore; but, finding no one there, he walked 
along the beach a fevi rods, when Robert sprang from the 
bushes where he had 'been concealed, jumped into the boat, 
and put off with all his might for the vessel. The captain 
observing him, made an attempt to regain the boat, and, find- 
ing it too late, entreated to go with him ; but all to no pur- 
pose. There being no other craft handy, he was suffered to 
pass to the vessel and, climbing her side, was beheld by 
Pomeroy, who, unsuspecting any evil, seemed thunder-struck 
and completely cowed at the sight. Jameson then told him 
that he had come to get pay for his butter ; that he meant to 
take no advantage of him ; that he might defend himself in 
any way he was able; but satisfaction he would have, 
Pomeroy replied that he was sensible he acted wrong in plun- 
dering private property ; that he was ready to make any 
reparation in his power ; th§t it was done in a time of war, 
when actions were not usually weighed with th_e same care as 
in peace ; that many things during the contest were done im- 
properly on both sides; but that, since the war was termi- 



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136 HISTORY OP THOMASTON, 

nated, it was incumbent on all to forgive and forget transac- 
tions they could not approve ; that, for his part, he should 
make no defence, but, if he were determined on revenge, he 
was in his power and could only suffer death. Jameson re- 
plied, '* strip, and, defend yourself; fight, only fight, and I 
shall be satisfied." But the other refusing, he began beating, 
kicking, and bruising the passive Pomeroy, still trying to in- 
duce him to defend himself; but in vain. At last, sated* with 
abuse in words and blows, and Pomeroy lying apparently 
dead, he took a bayonet and pricking him a little to see if 
life remained, left him with the assurance that this was but 
the beginning of his revenge — this was only liie payment 
for his bvMer, and that wherever and whenever he found him 
he should in the same manner take pay for his hogs, and that 
the third time he should have pay for his oxen.* 

Such are the passions engendered by war, and most of all 
by civil wars, — in which neighbors, firiends, and brothers, 
are led by a sense of duty, interest, or inclination, to oppo- 
site sides, and view each other not as foes merely, but as 
traitors and parricidesi 

* The late H. Prince, senior ; Mrs. Diana Jones, &q» 



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BOCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. I37 

CHAPTER VIII. 

INCIDENTS OF THE BE VOLUTION, CONTINUED. 

At a town meeting, Sept. 8th, Messrs. Snow, Tolman, 
Heard, Loyett, anrf Bartlett were chosen a committee to con- 
sider the proceedings of a convention at Concord, held July 
14th, on the currency and regulation of prices. But at an 
adjourned meeting, Sept. 14th, the committee reported action 
inexpedient ^^ till the next sitting of the next convention, it 
being so near at httid." This report was voted " not to be 
satisfactory," and a new committee was appointed to consider 
further and make report on the 21st; but at that time few 
people attended, and nothing further was done. The great 
exertions in fitting out the expedition against Biguyduce, the 
mortifying result to which it came, together with the severe 
drought, the interruption of the coasting trade by the enemy, 
an embargo imposed upon our own shipping, the consequent 
paralysis of business, and the high price and scarcity of pro- 
visions, gave sufficient occupation and concern to most people 
in these remote settlements, and afforded them little opportu- 
nity to consider and discuss the graver questions of public 
policy. 

But the urgency of the cause in which the country was en- 
gaged, would not allow the people here to confine their atten- 
tion wholly to their own necessities. A convention, the pre- 
cise object of which is not now known, seems to have been 
held at Wiscasset, which Col. Wheaton, (it does not appear 
at whose request) attended ; as, Nov. 29th, the town voted to 
pay him £31, 6s. for his time and expenses in such attendance. 
On the same 29th of November, in pursuance of a precept 
from the House of Representatives and a warrant from the 
selectmen, a town meeting was held, and Col. Mason Wheaton 
was elected the first Representative of Thomaston " in the 
Great and General Court of Massachusetts Bay, convened at 
Boston in May last and still in being." Thus was the town 
first represented in the last year of the old Massachusetts 
charter of King William and Queen Mary, then about to 
expire. 

1780. The year 1780 was an eventful and trying one, in 
many respect?. In addition to the distresses prevailing at 
the close of the preceding year, the winter that succeeded 
was one of remarkahle severity. After a violent storm of 
snow, two feet deep or more, which occurred on Christmas, 
12* 



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139 HISTORY OP THOMASTON, 

there was another on New Year's day, sftll deeper; in both 
of which the wind was north-westerly. These were the 
principal snows ; yet the fences were all covered during the 
winter, and there was no travelling except upon snow-shoes. 
There were no thermometers here in those days for marking 
temperature, but for forty-eight days the sun had not power 
enough to soften the snow even on tKe roofs, of houses. 
Capt. Benjamin Burton, who had, July 14, 1779, withdrawn 
from the Continental service and returned home, but was now, 
we believe as Lieutenant, stationed at Camden with a body 
of State troops under Capt. Geo. Ulmer, went in February 
with a flag of truce to obtain the rel^lise of a young man 
from Warren who had been taken the fall before, in a schooner 
that was cut' out of the Wessaweskeag River, loaded with 
lumber for the West Indies. He passed directly from Cam- 
den harbor to Biguyduce, across Penobscot Bay, on the ice ; 
and, succeeding in his mission, returned in the same manner* 
Mr. Wheaton, in attending the General Court at Boston, per- 
formed the journey this year, as in several subsequent ones, 
by land on ahorseback; and, it is said, spent about a fortnight 
on the road, usually, each way. The St. George's River, 
however, was clear of ice by the 16th of April, as appears 
by the following extract from notes made in the account-book 
of Matthias Hawes, one of the early settlers of Union. 
"Sunday, 16th of April, 1780. This day the first of our 
going down the River by water; the week past. General 
Wadsworth Arrived at George's with his army. . . Likewise 
Walder Dick and a Number of other Tories were taken on 
the water, &c." 

The latter portion of this entry was probably but one of 
the flying rumors of that troubled day, without any founda- 
tion ; though the former part was undoubtedly correct For 
the command of the whole eastern department, between 
Piscataqua and St. Croix, was now given to General Peleg 
Wadsworth of Duxbury, who had been second in command 
at the Biguyduce expedition the preceding year. He was 
empowered to raise a company of volunteers in Lincoln 
county, whenever he should think the public safety required 
it ; and to execute martial law, ten mUes in width upon all 
the coast eastward of the Kennebec and upon the islands, 
conformably to the standing rules and regulations of the 
American army. He arrived at Falmouth, April 6th, and 
took immediate measures for raising the troops required for 
that and the more eastern posts. With a portion of these, 
he came to St. George's the following week, and fixed his 



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EOCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 189 

Head-quarters in this town at the house of Col. Wheaton; 
which is still standing, as before mentioned, in what is now 
Wadsworth Street, Thomaston. His principal forqp, in which 
Benj. Burton acted as major, was stationed at Megunticook 
or Camden harbor, with smaller divisions at Clam Cove and 
at his nead-quarters here.* 

Four months later in this year, the town was the scene of 
that most trying of all tragedies, an execution under martial 
law — the first and perhaps the only one that ever took place 
in the State. To draw the line more distinctly between 
friends and foes, Wadsworth had issued a proclamation 
strictly prohibiting all intercourse with the enemy. But illicit 
traffic and predatory incursions being continued, in one of 
which Capt. Soule of Waldoboro' was murdered, his wife 
wounded and house plundered, another proclamation was is- 
sued denouncing death upon any one convicted of aiding or 
secreting the enemy. Subsequent to this, a man by the 
name of Jeremiah Braun, residing back of Damariscotta, 
was taken up, charged with piloting a party of British through 
the back country for the purpose of pillaging. He was tried 
on the 2dd or 24th of August by a court-martial at Wads- 
worth's head-quarters, condemned, and sentenced to be hung. 
Being a man of feeble intellect, and, as many thought, scarcely 
conscious of any offence in what he did, his sentence was 
generally considered as only a feint to frighten him and pre- 
vent a repetition of the crime. Many went to the General, 
and among them Mrs. James of Warren and other warm 
patriots, to intercede for his pardon. But the crisis de- 
manded decision; an example was thought necessary, and 
Wadsworth remained infl^ible. On the day after the sen- 
tence, a gallows was erected on Limestone Hill, or, according 
to some, the limb of an old pine tree used as a substitute. 
To this, in a cart drawn by oxen, driven it is said by Mr, 
Lampson, and in presence of the military and a few specta- 
tors, the miserable man was conducted ; feinting and, as de- 
scribed by an eye-witness, " more dead than alive " from fear. 
In this situation, Mr. Coombs, who was standing near, was 
asked to lend his handkerchief to tie over the prisoner's eyes. 
Supposing it a farce, he complied ; and the prisoner, to ap- 
pearance already dead, was swung off to the astonishment of 
the spectators. The General was greatly moved, and was 
observed walking his room in apparent agitation the most of 
the following day. Many friends of the revolution regretted 

♦ Burton's MS. narrative, &c. 



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140 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

that suph an example of severity, however necessary, should 
fall on such a victim. 

In corroGoration of the above, as well as to show the wild 
rumors which prevailed then as now in our own times of mil- 
itary excitement and anxiety, we give another extract from 
Mr. Hawes's notes. "Sept. ye 3d, 1780. This day rainy. 
Last week there was a Tory condem'd to Be hang'd, on Tues- 
day the Day Following was Executed at headquarters. Like- 
wise we heard this Day that there has been Blood shed for 
England and that the King and Lord North had fled" dbc. 

Another offender, by the name of Nathaniel Palmer, was 
also condemned, but made his escape from the barn in which 
he was confined at Wadsworth's head-quarters. Several 
courts-martial were held the same season, and were composed 
of such officers, whether in the militia or the public service, 
as were nearest at hand. In a book kept by Burton, then on 
duty under Wadsworth, we find the foilowing entry. " June 
1, 1780. Capt. Thomas Starrett, 5 days on Court-martial; 
Lieut. Kelloch, Lieut. Nutt, Lieut. Bucklin, 5 days each; 
Lieut Killse (doubtless Hugh Killsa of this town) 3 days.*' 
Subsequently, without date, though probably at the time of 
Braun's trial, "Capt. Starrett, Lieuts. Libbey, Killse, Kel- 
loch, and Nutt, one day each." 

From the commencement of the Revolution, as in all poli- 
tical changes and civil dissensions, some diversity of feelings 
and opinions had obtained among the people here, as in other 
places. Time and events had been going on, gradually sift- 
ing the people and separating the wheat from the chaff. The 
nearness of the enemy at Castine, while it gave new anima- 
tion to the true friends of AmeriCan freedom, also tempted 
the wavering and the avaricious to the opposite side. It was 
then as since ; some were led by interest, or in some cases 
principle^ to side with the old order of things, while at the 
same time their nearest kindred, brothers, sons, and even 
wives, might be equally zealous supporters of the new, — look- 
ing with more prophetic eyes to the brighter promise of the 
future. T. McLellan and perhaps others of this town at dif- 
ferent times were, without any specific allegations, accused 
by the watchful and suspicious whigs of making shoes and 
furnishing other supplies to the enemy. Mr. Snow, though 
one of the earliest members of the committee of safety and 
often electe.d to other town offices, and though one of his en- 
terprising sons at least, had borne arms in service of his 
country, and others of his family were not untouched by the 
Whig spirit, had, himself, a strong love of property and, be- 



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EOCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 141 

ing deeply engaged in its acquisition and anxious perhaps for 
the present prosperity of the little community he had planted, 
was now beginning to be pretty well known as an adherent to 
the claims of the mother country. He was a man of action 
rather than investigation ; and, having once seized upon an 
idea or jumped at a conclusion in religion or politics, he was 
too prompt and earnest in acting upon it to waste any time 
in doubt and re-examination, but threw into it the whole of 
his powerful will and characteristic energy. Feeling bound 
to submit " to the powers that be, as ordained of God," he 
did not hesitate as his interest and opportunities led to hold a 
scarcely^ concealed intercourse with the British and their par- 
tisans, whose power, in this quarter at least, seemed likely to 
predominate. 

A copy of the following impudent letter from a notorious 
tory actively engaged in smuggling, privateering, and land 
depredations upon our coast, has been preserved among the 
Watson papers, but whether ever received by him to whom it 
was addressed, is doubtful. It might have been intercepted 
or taken from Long's person at some one of the many arrests 
to which he was subjected. " To Mr. Elisha Snow, Senior. 
Sunday, 1 0th of Dec. . . . Sir. The bearer of this I am 
very confident is to be trusted, therefore I think proper to 
send this message to you to inform you that I am very desirous 
of purchasing all the Rum you have now by you, as I hear 
you have a quantity. It is intirely my business I am now 
upon, therefore if you conclude to sell it or as much as you 
can spare I have the money with me and will conduct with 
all carefulness possible So that no one can in the least sus- 
pect me or you, and as for keeping this matter a secret I 
need not request as you must study your own interest on that 
occasion. I hope you will git it from George's and have 6 
or 7 barrels ready for me and you may depend upon being 
paid your asking, if in reason. Don't be surprised if I call 
at your house in four or five nights from this, about 10 or 11, 
after all is still, as I mean no harm to any one. I was last 
night in the Gig and saw a schooner laying, but knowing 
whose she was, determined not to take her. Please to inform 
Crouch and Thomdike they may proceed [on their voyages] 
without Danger. No one need to be afraid of me except 
Coombs, and at present I shall not disturbe him. I am, Sr. 

"John Long. 

" If you can hear of any letters from Boston to me, pray 
procure it if possible. If Capt. Jurden is amind for voyage 
to the West Indies I can help him to one, and a vessel will 



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142 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

be all feady to sail from Bagaduce if he will go to any English 
port, and with two sets of papers." 

It does not appear that any of these tempting offers were 
accepted, though it is probable that the pacific assurances of 
safety from depredation were far from disagreeable to those of 
either party whose lives and property, especially shipping, 
were in their exposed situation so much in jeopardy. This 
Capt. Long was a resident of what is now Gushing, came 
thither from Martha's Vineyard, and, taking the tory side, be- 
came a daring and troublesome adveaturer, known and feared 
both by sea and land, difficult to capture and hard to keep 
when captured. 

But, in spite of all the peculiar dangers, as well as tempta- 
tions and opportunities afforded for illicit traffic, to the inhab- 
itants of the southern part of Thomaston, most of them re- 
mained much attached to the cause of colonial freedom. 
Mathews, Coombs, Keating, and Thorndike were particularly 
active in the people's cause. The first of these, having been 
from the beginning an enterprising man of business, was 
much esteemed by his fellow citizens, was lieutenant of the 
militia company, was chosen one of the first board of select- 
men and assessors after the town's incorporation, and was re- 
elected to the same offices the following year ; but, from some 
cause, resigned both offices in May, and his name thencefor- 
ward disappears from the town records. His reputation seems 
to have suffered an eclipse at this time from which it never 
recovered. It is said that an intimate friend without his con- 
sent obtained for him a commission as an officer in the British 
pay, and, now that the American cause looked so dark and 
the enemy had obtained so strong a foothold in this part of 
the country, set before him the emoluments and advantages 
it would give him when the contest was over, in such glowing 
colors, that Mathews, in a moment of weakness was over- 
persuaded to take the commission ; and, though he made no 
use of it, the fact of having it in possession leaked out, and 
he became a suspected man. This occasioned him great 
mortification, especially when it had extended so far as to af- 
fect the mind of his intimate acquaintance and friend, Gen. 
Wadsworth, who refused to receive his note which the neigh- 
bors had offered as the best security possible for a bull that 
they were anxious to purchase for beef, — saying they " might 
take the animal, but he wanted nothing to do with Mathews." 
His remorse, regret, and chagrin, so greatly affected his mind 
and preyed upon his health, that he gradually sank, and died 
not long afterwards. 



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EOCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 143 

Notwithstanding the rigorous measures of Wadswo^th on 
land, it was not so easy to put a stop to the ravages of tories 
along the coast in privateer vessels and shaving-mills as they 
were called. These last were a class of privateers, generally 
large open boats with sails and sweeps, and manned by some 
six or eight armed men, who, being lamiliar with every nook 
and inlet of our coast, found it no difficult task to capture the 
unsuspecting coaster. Early in the present year, a sloop 
loaded with lime sailed from the George's River, bound for 
Boston. In those days the coaster did not#often go "out- 
side" as at the present time, but generally kept in shore. 
The owner of the vessel and cargo, Qol. Wheaton of this 
town, was on board at the time. Nothing occurred to im- 
pede the passage until she had passed Cape Small 'Point, 
when one of those suspicious looking barges or shaving-mills 
was seen coming past the headland in Harpswell Bay, evi- 
dently in pursuit of the sloop. The coaster being in among 
the islands and on a lee shore, was completely hemmed in, 
and, having only three men on board all told, and no arms, it 
was folly to think of contending with an armed force of ten 
men. The only chance of escape was to get out past the 
point, when the vessel could be kept off and have the wind 
more free. The shaving-mill came dashing on, in close pur- 
suit; and, just as the sloop had weathered the point and was 
about putting up her helm, she was boarded and captured. 
The leader, Linneken, another tory well nigh as much feared 
as Long in this quarter, and probably the same ordered to be 
brought "to justice" in 1775, after he had got possession of 
the sloop, offered to ransom her to Col. Wheaton for #200 ; 
but the latter refusing so to do, the destination of the vessel 
was immediately changed and her course shaped for Halifax. 
In the mean time one Jocelyn, who lived on Ragged Island, 
having seen the whole transaction, hastened to New Meadows 
where there was a militia training, and related the whole 
matter to the captain. The company was immediately or- 
dered to the right-a-bout face and dismissed ; when some 
twenty or thirty robust soldiers volunteered to embark with 
their captain in a small fishing schooner which lay moored in 
the bay, and, if possible, recapture the sloop and give Linne- 
ken " a mauling." 

The sloop had not been in the possession of the tories 
long, when the eagle-eye' of their leader with his glass espied 
a small schooner standing towards them. The sloop was on 
the wind ; and the schooner was some ten miles off, running 
down across her bows. As the two vessels neared each 



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144 HISTOEY OF THOMASTON, 

other, ^;he more anxious and disturbed were the tory captors. 
Finally Col. Wheaton was invited to take the glass; and, 
after he had swept the horizon and gazed a few moments at 
the schooner, he was asked what he made her out to be. 
With a smile of hope upon his countenance, he replied 
"nothing but a fishing smack, with two men on board, 
coming out of New Meadows." But yet Linnekin felt un- 
easy. He made another survey and could sec but two men 
on board — one at the helm and the other walking the deck. 
He then tumed»to the prisoners and offered them their liberty 
if they would fight, in case the schooner proved to be an 
enemy. This of coprse they refused, and then went below. 
The smack, which was now very near, instantly rounded to 
under the sloop's quarter, and, as if by magic, her deck was 
immediately lined with men, who fired a volley of bullets 
into the sloop, killing one man instantly and severely wound- 
ing one or two others. With but very little resistance, they 
boarded the sloop and one of the party, recognizing Linne- 
kin, shouted " surrender, you old tory !" and began balancing 
former accounts with cufis and kicks, till the captain of the 
trainers ended by giving the poor sinner a severe chastise- 
ment with the rope's end, as he held him by the long queue 
of hair which he wore, in accordance with the fashion of the 
times. But to cut our story sho;rt, the tories were confined. 
Col. Wheaton again put into possession of his sloop, and 
both vessels carried to New Meadows. There, after treating 
all hands to a bowl of punch, Wheaton proceeded on his way 
to Boston, leaving Linnekin and his party in custody of his 
gallant deliverers.* 

This same sloop, owned in part by Col. Wheaton and em- 
ployed in carrying lime from this river to Boston, was, be- 
fore the war commenced, commanded by Waldo Dicke of 
Warren; but, now being under the command of Capt. Jordan, 
some time after the incident related above, she dropped down 
the river to Maple Juice Cove, and there lay, loaded \* ith 
lime, waiting for an opportunity to sail for Boston. While 
lying there, the captain and crew being at their homes, Dicke, 
now become a formidable foe to our cause, assisted by some 
other tories or refugees, came in the night, took the vessel, 
and departed with it for Biguyduce. Although several per- 
sons of the vicinity started immediately in pursuit, Dicke, by 
his superior knowledge of the coast, was enabled to get the 
vessel into a by-place and thus escape discovery, and, when 

♦ Comraunication in Thomaston Recorder of Feb. 19, 1846, &c. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMaSTON. 145 

tlie pursuit was over, succeeded in reaching the British port. 
There, it is said, that his account of the exploit was not very 
graciously received by Gen. Campbell, the commander, and 
Wheaton was informed that he could have his vessel at a very 
moderate ransom ; but both principle and feeling were, with 
him, too strong to allow him to treat in any way with the 
enemy. 

This patriotic citizen, having the preceding year purchased 
1000 acres of wild land in Stirlingtown and employed men 
in clearing up a portion of it, was this year more or less oc- 
cupied in superintending the same and in putting up a bam 
there, which was raised in July, 1 780. He did not however 
remove his family thither ; but having previously buried his 
wife, and now, probably, leaving one or both of his tw6 chil- 
dren for the time with their relatives in Thomaston, he gave 
up his house to Gen. Wadsworth, who, as before mentioned, 
established his head-quarters there. In the want of a market 
for lime, he had previously 'turned his attention to agricul- 
ture, having, in 1779, raised a fine crop of corn between the 
river and the present Prison quarry, Thomaston, — the hills 
and rows of which, being left undisturbed and gradually 
swarded over, are, or were a few years since, still distinctly 
visible. This was, as before mentioned, on the Waldo or 
Fort farm, the cleared portion of which all lay westward of 
the present Knox Street. Oct. 6, 1781, he received a com- 
mission as the first Justice of the Peace in Stirlingtown and 
there for the first time solemnized a marriage, that between 
Joel Adams and Jemima Robbins — the first wedding in that 
place. He did not long remain there, however, though he 
continued to manage and oversee his farm which he let to 
Elisha Partridge in 1786, and in 1789 sold 700 acres of it to 
Thos. Daggett;* — his own attention in the mean time having 
been turned to the erection of mills in Thomaston at Mill 
River Bridge. These he probably erected about 1783, by 
agreement or permission of the Proprietors ; as it was not till 
twelve years later, Oct. 30, 1795, that the mill privilege with 
110 acres of land adjoining was deeded to him by Gen. Knox 
and wife for the sum of $1500. For greater convenience he 
soon removed from his former residence, the Wadsworth 
house, and established himself near his mills in a little log- . 
house part way up the hill west of the bridge, just back of 
where Counce's store now stands ; built a small store, and for 
some time sold goods, where S. Waldo's store is now. This 

♦ Sibley's History of Union, p. 49, 66, &c. 
Vol. I. 13 



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146 ©ISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

house y and a. later framed one into which he transformed his 
store, remained under the superintendence of hired house- 
keepers; — the first of whom was Mrs. Sarah Eastman for 
several years, and the second was Mary, usually called Molly, 
Mathews (of the Warren family of that name) who continued 
her faithful service for the Colonel during his life, arid, after 
his death, for his son down to the time of his marriage late 
in life. 

The Colonel's new investment proving successful, and his 
popularity being unabated, he was now in the meridian of 
life and prosperity. He had lost property indeed during the 
war, but in some degree made up the loss by real estate 
which he purchased on time and paid for in depreciating pa- 
per currency just before it ceased to be a tender and became 
worthless. His property was sufficient for all the necessities 
of life, and he affected neither its elegancies nor luxuries. 
Though not destitute of a kindly fellow feeling and generous 
sympathy for all conditions of life, he was blunt in manner, 
and particularly contemptuous towards indolence, shiftless- 
ness, meanness, and knavery. These qualities, aided by a 
natural irritability of temper, which late in life wus aggravated 
by rheumatic pangs, sometimes degenerated into real rude- 
ness. One still living, (who, it is said, had the reputation of 
being a very lazy boy, and therefore not likely to see the 
Colonel's brighter side,) when recently inquired of by the 
writer concerning Wheaton's character, said " he was a hard- 
faced, rough-heeled, passionate, and profane old gentleman.'* 
We give a few anecdotes as illustrative of his peculiar char- 
acteristics. On one occasion when a very unpromising couple 
presented themselves to be united in marriage, he looked up 
at them and exclaimed, "My G — d! are there not paupers 
enough on the town already ?" His housekeeper was natur- 
ally hard of. hearing and consequently dull of understanding 
what was said to her. Her frequent mistakes often overcame 
the patience of her employer to such a degree that he was 
once seen to seize her by the hair of her head and pitch her 
down among the burdocks near his door. But these transient 
outbreaks were always excused by the faithful and uncom- 
plaining Molly, whose reverence for him was unbounded, by 
simply suggesting that " the Colonel was not himself;" and 
she used to tell that she one day received a wound from a 
chair upon her own head rather than dodge aside and let his 
looking-glass be broken by the blow. His neighbor Abiathar 
Smith was odd and shiftless, and therefore perhaps set down 
by Wheaton as somewhat equivocal in character. The latter, 



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BOCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 147 

when living in his Wadsworth house, had missed the. clevis 
and pin from his cart-tongue, then the only one in the neigh- 
borhood, and, though inquiring diligently, could gain no in- 
formation of it; .till, after the burning of Smith's house, look- 
ing among the ruins he perceived it or one similar among the 
ashes and exclaimed, *' there's my clevis and pin, at IcLst /" 
Mrs. Smith overhearing the remark and not liking the impu- 
tation, said, "Mr. Wheaton, you seem' to be hinting we stole 
your clevis and pin." ''Indeed, madam, I* so consider it;" 
was the reply. When Nathaniel Fales (3d) was a small lad, 
lie was sent down from the Beech Woods settlement through 
the intervening forest to Wheaton's mill with a half bushel of 
corn on his back. Meeting the Colonel coming up limping 
along towards his log-house, with his mouth fuU of tobacco 
and stockings about his heels, Fales requested him to go back 
and grind his com. Wheaton said he could not do it, then — 
had other business to attend to ; — hadn't had any dinner," 
&c. " But," said the boy, " we want it very much. We 
have no bread and nothing to make any of." The Colonel 
began to fume and fret and swear, — hoped the mill would be 
burnt, or carried away by the freshet — wished it were " al- 
ready down to Caldwell's Island." "So do /," said the boy, 
** and you with it !" This spirited reply so pleased the old 
gentleman, that, with a hearty laugh, he turned back and 
ground his grist without further ado.* 

The depreciation of paper had now so far advanced, that 
the assessors' pay, which last year was fixed at 30s. per diem, 
was this year by vote of the town set at £9, or 180s. Such 
a depression of the currency rendered it difficult for the Gov- 
ernment to find means for supplying the army with either 
men, provisions, or clothing ; and compelled a resort to vari- 
ous expedients to remedy the Qvil, such as a tax payable in 
silver money only, and apportionments of clothing, provisions, 
and recruits for the army. Besides the sum of £600 voted 
this year for town expenses, in addition to the £200 voted the 
two preceding years which had not been thus far assessed, 
the town was this year burdened with the following taxes ; 
viz: State tax No. 1, of this year, 1780, £4153, 6s. 8d. ; 
" bounty to John Adams a soldier of the town, agreeable to 
a resolve of the General Court," £14 ; County tax, £5, 2s. ; 
State silver-money tax, £53, 8s. ; 1 780 lbs. of beef, at $5 a 
pound, amounting to £2670 ; making an aggregate of £7695, 



* Mrs. T>. Vose, late of Montville : Mrs E. Morrison of "Warren ; Capt. 
W. J. Fales ; Oliver Smith, Jr. ; Nathaniel Tales (3d,) &c. 



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148 raSTOEY OF THOMASTON. 

16s. 8.d.,- — besides nine pairs of shoes, an equal number of 
stockings and shirts^ and four blankets ; to which, as well as 
8422 lbs. of beef added Dec. 4th, no price was affixed. 
Three recruits for the army were also, Dec^ 2d, apportioned 
to this town. 

Under such an accumulation of burdens, it is not wonder- 
ful that the town, to prevent increase of expenditure, voted, 
in May, not to send ' a representative this year, and not to 
choose a delegate to attend the adjournment of the Conven* 
tion for forming a State Constitution. Upon the Constitution 
itself, also submitted to the several towns of the' Common^ 
wealth for ratification by yeas and nays on each separate 
article, this town declined expressing any opinion, either way. 
The new Constitution was, however, adopted at this time by 
the required majority of two-thirds of the people, and went 
into operation in September; — remaining unaltered till since 
the separation of Msdne in 1820. The people of this town, 
though notified to m^t for the annual election under it, Sept. 
4th, and again Oct. 4th for choosing a representative, ne- 
glected to attend, and took no part in the election. 

The hardness of the times and scarcity of provisions giving 
importance to the matter, this town voted. May 24th, that 
" there be a committee chosen to take the affair of the a'ewife 
fishery at the Falls in the town of Warren into their consid- 
eration, and act what may be thought proper and necessary 
thereupon." Esq. Fales and Jeremiah Tolman were the com- 
mittee. This fishery had heretofore been shared by all the 
settlers on the river, who, from the greater ease with which 
they were taken in dip-nets at the said Falls, annually 
flocked thither as the Indians had done before them. But, 
as the population increased and from the hardness of the 
times became more eager to obtain a supply, it became more 
and more difficult to get possession of suitable stands for 
taking them ; and complaints were made of their being mono* 
polized by those who caught fish for sale. To prevent this, 
the town of Warren had the preceding year passed a vote 
that " no fish be taken at the falls for sale.'* It does not ap- 
pear what action the Thomaston committee took on the sub- 
ject. Nothing further is found on the records till 1 784, when 
it was voted, Sept. 9th, " that Capt. Nathaniel Fales draw a 
petition to the General Court to stop the Petition of Warren 
against our Privilege of fishing at the Falls." 

Since the taking of Wheaton*s sloop, before related, not a 
single vessel remained, sailing fi-om George's River. Sea- 
faring men were consequently driven to other means of sup- 



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EOCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. I49 

port, or to ship in other places. The following adventure of 
one connected in, though not a resident of, this town, may he 
of interest. In 1780, Jonathan Nutting, late of Gushing, be- 
mg taken by the British as one of the crew of the brig Ruby 
of Boston, bound to Martinique, was carried to Barbadoes 
and confined on board the prison-ship of about 500 tons, 
which, stripped of sails and rigging, was moored in the centre 
of St. Lucie harbor. Here, with several hundred French and 
American prisoners, they were four months confined between 
deck^, in ihe hottest part of the season, allowed to come on 
deck for air during the day only, and furnished with a scanty 
allowance of provisions. On deck they were strongly 
guarded and watched, and at night the hatches closed upon 
them and barred. So great were their sufferings, that Nut- 
img and ten other Americans, formed and adopted a bold plan 
of escape. They were surrounded by armed vessels, priva- 
teers, merchantmen, and at a short distance a twenty-gun 
ship; while, as further security, a Letter of Marque of 150 
tons and mounting 14 guns, lay outside the rest toward the 
entrance of the harbor. The plan being matured and a dark 
and foggy night favoring it, they began by working on the 
compassion of the sentries who had occasionally allowed, 
contrary to orders, two or three at a time of the sick and suf- 
fering prisoners to come on deck a few moments during the 
sight, and who, lulled by a sense of security, were unusually 
indulgent on this occasion, allowing the several divisions of 
the eleven plotters to come up at intervals without sufficiendy 
attending to their return. Contriving in the darkness to con- 
ceal themselves behind water casks, they, by means of a rope, 
let themselves down through a port-hole on to the main 
chains, divested themselves of clothing, except Nutting, who 
kept his handkerchief around his neck in which he had con- 
cealed two guineas and two silver dollars; and all successively 
swam to the Letter of Marque more than a mile distant. 
Waiting as agreed upon at the bows of this vessel till all but 
two had appeared, they climbed up her cable, disarmed and 
secured the forward sentinel sitting on the windlass fast 
asleep, and levelled the other who was crying murder and 
summoning all hands on deck in such a manner that one of 
the eleven, a Virginian, became frightened, swam back to his 
prison, dressed himself, and reported to the prisoners that all 
but he were lost. So far from it, however, they had, ere this, 
secured the companion-way, the entrance to the forecastle, 
got possession of all the arms, cut the cable, sailed out of the 
harbor under the guns of the fort without being hailed, and 
13* 



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150 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

reached the capital of Martinique in safety, with the stars 
and stripes waving above the British colors. Here the prize 
was sold for 4006 crowns, dividing 400 apiece to each of the 
ten captors, — one having deserted, and the two that were 
missing coming on board before they left the harbor.* 

Whfist the war continued, parties occasionally landed from 
privateers at various points along the coast for provisions, 
money, or other plunder. Besides the destruction of Mr. 
Heard's salt-works at Ash Point as before noted, one such 
party entered his house; inquired where the men were; 
would not believe the answer ; said they must be hidden, or 
had fled with the money; threatened the women; and set 
fire to the house. But obtaining no information or prospect 
of plunder, they finally put out the fire they had kindled, 
and departed. Similar depredations were committed on 
George's River, if not within the limits of this town at least 
sufiiciently near it to keep the people in constant alarm. 
Capt. Samuel Watts of St George, having been much en- 
gaged in the lumber and West India trade,' sometimes, for 
want of a return cargo or convenient exchange, had been 
obliged to bring home the proceeds in 'sptjcie, — which when 
in silver and brought to the house in bags could not fail by its 
bulk and jingling to give him an extensive reputation as a 
man of wealth. Thus invited by the hope of rich booty, a 
shaving-mill anchored one evening near his house ; and 
thither its captain and crew proceeded after the children were 
in bed and nobody up but Watts and his wife. The house 
was then ransacked and plundered by them of everything 
valuable, including bedding and feather beds, except one. 
On this the children lay asleep ; and as they began to cry 
when disturbed, the commander ordered the men to desist. 
He then demanded money ; but none being produced or ac- 
knowledged in possession, he took Watts's comarny cap firom 
his head, put it on his own, and told him if he would not 
give up his money he must be carried a prisoner to Biguyduce. 
Two of the men being ordered to take him on board, one of 
them seized him by the shoulder and pulled him up rather 
roughly from his chair ; when Watts gave him a blow and 
knocked him over upon the large blazing fire before which 
he was seated. Scrambling up in a rage, the man called upon 
the others for aid and was springing upon him, when the com- 



* For a full account of this adventure, see an article furnished by Albert 
G. Lermond, in the Thomaston Recorder of Dec. 10, 1840, from the lips of 
Mr. Nutting himself. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOXTTH THOM ASTON. J 5 1 

mander bade them desist, saying Watts was a good fellow, 
and t<dd him to come on bosurd peaceably and he should be 
well used. Under the circumstances he thought it best to 
comply; was absent some three or four weeks; and returned 
on parole or by exchange of prisoners.* 

Such predatory attempts were now become so common that 
most persons who were fortunate enough to have a little silver 
money, or a few spoons, spare linen, or other treasures, often 
kept them concealed in the woods, swamps, hay-mows, or 
other hiding places. 

Among the persons who occasionally floated between the 
two beliigerants, without much molestation from either, was 
Stephen Post< who came to this town, worked for Mr. Snow 
ditching the Marsh, and was published to a woman in Nova 
Scotia, whom he afterwards, Paris-like, contrived to bring off 
and marry. He settled in what is now South" Thomaston, 
and left many descendants, respected citizens of that place 
and Rockland. James Carney, in this or the year preceding, 
came from Broa'd Cove, Cushing, and made the first attempt . 
to settle in that part of Thomaston called the Beech Woods. 
He began a clearing;' built a log-house, in which his first 
child was bom ; but, lacking the necessary energy to contend 
with the hard growth and harder soil of that locality, left it in 
the following year and settled near the northern boundary of 
St. George. He had some amusing peculiarities of character ; 
one of which was a cool indifierence wliich nothing could 
disconcert or put to the blush. His neighbor in his last loca- 
tion, Mr. Williams, having suffered repeatedly from injuries 
done by Carney's cow, against which he had vainly remon- 
strated, came to him one morning vexed and exasperated, 
with a fresh complaint that the cow had at last destroyed cdl 
his cabbages. " Mr. Williams," said Carney in an alarmed 
tone ; " did you ever know cabbages* to hurt a cow ?" On 
one occasion when breadstuff was scarce, he inquired at 
Keegan*s store if they had any meal, and on being told they 
had, but sold it only for cash, said *' put me up half a bushel." 
This being done, after a time he took up the bag and walked 
out. Keegan perceiving he was gone, followed him into the 
street and told him he had not paid for it. " Well, well," 
said he, "Til be up again to-morrow." ^ Being told that 
would not answer — that Keegan must have the money or the 
meal, he exclaimed, '* take your meal, Mr. Keegan !" at the 
same time throwing it in the muddy gutter. This trait in his 

♦ Messrs. D. & Wm. Heard ; Mrs. Charles Watts of Warren, &c. 



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152 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

character, as years passed on, got to be well understood, and 
was sometimes met with a repulse equally cool. He once 
went to Mr. Jacobs's shop, and, under the pretence that none 
in the stores suited him, requested to have a hammer made, 
and gave particular directions as to its construction. A com- 
pliance being promised, he returned at the appointed time 
and found the hammer just the thing he wanted ; said he 
hadn^t the money with him then, but would be up and pay in 
a day or two. " Leave it in the shop /'* was the reply. He 
pleaded his immediate necessity — wanted the hammer to 
finish a little job which could not admit of delay, <fec. ; but, 
" leave it in i^y shop !" was the only response. There it was 
left, and there it remained. 

Nathaniel Fales (2d) succeeded to Carney's improvement 
at the Beech Woods, removing thither late in March, 1781 ; 
when the snow was three feet deep. He persevered ; ex- 
tended his clearings ; got a town road laid out ; and, discov- 
ering a quarry of limestone on his farm, occasionally manu- 
. factured it for market ; finally transmitting a valuable farm 
to his descendants, by whom it is still well cultivated and 
profitably managed. Atwood Fales also, who had refused to 
take the oath of allegiance to King George aud was obliged 
to flee from Amherst, N. R. where he had settled, now with 
his family took refuge in this town. He had joined the ex- 
pedition against Biguyduce in the previous year, 1779, and 
there, going out one morning for a pail of water, it is said he 
was twice fired upon by a whole company of some sixty mea 
at once, with no injury to himself but to the astonishment of 
the assailants who thenceforth considered him invulnerable. 
After the war was over, he went back to Nova Scotia, sold 
his farm there, took his pay in grindstones, and returned 
here. He, or at any rate his sons, John and Samuel, built a 
house at the Beech Woods not long after this time; and, 
when Samuel married, John built a second, — both of lo|^ 
In 1816, John returned with his family to Nova Scotia. 

The farms west of the Meadows, some of them at least, in 
consequence of their grazing advantages, attracted the 'atten- 
tion of settlers at a very early period. Before the Revolu- 
tion, viz., in 1774, David Robbrns bargained with some pre- 
vious occupant for what was afterwards known as the Killsa 
farm ; where he built a small log- house and lived about two 
years, — his son Joseph having been born there July 7, 1775. 
Not being able, however, to obtain a deed in consequence of 
the former possessor having joined the British as a tory, he 
had now sold to James Killsa before mentioned, and removed 



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KOCKI4AND AND SOUTH TH0MA8T0N. I53 

to Union ; — his being the first family and his wife the first 
woman, who settled in that township. Daniel Palmer from 
Bristol, probably about this time took up two lots (one of 
which afterwards became that of his son, Daniel, junior,) 
and built a saw-mill where J. O'Brien afterwards had his first 
marble-mill. On the other lot he eventually built himself a 
framed house, still standing and occupied by Mrs. Willis, the 
widow of Preserved Willis, who purchased and for a long 
time before his decease carried on the place. Eliphaz and 
Welcome Healey, two brothers, came from Attleboro', Mass., 
in 1780, and purchased or took up the two lots on which 
they lived and died, and which are still known by then: 
names. Benjamin Blackington, before mentioned, probably 
firom the same region, took up the three* lots on which his 
three sons settled as follows, viz. : James on the south-west- 
ern, Benjamin, Jr., on the middle, and Nathan on the north* 
eastern. Another lot was obtained by Oliver Bobbins (2d), 
on which he settled and which is still occupied by his descen- 
dants. It is not improbable that some of these farms had 
been previously in possession of other occupants, whose 
names have not come down to us. If they had not, the rea- 
son may have been that they were reserved by the Proprietors 
fOT their own or their tenants' use, on account of the Mead- 
ows.* 

Other parts of the town also received some additional set- 
tlers during these unsettled times. Nathaniel Woodcock, 
who had married a sister of the Healeys, came from Attle- 
boro* to the Oyster River neighborhood, purchased one-half 
of the John Alexander lot, where he built and resided the re- 
mainder of his life. Joshua and Robert Thomdike, with 
their newly married wives, came from Cape Elizabeth and 
settled near each other, the former in St. George, the latter 
in South Thomaston, on the tract which their father had 
taken up thirty years before, and whose garden, with its cher- 
ries, pWms, and currants, they found still remaining. For 
some years after their coming, wild animals yet abounded. 
On one occasion, the elder of these brothers, when going to 
George's, (as what is now Thomaston was still called,) in 
crossing the neck between Wessaweskeag and Mill Rivers, 
encountered a bear which from her behavior he supposed had 
cubs, and, not being disposed to yield the right of way, de- 
fended himself with such weapons as the forest afforded, and 
succeeded in driving her up a large tree. Not willing to 

* Sibley's History of Union, Mrs. P. Willis, family traditions, &c. 

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154 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

leave her there to molest others, he stripped off his jacket and 
tied it by the sleeves about the tree, thinking it might frighten 
and keep the bear up till he could run down to Capt. Lovett's 
and borrow a gun. On his return, however, he found the 
bear was not tQ be daunted by an empty jacket, and was now 
nowhere to be found. There was then no road but a pathway 
with marked trees through the woods ; and the passage to the 
present Thomaston was usually made by water as far as Oak 
Point, near the head of Wessaweskeag pond on the western 
side, and thence through the woods to Mill River. These 
two brothers had both been soldiers in the war which was 
still afflicting the country. Joshua enlisted immediately after 
the battle of Bunker Hill, at first for six months and then for 
three years, joining the army at Cambridge. Subsequently 
engaging on board a privateer fitted out at Falmouth, he was 
soon captured by the British sloop-of-war Albany^ and de- 
tained in irons on board her, nine months. It was one of 
the gratifying incidents of his life that this ship, in which he 
had suffered so much, was, during the cessation of hostilities 
that preceded the termination of the war, driven in a winter 
snow-storm upon the Triangles, a ledge lying between the 
Muscle Ridges and Green Island ; and so badly injured that 
the crew were saved only by chartering a craft of Capt. F. 
Haskell at Ash Point who carried them to Biguyduce. After 
having been visited by Thorndike and Elwell in one boat and 
Isaac Orbeton in another, for such articles of value as they 
coiild bring away, the detested craft went to pieces ; but un- 
fortunately causing the death of two persons, by name Adams 
and Springer, who had visited her from some of the neighbor- 
ing places for the same purpose in a third boat. All her can- 
non went down, through her broken bottom, on to the rocks; 
where at low tide many of them were long afterwards to be 
seen, wedged fast among the clefts, and might perhaps even 
now. be recovered. The father of these, Ebenezer Thorndike 
of Cape Elizabeth previously mentioned, had continue4 to re- 
tain his possession of the island of Matinic ; the northern 
half of which he gave to his son Joshua, on condition of his 
residing there and taking charge of the whole together with 
the cattle and sheep with which it was then well stocked. 
This the latter did; living there six months. In that time he 
was robbed by tory or British marauders in shaving-mill Sj 
three times ; having, among other losses, his sheep shot down, 
his tea-kettle (then a rather rare and costly article) taken 
from the fire and smashed, his beds ripped open, and the 
feathers scattered to the winds. Wearied by these vexations, 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 155 

he finally abandoned the island as a place of residence, but 
not as a possession, and settled as before noted ; having while 
on the island, from motives of humanity and the exigencies 
of the case, once successfully ofi&ciated at the birth of a child 
to the saving of two lives, — a matter he used to recall and 
relate with greater exultation than any of his other exploits.* 
1781. Some additional settlers continued to arrive. Job, 
Joseph, and Josiah Ingraham took up three adjoining lots of 
unimproved land bordering on the sea in the eastern part of 
the town, near the present boundary of Rockland and South 
Thomaston. They were brothers, and natives of Cape Ann. 
Job was here prior to the town's incorporation, but, being 
then taxed for his poll only, was probably a new-comer and 
unlocated. Joseph may have been here also, but soon en- 
listed and served three or more years in the army. He re- 
turned, however, and in 1781 settled here with his brothers. 
Their lots were selected with an eye to their future maritime 
and commercial advantages ; which they were not slow to 
realize, all of them becoming men of wealth and influence. 
Job was one of the first converts under the preaching of El- 
der Case in 1786, and sustained the office of deacon in the 
Baptist church. Joseph was a justice of the peace for more 
than half a century, solemnizing 160 marriages, presiding in 
250 criminal trials, and rendering judgment in 3116 civil 
actions ; was thirteen times chosen town clerk, and frequently 
filled other town offices. Josiah was engaged in commerce 
and navigation all the early and more active part of his life. 
The schooner Dolphin, the first vessel ever built in his imme- 
diate part of the town, was the result of his enterprise and 
energy ; and, if we may credit a family tradition, he after- 
wards made, during a temporary interruption of our trade 
with the West Indies, several successful voyages to the East 
Indies. Richard Say ward, with his wife, also came from 
Cape Ann or Gloucester a year or two later and settled on 
the Georges river side, now South Thomaston, on the third 
lot from the line of St. George. Capt. Thomas Hix about 
this time, also, settled near the Head of Owl's Head Bay. 
He was a native of Cape Elizabeth, his father having, while 
an apprentice boy in England, to avoid a flogging for the loss 
of a cask of liquor which he had carelessly left running, fled 
firom his master, obtained a passage to America, and after- 
wards married and settled in Cape Elizabeth. John Godding 
came from Mansfield, Mass., to one of the Fox Islands, and 

* Traditions in the Thomdike family. 



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156 HISTORY OP THOMASTON, 

thence, during the Revolutionary troubles there, to this place ; 
settling on a lot north of the Ingrahams, some time between 
1777 and the present year.* 

Onerous as the burdens of the last year were to this town, 
their weight was greatly augmented by the fact that not only 
the taxes voted by the town, but its proportion of the State 
taxes for 1778 and 1779, remained to be assessed and called 
for before the close of the political year^ Accordingly, in 
February, 1781, £494, 8s. 8d. of State tax No. 1; £2465, 
2s. O^d. of No. 2; £2076, 13s. 6d. of No. 3; all for 1779; 
also £123, 12s. 2d. of State tax No. 1 ; and £123, 13s. 2d. 
of No. 2, 1778; — were assessed and committed to the con- 
stable for collection. In January a meeting of the inhabitants 
was called to take their burdens into consideration ; and, 
after referring the subject to a committee, passed the follow- 
ing resolution ; " that we are not able at present to pay the 
Tax now laid upon us; and therefore we think proper to ac- 
quaint the Court of our inability.'* Nor was Thomaston the 
only town which complained of the burdens thus thickening 
upon her. The entire- county of Lincoln, whose share of the 
first beef tax was 66090 lbs., and of the second 129152 lbs., 
seems to have alike regarded the burden as insupportable ; 
and a convention of delegates from its several towns was 
called to meet at the dwellinghouse of Eben Whittier at Wis- 
casset Point, Feb. 14th, to petition the General Court for a 
redress of grievances. At a meeting called to consider the 
subject, the town, probably deterred by a fear of expense, 
voted not to send a delegate, but to choose a committee, viz., 
Robert Jameson and Jeremiah Tolman, " to meet with the 
town of Warren and Plantation called the lower Town of St. 
George's to consult on proper Methods to obtain a Redress of 
Grievances." We are not informed what action followed, 
but believe it was ultimately successful, and a material abate- 
ment of the taxes was obtained. At any rate, 1409 lbs. only 
of beef were apportioned to Thomaston, June 22, 1781, with 
three blankets, and of shoes, stockings, and shirts six pairs 
each.f 

It is not improbable that all minor and pecuniary embar- 
rassments were soon lost sight of in a more alarming and dis- 
couraging event which immediately succeeded. Gen. Wads- 
worth, having in the preceding December dismissed the troops 



* Mrs. M. R. Ludwig ; Capt. I. J. Hix ; G. Lindsay, Esq ; obituary 
notices, &c. 
t Massachusetts Records. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 157 

which he had called out in the spring, was left at his head- 
quarters in this town with a small body-guard of three men 
only ; — soldiers from the neighboring mUitia being occasion- 
ally called for to act as sentinels. His situation being made 
known lo the British commander at Biguyduce, Lieut. Stock- 
ton was sent, Feb. 18, 1781, with a party of twenty -five men 
and Waldo Dicke for a pilot, in a schooner used as a privateer, 
to attempt his capture. They arrived and anchored in Wes- 
saweskeag River ; whence, after waiting at the house of Mr. 
• Snew till eleven o'clock at night, they started on their er- 
rand ; — the, distance to Wadsworth's quarters being about four 
miles. Proceeding up the Wessaweskeag Pond and Marsh, 
on the ice and slightly crusted snow, they met on the way Hez- 
ekiah Bachelder returning from Warren with a bag of meal on 
his back which he had carried there to get ground. Lest he 
should spread an alarm, they took him with them a prisoner 
till they should return, and proceeded on without further 
adventure to their destination. Crossing the lots and ap- 
proaching the house in the rear, they were wholly unperceived 
till almost at the door. Wm. Boggs of Warren who was 
standing sentinel there, hearing a crackling of the crusted 
snow, hailed " who comes there ?" but they rushed on before 
the words were out of his mouth, disarmed him, and as- 
saulted the house in various quarters. The curious visitor to 
this relic of antiquity, variously designated the " Seavey 
house," " the old Castle," but more usually " the Wadsworth 
house," will perceive that the structure has undergone some 
material alterations besides the usual ones produced by time 
and neglect. The house at the time of the capture, as far as 
we can make it out, was of one story and much smaller on 
the ground than at present, measuring about 36 feet in length 
by 27 in width, and containing three rooms only and an entry. 
The last of these, in the N. W. corner, was entered by a 
door looking westward toward the present street ; opposite to 
which an inner door opened eastward into the kitchen. Out 
of the same entry, to the right of the entrance, a third door 
opened into the main front or west room, which room had 
doors also opening into the kitchen and into the bedroom ad- 
jacent in the S. E. corner of the house. At this time the 
General and his wife were sleeping in the front room ; and 
their two children with Miss Fenno of Boston, a friend of 
Mrs. Wadsworth, in the bedroom adjoining. The kitchen 
was used as a sort of guard- room ; into which, as one of the 
sentinels opened the door, some of the assailants discharged 
VoL.L 14 



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158 HISTORY OF THOMASTOK, 

their pieces and entered. At the same moment, others fired 
into the General* s apartment and blew in a part of the win- 
dow; and a third party forced their way to Miss Fenno's 
room. Thus possession was taken of the whole house, ex- 
cept the General's room, which was strongly barred. Find- 
ing no person with Miss Fenno except Mrs. Wads worth, who 
had fled thither to dress herself, a British officer ordered the 
firing there to cease. Armed with a brace of pistols, a fusee, 
and a blunderbuss, the General fought the assailants away 
entirely from his windows and the kitchen door. Twice he 
inefiectually snapped his blunderbuss at others whom he 
heard in the entry ; when they retreated. He next seized his 
fusee, and fired upon those who were breaking through one 
of his windows; and they also withdrew. The attack was 
then renewed through the entry, and was bravely resisted 
with his bayonet. But the appearance of his under linen be- 
traying him to the soldiers in the kitchen, they instantly fired 
at him from the door that opened thither, and one of their 
bullets went through his left arm. Forced to surrender, they 
helped him to dress with all expedition, except his coat, which 
could not be drawn over his fractured arm. His wife and 
Miss Fenno, in spite of the condition the house was in, doors 
and windows demolished, one room on fire, and the floors 
covered with blood, hastily tied a handkerchief on his arm, 
and threw a blanket, over his shoulders ; when he was pre- 
cipitately hurried away. Two wounded British soldiers were 
placed on the General's horse taken from the barn ; and he 
himself, and a wounded soldier of his, marched on foot, as- 
sisted by their captors. '• When they had proceeded about a 
mile they met at a small house a number of people who had 
collected, and who inquired if they had taken Gen. Wads- 
worth. They said no, and added that they must leave a 
wounded man in their care, and if they paid proper attention 
to him they should be compensated, but if not, they would 
burn down their house."* 

This house was undoubtedly that of Dr. David Fales, who 
received the apparently dying man, extracted the ball from 
his thigh, kept and took care of him till his recovery, and, 
it is said, received adequate compensation. It was then 
probably early morning; and the persons assembled there 
were, perhaps, the doctor's sons, one of whom, Willard, was 
preparing wood for a morning fire. Their uncle Atwood, who 
was also there, seeing the approach of British soldiers and 

* Dwight's Travels, in Thatcher's Journal. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 169 

remembering former courtesies, made his escape by the back 
door and took shelter in the woods.* 

Wadsworth, warned that his safety depended on his silence, 
was then mounted in place of the wounded man left, and the 
party hutried on to Wessaweskeag and snatched a hasty break- 
fast ready prepared at Snow's. A question then arose, what 
should be done widi Bachelder, whom they had thus far kept 
as a prisoner. " Take him with you to Biguyduce," said 
Mr. Snow, "if you don't want the whole neighborhood at 
your backs." But Bachelder pleaded for his children, suffer- 
ing for the meal ; and they finally released him on his solemn 
oath not to utter a word till they were gone out of the river. 
This oath he was reluctant to take, but the starving condition 
of his family compelled him. The privateer being found in 
waiting, the party hurried on board with their prisoners, and 
returned without molestation to Biguyduce. One of the Gen- 
eraPs body-guard, Hickey by name, was left at the scene of 
the foray, badly wounded in the thigh ; who, as soon as his 
condition would admit, was taken to Waldoboro' and put un- 
der the care of Dr. Schaeffer, or, as translated, Shepherd. 
One other was taken off with Wadsworth as before related ; 
the other, John Montgomery, happened to be absent that night 
at his father's in Warren ; and the three militia men, Boggs, 
P. Sechrist, and Nat. Copeland, after the capture, being left 
without orders, returned to their homes in that town. The 
General's children received no injury ; the eldest, a son five 
years old, having slept undisturbed through the whole affair. 
That so daring an exploit could have been accomplished, 
without exciting an alarm among the iithabitants, may seem 
strange to persons acquainted only with the present condi- 
tion of the place ; but at that time it was but a lonely, thinly 
settled, and partially reclaimed wilderness. The nearest house 
to Wadsworth's quarters, we believe, was the old dilapidated 
one of Abiathar Smith, near the Prison corner, or Watson's 
on the point across the river. Patrick Porterfield and Jona- 
than Lampson lived on the hill near Oyster River, joined, 
about this time or a little before, by N. Woodcock on the lot 
beyond. John Dillaway, who had married the widow Shi- 
bles, occupied the farm of her late husband, further eastward ; 
and Capt. Jonathan Spear was, probably, at this time on the 
future Jenks farm. Further on, the house of Dr. Fales be- 
fore mentioned, where D. Thorpe Fales now resides, and 
those of Nat. Fales and O. Bobbins, both zealous patriots, 

* Tradition, Mr. J. Tarbox, &o. 

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160 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

were the only other inhabited houses it was necessary to pass 
in going or returning. 

Major Burton, who had been discharged from service but a 
few days before this capture, was absent when the raid took 
place ; but now, feeling extremely anxious about his late com- 
mander, repaired to his former station at Camden ; and, whilst 
waiting there in hope of some information respecting his fate, 
a flag of truce arrived bringing letters from him to Mrs. Wads- 
worth and Gov. Hancock, both of which he gladly took charge 
of and forwarded. Subsequently, a passport having been 
obtained. Burton, in a vessel which he either owned or pro- 
cured, conducted Mrs. Wads worth and Miss Fenno to visit 
the General in his confinement, and, after their stay there of 
ten days, brought them back and conveyed them to Fal- 
mouth and Boston. On his return from Boston, the vessel 
was watched for by the enemy, pursued, and captured not 
far from Monhegan ; and Burton was made prisoner, carried 
to Biguyduce, and confined in the same apartment with 
Wadsworth. Then followed these two officers' celebrated, 
well-planned, well-executed, and providentially-aided escape ; 
which, being an oft-told tale, cannot here be given for want 
of space, though Burton's unpublished narrative of it, left 
among the papers of the late historian of Maine, now before 
me,* furnishes some additional particulars of interest. Leav- 
ing their prison behind them, they pursued their way up the 
Penobscot, crossing successively that and the Passagassawam- 
keag river, and took refreshment in the house of Noah Miller, 
a stanch whig of Lincolnville,but, through fear of some treach- 
erous tory or soldiers, in pursuit, dared not stay over night in 
the house, but went a mile into the woods and lodged on the 
ground. Next morning they took their course directly through 
the woods to Warren, where leaving the General to recruit 
his strength among the settlers there, and to proceed to Fal- 
mouth by land. Burton hurried on to his own house in Gush- 
ing. There, though reluctant to leave a young wife and 
pleasant home, he dared not tarry but for a single night, from 
fear of tories, who, since the capture of Wadsworth, had be- 
come bolder than ever, and some of whom were among his 
own connections. The next day he set out for Boston. Find- 
ing no vacancy which he wished to fill in the army, he took 
a commission as Captain of Marines on board of a 20-gun 
ship commanded by Capt. Thos. Dinsmore. After cruising a 
month ofi" Newfoundland, this ship steered for Cape Clear, 

* Kindly furnished by Hon. Joseph WUliunson of Bel&st, 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH TH0MA8T0N. 16 1 

Ireland, intending to intercept a fleet of merchantmen from 
the West Indies. In October, espying four ships to the wind- 
ward which they took for a part of this fleet, they stood for 
them, but to their no small disappointment found them to be 
three British frigates and one sloop-of-war ; and, being un- 
able to escape in the teeth of the gale that was blowing, they 
were captured, and confined in the castle of Cape Clear till 
February. They were thence removed to England, and con- 
fined in the old Dunkirk seventy-four ship ; fi-om which the 
overtures of peace in a few months set them at liberty. In 
an enemy's land, without money and without firiends able to 
assist him. Major Burton succeeded in getting a passage to 
L' Orient in France, and thence in the frigate Alliance, Capt. 
Harden, to New London, Ct. From that place, with only 
eight shillings in money, he accomplished a journey home of 
260 miles, before the end of May. When the privations and 
perils of war were over, he, with many thousands, returned 
to the plough, to enjoy, in straitened circumstances, yet with a 
cheerful spirit, liberties and privileged no less the bounty of 
Heaven because they were purchased with blood. 



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162 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 



CHAPTER IX. 

CLOSE OF THE BEVOLXTTION, AND PBOGiBESS OF THE TOWW 
TO 1790. 

Having thus followed the fortunes of a distiDguished officer 
and actor in the Revolutionary events of this place, we re- 
turn to 1781. At the annual meeting in March, the town 
voted " that the highways be repaired by a Rate the present 
year," — a thing the people had refused or neglected to do for 
the three preceding years, probably preferring to turn out 
voluntarily, at the call of the surveyor, or to leave their ways 
unmended till the close of the war. The amount raised was 
voted in silver currency, to be paid in work at the rate of 6s. 
a day for a man, and 3s. for a yoke of oxen ; a proof that 
the paper money was so far depreciated and variable as to be 
no longer serviceable even as a standard of value. 

The three recruits for the army assigned to Thomaston in 
December preceding, not having been otherwise provided for, 
the selectmen, April 16th, divided the inhabitants into three 
separate classes, and gave a list of their names to Col. Whea- 
ton, '* being the only commanding Officer known to them." 
These classes, it seems, neglected to procure the men re- 
quired; and, Jan. 22, 1782, the sum of £385, 8s. 6d. was 
assessed upon them as an equivalent, — each deficiency be- 
ing set at £128, 9s. 6d. This, with the other taxes probably 
not yet liquidated, gave rise to a town meeting in the same 
month ; when J. Simonton, Capt. N. Fales, and Atwood Fales 
were chosen a committee to petition the General Court for a 
redress of grievances ; money was furnished by individuals ; 
and Col. Wheaton forthwith despatched to Boston with a 
petition which, seconded by his personal influence, it was 
hoped might be successful. The expense advanced, £12, 
was subsequently refunded from the town treasury ; and in 
May the town decided to be again represented in the General 
Court. 

Business continued depressed. Coasting was well nigh 
annihilated ; fishing, except in rivers and harbors, had become 
too precarious to be much ventured upon ; and the only re- 
sources left to the inhabitants were agriculture and the man- 
ufacture of salt. This leust business was carried on to a con- 
siderable extent, even as far up George's River as Watson's 
Point, where, according to the books of Capt. James Watson, 
298 bushels were made and sold by him this season. It was 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH TH0MA8T0N. 163 

also made to a small extent by Bachelder and other dwellers 
on the seashore and at Wessaweskeag, and more largely by 
Coombs, Keating, and others, at the latter place. The un- 
propitious seasous seem to have continued discouraging to 
advances in agriculture; — there being a fall of two or three 
feet of snow, this year, late in April. To add to the misery 
of the times, depredations by the refugees upon their own 
countrymen and neighbors still abounded and increased. The 
British continuing to occupy at Penobscot, and, since the 
withdrawal of Wads worth, no permanent force being left here 
as a check, this petty warfare, as well as illicit traffic, was 
now, in this vicinity, carried to its greatest height. Injuries, 
on each side, were complained of and retaliated. Brother 
was arrayed against brother, neighbor against neighbor. 
Tories openly engaged in predatory exploits were known to 
be frequently on shore and lurking in concealment among 
those who favored the royal cause; so that no one knew 
when his family and property were free from danger. Messrs. 
Keating, Coombs, Mathews, Bridges, and Orbeton of Wessa- 
weskeag, had purchased a small schooner with the proceeds 
of salt, for the manufacture of which they had carried wood 
to the salt-works on their own shoulders, and had sent her to 
Boston under the command of Capt. D. Crouch, with a cargo 
of that article procured in the same laborious way. On her 
return, however, with a scanty store of provisions and other 
necessaries for supporf of their families, she was captured off 
Monhegan by the two notorious tories, John Long and Benj. 
Bradford, accompanied by some Scotchmen from Castine, in 
a shaving-mill. Thus these men not only lost the proceeds 
of their hard labor, but had the mortification of finding the 
cargo, on which they depended for their winter stores, was 
brought to their own river and delivered over in payment of 
a ,debt, which one of the captors owed to a wealthy neighbor 
and townsman. This affair was attended with many aggra- 
vating circumstances, which long rankled in the breasts of 
the sufferers, and the bitter memory of which nothing but 
the subsequent power of religion could overcome.* 

An extreme instance of British audacity occurred also, 
about this time, in the eastern part of the town, now Rock- 
land; in which the dwellinghouse of John Perry was burnt 
to the ground. Whilst residing on one of the Fox Islands, 
Mr. Perry, like the other inhabitants, being exposed to at- 
tacks from either party and sure of protection from neither, 

* Bice Rowell, MS. papers of H. P. Coombs, &c. 



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164 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, \ 

had remained professedly neutral. His ardent attachment to 
the American cause could not however well be concealed; 
and, especially after the British had in 1779 obtained a foot- 
hold there, his property had frequently suffered by petty 
marauders. Vexed by repeated injuries, and discovering one 
day a party of two filling their bags with his ears of green 
com, he took his gun, went down to the shore, and, lying in 
wait near their boat, shot them dead as they returned with 
their booty. After this summary vengeance, he could expect 
no mercy ; so, having had his house on the island fired and 
consumed by them and finding his life in jeopardy, Mr. Perry 
removed to the main and dwelt in a small house built by 
Caleb Barrows at Blackington's Comer, on the farm and near 
the present dwelling of Mr. Otis Barrows. This, his enemies 
ferreted out; and, approaching the house, demanded of his 
family the surrender of his person. Being told he was not at 
home, and being denied all knowledge of his whereabouts, 
they, suspecting him to be concealed within, forbade the re- 
moval of a single article by the inmates, and, setting fire, re- 
duced the house with all its contents to ashes. Mr. Perry 
returned to the island after the war ; but several members of 
his family have since become active and valued residents of 
Rockland.* 

But this demoralizing state of things was soon to receive a 
check. The glorious triumph of the American arms at York- 
town, in the capture of the entire British army under Corn- 
wallis, cheered the heart of every patriot, and was celebrated 
by a national Thanksgiving on the 13th of December. 
Though hostilities did not cease for more than a year, this 
may be considered the closing act of the Revolution ; and the 
single recmit for the army imposed upon this town, in March 
following, was the last ever required of it for that war. 

1782> The town, this year, returned to its old system gf 
repairing the highways by voluntary contributions of labor; 
or as the record stands, " voted to do nothing.'* The same 
policy was continued till 1786. 

The second election, under the new constitution, for Gov- 
ernor, Lieut. Governor, and Senators, which occurred this 
year, April 1st, was duly notified in this town, but no meeting 
was held; and it would seem that the people here refused to 
take any part in the gubernatorial elections prior to 1 788 ; 
unless there were a neglect to record, or ignorance of its 
necessity. The latter is possible; as, on the 30th of the 

* Mrs. Hannah Watson, Com. of Mrs. K. C. Perry, &c. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 165 

same month, the record reads thus : " Voted and Chose the 
Hon. Thomas Rice, Esq., Register of Deeds, non. cont." 
What influence such a vote was expected to have in an elec- 
tion extending through the county, it is difficult to conceive. 

At a town meeting on the 8th of October, " a resolve of 
the General Court of the 4th of July preceding, together with 
a circular letter from the Commissioners,*' was communicated 
to the inhabitants. Symptoms of uneasiness in regard to the 
management of fiscal afiairs, appear in the action of the town 
in this and the following year, 1783; when an entire change 
was made in town affairs, and D. Fales excluded from every 
office except that of sealer of weights and measures. A com- 
mittee was appointed to settle with the agent of the beef-tax 
of 1780 ; another, " to inspect into the accounts of the town;" 
and the treasurer was instructed " to sue the delinquent Con- 
stables for the arrears of Rates in their hands.^^ Several 
other votes, in regard to similaur matters, were passed during 
the year ; but their purport is not easy to be gathered, on ac- 
count of the negligent manner in which they were kept by 
the town clerk. His imperfect, disjoined, and sometimes du- 
plicate though differing, minutes,'were, subsequently, by or- 
der of the town, copied into the book by Dr. Fales; who 
seems to have taken some pains and sly satisfaction in copy- 
ing, verbatim, all the peculiarities of orthography and punc- 
tuation abounding in some of the more curious documents ; — 
especially a notice commencing as foUows: *' We the Com- 
mittee chosen by the town of Thomaston to Rescue and Ex- 
amen the aCounts and Demands that ane Parson base against 
the Town Sines it Was inCorprated give notes that We will 
aXend the Bisenes on Thursday the 11th Day of Desember 
next at one of the Clock in the aftemone," &c. The com- 
mittee of inspection appears to have met with difficulty in 
executing its trust; as another meeting was called, Sept. 11th, 
for the purpose of considering " the Complaints of the Inhab- 
itants of the Town of Thomaston respecting the burdensome 
Taxes laid on the town by our late Assessors which has al- 
ready been laid before the town at our last March meeting 
and the Town at that .meeting chose a committee to inspect 
into the Matter and those that have Demands on the Town 
(as the Committee reports) have refused to give the Satisfac- 
tion that they have requested by order of the Town, and the 
Assessors still refuse to render an Account to the committee 
the Reasons why the Tax-bill is so large," &c., &c., through 
four other distinct articles relating to the same subject. 

At a meeting in November it was voted to choose " a Man 



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166 ' HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

to cany a Petition to the General Court to get Liberty to 
choose a Representative in the Room of Mason Wheaton, 
Esq., and to take care of a Petition that shall be sent by the 
Town ;" and O. Robbins was chosen for that purpose. But 
neither the nature of this petition, nor any reason for super- 
seding their representative, appears. At the same time the 
town, voted that " the selectmen shall prevent any person or 
persons from setting up any Mill or Dam on the highways of 
the town." The vote was then reiterated that " all persons 
that do not bring in their accounts by the time set by the 
Committee, shall ever be exempted,'^ — probably meaning ex- 
cluded from presenting them afterwards. The meeting was 
then adjourned to January, when the selectmen were directed 
to send a remonstrance against the petition of Warren for 
taking twenty-five rods of land from Thomaston. 

Though the Revolutionary struggle was now over, politics 
and the spirit of watchfulness were not allowed to slum- 
ber. The all-important "committee of correspondence, in- 
spection, and safety," which had been annually chosen by 
the town since its incorporation, this year consisted of Capt. 
I. Lovett, E. Snow, and* Jeremiah Tolman. But a town 
meeting was held, July 3d, to take a communication from the 
town of Boston in regard to the "absentees" into considera- 
tion, and choose *'a committee of safety for a particular 
business." The particular business is not specified, but 
probably related to the sanie subject, and may have been de- 
signed to be kept secret. The new committee chosen were 
Capt. N. Fales, Lient. R. Jameson, Comfort Barrows, O. 
Robbins, and D. Morse ; and it was voted that " this town be 
agreed with the town of Boston to deal with the Absentees as 
the law directs ;" also, to enjoin upon " their Committee to 
deal with the Absentees as the town of Boston has done.*' 

Whilst the town was thus busy in looking into pecuniary 
and secular matters, it was not wholly unmindful of the more 
important claims of religious instruction. For this purpose, 
or for schools, it does not appear that anything thus far had 
been actually expended. But, May 5th of this year, a vote 
was passed "to hire a minister of the Gospel for three 
Months," and E. Snow was appointed to provide such minister. 

On the 11th July of this year, Isaiah Tolman, in consider- 
ation of the want thereof, conveyed as a gift to the town one 
acre of land for a burying-ground, " situated on a Hill within 
his farm, for the use of the inhabitants and such others as 
may have occasion to use the same" for that purpose. His 
deed is recorded, surrounded by a black border, on the 48th 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTONl 167 - 

page of the first book of town records. This burying-ground 
near Blackington's Comer, Rockland, is still occupied; and, 
so far as appears by the inscriptions, the earliest interments 
there were those of William, infant son of Capt. Wm. Spear, 
and Jacob Keen, the early settler and hunter of that region, 
both in the year 1788. The oldest cemetery in town was 
that so often mentioned as attached to the ancient garrison at 
the fort, near the spot where the mansion of the late Gen. 
Knox was subsequently erected. At this time many monu- 
ments of early date were still standing, which have since 
been demolished or removed, as elsewhere related. There 
was, also, an early burying-ground near the bank of the 
Georges' in what is now South Thomaston, on the Lovett lot 
occupied by Archibald Brown in 1851, when four monumen- 
tal stones were still standing ; viz. those of Nathan Walker, 
86. 24; Capt. Nat. Fales, ae. 71 ; and Mrs. Mary Porterfield, 
se. 70, who all died in 1797; and, on an apparently much 
newer stone, Patrick Porterfield, se. 77. But in 1860 none 
of these could be found, having, it is said, been destroyed 
by — boys. Wessaweskeag, also, had its burying-ground 
from its commencement, — which is still used, near the Bap- 
tist meeting-house. After Gen. Knox came into possession 
of the Flucker estate, he gave to the town the ground for 
the present public cemetery in Thomaston, where his ashes 
now repose. For fencing this, the town in 1810 appropriated 
$50 ; and at the same time voted to give Jacob Ulmer $50 
for fencing that on the Tolman farm with a good stone wall 
and gate. There were, also, burying-grounds at the Head of 
OwFs Head Bay, Ash Point, and Jameson's Point. For fenc- 
ing the first of these, (which had been used as early at least 
as 1807, when Mimey, wife of Joseph Perry, was buried 
there) the town, Nov. 3, 1828, voted to give $40, provided a 
deed should be given it of one acre of land, and in that pro- 
portion for a smaller or larger quantity; and in 1831 voted 
to accept a deed of that at Ash Point, also in 1840 to al- 
low John Haskell $40 when the same shall be fenced with a 
good stone wall. That at Jameson's Point, situated within 
the limits of Camden, was first used as a private burying- 
ground; but, being found convenient, has been lately pur- 
chased by the city of Rockland and converted into a beautiful 
cemetery. There was also a private burying-ground at the 
Meadows on land of. Mr. Morse, — which is still used; and 
also a consecrated Catholic burying-ground, near where for- 
merly stood the town poor-house which was purchased in 
1852, and for a time used as a church by that denomination. 



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' 168 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

1784. This year is distinguished in the history of the 
town as the epoch of the first religious movement of a decid- 
ed character and prolonged duration, thus far experienced. 
The first settlers of the place were Presbyterians, from the 
north of Ireland, belonging, as before stated, partly to the 
upper plantation, now Warren, and partly to the lower, now 
Gushing and St. George, — Mill River forming the boundary 
between them. Both these plantations had been under the 
spiritual care of the Rev. Mr. Urquhart, and his misconduct 
had greatly disappointed their expectations and in some de- 
gree cooled the ardor of their attachment to that denomina- 
tion. The later settlers were emigrants from various parts of 
the New England States, with different religious biases ; many 
of them, probably, more intent upon obtaining subsistence in 
this life than providing for their welfare in the future. These 
circumstances, together with the interruption of business, the 
fluctuation of the currency, and the general poverty of the 
people, had, up to this time, prevented any efiectual effort 
being made for the establishment of public religious worship. 
Occasional visits had been made by missionary clergymen 
from the west, who preached and baptized in private houses 
for only a few days, or, at most, weeks. But in 1 784 a great 
sensation was produced by the arrival of the Rev. Isaac Case, 
a young Baptist minister from Harpswell, where he had been 
laboring the preceding year, and there, Nov. 4th, performed 
the first baptism by immersion, east of Gorham. In January 
following, he went eastward as far as Newcastle, where he 
met two messengers from Thomaston on their way to invite 
him to come to the place. Arriving here on the 80th of that 
month, he found that a small number. of persons had observed 
that very day as a season of fasting and prayer, that God 
would pour out his spirit upon the people of the place. Of 
the whole number assembled, however, only one was openly 
a professed Christian. This was the wife of Oliver Bobbins, 
who is said to have been the only pious Baptist then in these 
parts. 

The day after his arrival, Mr. Case preached to a small as- 
sembly ; and three persons were awakened by this first Bap- 
tist sermon in the town. The next day being the Sabbath, he 
addressed a larger congregation at the house of Oliver Rob- 
bins, which was kindly opened for the purpose. On Monday 
he preached at what is now Blackington's Corner. This was 
a day long to be remembered by those present. Among the 
number who were deeply affected on that occasion was Mr. 
Elisha Snow, who, for nineteen years had been a member of 



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BOCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTOlf. 169 

a pedobaptist church in Harpswell, but had now been, for 
some time, a backslider. "After meeting," says Mr. Case, 
'^a man, whose name was Ingraham, said to me, Mr. Case, 
what do you think of election ? My answer was, don't con- 
cern yourself about election; see that your peace is made 
with God. Upon that he left me ; but, on his way home, he 
was brought upon his knees before God to cry for mercy, 
and soon after he found peace in believing." 

From this time, the work spread rapidly into all parts of 
the town; and, before the end of April, fifty-four had been 
baptized, — among whom were Mr. Snow, his wife, and four 
of his children. It seems that Mr. Case met little or no op- 
position, here, in the promulgation of the peculiar and then 
novel views of the Baptist denomination. This state of feel- 
ing, then so unusual in most places, was doubtless owing to 
the fact that no "town minister" had been settled, no re- 
ligious society organized, nor public worship for any length 
of time maintained, before his coming. His abstaining from 
the more knotty points of his theology, and confining himself 
chiefly in his preaching to a change of heart and life, as in 
the case bf Job Ingraham before aUuded to,, may also have 
done much to disarm opposition and speed the good work. 

A church was constituted in Oliver Robbins's bam, the 
same year, on the 27th of May of June; authorities differing 
as to the month. It contained about fifty members. Elder 
Case immediately received and accepted an invitation to be- 
come its pastor, and discharged the duties of that ofiice with 
great zeal and faithfulness for about eight years. Meetings 
were held in winter in a dwellinghouse, and in summer in a 
barn, — and were numerously attended, not only by the peo- 
ple of Thomaston, but by those of the neighboring towns. 
Before Elder Case closed his labors with the church, its num- 
bers had increased to 123, including individuals from the ad- 
joining towns of Warren, Union, Camden, Waldoboro*, Cush- 
ing, Friendship, Nobleboro', Newcastle, Jefferson, and Vinal- 
haven. Mr. Snow, probably fearing that his presence might 
awaken former animosities and prevent harmonious action in 
the good cause, connected himself with the church in Harps- 
well, and was ordained there as an evangelist about 1786. 
He preached, it is believed, at Framingham and other places 
in Massachusetts, — leaving the field here open for the present 
to the unembarrassed efforts of Elder Case, who had now be- 
come his son-in-law. The early deacons of this church, and 
their successors for the first eighty years of its history, have 
been Messrs. Samuel Brown, James Weed, John Bridges, Job 
Vol. I. 15 



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no HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

Ingraham, Richard Keating, Nathan Pilsbury, Nathaniel 
Emery, Elisha Snow, Jr., Richard Keating, Jr., Joshua 
Adams, Peter Hall, Samuel Dean, Thomas Hix, and John 
Emery. The whole number baptized into this church during 
the same period, so far as indicated by the records, was 640 ; 
but this is probably considerably less than the true number. 
This, the First Baptist Church in Thomaston, now South 
Thomaston, is, with one exception, the oldest church of the 
denomination in Maine ; and also the first christian church of 
any denomination in old Thomaston, which now in its three 
divisions contains not less than fourteen. She has proved 
herself a prolific mother, — the parent of many churches, — 
among which may be enumerated the following ; viz. : the 
church in Friendship and Gushing in 1792, all, or nearly all, 
of whose first members were dismissed from this church ; the 
church at Vinalhaven in 1805, when 5 were dismissed; the 
2d Church in Thomaston in 1815, when 15 were dismissed ; 
and the 3d Church in Thomaston, now Rockland, in 1832, 
when 21 were dismissed.* 

New- settlers continued to arrive ; among them was Lieut. 
Joseph Perry, who was soon followed by his brothers Job 
and William. He came this year from Marshfield and set- 
tled at Perry's Hill in what is now South Thomaston. He 
had served in the army of Ihe revolution ; was twice married 
and became the father of 20 children, many of whom still 
remain ; was 69 years a member of the Baptist Church ; and, 
with his brothers, was among the most estimable early citi- 
zens of the place. William was for 46 years an irreproacha- 
ble member of the Baptist Church, and one of those who 
united to form the first Baptist Church in Rockland, where he 
resided and died at a good old age. 

This year opens in respect to town afiairs somewhat in the 
spirit with which the last closed ; though apparently with less 
exacerbation of feeling, — as Wheaton was chosen moderator, 
D. Fales for the first time one of the committee of safety, 
and the same person directed ^' to put all the town papers 
and accounts into the town book." Yet John Dillaway, a 
prominent actor in the measures of last year, was chosen 
town clerk, first selectman and assessor, and, in May, repre- 
sentative to the General Court. April 5 th, the town voted 
" to receive the report of the committee laying out a road on 
the western side of Madambetticks Meadow ;" but an article 



* Hist. Sketch of 1st Baptist Church by Eev. L. B. Allen ; Milletfs 
Hist, of the Baptists in Maine ; Dea. S. Dean, &c. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOM ASTON. 171 

respecting the proposal of Oliver Robbing to build mills upon 
the mouth of Mill River, was passed over without any action. 

It* being understood that a committee had been appointed 
by the General Court " to come down," according to the war- 
rant, " to inquire into our circumstances and to see if we are 
able to pay taxes or not, which will be here some time in 
September," a meeting was called Sept. 9th to make suitable 
provision for their reception. This meeting voted that the 
said committee should " resort to the house of Mr. Oliver 
Robbins, and him to find Provisions for them ;" and Capt. N. 
Fales, Capt. Jona. Spear, and S. Brown, be chosen to wait 
upon " and inform them of our circumstances in the time of 
our Distress.*' The expenses of this committee were to be 
defrayed by subscription, which was afterwards assessed and 
refunded. 

No tradition seems to hav« been handed down here of the 
severities of the winter of 1784, but which is stated in Wil- 
liamson's history to have been " the longest and coldest ever 
known, since Maine was inhabited;" commencing with a 
deep snow, Nov. 13, 1783, which remained through the winter. 

1785. No record appears of the meeting in May; but 
we gather from subsequent doings, that Samuel Brown was 
elected representative. In the warrant an article was inserted 
" to act on anything that may be thought proper relating to 
Col. Jones's letter, (probably Wm. Jones of Bristol) or peti- 
tion the Court relating to the Inhabitants on the Waldo Pa- 
tent." A meeting seems to have been held on the 25th of 
July, for the purpose of filling a vacancy in some minor town 
office and " to hear what Mr. Brown our Representative has 
done for us at Court respecting our lands and other affairs." 
But what account Mr. Brown gave, and what action followed, 
will now probably never be known, as the record only states 
that " the minutes of the meeting being mislaid orglost, can- 
not here be recorded." The amount of it, however, was 
probably litde more than making known a resolve of July 
4th, passed by the General Court, confirming to the Waldo 
proprietors a tract equal to 30 miles square, between the Pe- 
nobscot and Muscongus, on condition among other things that 
they should quiet all such settlers as were in possession of 
their lots prior to April 19, 1775.* Though this made no 
provision for those who had settled after that time, yet, as it 
barred any claim the Proprietors might have for quit-rents, 
and, perhaps, removed the restrictions on the lime quarries 

♦ Journal of the House, 1784^1785, 



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172 HI3T0EY OF THOMASTON, 

reserved in the conveyance to the 20-a88ociate8, it in some 
degree quieted the minds of the people here. 

Warning out strangers, in order to prevent their gaining a 
residence, — a practice originating probably in real or sus- 
pected cases of pauperism, and then becoming general 
throughout the Commonwealth toward all new-comers with- 
out discrimination, — was, this year, commenced in Thomas- 
ton. This ungracious salutation was bestowed by the town 
constable here on not less than 17 individuals the present 
year, including many, as it afterwards proved, of the town's 
most valuable and thrifty citizens. These were Phinehas 
Butler and wife, last from Needham, and formerly of Fram- 
ingham ; two of whose sons had, about ten years previously, 
commenced the settlement of Union under Dr. Taylor, and 
one of whom, Phinehas (2d), having married a daughter of 
O. Robbins, removed hither also about this time ; Mrs. Anna 
Tings, a daughter of Mr. Butler, together with her son, — 
followed in the winter by John Tings her husband, who then 
or some years later resided on the Wheaton place; "William 
Lewis and wife, with Viney Toser," all from Roxbury, 
who resided at the Meadows, but did not long remain ; John 
Nutt from Londonderry, N. H.; Ebenezer Thomson and wife 
from St. George's Lower town; Israel Woodcock from Re- 
lense, Ct., who had been here in 1774, but left, and now re- 
turned for a time ; Thomas Harrup, with wife and two chil- 
dren, from St. George's Lower town ; Nancy Bly,* a minor 
from Attleboro', whose father, Ebenezer Bly, and most of his 
family, had come a few years before and settled at the Mead- 
ows ; and, before the end of the following year, Capt. David 
Jenks, with wife and one son, who came from St. George's 
lower town, whither he had probably removed from the Fox 
Islands where he had served in the coast guards as sergeant ; 
Zadoc Brewster, with his wife and seven children, last from 
Norwich, Ct., who came to what is now Rockland ; and Wil- 
liam Stetson, also with a wife and seven children, from Bris- 
tol. Jenks went on to the farm \v hich he had purchased of 
Jonathan Spear, and of which, in 1793, he had twenty acres 
enclosed and cultivated ; built a house, which he long occu- 
pied as a tavern until it was burnt in 1813, after which he 
rebuilt, and resided till his death in that now occupied by 
Dr. Rose. Stetson was a ship-carpenter from Scituate, settled 
at Wessaweskeag, and among his descendants may now be 
found one of the most substantial ship-builders of Thomaston. 

After thp return of p.eace, business slowly revived ; and, as 
the Proprietors' claim to a monopoly of the lime manufacture 



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BOCKUkKB AKD SOUTH THOMASTON. ITS 

was now sni^osed to be forfeited, a number of persons in 
different parts of the town began to try their hands at it, but 
to no great extent for many years. Wm. Watson succeeded 
to Mr. Wheaton at the old, since called the Prison, quarry ; 
and, in the course of a few years, the present Tilson quarry 
was worked by the three sons of Capt. Nat. Fales, who in 
process of years did considerable business at it, in spite of' 
the f(N:midable spruce quagmire through which their lime had 
to be transported to tide waters. Capt. Jenks also, soon 
after moving on to his farm, made trial of the quarry found 
on it, since kiwWn as the celebrated and much worked Beech 
Woods quarry. 

There being a vacancy in the offices of the militia, Otis 
Bobbins was chosen Captain; Robert Jameson, 1st Lieuten- 
ant; and Joseph Coombs, 2d Lieutenant; who were com- 
missioned by Gov. Bowdoin, Aug. 4, 1785. The Company 
of this town was then styled the Fifth of the ^th regiment 
(First Brigade and Eighth Division) of mUitia in the county 
of Lincoln, Bobbins was promoted about 1797 to the office 
of Major, which he held about five years, when he resign^ 
and was honorably discharged, Oct. 26, 1803. 

Snow, two or three feet in depth, again fell in April of this 
year; and the following wint^ was distinguished for deep 
snows and severe weather. 

1786. For support of highways, the town this year re- 
turned to taxation in money, subject to a deduction to those 
who chose to work at the rate of 5s. per day for a man, 3s. 
for a yoke of oxen. Is. 6d. for a cart, and 2s. for a plough — 
from which it would seem the value of ox-work compared 
with human labor had greatly risen since 1777 ; and, among 
other symptoms of poverty and want of employment, the col- 
lector's commission was in July increased from the usual 
ninepence befbre voted, to one shilling on the pound* 

The first vote of the town, so far as appears from the 
records, in which the ballots were regularly counted and re- 
turned, was that of 26 votes,, this year, for Thomas Rice as 
county register. 

May 8th, it was voted to procure a lot of land for the 
town's use as a Parsonage, and N. Fales, J. Simonton, and 
O. Bobbins were appointed a committee to select and lay out 
a suitable lot of 200 acres, and make report at the next town 
meeting. It was also, for the first time, voted to build a 
pound, of good logs, on the land of James and David Fales, 
and that " one or both of the said men be pound keepers." 

At another meeting, July 25th, Capt. Joina. Sj)ear, Lieut. 
15* 



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174 HISTORY OF THdMASTON, 

Hugh Killsa, and D. Morse, were appointed a committee to 
view the ground on the west side of Mill River to the south- 
ward of Wheaton's mill, and consider the propriety of the 
town's laying out a tract there to the distance of fifty or sixty 
rods, for the use of the town, as a common landing-place for 
lumber and lime. In the following year, such a tract was 
laid out by the selectmen, and accepted May 7th. This land- 
ing proved a great convenience to the inhabitants, who made 
it a common depot for lime, lumber, and other articles ; and 
it still remains the property of the town of Thomaston. 

Among the new arrivals, William Rowell, from Notting- 
ham, N. H., one of the returned soldiers of the Revolution, 
who had been present at Bunker Hill battle, now came to 
Wessaweskeag, mamed a sister of Lieut Mathews, resided 
for a time on the Mathews iarm, and became the first settler 
on the Ephraim Snow lot, so called. His son, the late Rice 
Rowell, became the owner of the Mathews lot, which he oc- 
cupied till his death, and on which, in 1813, he erected a 
saw-mill, near that of Snow, at Wear Cove. Nathan Pills- 
biiry, also a Revolutionary soldier, came, not far from the 
same time, from Kittery ; married, and settled at Owls' Head ; 
where he carried on his trade as a blacksmith. Wm. Chap- 
man, a Quaker or Friend, the first if not the only member of 
that denomination in the place, came from Scituate and set- 
tled near the head of Owl's Head Bay. His father also re- 
sided here awhile, but returned and died in Scituate. 

Of new roads, accepted this year, were one from James 
Brown's to the S. line of the town, one from the head of Owl's 
Head Bay to Jona. Crockett's, and one from the Warren road 
to N. Fales' or the Beech Woods ; besides others recom- 
mended, from the bridge at Owl's Head Bay to Rendell's at 
Owl's Head Harbor, from the same bridge to Heard's at Ash 
Point, from near N. Crockett's at Ash Point to Wessawes- 
keag, and from the bridge near Coombs' to the S. line of the 
town. 

In the first steps towar-d a separation of Maine from Mas- 
sachusetts, taken by conventions this year held at Falmouth, 
this town, though invited to send a delegate by an article in 
the March meeting warrant, appears to have taken no part 
and was not represented. 

The remarkably cold and dry winter of 1786-7 set in so 
early that, on Nov. 14th, the George's river froze hard enough 
to bear a horse and sleigh as low down as Watson's Point, 
and, on the 15th, even to its mouth. In the same month, 
the drought was so severe that, at low tide, the same river in 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. ' 175 

many places ceased to flow. Other streams and springs 
wholly failed ; and it was difficult to get water for cattle or 
for grinding purposes, except at tide mills. 

1787. In conformity .with an act passed in 1785, the 
town this year chose a committee of five persons •' to open 
ways and prevent the stopping of the fish, agreeable to law," — 
probably meaning the shad sj^ alewives of Mill river. 

In April a warrant was issued for a town meeting, to give 
in votes for Governor, &c., in which was an article to see 
what the town will do about building a meeting-house ; but, 
as the records of the meeting did not get entered in the town 
book, we can only infer from the vote at subsequent meetings 
that a committee was appointed to look out a suilable site for 
such a purpose. In May, a new committee, consisting of J. 
Simonton, J. Crockett, T. Hix, W. Heard, J. Bridges, M. 
Wheaton, and D. Fales, was appointed for the same purpose 
and also to " search for convenient Lands for Personage, Min- 
isterial, and School lots." From this vote it would seem the 
town was disposed to act as individuals had been in the habit 
of doing, in the absence of the proprietors of the soil ; and 
take up such unoccupied lots as they might select, occupying 
by the right of possession until their title should be perfected 
by time or a settlement with the owners. Flucker, the pro- 
prietor of this part of the Waldo patent, having espoused the 
royal cause and forfeited his estate in consequence, Gen. 
Henry Knox, his son-in-law, (who had, as early as 1784, 
been appointed agent or administrator to settle the estate, and 
who, in right of his wife, a daughter of said* Flucker, claimed 
to inherit one-fifth part of it,) was now, with other heirs in- 
terested, looking up their rights ia the Patent, and had in 
1785 obtained a resolve of the legislature extending its boun- 
daries, on condition, as before mentioned, that he would quiet 
all the settlers on the lands they had taken up prior to 1775. 
This was satisfactory so far as it went ; but, making no pro- 
vision for those who had taken up lands during the war, (a 
measure which the difficulties of the times and the^ absence 
of the proprietors had compelled many to adopt as the only 
means of gaining a livelihood,) fell far short of their expecta- 
tions. As these claimants were now expected to be here for 
the purpose of making some arrangement with such settlers, 
a large committee consisting of S. Brown, J. Crockett, 
Robert Jameson, J. Tolman, and T. Hix, was appointed at a 
town meeting, May 7th, of this year, " to discourse with any 
Claimers of Lands that may appear." 

Whether any such " claimers " appeared or not, we are not 



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176 HI8T0EY OF THOMASTON, 

infonned ; but it is pfobable that Knox did not neglect the 
proiwieiary interest, but intrusted the orersight of it to some 
former agent here, or induced some other to come to the place 
for that purpose; At any rate, seyeral of his friends, or em- 
ployees, emigrated hither about this time or a little later. 
Capt. Thomas Vose, who had early gained his acquaintance 
and good opinion in the army o^ the Revolution in which he 
had commanded a company of artillery, came from Milton, 
Mass., for the purpose of fencing out the Fort farm, which 
had, prior to the war, been in charge of Col. Wheaton. This 
he did with juniper posts and clear pumpkin-pine boards, the 
best and most costly in the market; commencing at the riyer 
and running' up what is now Wadsworth street, Thomaston, 
and down Sie present Main street to Mill HiTcr. Of this 
farm, Vose now took the oversight ; and, being a man of 
judgment and decision, he became a useful citizen and for 
many years, either by himself or as partner with Gen. Knox, 
did an extensive business at the present O'Brien store and 
wharf. He lived some years in the Wadsworth house, till he 
purchased and removed to that in which he spent the re- 
mainder of his life, and in which his son William still resides, 
at the foot of Wadsworth street. Spencer Vose, a relative 
of Capt. Thomas, came from Attleboro* about 1790, and 
commenced the tanning and shoemaking business on the south 
side of what is now Main street, Thomaston, near the western 
termination of the MalL John Bentley came from Boston, 
burnt lime for Knox, and, being a man of good education, 
was also employed in teaching schooL He was, we believe, 
for a time deputy sheriff; married here, and settled at the 
Meadows. William Mclptosh, a young man from Scotland, 
employed by Knox in his personal service at Philadelphia, 
came hither at this time or a little later, and settled west of 
the Meadows, in consequence of an offer of his employer to 
give him a hundred acres of land on condition of his setding. 
Neglecting to get a deed, however, till afler the death of 
Knox, he^lost his land and a portion also of what was dtie 
him from* the insolvent estate. Timothy Spalding also, with 
his sons Jedediah and James, came from New Meadows this 
3rear, and settled at Ballyhac, on the eastern side of the mouth 
of the Wessaweskeag ; — leaving his name there to a Point 
and island or peninsula, of about 30 acres, not included in 
the Snow purchase. 

Coasting vessels built on the George's River were now 
making frequent trips to Boston from this place; one of 
which was commanded by Capt. Thomas McLellan, senior, of 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH TH0MA8T0N. 177 

tbi8 town, and another by his brother Simon of Gushing. 
But we have no certain account of the building of any with- 
in the limits of Thomaston, prior to this year, when Mr. Snow 
built a small Boston coaster, — the first vessel ever launched 
on the waters of the Wessaweskeag, or, so far as is known, 
in any part of the old town whose three divisions have since 
sent forth so many stately structures of the kind. 

All the town meetings except one, at Jas. Stackpole's, had 
thus far been held at the house of Oliver Bobbins. And now, 
in the warrant for the May meeting, an article had been insert- 
ed " to see if the town will allow" said Bobbins " something 
for the trouble and for the use of his house as a Meeting House 
for sometime past." But, as Capt. N. Fales had built, or was 
building, a new house which might serve their purpose, the 
town, with the characteristic economy of corporations, which 
are said to have no souls, voted " that the town thinks that the 
article is not convenient." Accordingly the next meeting, 
Sept. 3d, was convened at " the New House of Capt. N. 
Fales." Framed buildings of any description were still a 
rarity in all parts of the town. Two barns, the first framed 
ones in what is now Bockland, were built about this time, 
and are still standing ; one by J. Barrows, now owned by 
Otis Barrows, and the other by Jeremiah Tolman, now that 
of his son Jeremiah — both framed by Waterman Hewett. 

At that meeting the contemplated division of the county of 
Lincoln was taken into consideration, in compliance with 
resolutions of the General Court in the preceding June, when 
the town voted that the Selectmen prefer a petition to that 
body, praying that this town may be annexed to the first of 
the three new counties. This request was ultimately com- 
plied with, and Thomaston as well as Camden was suffered 
to remain in the old county of Lincoln, whilst the territory 
to the eastward of these was, June 25, 1789, formed into 
the two new counties of Hancock and Washington. 

At the same meeting, the record says, '* voted and chose D. 
Fales, Jr., to serve on the Petit Jury for trials at the next 
Court to be holden at Waldoborough, on the second Tuesday 
of Sept. inst." This form of record was uniformly followed 
in all the selections of jurors ; and there is no hint given that 
any of them were drawn by lot, until March 31, 1788, when 
I. Lovett was chosen Grand Juryman and Samuel Bartlett 
dratvn from the box as Petit Juryman. 

Three different subjects of special importance gave occa- 
sion to a town-meeting, Dec. 19th, of this year. One was 
the election of a delegate to attend the Convention' that was 



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178 HISTORY OP THOMASTON, 

to assemble at Boston, on the second Wednesday of January 
following, to take into consideration the new federal Consti- 
tution then recently reported to Congress and awaiting the 
assent and ratification of the several States. The vote on 
this article resulted in the election of David Fales, Esq. as 
delegate. 

Another subject was that of Schools^ which had, indeed, 
been casually included among the purposes for which taxes 
had been voted, but on which no money appears, thus far, 
to have been expended. The town was now required to de- 
cide whether they would " ratify the agreement of the Select- 
men with Mr. William Walsh, for keeping a Town School 
for the term of twelve months ;" he having already com- 
menced, Dec. 17th, for one month, on trial. On the vote 
being taken, the question was decided in the negative. But 
this vote, at a meeting called for the express purpose on the 
3d of January ensuing, was reconsidered ; and yet, the ques- 
tion being put, the town again voted " not to approve the 
proceeding of the selectmen, in hiring Mr. Walsh." This 
gentleman was a native of Dublin, somewhat irregular in his 
habits and temperament, but who married and became a per- 
manent resident of the place, settling at the Meadows, and 
leaving descendants among whom are found much enterprise, 
wealth, and activity. Another teacher employed about this 
time in this and some of the adjacent places, was Thos. Em- 
erson, — a man of good education, an excellent penman, and 
of respectable family in or near Limerick, Ireland. Remain- 
ing here a few years, he married in 1 789 a daughter of D. 
Morse, afterwards visited his native country, and was lost or 
died on his return passage. John Fairbanks also, the first 
singing-master in this vicinity, was at times employed as a 
common school teacher here as well as at Warren, and, being 
fond of hunting and trapping, employed his vacant time in 
those pursuits. Most boys and young men resorted to the 
same business^ to replenish their stock of spending money. 
But the more valuable furs were now becoming scarce ; and 
hunting as an employment had ceased to be profitable even 
before the death of its chief votary in this region, Jacob Keen, 
who died Oct. 10, 1788. Still the dogs, which had been 
trained and were so serviceable in the chase, were retained 
as guards against the bears and other beasts of prey which 
continued occasionally to kill sheep and cattle. Few or no 
particulars of these faithful animals' exploits have been 
handed down; but one instance of their almost human 
sagacity, occurring about this time, though in a neighboring 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 179 

town, may here be given. Capt. R. Norton of Gushing had 
a favorite dog which he took on board his vessel and sailed 
for Wilmington, N. C. No sooner were they at sea, than, 
from sea-sickness or other cause, the dog became uneasy and 
remained inconsolable through the whole voyage. On land- 
ing at Wilmington, the dog was soon missing and nothing 
further was seen of him. But, on the Captain's return from 
his voyage, he found his dog safe at home, whither he had 
arrived just 14 days from the time of landing at Wilmington. 
How he had made his way, — whether across or around inlets 
and bays, passing circuitously by the coast or following the 
travelled road, and what was his fare on the route, he could 
not communicate.* 

A third subject to which attention was called at this meet- 
ing and, so far as appears, for the first time, was the main- 
tenance of the poor. A Mrs. Clark, widow of Thomas Clark, 
deceased some four years or more, was now chargeable ; and 
the town chose a committee ** to take methods for relieving 
the town of that Burthen, if any justifiable ways may ap- 
pear." The next year the Selectmen were empowered to 
commence a suit " in respect to Mrs. Clark, Elisha Snow, or 
whoever else had or confiscated her estate ;*' and voted to re- 
imburse, with interest at 25 per cent., out of his future taxes, 
any one advancing money to carry on said suit. It seems 
from the warrant, that another person by the name of Stevens 
had been placed by the town authorities, on a lot of land and 
maintained there, in order to keep possession of it as a pub- 
lic lot for use of the town, but had of late, as was reported, 
" sold part of said lot ;" but no action was taken. 

The drought and severe weather of the preceding autumn 
continued with scarcely any signs of relenting till into March ; 
on the 2t5:di day of which the lower Georges broke up suf- 
ficiently to release the sloop Warren, which, when loading for 
the West Indies, had got frozen in and lay all winter at her 
moorings. The ice in the upper waters of that river did not 
break up till May ; while deep and hard crusted snow cover- 
ed all the fences as late as the 10th of April. 

1788. For the first time a separate tax for schools, viz., 
£20, was this year voted. Mr. Brown, the town clerk of this 
and several previous years, seems to have kept his records 
on loose sheets and with so little care that some of them were 
entirely lost, and others were supposed to be so for a time ; 
in consequence of which the town this year, May 6lh, re- 
accepted the three several roads already accepted in 1786, 

♦ H. Prince, Esq. 

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180 HISTORY OP THOMASTON, 

The acceptance also of two of the roads recommended in 
1786, indicates some increase of settlers along the sea margin 
of the town. On that from Owl's Head to the head of the 
Bay, at this time, or perhaps in regard to some a little later, 
were the following residents; 1st, Benjamin Packard, who, 
after having first resided in Gushing and then a year or so in 
Union, where in 1775 he built the first log-house in the place, 
had now come to this town and was living at Owl's Head, if 
he had not already removed to a part of the Crockett farm at 
Ash Point; 2d, Rosamus Lowell, who became a farmer 
and valuable citizen; 3d, Benjamin Cooper, a tailor, from 
Cambridge, who came in 1789; 4th, Nathan Sherman from 
Marshfield; 5th, Wm. Chapman, on the south side of the 
Head of the Bay; 6th, Joseph Perry; 7th, Benjamin With- 
am; 8th, John West; 9th, Thomas Hix; 10th, Samuel Bart- 
lett; 11th, Job Perry; 12th, 13th, and 14th, the Ingrahams 
already mentioned; 15th, John Godding; — fix)m whence 
there were no more settlers, but an almost impenetrable 
spruce thicket and miry alder swamp, up to the log-house of 
John Lindsey, before mentioned. Israel Davis, then a boy 
living at Joseph Ingraham's, used to catch minks at Ingra- 
ham's Point where the present steamboat wharf is, often 
finding them devoured by foxes before he could get time to 
visit his traps ; and remembers the whole vicinity as a woody, 
lonely region, where he suffered n\uch from homesickness. 
Ingraham had then a small framed house, and, amongst his 
lumbering operations about this time or later, w.as getting out 
a frame for the house which William Tilson erected on the 
old Camden road, near Brown's Corner in the present Rock- 
land, and in which he afterwards set up and long kept a hou£> j 
of entertainment. The first cpasting vessel^ that ran to and 
from this embryo city of Rojckland, was that commanded 
by Capt. Dexter, brother to Mrs. Wheaton ; but at the time 
of which we are now writing, Capt. Vickery of Beverly was 
the only coaster from that part of the town. George Ulmer, 
a young man from Waldoboro', was now also here as a small 
trader near Lermond's Cove, and was engaged from 1785 to 
1789 in the business of lime-burning ; — so that to him, 
probably, belongs the honor of being the first lime-humer in 
what is now Rockland. He probably came as early as 1784, 
when he was chosen a hog-reeve by the town; and in 1790 
his brother, John, Jr., is mentioned. 

In the annual State election of April 7th, the people of 
this town participated for the first time ; and it is a coinci- 
dence that the people of Warren on the same day, for the first 
time also, and with the same unanimity, gave in the same 



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BOCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. Jfil 

number,' 23 votes, for each of the same candidates. These 
were re'gularly recorded ; yet it is singular that, on the same 
day, the recwd reads " voted and chose Nathaniel Thwing, 
^sq. County Treasurer ;" as if the election depended on this 
town alone. 

1789* A new road was established this year from Lieut. 
Coombs's to the south line of the town ; and another from 
Abiathar Smith's house down to Watson's ferry, which is 
now known as Wadsworth street. 

It was probably about this time that Dr. Ezefciel Goddard 
Dodge first took up his abode in this town ; for his name ap- 
pears in the census of 1 790, and as surveyor of highways 
and one of the committee for examining town accounts in 
1791. He had, a few years before, established himself as a 
physician at the house of Micah Packard in Warren. He 
was the son of Rev. Mr. Dodge of Pembroke, and had the 
reputation of having been %. wilful and unmanageable boy, 
whom his father, among other means for giving him an edu- 
cation, intrusted for a time with the Rev. Mr. Jones of N. 
Yarmouth. There, his wayward disposition was manifested 
in various mischievous tricks ; such as wrapping up a pack of 
cards in a pocket hai^kerchief and putting it in the parson's 
Sunday coat, to be scattered from the pulpit before the whole 
congregation; with other feats of a like nature. He pos- 
sessed some literary taste> however, even then, and, tliough 
averse to the sciences, especially to arithmetic, imbibed enough 
of the languages and other branches required, to enable him to 
enter college ; but, for some dramatic representation, got up 
as a burlesque on the government, was early expelled. Ca- 
pable of a polite and pleasing exterior, though often indulg- 
ing in irreverence and profanity, prompt at every call, bold 
and decided in his practice, he soon flashed into unbounded 
favor, and continued for thirty years to enjoy the most ex- 
tensive, professional business of any physician in this and all 
the adjoining towns. 

One of his earliest acquaintances whilst residing on the 
western side of the river, was Benjamin Webb. This gen- 
tleman came from Boston with a small assortment of dry 
goods, which he commenced selling at Packard's before Dodge 
set up there as a physician. Webb subsequently removed his 
business to Union, but taking lumber in payment for goods 
and meeting with some losses in getting it down the river, he 
became discouraged and was persuaded by Dr. Dodge to 
commence the study of medicine with him. Soon after, the 
two went into partnership, and were at this time established 
Vol. I. 16 



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182 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

in Thomaston on the farm of Wm. Watson, Jr., near the 
present dwelling of Mrs. Elisha Snow. Here their household 
was superintended by Miss Catharine Gregg, or rather Mrs. 
Webb, as she was reputed to be by what she believed a legal 
marriage, but which she was ultimately induced by these physi- 
cians to acknowledge as invalid, and died not long after, — a 
beautiful, weak, and ill-used woman. Two of her children 
were adopted and brought up as his own by Dr. Dodge. 

Dr. Webb remained here till about 1795, when marrying 
a daughter of Samuel Boggs of Warren, he removed to that, 
place, and, without relinquishing his practice, managed the 
farm on a part of which his brother, Dea. Wm. H. Webb, 
still resides. About 1802, he returned and opened a store at 
Mill River, in the building now occupied above by Joshua 
Brackett, at the same time taking charge of Dodge's business 
during his temporary absence in New Brunswick. In 1806, 
he removed to the Rendell hous% near Owl's Head Point, 
where he kept a store and tavern, sometimes boarded the 
town's paupers, and continued his professional practice till 
1813, when he removed to Zanesville, Ohio. 

Another of Dodge's medical students, about or before this 
time taken into practice as a partner, feut ostensible rival of 
his master, was Dr. Isaac Bernard, who after a short prepara- 
tion went into practice at Union, Camden, and perhaps other 
places, for a time, and finally in the eastern part of this 
town, — as best suited the interest of Dodge in guarding 
against the inroads of more formidable rivals in the profes- 
sion. Having a ready perception of symptoms, he used to 
consult Dodge as to the remedies, and in time became a skil- 
* ful physician, — succeeding to much of his master's practice, 
though, we believe, without any unfriendly rivalship. Dodge 
used to say of the two, when students, that Bernard was 
gifled with a good eye to discover disease, but had little, 
knowledge of the proper remedies, whilst Webb was skilled 
in the knowledge of medicine^ but had no faculty for discern- 
ing the symptoms ; so that if he " could send both together, 
they might make one first-rate physician." After Dr. Ber- 
nard's second marriage, he was in possession of considerable 
property ; but, investing it in ship-building which proved un- 
fortunate, he was never wealthy. He lived at Blackington's 
Corner, or the North End of what is now Rockland ; where 
he continued in practice, held many town and military offices, 
and was repeatedly chosen representative. 

Jonas Dean, who came from New Meadows to Wessawes- 
keag and worked some three or four years in Mr. Snow's 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 183 

mill, this year married, and, after living a while in Snow's 
store, huilt a house on his own lot now occupied hy his son 
Dea. Samuel Dean. George Emery from Kittery, ahrother- 
in-law, came probably about the same time, 1789, to Owl's 
Head; — having resided for a time previous in Harps well. 
The preceding year, according to family tradition, though 
probably later as the name is not in the census of 1790, came 
the widow Sleeper and hei; five sons, who settled at Ash 
Point, and whose descendants have been numerous in the 
vicinity. John White, who this year married a daughter of 
Mr. Rendell at Owl's Head, and Eliphalet Gray, with a fam- 
ily of six, were also settled in the town ; and Wm. Green, an 
Englishman, about this time was located on the farm since 
owned by J. W. Small on the George's River side of what 
is now South Thomaston. 

1790. The new or federal constitution of the United 
States, which had been ratified by Massachusetts Feb. 9ih^ 
1788, and put in operation April 30th, 1789, by the inaug- 
uration of George Washington as its first president, was now 
regarded as of equal authority with that of the State. And, 
it would seem from the records, that an oath to support the 
same, together with the test oath of the State constitution, 
was required here, even of the selectmen, — the number of 
whom was this year increased to five. In the first election 
under that constitution, the present State of Maine formed 
but one congressional district, and elected Hon. Geo. Thatcher 
of Biddeford its representative ; but, in the election, this town 
does not appear to have* taken any part. The first census 
under it, taken this year by Rev. T. Whiting of Warren, 
showing the extent of population the town had now reached ' 
and the families composing it, we here insert at large, al- 
phabetically arranged. The first column gives the heads of 
families; the second column, the free white males under 16 
years of age; the third column, ditto, of 16 and upwards; the 
fourth, free white females ; the fifth, colored, or all other free 
persons; making an aggregate of 801 inhabitants: — 

Babbidge, Benjamin 1 Barrows, Benajah 111 

Brown, Samuel 12 6 Brewster, Zadoc 12 5 

Brown, James 3 13 Bennett, David M. 1 

Batchelder, Hezekiah % 10 Blackinton, Benjamin 12 4 

Bridges, John 3 16 Bly, Ebenezer 1 4 

Brown, John 1 Bently, John 4 

Brown, Gideon 1 Bacon, Michael 1 

Bartlett, Samuel, 4 15 Bernard, Isaac 1 3 

Barrows, Ichabod 3 1 Butler, Phinehas 2 13 

Barrows, Comfort 113 'Case, Isaac 12 3 



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184 



HISTORY OF TH0MA8T0N, 



Chapman, William 
Cook, John 


3 




4 


Mathews, Anthony 








Mathews, Joseph 


Cole, John 








Mclntyre, James 


Coombs, Joseph 


3 




5 


Morse, Daniel 


CoTell, Micajah 






1 


1 Orbeton, James 


Creighton, David 


3 




4 


Orbeton, JonaUian 


Crockett, John 






2 


1 Packard, Benjamin 


Crockett, Jonathan 


3 




3 


Palmer, Daniel 


Crockett, Nathaniel 






1 


Pillsbury. Joseph 


Crockett, Nath'l, Jr., 


» 4 




7 


Paisbury, Nathan 


Crouch, David 


3 




1 


Porterfield.. Patrick 


Dean, Jonas 


1 




.1 


Post, Stephen 


Dillaway, John 


2 




4 


Perry, Joseph 


Drought, Richard 






1 


Perry, Widow 


Dodge, Ezekiel G. 


1 




2 


Rankin, Constant 


Emerson, Thomas 


1 




1 


Rendell, Thomas 


Emery, George 


1 




2 


Rendell, James. 


Fales, Nathaniel 


1 




6 


Robbins, Oliver 


Fales, Nathaniel, Jr., 


, 1 




4 


Robbins, Otis 


Fales, James, Jr., 


1 




2 


Robbins, Oliver. Jr., 


Fales, John 


1 




3 


Rowell, William 


Fales, David 


5 




6 


Say waid, George 


Fales, James 


1 




6 


Sherman, Nathan 


Farrow, Peter 








Spalding, Timothy 


Foster, Charles 






1 


Spalding, Jededitdi 
Spear, Jonathan 


Godding, John 


2 




4 


Gray, Eliphalet 
Green, William 


3 


2 


2 


Spear, William 


2 


3 


6 


Spear, Jonathan, Jr., 


Haskell, Francis 


1 


2 


4 


Shibles, Robert 


Heard, William 


4 


3 


4 


Simonton, John 


Hewitt Waterman 








Smith, Oliver 


Hix, Thomas 


3 




9 


Smith, Abiathar 


Ingraham, Job 


6 




2 


Smith, Jonathan 


Ingraham, Joseph 


2 




2 


Snow, Ephraim 


Ingraham, Josiah 


1 




1 


Snow, Elisha 


Jameson, Robert 






1 


Snow, Ambrose 


Jordan, Israel 


4 




3 


Stevens, Thomas 


Jordan, Robert 


3 




3 


Stevens, Nehemiah 


Jenks, David 


2 




4 


Stevens, Thomas, Jr., 


Keen, John 








Stevens, Daniel 


KeUey, WiUiam 








Stackpole, James 


KiUsa, James 


1 




3 


Stetson, William 


Kelloch, Findley 


3 




3 


Sweetland, David 


Keating, Richard 


4 




4 


Tings, John 


Kill8a,Hugh 






4 


Thompson, William 


Killsa, George 


3 




2 


Thompson, Ebenezer 


Kingman, Loring 








Tolman, Isaiah 


Lampson, Jonathan 


1 




6 


Tolman, Jeremiah 


Lackey, William 


1 




2 


Tolman^ Samuel 


Lewis, William 






3 


Tohnan, Curtis 


Lindsey, John 


2 




7 


TJlmer, John 


Lovett, Israel 


8 




3 


TJlmer, George 


Lowell, Rosamus 


2 




1 


Vose, Thomas 


Mcintosh, WUliam 


1 




1 


Vose, Spencer 


McLellan, Thomas 


2 


2 


2 


Watson, David 



2 


1 


2 




1 


2 




1 




2 


2 


4 


1 


1 


6 


2 


1 


6 


3 


1 


3 


3 


2 


6 


4 


1 


4 


1 


2 


1 




2 


4 


3 


1 


4 


2 


1 


1 




2 


3 


4 


2 


3 




2 


4 


1 


1 


3 


1 


2 


3 


2 


1 


2 


3 


1 


3 


1 


2 


8 


4 


1 


4 


1 


1 


3 




1 


3 


1 


1 


3 


2 


3 


4 


2 


1 


1 




1 


2 




2 


1 


3 


2 


6 


3 


1 


2 


4 


1 


8 


2 


1 


1 


2 


2 


3 


1 


3 


3 


1 


1 


2 


1 


2 


3 




1 


1 




1 


3 




1 




3 


2 


4 


4 


2 


2 




1 


1 


2 


1 


2 


2 


1 


6 




2 


3 


4 


1 


4 


1 


1 


2 


2 


2 


2 


2 


2 


2 


1 


1 


1 


3 


1 


6 




4 


6 


1 


2 


2 


3 


1 


6 



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EOCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 



185 



"Waterman, Nathaniel 
Walsh, William 
"White, John 1 

"West, John 3 

"Witham, Wm.? [Ben.] I 



1 




Webb, Wm.? [Benj.] 1 


1 


1 


1 


Weed, James 3 1 


5 


1 


3 


Wheaton, Mason, 2 


1 


2 


3 


Woodcock, Nathaniel 2 2 


2« 


1 


2 







* Copied in March, 1862, by Capt. A. C. Spalding, from the original 
manuscript in the Census Bureau, Washington, D. C. 



16« 



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186 HISTORY OP THOMASTON, 



. CHAPTER X. 

VABIOUS INCIDENTS, FIE8T POST OFFICE, AND FIB8T 
MEETING-HOVSE. 

At the annual meeting in March, 1790, a vote is recorded 
that ** Quakers have Liberty to wear their hats in Town 
Meeting ;" but whether passed for the accommodation of Mr. 
Chapman of that denomination or as a joke upon some i^ho 
wore their hats regardless of the custom then prevailing at 
such meetings, tradition does not state. Possibly the cold- 
ness of the weather made the wearing of hats a necessity; 
as Capt. J. Watson wrote on the 7th April that " the snow 
was very deep, and that snow and sleet fell, all that day." 

The first division of the town into school districts was 
made in Oct. 1790, as follows: '*The 1st District to be from 
Warren line to the east line of J. Dillaway's laqd, and from 
thence to T. Stevens's upon the N. side of the road ; the 2d, 
from the 1st District Line, including the Beech Woods, Mr. 
Creighton's, Mr. Butler's, and all the inhabitants upon the 
River to the Town line at Cashing (now St. George ;) the 3d, 
all the N. E. part of the town from Mr. Creighton's northerly ' 
line, including all the inhabitants to the Camden line and 
southerly on the sea-shore to Mr. Lindsey's; the 4th, all the 
inhabitants on both sides Wessaweskeag River, taking in Mr. 
Spalding; the 5th, all the inhabitants from Timothy Spald- 
ing's to Ash Point and Owl's Head Harbour, including James 
Rendell ; the 6th, all the inhabitants from John Godding's to 
Rosamus Lowell's." 

The " pound of good logs," voted in 1786, seems never to 
have been built ; as the selectmen this year ordered that the 
barn-yard of Capt. Thomas Vose, who now occupied the 
Wadsworth house, be used as a pound for the present ; and, 
the autumn following, votes were passed *' that one pound 
should be built on the N. W. comer of the town Landing 
place near Wheaton's saw-mill," and another at Wessawes- 
keag; of which James Fales, Jr., and Wm. Rowell were 
chosen pound-keepers. 

1791. At a meeting, May 5th, the town voted " that 
Capt. Josiah Reed have liberty to build a store on the town 
landing, near Col. Wheaton's Mill, for the term of seven 
years, he paying three* shillings per year for the use thereof." 

Reed came from Massachusetts, where he married Betsey, 
the daughter of Dr. John Taylor, proprietor of the township 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH TH0MA8T0N. 187 

since named Union, and from whom he had, in 1782, receiv- 
ed a deed of some 14000 acres of land, ajl that remained 
imsold in that township. There he erected a saw-mill and, 
not improbably, resided for a time ; but, in this or the pre- 
ceding year, became, with his wife and two daughters, Eliza 
and Lucy, a resident of Thomaston. It may have been at 
his invitation and for the purpose of receiving some tendered 
acknowledgment of the favor granted by the above vote, that 
the town, in December following, *' voted to adjourn the 
meeting for one hour to the house of Capt. Josiah Reed." 
He traded in the place many years, at first in the porch of his 
own house opposite the foot of what is now High street ; be- 
came a magistrate ; twice represented th&town in the General 
Court ; was flattered by the marriage of his eldest daughter to 
Henry J., son of Gen. Knox ; but subsequently became in- 
volved, returned to Massachusetts, and was for a time a jus- 
tice of the peace in Boston, where, it is believed, he died in 
comparative obscurity. 

While Reed was trading in this town, a piece of cloth was 
missed from his store, and a young fellow by the name of 
Louett, a tailor, was accused of purloining it. Whether 
guilty or not, the evidence against him was so strong that the 
magistrate thought proper to bind him over to the court for 
trial. Leonard Fales, tj^en deputy sheriflf, took charge of 
him, and, meeting old Mr. Creighton, told him he had a pris- 
oner in charge whom he " should be obliged to carry to jail, 
unless somebody would be bound for his appearance at court. 
Would' nt you be his bondsman ?" ** Ye-e-s !** said C, in 
his deep hoarse voice, " Fll be hound for him." Well pleas- 
ed, they all turned back to the magistrate's to have the bond 
executed. Here, after being well " treated" by the prisoner 
and being asked by the magistrate if he was willing to be 
bound for Mr. L., he gave the same emphatic " ye-e-es ! Fll 
be hound for him." After partaking of a second treat and 
being told the bond was ready if he was willing to sign it, 
Creighton said, " I told you I'd be bound for him, and I will 
be bound that he will do the same thing again the first op- 
portunity." That not being the bond required, the prison- 
er's hopes were of course disappointed.* 

Zephaniah Everlon, whose grandfather came from England 
and was a manufacturer of gunpowder in Dorchester, Mass., 
came to this place about 1790. In 1777, at the age of thir- 
teen, he entered the army as drummer in Col. Jackson's regi- 

• Mr. Nathaniel Fales (3d.) 

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18S HISTORY OF THOMASTOK; 

ment, and served at Valley Forge and other places to l^e end 
of the war. After the war closed, he spent some time in 
fishing on the Grand Banks^ came to Maine, first to the Ken-* 
nehec and Sandy Rivers, afterwards to Camden and this 
town. In 1791 and 1792; he worked on- the mills in Union, 
boarding himself, hut returned to this town, married^ and set- 
tled at Watson's Point ; where, after the building of the 
bridge, he was toll-keeper, and to the end of his life received 
as a pensioner the reward of his early services and priva- 
tions. David Gay, a native of Attleboro', came from New 
London, N. H., whither he had removed with his father's 
family while quite young and where he was brought up to the 
trades of tanning imd shoemaking. T^he whole journey 
hither through the wilderness, was performed on horseback. 
Commencing with boot and shoemaking at the Shore, he af\er 
some few years turned his attention to lime-burning, which 
he carried on extensively there, and is said to have been the 
first to send lime from what is now Rockland to the New 
York market. One of the earliest wharves in the city was 
built by him ; — only Lindsey's, and perhaps Spear's, both of 
them small, having been built earlier. About 1811 he re- 
moved to the Marsh on the road to Mill River, — where he 
lived 17 years, cleared a large lot of land, established a saw- 
mill, and built the house now occupi^ by his oldest son. In 
1828, he removed back to the Shore; where, for the re- 
mainder of his active days, he was extensively engaged in 
trade, lime-burning, and navigation. There he built a house, 
of bricks made on his own land; and it is said owned the 
Jirst chaise in Rockland. He was a devoted member of the 
Universalist Society in Rockland, and died in 1855 ; having 
lived to see the place, which he had first known as an infant 
settlement in the woods of some half dozen families only, 
become an incorporated and thriving city.* 

An article concerning the separation of Maine from the 
parent State, was, this year, dismissed by vote of the town 
at its May meeting. The intercourse between this place and 
Boston was at that time so intimate, in consequence of the 
wood, lumber, and lime, which found a market there, that a 
separation, involving as it did the entry and clearance of ves- 
sels, at every trip, seemed fraught with more inconvenience 
than benefit. 

The school districts were again remodeled in December, 
but, from the small sum, viz. : £26, raised this year for the 

• Rockland Gazette, "W. B. Tolman, Esq., &c. 

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ROCKLAISD AND BOOTH IfiOMAiSTON. 18d 

purpose, the amonnt of schooling in each liistrict tfiust htve 
he&a. scanty. Among the instructors* etnployed about this 
time were Wm. Walsh aforesaid, who, this year, received £6j 
%a. 4d., " for keeping school in the North-east Meadow Dis* 
trict ;" Daniel Andrews, £6, in the same district ; Ambrose 
ISnow, £9, at Wessaweskeag in 1790; John White, £5, 7«. 
8d., in 1791, at Owl's Head Bay ; John Ramsey, £12, in N. 
£. Meadow district ; Samuel Rindes, £3, 8s., in W. MeadoW 
district; and Jona. Adams, $68^ in the Wei^tem district ; the 
laist three probably in 1793 and 1794. 

This year was marked by the supposed death by drowning 
of Gedrge Kilisa, who had settled and then resided at Owl's 
Head. Having visited some of the vessels lying in that har* 
bor, he Bet out on his return in the darkne^ of evening alone 
in his punt. A man who was near by in a similar crafl, after-" 
wards remembered to have heard a gurgling sound, but sus^ 
pected nothing at the time ; and, though much search wad 
made during the ni^t and following day, no trace of the 
body was ever found.* 

1792. On the 17th of April, Hezekiah Prince of Kings- 
ton, Mass., who, whilst an apprentice at the joiner's trade, 
had worked for the five preceding years here and at Vinal- 
baven, Camden, and Lincdnville, removed to this town with 
his chest of tM>ols and clothes ; at that tbne the whole amount 
of his worldly prc^rty. Being now twenty-o^e years of 
age, 1^ fixed his home at the house of Isaiah Tolman, jr., 
which he had himself assisted to build the preceding year ; 
took Jordan Lovett as an apprentice, and found an abundance 
of employment in Thomaston, Camden, and Warren. But, 
on June 23d of this year, Mr. Tolman had the misfortune to 
lose his valuable new house by fire, supposed to have been kin'» 
died from a broom set away in a comer, after being used about 
the hearth just before the family retired. This house was 
soon rebuilt, however, and the following year, 1793, became 
the first licensed tavern in what is now Rockland. By the 
burning of Tolman's house Prince lost all his clothes, except 
what he had on at work. Finishing his engagements for the 
season, he burnt a kiln of lime in the winter and took it to 
Boston for a market. In the winter of 1 793-4 he took a jour- 
ney to Virginia on horseback, then the common and almost 
only mode of travelling. Returning here, April 8, 1794, he 
recommenced his business as joiner and painter, on the houses 
of West, Perry, Curtis Tolman, and others of this town, of 

♦ Mrs. G. B. Cooper. 

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190 HISTORY OF TH0MA8T0N, 

the Dillinghams, J. Palmer, Wm. Molineux, Daniel Barrett, 
and Jacob Mansfield, of Camden ; took Joshua Fuller as an 
apprentice ; purchased a ^500 lot of land in Camden ; and 
built one-eighth of a schooner in company with Wm. M*Glath- 
ery of that town. In May, 1795, he removed to Wessawes- 
keag, and engaged work for his apprentices of Ephraim Snow 
and Wm. Mathews ; whilst he himself chartered a schooner 
of Islesboro' and took a load of lumber to New York. Los- 
ing about $150 on this adventure, he returned to Wessawes- 
keag in August and resumed work. In 1796, he took John 
Miller, afterwards of Warren, as an apprentice ; built the 
Wessaweskeag meeting-house, as elsewhere mentioned ; did 
the joiner work on the schooner Betsey & Jenny ; went into 
trade ; married ; and, about the end of the century, removed 
to Seal Harbor in St. George, where he manufactured salt in 
summer and the essence or extract of spruce in winter, both 
of which found ready sale in Boston.* At this time he con- 
sidered his property worth $2500. Here we leave this en- 
terprising mechanic, for the present, and return to the year 
1792. 

Gen. Henry Knox, having now become interested as part 
owner in the Waldo patent, and having the purchase of the 
remainder in contemplation, this year sent a mineralogist to 
explore the same and ascertain what ores and mineral wealth 
it might contain. Accordingly, Monsieur Monvel, "a judi- 
cious young French gentleman, who was educated in the 
Royal academy in Paris " as such, came here and took up his 
quarters at Capt. T. Vose's, — commencing his work on the 
18th of May, and prosecuting the same with almost uninter- 
rupted diligence tiU the 10th of Oct. 1792. During this in- 
terval, he seems, from his manuscript journal, to have ex- 
plored the whole patent, mostly on foot and alone, searching 
its mountains and swamps, brooks and ponds; testing its 
ledges and boulders ; and observing its soil, growths, and 
other advantages. Thomaston was particularly explored; 
and the journal of his wanderings up and down the then wild 
and woody banks of the George's, Wessaweskeag, and Mill 
Rivers to the neighboring mountains and sea-coast, is inter- 
esting, and well agrees with more modem explorations. 
Other than the rich beds of lime-stone previously known, he 
seems to have discovered few minerals of value, except bog 
iron ore which he found between J. Reed's and T. Stevens's 



• The late H. Prince, Esq.'; Biarr and minutes furashed by Capt. G. 
Prince of Bath ; Jeremiah Xolman, Bsq. ; Mrs. Hannah Watson, &c. 



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EOCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 191 

houses, as also near Keen's, and more abundantly far back 
in the country. He took his departure for Boston in the sch. 
Polly, October 11th, and arrived at Philadelphia on the 1st 
of November.* 

In June, 1792, Elder Isaac Case resigned the pastoral care 
of the First Baptist church, probably on account of the mea- 
gerness of his support. It is said that, on his removal from 
the place, he was compelled by poverty to resort to the chari- 
ty of a well disposed man not of his society, Mr. Woodcock, 
for the means of transporting his household goods, who, hav- 
ing received the good man's thanks and blessing as he was 
about to return with his team, said to him, *' you are entirely 
welcome to what I have done, Mr. Case, but take my advice, 
and never give your services, or settle in the ministry again, 
without having a sufficient living lawfully secured to you." 
The labors of this self-denying and devoted! apostle of the 
Baptist faith continued to be sought for and were successfully 
rendered in various places to a very advanced age. Hb lat- 
est days were, it is believed, spent in Readfield, Maine. He 
was succeeded as pastor here, after a time, by Rev. Elisha 
Snow. This gentleman, who, during the busy and exciting 
scenes of the Revolution, had, as the reader may have 
observed, lapsed into worldly-mindedness and indifference 
to religion, now, with characteristic energy, entered upon 
a course in accordance with the great change he had ex- 
perienced. When at length the war closed and American 
independence was acknowledged, he had felt himself left 
to the mercy of those who not only differed widely from him 
in opinion, but had also received injuries, real or supposed, 
at his hands, which they were now able and probably not un- 
willing to avenge. Pondering over his situation, and per- 
plexed with the difficulties that surrounded him, he had been 
led, on the occasion before alluded to, to reflect seriously 
upon his past life, and soon after was suddenly overwhelmed 
with such a sense of its utter unworthiness in the sight of God 
and opposition to the spirit and teaching of the Gospel, that, 
whilst working in his garden, he was struck as with a palsy, 
and, helpless as a child to work or move, could only exclaim 
" God is just and I am damned !" This was the burden of 
hb discourse when the first wave of his remorse had subsid- 
ed and he had begun to find relief in penitential prayers and 



* Original MS. Journal, written, in tolerably good English, and furnish- 
ed with a title page by Knox's ow^ hand, — now in possession of Mr. Jas. 
£. Stimpson of Thomaston. 



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198 HI3T0IIY OP THOMASTON, 

tears. SuQh was the apparent depth and sincerity of his con- 
trition, that even to his enemies it seemed cruel to call it in 
question; and, in^the great religious revival that was then in 
progress under the preaching of Mr. Case, none of the con- 
versions appeared; more supernatural and astonishing than 
that of Mr. Snow. Yet, conscious that 

•* Never can true reconcilement grow 

Where wounds of deadly hate have pierced so deep," 

he prudently withdrew, as before noted, and began his labors 
as a servant of Christ in a distant field. Now, however, on 
liie removal of Mr. Case, he returned to his old home and 
place, and was soon enabled, by his zeal, self-humiliation, 
f^nd vehement eloquence in prayer and exhortation, to gain 
the ears,. and through them in a great measure the confidence, 
which he ever affter retained, of his townsmen and neighbors. 
Soon after the departure of Mr. Case, an unhappy dispute 
arose among the members of this church, chiefly in reference 
to the doctrine of the atonement, Mr. Snow, whose active 
mi^d and energetic will were never without influence wherev- 
er exercised, believed and strenuously contended that the 
atonement made by Christ was partial, extending to those 
only who were elected and foreordained from all eternity to 
be saved ; that against all such, the Father, having received 
satisfaction, had no further claim, and could not lawfully con- 
demn them ; and that, if Christ had died for all men, then all 
would have been entitled to salvation. Dea. Samuel Brown, 
on the other hand^ believed that Christ died for all mankind ; 
and that all, by complying with the required conditions, might 
obtain salvation through the atonement of his death. Each 
had their adherents in the church ; and the dispute produced 
confusion for a considerable time ; caused the ordinances to 
be neglected ; and finally resulted in the exclusion of thirty- 
four members by the majority. Among this number was the 
clerk, Dea. Brown, who, probably deeming his party as much 
the church in all respects but in numbers as their opponents, 
retained the records. He afterwards joined the Methodists 
or, according to some, the Freewill Baptists; removed to 
Camden, and subsequently to Ohio, carrying the records with 
him. These, the church never recovered ; though several of 
the excluded members afterwards returned to its bosom. 

The town meeting, this year, after the choice of modera- 
tor, " adjourned from N. Fales's to the house of D. Fales," 
where all the subsequent meetings during the year were held. 
Mr. Bobbins, whose house had beSn made use of for that pur- 



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ROCKLAND AND SOXTTH TH0MA8T0N. 193 

pose during the first ten years of the town's corporate exist- 
ence, and who was one of its earliest, enterprising, and re- 
spectable citizens, was, in March of this ye|r, after lingering 
and suffering some weeks with a broken leg, removed by 
death, at the age of sixty-five. 

The practice of " warning out" strangers, fallen into disuse 
since 1788, was this year voted to be renewed, indiscrimi- 
nately, and all who receive and harbor such persons contrary 
to law to be prosecuted. Notwithstanding its precaution, 
however, the town had not escaped the common lot of such 
corporations ; troubles respecting Mrs. Anna Clark continued ; 
the town's last attempt being to get a guardian appointed 
over her as a non compos. Other pauper expenses (settled 
in open meeting and the amount not recorded) appear to have 
been incurred for a few years preceding this, which probably 
induced the vote, March 13, 1792, "that there be a work- 
house built for the poor of the town." Yet, as there was no 
committee raised nor money voted to execute the measure, it 
was probably allowed to sleep, as the vote for building a 
meeting-house had done before. 

At the May meeting of this year, Samuel Brown was, for 
the seventh time, elected representative. Whether this favor, 
so long annually bestowed, had offended his own modesty, or 
whether his course and the schism in the Baptist Church had 
occasioned some murmuring among the electors, or from 
whatever other cause, Mr. Brown thought proper to decline 
the proffered honor, and resigned the office in open town 
meeting. On a second ballot, however, the same gentleman 
was re-elected, but, the year following, was succeeded by 
Josiah Reed. On the question this year submitted by the 
General Court, in relation to erecting Maine into a separate 
government, ten votes were thrown here in favor of the 
measure, and twenty-three against it. At the second Pres- 
idential election, Nov. 2, 1792, Maine constituting one dis- 
trict, this town gave for Edward Cutts of York, David 
Mitchell of Cumberland, and Thomas Rice of Lincoln, each 
eleven votes, the whole number cast. These were elected, 
and, with those of Massachusetts proper, voted for George 
Washington and John Adams for President of the Union, no 
distinction being then made between the first and second of- 
fices ; but Washington, having the greater number, became 
President, and Adams, Vice-President. 

1793. At the annual meeting, March 11, 1793, an arti- 
cle had been inserted " to take some method for bringing for- 
ward the Records of said town, that the same may be known 
Vol. I. 17 



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194 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

and understood ; and that it may be known who are inhabi- 
tants, and who have been warned out ;" &c. The selectmen 
were made a committee to put the purport of this article in 
execution, but probably found some difficulty in e^iecuting 
their trust ; as two years after. May 6, 1795, the town voted 
*' that David Fales, Esq., collect the town Papers, and re- 
cord them in the Town Book." This service he seems to 
have accurately performed, so far as the materials could be 
found. 

In 1793, a malignant disease called the throat distemper^ 
alluded to in Gov. Sullivan's description of Thomaston under 
the name of canker-quinsy, probably the same as modern 
diphtheria, prevailed and carried off great number^ of chil- 
dren, seeming for a time to baffle the power of medicine. 
Capt. Vose lost three in November ; two of whom were car- 
ried to the grave in one day. Other deaths occurred in the 
same neighborhood, among them, in her fourteenth year, Sal- 
lie Gregg, an adopted daughter of Mrs. R. K. Shibles. It 
had prevailed the preceding year, also, in the eastern part of 
the town and Camden; Alexander Jameson, at Jameson's 
Point, having buried in August and September five of his 
children, three of them from this disease, in the course of a 
single fortnight 

1794. This year, Capt. John Ulmer, a native of Ger- 
many, who came over with his father in the first company of 
emigrants to Broad Bay now Waldoboro', removed his family 
from that town on to the large tract of land which he had 
taken up and his sons George and John, Jr., had been work- 
ing upon several years earlier, in the eastern part of the 
town, now Rockland. Being a man of property and energy, 
Capt. Ulmer, himself, continued lime-burning from the cele- 
brated and inexhaustible quarries which he or his son George 
was probably the first to open in that part of the town; 
loaded with lumber the vessels which he owned and some- 
times navigated ; and built others at his own shore, perhaps 
the first ever launched in what is now Rockland. Having a 
keen perception of the prospective advantages of the locality, 
he made a judicious selection of land, combining the best 
capabilities of quarry, soil, and sea-shore, which could well 
be embraced in one location. On being jeered by some of 
his Waldoboro' friends for setting himself down in such a wil- 
derness, he replied, "this will one day become a city," — a 
prophecy which some of his thirteen children lived to see 
fulfilled. His father having been a leading man in civil, mil- 
itary, and ecclesiastical matters in the Broad Bay settlement, 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. . 196 

and this son of his and also a grandson bearing the same 
name, they have often been confounded with each other ; and 
the anecdotes and doings of all three have sometimes been 
ascribed to the subject of this paragraph, who, at the time 
of leaving Germany, was but a child of four years ; and Miss 
Remilly, who ultimately became his wife, was actually bom 
on the passage. Possessing a natural fluency of speech and 
no lack of confidence, he early became the principal reader 
and in time the exhorter or preacher, in the absence of any 
regular clergyman, at the Broad Bay religious meetings. 
These services he occasionally rendered, also, for the edifica- 
tion of such as chose to assemble in the new and humble log- 
house in which he now resided here, at Ulmer's Point, as it 
began to be called. These clerical functions, however, seem 
not to have wholly withdrawn his mind from earthly posses- 
sions, nor prevented the occasional use, when provoked, of 
profane language ; for the story is told that, on one occasion 
in the midst of his religious services, perceiving his potato 
field in danger, he suddenly broke out with "donner and 
blitzen ! Yacob, Yacob, dare is de tam hogs in de potatoes ! 
tousand teifel ! run, run, trive dem out and put up de fence." 

Most of the thirteen children of Capt. Ulmer settled here 
on this valuable estate ; which was ultimately divided among 
them. Of the daughters, Margaret with her husband, Jacob 
Achorn, and five children, came in 1796, and settled on one 
portion ; Mary Croner came earlier and married Isaac Brown, 
who settled on a second portion, and, with his brother Wil- 
liam, another son-in-law of Ulmer, gave name to Bkown's 
Cornek; while the sons located themselves in different 
places, at the shore, the quarries, or " the meadows ;" built 
mills ; burnt lime ; went into navigation ; and, with their 
posterity, have contributed no inconsiderable portion to the 
industry, wealth, and population of Rockland. 

About this time, also, name began to be given to Black- 
ington's Corner, — from John Blackinglon, who, in 1792-, 
was licensed as a retailer and commenced business on the 
Eben Thompson farm; a part of which he purchased and 
lived on, till his removal to Mill River. His only predecessor 
in trade in that neighborhood, was Ichabod Barrows, — who 
was licensed in 1787, and did something in that line up to 
the present year, 1794. Blackington has been succeeded in 
business at the Corner by Charles Harrington, from 1824 to 
1838 or '9; Ephraim Perry, a few years prior to 1829; 
Josiah Achorn, from- 1826 to 1836; Calvin Butler, John Tol- 
man, Allen Shepherd, and Mary Snow, for short periods; 



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196 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

Michael Achorn, from 1840 till his death in 1849, and John 
Bird, which latter gentleman in 1831 moved hither from 
Camden, and soon took the lead of business in this quarter 
of what is now Rockland ; — being still considered the father 
of its commercial prosperity. The farm that Blackington 
bad of Thompson is now owned in great part by Mr. John 
Brown, and the quarry which belonged to it, by the Lime 
Rock Company of Messrs. T. Williams, E. Smith, and others. 

An alteration in the road by Samuel Tolman's mill, to- 
gether with a new one from Isaiah Tolman's to Camden line 
westward of the Pond, was this year dismissed by the town, 
but the latter subsequently laid out. 

As, in a vote of the town respecting the maintenance of a 
pauper, the first mention of " dollars " as a monetary denom- 
ination is found on the records, it is probable that the federal 
currency was already in contemplation, though the Act of 
Congress, establishing it, was not passed till the following 
year, 1795 ; or the circulation of Spanish dollars and possi- 
bly those of our own mint which had been established in 
1793, might have had influence in introducing the term into 
business accounts. The old paper money was now out of 
circulation, and bank bills had scarcely begun to take its 
place.. The old denomination of pounds, shillings, and pence, 
soon shared the fate of the paper currency, and we find in . 
1 796 the town, school, and other taxes were voted in the new 
and legal denomination of dollars, cents, and mills. 

The town, finding the structures for imprisoning unruly 
cattle, ordered to be built in 1786 and again in 1790, would 
not erect themselves, this year. May 8th, voted " to choose a 
committee to build a pound," and made choice of J. Stack- 
pole, D. Jenks, and Susman Abraham, accordingly; appoint- 
ing James Fales, Jr., pound-keeper. Abraham, or Abrams, 
was " a Jew from Hamburg, having been in early life a ped- 
dler and trader in old clothes. It is supposed he flod for 
some misdemeanor, embarked on board a vessel,, and was 
concerned in the sinking of it." He had now recently come 
to Thomaston, after a residence of some time in Waldoboro', 
built a house and wharf, burnt lime, and did some small 
business on the west bank of Mill River below the bridge 
and the town landing, at tbe foot of what is now Gleason 
street. Not far from 1826, "he removed to Union, where he 
carried on coopering and tanning, and died Oct. 6, 1830; 
aged, it is supposed, about eighty-seyen years."* 

• Sibley's Hist, of Union, p. 110, note. 

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EOCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 197 

Probably about this time, also, Benjamin Clark came to the 
place and commenced his business as a potter, manufactur- 
ing pans and other common brown ware. Meeting with good 
success, he erected, in a few years, on the south side of the 
present mall in Thomaston, a one story house, where he carried 
on the business till his death. He was succeeded, at the same 
place, by Charles Bradford, who married his widow and con- 
tinued the pottery business till his removal to Ohio, in 1815. 
The house, afJer having been occupied by different tenants, 
passed into the hands of J. Paine, and, since his death and 
that of his wife, has been removed near the Prison Corner. 
Bradford was suqceeded, in 1819, in the potter's business, by 
James Tarbox from Biddeford, who has continued the estab- 
lishment down to the present time. 

The manufacture of lime, being now no longer monopolized 
by the patentees, was considerably extended through the 
town; and this year, 1794, not less than 35 kilns were 
burned from three to five times a year, consuming at each 
burning about 25 cords of wood and yielding 200 casks of 50 
gallons, which brought, at the meurket, a net gain each of about 
6s. — the market price being between 10s. and lis. By an 
Act passed Aug. 15th, of this year, the size of lime-casks 
was fixed at 100 gallons; but, for greater convenience in 
lading and handling, these half casks continued to be used, 
more or less, till 1810, when 50-gallon casks were made the 
legal standard. The navigation owned on the whole of 
George's river at this time amounted to one brig, two topsa'd 
schooners, and nine sloops, measuring, altogether, about 1100 
tons.* These were owned less in Thomaston than in the 
towns below, and especially in Warren above, where they 
were, thus far, mostly built. 

For supporting the Gospel according to the established 
order of the State, this town, having been settled by persons 
from various places and of different denominational procliv- 
ities, had as yet, from want of unanimity, done little more 
than what was absolutely necessary to avoid prosecution and 
fines according to the laws then in force. Voluntary contri- 
butions were often resorted to, and this year Rev. Thurston 
Whiting was employed one third of the time. This gentle- 
man, a native of Franklin, Mass., seems to have entered both 
Harvard and Brown Universities, though he did not graduate 
at either. Having studied for the ministry whilst occasion- 
ally employed as a teacher, he came to the Kennebec region 

* Mass. Hist. Coll. vol. 4, pp. 20-25 ; Sibley's Hist, of Union, p. 102. 
17* 



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198 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

during the beat of the controversy which ended in the Rev- 
olution ; and, ardently espousing the cause of the people, it 
is not strange that his boyish errors should be remembered 
and his character darkly painted by the enemies of politiccd 
and religious liberty. Accordingly we find him thus noticed in 
1775, by Rev. Jacob Bailey — an Episcopalian clergyman and 
missionary, long stationed in Pownalboro', living in that part 
since named Dresden, till obliged, in 1779, by his tory prin- 
ciples to take refuge in Nova Scotia. "About the beginning 
of this summer, one Whiting was engaged to officiate at the 
court-house. This fellow, now 19 or 20 years of age, had 
been extremely notorious for his vicious and idle conduct, 
having first been expelled from the college at Cambridge, and 
afterwards (it is reported) obliged to flee from the seminary at 
Providence for stealing the president's horse. He had been 
employed for some time as a schoolmaster in Kennebeck, but 
was represented as a person disposed to ridicule both religion 
and virtue, yet, pretending to a sudden and miraculous con- 
version, and assuming uncommon zeal in the cause of liberty, 
he is conceived to be an happy instrument of carrying on the 
blessed work of ruining the Church ; and though it is af- 
firmed that he boldly preached the sermons of President 
Davies and other writers of a sprightly and fanatical turn, 
yet he was highly caressed by our leaders, and extolled as 
an angel from heaven to proclaim the everlasting Gospel ; . . 
all who were incliuQid to favor the present commotions attend- 
ed his vociferations." Mr. Whiting was subsequently or- 
dained at Newcastle, where he had the gratification of pub- 
licly reading the declaration of independence, in 1776, from 
his pulpit ; but was now, at the time of his engagement here, 
located at Warren. 

The Baptist church, having now purged itself of what it 
deemed heresy, had, as before mentioned, invited Elder Elisha 
Snow to become its pastor ; and he was accordingly ordained 
Sept. 27, 1794. Under the labors of this, their second pas- 
tor, the church was greatly established in doctrine, and con- 
siderably, though not rapidly, increased in numbers. He was, 
especially to those who were pleased with doctrinal discus- 
sion, an interesting preacher ; and, from his abrupt energy of 
expression, apt illustration, and unflinching perseverance in 
adhering to a point regardless of consequences, however start- 
ling, seldom failed to gain the attention of every hearer. 
Those who differed from him were sometimes amused ; while 
those who agreed, were edified and confirmed in their senti- 
ments. As a disciplinarian, he was strict; and, though re- 



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ROCKL^D AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 199 

markable for abruptness of speech, he was exceedingly affa- 
ble and kind in his intercourse with his people. In discus- 
sion, however, he was too impetuous and overbearing for 
feimess ; anticipating the arguments of an adversary before 
they were fully enunciated, and confusing rather than con- 
vincing him, by a witty reply, when he could not find a reas- 
onable one. In this, his only successful competitor was his 
old and still welcome employee, John Sullivan. To illustrate 
these traits .in both, a few anecdotes may as well be given 
here as any where. 

*' Sullivan,'* said he, on one occasion, "I saw you at my 
meeting in the forenoon, I suppose you have been to hear 
Mr. Whiting since." " Yes." " Which did you like best?" 
" I liked you best." « Ah ! how is this ?" said Snow, '* Whit- 
ing is a man of learning, and is said to be an elegant schol- 
ar." "That's it — that is the very reason," said the sturdy 
catholic, " Whiting is a man of learning and a man of sense ; 
I wouldn't give a copper to hear him preach." On another 
occasion Snow related the circumstance of his making a trip to 
Boston, and, whilst wind-bound at Falmouth, visiting an old 
acquaintance and intimate friend, whom he found very poor 
and destitute. After returning, he frequently thought he had 
done wrong in not tendering him some assistance. He still 
wished to do it, but hesitated and delayed. After a time his 
cattle got lost in the woods and baffled all his efforts to find 
them. At length he inwardly resolved, he said, that if the 
Lord would restore his cattle, he would make a present of 
one hundred dollars to his destitute friend. That night, his 
cattle returned of their own accord ; and he performed his 
resolution. His friend was grateful for the gift, but Snow 
cut short his acknowledgments by saying, " not a word of 
thanks to Ine, it is only the Lord's money." " Right," said 
Sullivan, after listening attentively to the story, '* you did 
right ; perfectly right ; you wouldn't trust the Lord, but made 
sure of your cattle first, ^^ 

An objector to Mr. Snow's doctrine of original sin and the 
exposure of all men to everlasting punishment on account of 
Adam's transgression, earnestly inquired " would you, as a 
magistrate, condemn me for a theft my father committed be- 
fore I was born?" " Certainly^''* was the reply, "if you 
were found with the stolen property about you." On one oc- 
casion, however, his argument was amusingly arrested by a 
dog, as Balaam's purpose was, by an ass. Conversing at a 
friend's table, one day, upon the perseverance of the saints 
and the full assurance of heaven to a man once converted, he 



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200 HISTORY OP THOMASTON, 

said, taking up a morsel of meat with his fork, ** I feel just 
as sure of going to heaven, as I am of swallowing this piece 
of meat." So saying, he raised it towards his mouth ; but 
it fell from the fork to the floor, and the dog instantly 
seized and devoured it. " Wife," said the pastor on re- 
turning one day after conversing with a woman of a per- 
verse and troublesome disposition, then under concern of 
mind, "wife, wife, Fve got good news." *'Ah," said she, 
" what is it ?" "Why," he replied, " the devil is about to lose 
his oldest daughter ! " At the close of the sermon one day, 
he said, " I have at length finished what I have to say to Chris- 
tians ; and now, sinners, what shall I say to you ? Nothing ! 
Not one word. Let God do his own work!" — and so sat 
down, making a deep impression on every hearer. 

A draft of militia, in consequence of Indian hostilities in 
the western country and the unsettled state of aflairs with 
England, having been made, (to be ready for actual service 
at a minute's warning, and hence called " minute-men,") the 
town voted, Nov. 3, 1794, " that the Minute Men be allowed 
six shillings each for their past services," and that they " be 
allowed two pounds eight shillings per month, if called into 
actual service." This was in addition, probably, to the pay 
allowed by the general government. How many were drafted 
from this town is not known, as they were never called for ; 
the Indians having been defeated by Gen. Wayne, Aug. 20th, 
and the difficulties with England settled, Nov. 19th, by a 
commercial treaty. 

This year was remarkable for an extensive and -severe frost 
as late as the 17th of June,* and so copious that it might be 
gathered up into snowballs. Com and all the small fruits 
were cut oflF. The grass crop was also so scanty in conse- 
quence of cold and dry weather, that travellers in the suc- 
ceeding April found it difficult to obtain hay for their horses. 

1795. Doctors Dodge and Bernard, with Ephraim Snow, 
who had been chosen in 1794 to inquire into the state of the 
treasury, were, on their neglecting to report, this year con- 
tinued a committee for that purpose. Dea. Brown was re- 
elected treasurer ; but the vote was soon after reconsidered 
and Dr. Fales chosen in his room, with instructions to call on 
the collectors for settlement, and, in case of their failing to 
settle within two months after notice, to issue execution against 
any delinquent. 

As yet, no mail had penetrated so far east as Thomaston ; 

* Not Maf/, as erroneously printed in Annals of Warren. 

* m 

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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 201 

and probably few or no newspapers were read in the place, 
except those occasiimally brought by the coasters. The most 
eastern post office was at Wiscasset, to which a mail from 
Portland was brought twice a month. In 1793, however, 
Geo. Russell of Castine was hired by private individuals to 
go from Castine to Wiscasset to bring letters and newspapers 
to the several towns between those places. He went on foot 
once a fortnight, and carried his mail at first in a yellow silk 
handkerchief, afterwards in saddle-bags. As letters for peo- 
ple here at this time were received and given out at Col. 
Wheaton's, he has been traditionally handed down as the 
first postmaster of Thomaston ; but the first legal postmaster, 
appointed and recognised by Government, was his son, James 
D. Wheaton, the present year, 1795; when, on a petition of 
inhabitants of this and other towns interested, postmasters 
were appointed, the Thomaston Post Office and others estab- 
lished, and the mail sent officially once a week on horseback. 
The earliest official mail-carrier recollected, was one Clark of 
Camden, a shoemaker and bachelor, who was subject to con- 
stitutional fits of sleepiness, so intense as to cause him to 
slumber for miles, while his faithful horse pursued the accus- 
tomed route. He was succeeded by Winchester Farnham of 
the same town, a tanner. The first appointments, prior to 
1806, cannot be ascertained at Washington in consequence of 
the loss by fire of the three first books of the Department in 
1836; but Thomaston's first postmaster, James D. Wheaton, 
was probably appointed in May, as his first retiUns to the 
General Post Office were made July 1, 1795. He either 
kept the office in the grist-mill or his dwellinghouse, holding 
it till Nov. 1799, when he was succeeded by David Fales (2d) ; 
since which, the succession of postmasters has been, James D. 
Wheaton re-appointed, June 30, 1806; Hezekiah Prince, 
March 8, 1821 ; James D. Wheaton, re-appointed, April 15, 
1823 ; John M. Gates, Feb. 16, 1837 ; Edwin Rose, Dec. 8, 
1838 ; John M. Gates, re-appointed. May 24, 1841 ; Samuel 
Fuller, May 24, 1845; Shubael Waldo, Nov. 12, 1846; Asa 
C. Fuller, May 15, 1849 ; Ambrose Lermond, June 11, 1853 ; 
and Edward W. Robinson, April 30, 1861. The income of 
this office, the only one in the present town of Thomaston, 
for the year ending March 30, 1863, was $2020,20 * 

The several votes passed and committees raised some nine 
or ten years previous, in regard to providing a meeting-house 

* Hon. A. H. Hodgman, Locke's Hist, of Camden, Ketums, &c., in 
General Post Office, Washington. 



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202 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

by the town, in its parish capacity, having proved abortive, 
individual exertion seems to have taken up and accomplished 
what the town had apparently abandoned for some time. A 
subscription paper was got up as early as Jan. 16, 1792 ; but 
two or three years seem to hav« elapsed between its earliest 
and latest signatures. The names and sums subscribed were 
as follows : Mason Wheaton, £6, lawful money ; Oliver Rob- 
bins, £6 ; David Fules, Jr., £9 ; David Creighton, £3; Sam- 
uel Brown, £9 ; Israel Loveitt, £10 ; Phinehas Butler, £4 ; 
Wm. Lackey, £3; Josiah Reed, £12; David Fales, £10; 
Jas. Brown, £6; John Butler, £4; Wm. Gregory, £2 10s.; 
Daniel Morse, £6 ; Spencer Vose, £6 ; John M. Wight, £1 
4s.; Jas. Stackpole, £12 ; John Dillaway, £5 ; David Jenks, 
£9; Henry Knox, if built in the course of the year 1795, 
£40, and the glass for the house ; John Bridges, £4 ; Oliver 
Bobbins, £9 ; Jos. Coombs, £9 ; Walter Hatch, £7 10s.; 
David Fisk, £4 10s.; Nat, Woodcock, £5 ; Wm. Watson, 
£4; Isaac Spear, £3 10s.; Finley Kelloch, £6; Isaac Ber- 
nard, £6 ; Nathan Parsons, £6 ; and John Handley, £7 10s.* 
In consequence of this subscription, the frame of the first 
house of worship in the town, and therefore usually styled 
the Town or Congregational Meeting -house ^ was this year 
erected. It was located on the hill east of Mill river, upon 
a piece of ground conveyed May 2, 1796, by Capl, D. Fales 
(2d) to D. Fales, Esq., and other proprietors — containing 
forty-six rods and one-half, being 116 feet front by 109 feet 
in depth, for the consideration of $40. The building ap- 
pears to have been 50 feet in width and probably about the 
same in length ; exclusive of two projecting wings or porches 
in front, between which was an open court leading, to the 
main entrance into the body of the building below, and cov- 
ered over by an arch or platform extending from wing to 
wing, upon which was erected a belfry surmounted by a tall 
and elegant steeple. The house was furnished with capacious 
galleries upon three sides, one in front for the singers ; the 
other two having common seats forward for all who chose to 
occupy them, and a tier of wall pews in the rear. These 
galleries were approached by staircases which occupied the 
two porches. The pulpit, in the opposite end, was elevated, 
according to the custom which prevailed in those times of 
two-storied churches ; and an echo was provided to send the 
preacher's voice downwards to the pews below, in the form 

^ Original paper drawn up bj Dr. Fales, now in possession of Hon. Be- 
der Fales. 



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KOCKLAND AND SOXTTH THOMASTOK. 203 

of a hollow umbrella-shaped sounding-buard suspended above 
his head by a well carved hand and arm let down from the 
ceiling, as if from a concealed giant reclining above it. The 
whole was unique and in good taste for those times ; was 
framed and covered by Jas. Stackpole ; and finished by aid of 
several western artificers, in course of the two succeeding 
years. The raising of this house occupied three days,— 
drawing together large crowds of spectators and assistants 
from all the neighboring region ; and the grounds were lined 
with carts and stands for the sale of liquor, cakes, and other 
refreshments. These were probably too attractive; at any 
rate, difficulties ensued in raising the steeple, so that, in spite 
of ropes extended to neighboring trees, it came near falling 
upon the roof. Much fright and scrambling took place among 
those on the frame ; and Jordan Lovett fell to the ground, but 
fortunately escaped with only the breaking of an arm. The 
next morning after these vain efforts to get up the steeple. 
Dr. D. Fales rigged a pole and purchase so skilfully that a 
few men soon raised and brought the steeple to its proper 
position. No records of the proprietors of this house, prior 
to 1818, have been found. The original price set on the 68 
pews, seems to have been $5296. Various repairs, painting, 
and eales of pews, were ordered in 1818, 1822, and 1823. 
In 1825, the proprietors voted that the house be occupied by 
the difierent religious societies, according to the wishes of 
pew-owners ; but, not long after, the Congregational ists sold 
out their interest to H. Prince, in behalf of the Baptist and 
other owners, — the whole house being estimated at $1400. 
The Baptists being thus made the principal owners, the house 
was changed in name to the North Baptist; and in i826, a 
vestry 15 feet by 50 was finished oil* back of the front singers' 
seats. In 1838, this house, the name of which had the pre- 
ceding year been changed to the First Baptist in West Thorn- 
aston, appears to have undergone a complete transformation 
by dividing it into two stories and finishing the upper one for 
church service, with new pews in the modern style. On the 
10th of January following, it was dedicated anew. In 1848, 
a tax of $500 was voted, for extending the roof and rebuild- 
ing the steeple. In 1849, the lower story was voted to be 
finished off" into a vestry and school-room ; and the name of 
the house became, by vote, the First Baptist Meeting-house in 
Thomaston, Though now almost deserted for more fashion- 
able resorts, this church, at the time of its erection, sixty- 
nine years ago, was regarded with joy, pride, and congratula- 
tion by the fathers and mothers of the town, since passed 



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204 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

away to their reward, as a splendid monument of public spirit 
and religious reverence ; and, furnished as it was by the mu- 
nificence of Gen. Knox with a heavy and fine-toned bell, 
whose mellifluous calls to worship were the first heard in all 
this region, it continued to be cherished as the chief ornament 
of the place, and attracted admiration as the finest in this 
part of the country. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 205 

CHAPTER XI. 

KNOX, AND HIS HOME IN THOMASTON. 

The year 1795, is a memorable epoch in the history of 
this town, and the adjacent country ; made so in consequence 
of the resignation of Maj. Gen. Henry Knox, as Secretary of 
War under Washington, and his removal to Thomaston. 
This gentleman, whom we left in 1776 with the rank of Col- 
onel in the chief command of the artillery of the American 
army, had continued to win additional honors by his skill and 
bravery in the successive battles of Trenton and Princeton, 
Germantown and Monmouth, and had risen in rank and 
fame until the closing scene at Yorktown, which capped the 
climax of both, when his merits were duly acknowledged by 
Washington and rewarded by Congress with a commission of 
Major General, — a grade second only to that of the command- 
er-in-chief During the continuance of the war, the corps of 
artillery was principally employed with the main body of the 
army^ near the person of Washington ; and was relied on as 
an essential auxiliary in the most important battles. As a 
mark of Washington's appreciation of his services, Knox was 
selected to receive the sword of Cornwallis when that com- 
mander with his army was forced to surrender at Yorktown ; 
and, on the conclusion of peace, he was intrusted with the 
difhcult and delicate business of disbanding the American 
army at West Point. The painful separation of the ofl&cers 
and soldiers who had so long and gallantly served together in 
the cause which had at length become triumphant, and who 
were now about to return, unpaid and war-worn, to the pov- 
erty that awaited them at home, was extremely heart-rending 
to the soul of Knox, and not without vexation to his pleasure- 
loving partner who had followed the fortunes of the army, 
more or less closely, through all its movements. On breaking 
up the camp, she is said to have exclaimed " we have been 
posting about all over the country till we have just got settled 
down here in comfortable quarters, and now this plaguy peace 
has come, to set us all going again ! " Wherever Washington 
fought, Knox was by his side ; and there can be no higher 
testimony to his merits than that, during a war of so long 
continuance, he uniformly retained his confidence and es- 
teem. This confidence, before their separation, had. ripened 
into friendship which was kept up by a frequent and affec- 
VoL. I. 18 



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206 HISTOEY OF THOMASTON, 

tionate correspondence till discontinued by the death of Wash- 
ington.* 

After the close of the war, Knox with his family returned 
and spefit one year in his native Boston, but, in 1784, was ap- 
pointed by the Congress under the old confederation, Secretary 
of War ; to which office, in 1 789, he was re-appointed by Presi- 
dent Washihgton under the new federal constitution. This 
commission, the original of which was given by the Gen- 
eral's son to a ladyt whose kindness during his last sickness 
he appreciated, is now, 1862, in her possession in this town, 
and reads as follows : — 

" Oeorge Washington, President of the United States of 
America, to all who shall see these presents, greeting : Know 
TE, that reposing special Trust and Confidence in the Patriot- 
ism, Integrity, and Abilities of Henry Knox, Esquire, a Citi- 
zen of Massachusetts and a Major General in the late Army 
of the United States, / have nominated and by and with 
the Advice and Consent of the Senate, do appoint him Sec- 
.retary for the Department of War, and do authorize and em- 
power him to execute and fulfil the duties of that Office ac- 
cording to Law, and to have and to hold the said Office with 
all the Powers, Privileges and Emoluments to the same of 
Right appertaining, during the pleasure of the President of 
the United States for the Time being. In testimony whereof 
I have caused these Letters to be made patent and the Seal 
of the United States to be hereunto affixed. Given under 
my Hand at the City of New York, the twelfth day of Sep- 
tember, in the Year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred 
and eighty-nine. " G : Washington." 

The duties of this office were ultimately increased by hav- 
ing those of the navy attached to them — to the establish- 
ment of which, Knox's counsel and exertions eminently con^ 
tributed. But, having filled the office for eleven years, and 
being now desirous of attending more exclusively to his own 
somewhat neglected affairs and providing for a numerous fam- 
ily, he obtained the reluctant consent of Washington to retire. 
His attention was first drawn to this part of the country in 
consequence of his marriage with Lucy Flucker, as before re- 
lated, and her inheritance of a portion of the Waldo patent. 
Brigadier Waldo's estate was divided into five portions ; and, 
his son Ralph having previously deceased without issue, was 

♦Thatcher's Journal. — A writer in the Belfast Republican Journal, 
1851, on authority of Jos. P. Martin of Prospect, who served with Knox 
under Washington all through the war ; &c., &c. 

t Mrs. Norton, of Thomaston. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 207 

shared as follows: viz., Col. Samuel- Waldo (2d), by right of 
primogeniture, two shares; Francis Waldo, Mrs. Hannah 
Flucker, and Mrs. Lucy Winslow, one share each. Thomas 
Flucker, the husband of Hannah Waldo, having in 1 765* 
purchased of her brother Samuel his two shares of said es- 
tate, and having since, in consequence of his having joined 
the British, been declared an outlaw, and his estate confisca- 
ted, Mrs. Knox, the only loyal member of his family, became 
seized in right of her mother of one-fifth part of the Waldo 
patent ; and the two other fifths belonging to her father re- 
mained to be disposed of by an agent or administrator ap- 
pointed by the Judge of Probate for the county of SuflFolk, 
the late residence of said Flucker. Joseph Pierce, the agent 
first appointed, seems to have confined his doings to the pro- 
perty in Boston, or other parts of Massachusetts proper, and, 
having resigned his office, was succeeded by Gen. Knox, in 
accordance with a resolve of the General Court of June 28, 
1784. His bond was given to Oliver Wendell, Judge of Pro- 
bate for Suffolk county, for £20,000, with Benjamin Hitch- 
born and Henry Jackson, Esqs., as sureties ; at which time 
Flucker was styled an absentee, lately deceased.! In Octo- 
ber, 1790, Knox obtained license of the Supreme Judicial 
Court to sell all the real estate of Thomas Flucker ; and. May 
27, 1791, gave bonds faithfully to account for the same to the 
State treasurer. Having been duly sworn before Judge Ire- 
dell of Philadelphia, and having caused advertisements, dated 
March 21, 1791, to be posted up in Boston, Charlestown, and 
Roxbury, as also at Pownalboro', Newcastle, Nobleboro', Wal- 
doboro', Warren, Cushing, Megunticook, Thomaston, Camden, 
Meduncook, Ducktrap, Frankfort, Belfast, Penobscot, Union, 
and Hope, he made sale, at the Bunch of Grapes tavern in 
State street, Boston, July 2, 1791, to Oliver Smith of Bos- 
ton, of the two-fifths of the Waldo patent belonging to said 
Flucker's estate, estimated at 65,000 or 70,000 acres, with 
the exception of what had been sold prior to April 19, 1775, 
and subject to the conditions of the resolves of 1785 and 
1788. This purchase Smith conveyed to Henry Jackson of 
Boston, who, October 1, 1792, transferred it to Gen. Knox, 
still of Philadelphia, for the sum of $5,200. In the follow- 
ing year, 1793, Knox purchased of Samuel Waldo (3d) and 
others, the two remaining fifths ; and thus, in his own right 
and that inherited by his wife, became sole proprietor of the 



* Original Deed in possession of John Bulfinch, Esq., Waldoboro*. 
t Copy of document in J. Bulfinch's possession. 



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208 HISTORY OF TH0MA6T0N, 

Waldo estate, with the exception of what had been previously 
alienated. 

I have been thus particular in tracing Knox's title to this 
estate in consequence of having heard frequent vague sug- 
gestions of some unfairness in the manner of his acquiring 
it; and more especially as these suggestions have at length 
assumed the form of a grave accusation, not at all creditable 
to the memory of a worthy patriot and public benefactor. In 
I the history of Camden, page 23, it is stated on the authority 
of the late Dr. B. J. Porter, that, " after the Revolutionary 
war was over. Gen. Knox went to the General Court of Mas- 
sachusetts to have his titles confirmed, and obtain, if he 
could, a share of the sequestered portion of his wife's rela- 
tives' claims. He arrived on the day of the adjournment of 
the Court, and, as many representatives had not left Boston, 
he collected quite a number of them together and gave them 
a sumptuous supper ; after which they were in a pretty good 
mood to accede to his proposals. We have been credibly in- 
formed that a committee was formed by these members, when 
a bill was soon framed, which ultimated in his favor. . . . 
Thus the General, by his adroit manoeuvring principally, came 
in possession of the confiscated titles of the absentees, to 
which in fact he had no right above that of any other citizen." 
To say nothing of the utter improbability of a committee be- 
ing formed and a bill digested and framed, after a sumptuous 
supper, in the evening or night after the day of the Court's 
adjourning, the charge itself is too sweeping and general to 
be thus made upon a professedly jocose observation of one 
who had in early life participated in the conflicting claims of 
proprietors and settlers, and in old age would naturally feel 
disposed to gratify the young and curious questioner of the 
past with something of piquancy. Such authority, however, 
is of little value unless confirmed by written documents. 
Where are these to be found ? What bill was passed ? At 
the close of what session was it concocted ? What benefits 
did it confer, and what titles confirm ? These are important 
questions; and, till some one of them were answered, no 
jury would venture an indictment, nor do we see any ground 
for the suspicion to rest on. 

Knox having now become, and so far as we can perceive 
fairly become, the owner of an extensive domain, lost no 
time in taking possession, occupying, and improving the same. 
As the quit-claim deed firom the heirs of Francis Waldo and 
Lucy Winslow could legally transfer only such estate as they 
were in actual possession of, and large portions of it had been 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 2t)9 

taken up and were in the actual possession of those who had 
settled upon it during and since the war of the revolution, it 
was necessary to put the grantee in possession hy actual efti- 
try on those lots and by " livery and seizin made hy sod and 
twig." This legal ceremony was gone through with by Eben- 
ezer Vesey, attorney to the said heirs, and John S. Tyler, at- 
torney to Gen. Knox, in the autumn of 1793, upon the lots 
of eighty-seven settlers in Thomaston, eighteen on Thomaston 
Marsh, sixty-one in Warren, seventy-five in Gushing, twelve 
in Camden, five in Canaan, seventy-two in Ducktrap, ten in 
Meduncook, one hundred and one in Waldoboro', one on 
Brigadier Island, eighteen on Long Island, eight on the Pond 
back of Ducktrap, and forty-seven in Frankfort. 

Prior to this delivery, however, viz., in the spring or sum- 
mer of 1793, Knox had sent workmen from Boston, under 
the superintendence of Ebenezer Dunton the architect, who 
commenced preparing and erecting a spacious mansion of 
three lofty stories, including the basement of brick, and sur- 
mounted by a fourth, central and cupola-like, in the roof; — 
together with stables, farmhouse, and other out-buildings, to 
match. The work was finished the following year, at a cost 
of #50,000, in a style of beauty, symmetry, and magnifi- 
cence, seldom excelled, and at that time said to be unequalled 
in any part of the Commonwealth. The site chosen for this 
palace, as it might well be called, or chateau as French trav- 
ellers and visitors delighted to term it, was well selected, 
nearly on that of the old fortress, though a little further from 
the banks of the George's, with a delightful prospect in front 
extending eight or 4en miles down that river, finely sheltered 
by forest on the North-east, and open on the south-west to 
the breezes which on the hottest days of summer seldom 
failed to come with the tide to fan and refresh the balconies 
and corridors, arbors and alcoves, of this tasteful and noble 
residence. At the present time, the view from its roof, in 
which the villages of Thomaston and St. George lie like a 
map beneath the eye, is superb; but the original grandeur 
and elegance of this residence can scarcely he conceived of 
from what now remains of it. On each hand, a little back 
from the mansion, a tange or wing of out-houses extended 
east and west from it, inclining backwards from the river so 
as to form, with the mansion in front, a crescent or segment 
of a circle; — nine buildings in each wing, commencing on 
one side with the cook-house, and on the other with the 
mews or stable. These two structures of the range, being 
built of brick, are still remaining in their places. The rest 
18* 



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210 HISTORY OP THOMASTON, 

have been removed or taken down; one was purchased by 
Capt. Edward Robinson and removed for a store to the Fort- 
wharf, another by Mr. Elliott and made into a sail-loft. Two 
others have also been removed and are now occupied as 
dwelling-houses by Messrs. A. Levensaler and Wm. Young, 
respectively. The General also erected, on a sightly spot 
back of the present Maine street, a large three-story resi- 
dence intended for his son-in-law, Mr. Thatcher, but which, 
left unfinished at Knox's death, was subsequently sold to 
Jacob Ulmer, taken down, and removed. To this a fine 
avenue was to have been opened through the intervening 
woods to keep the two residences in communication with and 
view of each other. Nothing is now to be seen of the 
piazzas, balconies, balustrades, and other ornaments, of the 
mansion, — the splendid gateway leading into what is now 
Knox street, surmounted by the American eagle well carved 
in wood, the walks, summer-houses, gardens, orchards, well- 
arranged grounds, lawns, and forest openings. Time has 
gathered them all with their renowned author, and all the 
proud spirits or broken hearts that once composed his family, 
to their native dust. But we must not anticipate. 

Beautifully at the water's edge sat this sumptuous villa, as 
it first caught the eye and struck the lofty mind of Mrs. 
Knox, as she with her husband, children, and retinue, first 
passed up between the sombre evergreens and dusky forests 
that shaded either side of the river, to take possession of her 
new abode, on her ancestrel domain. Pleased with so ele- 
gant a creation, the romance of its site, and the contrast it 
presented to the surrounding landscape, 4ts new mistress, in 
conformity to the French taste, imbibed through her intimate 
friend, Mrs. Bingham* of Philadelphia, for some time a resi- 
dent in France, named the mansion MontpeMer. The fami- 
ly was brought hither, from Philadelphia, in the spring or 
sammer of 1795, in a sloop commanded by Capt. Andrew 
Malcolm of Warren, who was then, and afterwards, much 
employed by Knox in transporting his various products to 
different foreign and domestic markets. 

When the mansion was completed, it was thrown open, 
and a general invitation given to the p'eople of this town and 
all the neighboring settlements, to assemble on the Fourth of 
July, to inspect the building and partake of its hospitalities. 
Tables were set in the long piazzas, which extended on all 
sides around the lower and second stories ; and the mansion 

* Wife of Hon. Wm. Bingham, a United States Senator, &c. 

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ROCKLi^D AND SOUTH TH0MAJ3T0N. 21 1 

and grounds were vocal with music and conversation.* The 
ordinary style of living adopted was#iot less magnificent than 
the building, resembling more that of the old baronial castles 
than that of a private dwelling. It is said that a hundred 
beds were made, an ox and twenty sheep often slaughtered 
in a week, and twenty saddle horses and corresponding car- 
riages kept to accommodate guests and sojourners.f This may 
be, however, an exaggerated tradition, or confined to extraordi- 
nary occasions, such as that above described ; it probably in- 
cluded the provision for the workmen lodged at the farm-house 
and other neighboring boarding houses. The Duke de la 
Rochefoucault Liancourt, who visited the General this autumn, 
1795, says, " the House is a handsome, though not a magnifi- 
cent structure ; neatly, if not sumptuously furnished ; suffi- 
ciently spacious and convenient for the accommodation of a 
numerous family, with additional lodging for the occasional re- 
ception of seven or eight friends, or even more ; who, however 
unexpected their coming, would not fail to find themselves 
as comfortably entertained as they could desire." But the 
Duke, though now an exile and a wanderer, brought with 
him ideas of magnificence which centuries of oppression had 
enabled the old noblesse of France to maintain for them- 
selves.. At any rate, the kindness of the munificent Knox 
replenished the wardrobe of this aristocratic wanderer, who 
is said to have exclaimed despondingly one day while here, 
as he struck his forehead with his hand, " I have three duke- 
doms on my head, and not one whole coat on my back.J 

Nor did the General in his hospitality overlook the former 
occupants of the soil; now a broken people, fast melting 
away before the approach of a foreign and uncongenial civil- 
ization. He invited the whole Tarratine or Penobscot tribe 
to pay him a visit, and, after feasting them and supplying 
them with beef, pork, com, fiour, and meal, he divided a 
cracker and, giving one half to the chief, signified his liberal 
disposition and desire of mutual fi*iendship in the possession 
of the country, by saying, in the Indian manner, " me give 
you one half and me keep one half;" — adding, however, af- 
ter their stay had been wearisomely prolonged, for days and 

* Mr. N. Fales (3d), who well remembers the occasion, and the kindness 
of the General in inquiring of him, a boy of ten years, then standing un- 
der the piazza, if he had had anything to eat ; and, taking him up to the 
tables, heaped his plate high with viands, and told him to eat whatever he 
liked till he was satisfied. 

t Mrs. Ellet, in Lady's Book, who quotes Sullivan. A correspondent 
of Republican Journal, 1851, &c. 

X Published Letter of Mrs. Thatcher, &c. 



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212 HISTORY OF TH0MA8T0N, 

weeks, " now we have had a good visit, and you had better 
go home."* « 

In the mean time, the General had published advertisements 
in the public papers, offering favorable terms to new settlers, 
and extolling the fertility of the soil and salubrity of the cli- 
mate, to the latter of which the balsamic firs, he said, so 
greatly contributed. As a farther encouragement to the set- 
tlement of the country, he commenced several kinds of busi- 
ness on an extensive scale, which gave employment to a large 
number of workmen, and afforded a market for the products 
of the soil and the forest. He went largely into the brick- 
making business, near the water below the upper wharf, which 
he had rebuilt and greatly enlarged soon after his appoint- 
ment as agent, in 1784, and which, in contradistinction to 
Fort wharf new the mansion, was called Knox^s wharfs but 
which, from its successive owners and occupants, has since 
been known as Vose^s^ King's^ Greenes, BoyntorCa^ and now 
0*BrierCs wharf. Here, too, he had also erected a capacious 
store, and, under the management of Capt. Thomas Vose, as 
clerk at first, afterwards as partner, carried on an extensive 
mercantile business. The manufacture of lime also received 
his earliest attention, and was vigorously prosecuted at the 
quarry now belonging to the State Prison, and the kilns on 
the bank of the river a little above where the lower toll- 
bridge has since been erected. Nor were the soil and forest 
neglected. The orchard, garden, and farm were cultivated 
with neatness and skill ; and the mills at Warren upper falls, 
which he purchased, improved or rebuilt, were actively em- 
ployed in manufacturing various kinds of lumber from the 
logs which his own workmen or the pioneer settlers cut and 
floated down the river for that purpose. Making an arrange- 
ment with the only seven squatters whom he found on Briga- 
dier's Island, he converted it into a nursery for improved 
breeds of cattle and sheep which he attempted to introduce. 
Among the latter was a large coarse-wooled breed, which he 
imported from England, some of which being brought to this 
town and crossed with the native flocks, added much to the 
weight, if not the quality, both of the carcass and fleece. 
Wild game, also, was not beneath his attention ; among other 
experiments, he caused some quails brought from Massachu- 
setts to be turned out here, but which probably perished un- 
der the hard-crusted snows of the first winter ; though many 
persons, knowing only the whistling reputation of this bird, 

♦ Mr. James Vose, &c. 

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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 213 

mistook for it the screaming humility or tattler, which to this 
day, among many, retains the name of quail. The business 
of ship-building was also . undertaken by him as early as 
1796 ; and several coasters, before and after the close of the 
century, were launched and kept running in his employ. 

These various branches of business, creating as they did a 
large demand for log^, wood, provisions, and all the products 
of the soil, as well as the additional employment they gave 
to coasting and other vessels, stimulated the general business 
of the place and vicinity, and gave great facilities to the new 
settler in the payment for his lands, and to the older inhabi- 
tants in clearing themselves of the debts and incumbrances 
which the revolution had bequeathed them. To facilitate his 
lumber operations, Knox purchased the right to improve the 
navigation of the Ge<Mrge's River, (which had previously been 
granted to Charles Barrett, a principal proprietor and active 
agent in the settlement of the town of Hope,) and, after some 
experiments and disappointments, he completed locks of suf- 
ficient capacity for the passage of rafts and gondolas at the 
several falls in Warren, — opening the navigation of the river 
as far up as the mills in Union. 

The various works thus carried on, brought to the place a 
large number of mechanics, such as carpenters, masons, mill- 
wrights, blacksmiths, coopers, tanners, shoemakers, as well 
as farmers, lime-burners, brick-makers, and emigrants in 
general ; most of whom became permanent residents of this 
or the neighboring towns. Among these may be mentioned 
Howland Rogers, a ship and house carpenter, from Marsh- 
field, who, after building in this and the preceding season one 
vessel for M'Glathery, Prince, and others, in Camden, the 
first ever built there, came to this town, built vessels, and, 
among other of Knox's buildings, framed and worked upon 
the three-story house in Wadsworth street, now the man- 
sion of H. B. Humphrey, Esq.; John Rynier, a Scotch- 
man and fair penman, who was employed as a clerk and 
scrivener, but removed ; Edmund Wiggin, who came in 1794, 
followed somewhat later by his bro3ier, Wm. Howe Wig- 
gin ; Ward Russell, foreman in the brick-yard ; the wife of 
Wm. Mcintosh, who, together with Mrs. Mitchell afterwards 
Mrs. Gleason, and Olive White afterwards Mrs. Austin, came 
in Knox's family ; Aaron Austin and Preserved Willis, em- 
ployed by Knox in the lime manufacture, and who afterwards 
purchased fine farms at the Meadows, the latter where his 
widow has resided for the last fifty-eight years, and the former 
where his descendants still improve ; Benjamin Hastmgs, a 



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214 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

brick-maker, who built and kept the tavern which his widow 
continued many years after him in Wadsworth street ; David 
and Eliphalet Conner, coopers ; Luther, Lot, and Isaac Lin- 
cohi, masons; Samuel Kenneston and his four brothers; 
Samuel Hammond, who afterwards settled at or beyond the 
Meadows ; and Marlborough and Ephraun Conant, and Ste- 
phen Thompson attended by his deaf and dumb brother, the 
four last joiners by trade, from Bridgewater. E, Dunton, 
before mentioned, after completing the Knox mansion and 
building for himself the house subsequently owned by Capt. 
T. Vose, in consequence of some trouble or misunderstanding 
between himself and wife, sold out, and embarked for the 
West Indies or South America, where he was said to have 
married a Spanish or Creole lady, and never returned. His 
deserted wife set up a milliner's shop here, believed to be the 
first in the place. 

^ Knox, at the time of his coming to Thomaston,,wa8 forty- 
five years of age ; in the full possession and maturity of all 
his faculties, both of mind and body. His voice was natu- 
rally powerful, and, in the army and when occasion required 
it, easily rose above the storm of battle and the elements 
combined. His stature was rather above the medium height ; 
his frame well proportioned and muscular, inclining to cor- 
pulency, and weighing 280 lbs., according to a memorandum 
made by an officer of the Massachusetts line, Aug. 19, 1783, 
being the heaviest of eleven distinguished Revolutionary offi- 
cers then present, among whom Washington is set down at 
209 lbs.* In connection with this fulness of bodily habit, it 
is said that, when Knox was selected, together with one Capt. 
Sargent, to represent to Congress the starving and naked con- 
dition of the army at Valley Forge, one of the committee 
who heard them took occasion to remark that, nevertheless, 
he had not for a long time seen a fatter man than one of the 
gentlemen who had spoken, nor one better dressed than the 
other. Knox remaining mute, probably from indignation, 
his subordinate rejoined, that " the corps had, out of respect 
to Congress and themselves, sent as their representatives the 
only man among them with an ounce of superfluous flesh on 
his body and the only other who possessed a complete suit of 
clothes."! The General usually dressed in black, carried 
a cane, and habitually concealed his mutilated hand by a 
handkerchief or otherwise. . His features were regular ; his 

* Floating paragrapli in Thomaston Recorder of Ju. 10. 1845, &c. 
t IMe of Major John Andre, by Winthrop Sargent, p. ,144, note. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 215 

Grecian nose prominent ; his face full and open ; his com- 
plexion florid, hair naturally dark ; eyes grey, sharp, and pen- 
etrating, seldom failing to recognise a countenance they had 
once rested upon. His mental perception was equally .pene- 
trating ; and he needed but little time to form an opinion of 
a person's character, nor n^any words to express it in. When 
asked his opinion of AarAi Burr, about the time that person 
was accused of conspiring for dividing the Union, he replied, 
'n;hat man has a head to conceive and a hand to execute any- 
thing." Gen. George Ulmer of Ducktrap, now Lincolnville, 
hitroducing himself as a land-surveyor who would gladly ren- 
der any service in that line which might be wanted, detailing 
somewhat ostentatiously his long past experience, together 
with his recent purchase of a new set of instruments with 
their superior appendages, the General exclaimed, " you are 
the very man I have been wanting to see this long time ! I've 
a hundred acres of land which I want to divide into house- 
lots of ten acres each — how many will it make?" Ulmer, 
a Htde disconcerted by the suddenness of the question and 
supposing it one of difficult solution, began to prepare him- 
self for the task, by mustering up his powers, mentally re- 
stating the premises, carefully considering the different steps 
of the operation and striving to acquire sufficient coolness to 
perform it correcdy, when Knox, having counted as many 
seconds as he thought necessary, interrupted his cogitations 
by remarking, "it is no matter about an answer at present, 
any other time will do as well," and began to talk upon 
other matters. Ulmer was so chagrined, he said, at his own 
stupidity, that he never recurred to the subject again. 

Knox's disposition was social and humane ; his temper 
ardent ; and, when perplexed with the many and various 
branches of business in which he allowed himself to engage, 
and the importunate multitudes that, on a first return from a 
winter's absence in Boston, thronged his gates, clamoring for 
money due for staves, for hoop-poles, for lime-casks, mill- 
logs, timber, boards, plank, masts, spars, kiln- wood, cord- 
wood, bark, freight of cargoes, wages for labor in the ship- 
yard, brick-yard, at the lime-kilns, on the farm, in the garden, 
the mansion, the mills, on houses and other buildings he was 
erecting, with bills of the blacksmith, th§ physician, the tai- 
lor, the mantuamaker, and the milliner, together with other 
miscellaneous matters that in so large an establishment needed 
examination and adjustment, — he was liable to become irri- 
table and even irascible. Yet, so foreign was this state of 
mind to his naturally genial temperament, that he generally 



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216 HI8T0BY 0:P THOMASTON^ 

contrived to extract from it a pleasant joke, or a pun, and a 
hearty laugh, upon which to glide down into his usual 
placidity. "Here, Gleason," said he, after listening to a 
rather, prolix but importunate claimant, " give Hector McNeal 
Watts a deed of his land or he'll hector my life out !" One 
of his townsmen was liable to a peculiar convulsive affection 
of his jaws, which frequently, es^cially when a little ex- 
cited, would set his mouth wide open in the midst of a con- 
versation with no power to close it again or speak for sonft 
time. On one occasion in his eagerness to get a hearing up- 
on some business matters with Knox, this affection manifested 
itself with extraordinary pertinacity. The General, witness- 
ing the phenomenon, and growing impatient at its continu-T 
ance, at length put an end to it by thrusting the head of his 
cane into the man's mouth, begging his pardon, and adding, 
" I thought I must shttt up your mouthy in some way ; — if I 
couldn't with money." 

Among the many mechanics which his business brought to 
the place, was Maj. Nathan Parsons, a blacksmith, whose 
workmanship as an artisan was not less defective than his 
character in some other particulars, and who» it was said, in 
attempting to act the gentleman as well as the mechanic, but 
poorly succeeded in either. Having been, like many others, 
occasionally noticed and invited to dine by Knox, he loved to 
indulge his vanity by enlarging upon such attentions and pa- 
rading an account of them on all occasions. On some com- 
plaint made by the workmen employed in erecting a stable 
for the General respecting the hinges which Parsons had furn- 
ished, Knox inspected them himself and immediately dis- 
patched a lad to ask Major Parsons to come over there. 
The message was correctly announced, but in such general 
terms that neither Parsons nor the lad could exactly compre- 
hend its drift, — whether for consultation on some matter of 
employment, or for dining with his patron. Vanity suggest- 
ing the latter, he thought it best to be on the safe side, and, 
putting on his best broadcloth and purest ruffles, walked over 
to the General's. Meeting with Capt. Vose on the way, he 
was asked to take something to drink, but replied " no ! — go- 
ing to dine with the General." On his arrival, Knox, greet- 
ing him politely and taking him to the hinges, said. Major 
Parsons, I want you to tell me what these things are f " 
" Them ? " Said Parsons, " they're hinges" " Oh ! " very 
well, was the reply, " that is all that I wanted of you. Ma- 
jor." 
. DifEcult as he found it to obtain suitable persons to take 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 217 

the lead and oversee the different branches of business ia 
which he was engaged, Gen. Knox was peculiarly fortunate 
in the selection of one to take the superintendence of the 
whole and in his absence to manage every part of his business. 
This was the late John Gleason, Esq., — scarcely less known 
and distinguished here, than his employer. His ready per- 
ception, imperturbable temper, obsequious disposition, correct 
judgment, and reliability in all the details of business, emi- 
nently fitted him for the place he was selected to fill. As a 
surveyor, conveyancer, and general factotum, he was consulted 
on all occasions, and was supposed to know more about the 
General's affairs than the General himself On one occasion 
when Knox had contracted in Boston to furnish a lot of tim- 
ber of dimensions which he had himself taken down in writ- 
ing and on his arrival here handed to some lumberer, the 
man brought the paper back to him saying he was unable to 
read it. " Take it to Gleason,'* said Knox. " I have ;'* 
said the man, *' and he couldn't read it." " No,'* said the 
other, whose quick eye had by this time sufficiently inspected 
the document, " no ! nor the devil couldn't read it ! *' This 
carelessness and want of legibility in his handwriting, which 
in early life and his later hours of leisure was not wanting in 
clearness, he had probably fallen into, first, from the prompt- 
ness and despatch required by his station in the army, the 
complicated and multifarious duties of his office as Secretary 
of war, and the equally various and distracting business which 
succeeded upon his resignation of that office. The same 
causes had led him to contract, on all ordinary occasions 
where neither the warmth of old affection nor the importance 
of the matter required the contrary, a remarkable brevity of 
expression. Witness the following letter, lately in the pos- 
session of Capt. B. Webb of Thomaston, deceased, directed 
to Mrs. Knox at Philadelphia. "12 Miles on the road to Bos- 
ton from Providence. 12 o'clock Wednesday 13 Augt, 1794 
Here I am my love sound and well -^^ our passage from New 
York to Newport tedious, but I expected it, 50 hours — We 
arrived at Providence this morg. we have breakfasted and 
are here — I shall write you before my departure from Bos- 
ton. Yours ever and ever Hvnox. 

"Mrs. Knox." 

His peculiar signature, ffinox, in which the latter stroke 
of the H formed the first stroke of the K, was acquired ear- 
ly, however, and continued through life. 

The faithful services of Gleason, which were ever duly 
appreciated, did not prevent his employer from observing one 
Vol. I. 19 



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218 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

■peculiarity into which his affability and accommodating dis- 
position had led — which was that of answering "yes, yes," 
to almost every question or proposition before and whilst con- 
sidering the nature and bearing of it. Knox on one occa- 
sion, whilst walking with him past the three-story house in 
Wadsworth street, which, with several others, he had then 
nearly completed, took it into his head to try if he could not 
for once compel Gleason to answer directly, no. " Don't you 
think," said hfe, "that the chimneys in this house" — which 
were then all finished and topped out — "could be removed 
without being taken down, and put into that ? " — pointing to 
another in a less forward state at nearly half a mile's distance. 
" Yes, yes," replied the other, as usual ; but, in a moment 
perceiving its absurdity, added, " it might be done, but it 
would injure the buildings" — an answer which Knox greatly 
enjoyed as characteristic alike of the habit, the quick percep- 
tion, and ready resources of the man. 

Nor was the General less pleased when, like Falstaff, he 
himself was not only a fountain of wit, " but the cause of 
wit in others." Joseph Calef (commonly pronounced Calf) a 
cooper from Marblehead, attracted hither like many others 
by the fame and wages of Knox, when first introduced by 
that name, was accosted in the following manner. "Calf! 
Calf! certainly your mother was not a cow.^" "No! nor 
rby father an ox;" said he, punning on the GeneraFs own 
name. 

Though fond of such pleasantries in his promiscuous inter- 
course with the people, his general character was not frivo- 
lous nor his heart unsusceptible of more serious and tender 
emotions. He was a firm believer in the truth of Christianity, 
the immortality and immateriality of the soul ; and, from his 
reflections on religion committed to paper, it is evident that 
his thoughts were often and intensely employed on the all im- 
portant concerns of a future and, as he believed, progressive 
state of existence. He had little regard for the distinctions 
of creeds and sects, for his charity was as diffusive as the 
globe and extensive as the family of man.* He was a sup- 
porter of Christian institutions, and contributed much, by 
his liberality and his example, to promote the preaching of 
the Gospel. * hen in town, and there was worship in the 
sanctuary, he was uniformly found in his pew on the Sab- 
bath ; differing much in this respect from his wife, who, 
though she was fain to send for a carpenter and have the 

* Thatcher's Journal, &c. 

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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 219 

structure of her pew altered, the better to suit her ease or 
her fancy, yet, it is said, was never seen there but one-half 
day afterward. Indeed such was the prejudice or perversity 
of this spoiled child of fortune and indulgence, that it often 
interfered with her husband's good intentions and correct 
sense of propriety. The Rev. Mr. Whiting sometimes spoke 
of the pains she once took to slight and mortify him ; when, 
having supplied the pulpit, he was invited home to dine by 
the General, who, on their coming to the table and finding 
her seated, pleasantly said, "rise, my dear, and the parson 
will ask a blessing.** She took no notice, but sat unmoved in 
her stateliness. He repeated his request in a more distinct, 
loud, and emphatic manner. Still she did not move. Then, 
with something of that stentorian voice which at the battle 
of Trenton rose above the tempest, he repeated "rise! — 
my — dear! — the parson is going to ask a blessing!** This 
being also without efft^ct, the blessing was asked, and the 
dinner partaken of, without any allusion to the circumstance, 
Mrs. Knox had, however, her difierent moods, and was well 
fitted to move in the higher circles of wealth and fashion, 
where she was a general favorite. She was, we are told, 
" possessed of a mind of a high and powerful cast, with such 
qualities of character as make a deep and abiding impression; 
and her influence on all with whom she came in contact was 
very decided. The deference of General and Mrs. Washing- 
ton, and the homage paid to her intellectual superiority by 
many persons of judgment and talent, show this influence to 
have been great and well-founded ; in general society, it was 
commanding, and gave a tone to the manners of the time.*' 
She is described as having been, even in her latter days when 
upwards of sixty, "a remarkably fine-looking woman, with 
brilliant black eyes and a blooming complexion. Her style 
of dress, which was somewhat peculiar, and her dignified 
manners, gave her the appearance of being taller than she 
really was."* She has also been described as " enormously 
large;'* and, at the time of Washington's inauguration at 
New York, she and her husband were considered " the largest 
couple in the city, where both were favorites : he, for really 
brilliant conversation and unfailing good humor, and she as a 
lively and meddlesome, but amiable leader of society, with- 
out whose cooperation, it was believed by many besides her 
self, that nothing could be properly done in the drawing-room 
or the ball-room, or any place, indeed, where fashionable men 

* Letter of her daughter to Mrs. Ellet. 



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Ii20 HISTORY OP TriOMASTON, 

and women sought enjoyment.* Her talents for the sway of 
the general taste were said to have been of great service to 
the lady of President Washington ; who, retiring and domestic 
in her habits, relied on the assistance of her friend, whom she 
had learned to appreciate both in the army and at Mt. Vernon, 
where she had been her guest during the siege of Yorktown.f 
Whilst his companion delighted in displaying her person 
and accomplishments in the crowded assembly or the giddy 
dance, Knox loved to draw around him men of wisdom and 
wit, information and thought, talent and invention. His val- 
uable library, according to the inventory, contained at the 
time of his decease, not less than loS5 volumes, of which 
364 volumes were in the French language ; besides which, 
ten dollars worth of pamphlets, fourteen of maps and charts, 
three microscopes, two thermometers, a pentagraph, two cop- 
ying presses, two globes, mathematical instruments, spirit 
levels, one spy-glass, one telescope, and various other mat- 
ters of the kind, are enumerated. His martial proclivity 
was indicated by the enumeration in the same document of 
two pairs of pistols, eleven small-arms, four guns, a blunder- 
buss and, two cannons ; while a piano forte, the first and only 
one then in this region, a billiard table, and a barge for sail- 
ing, were among the means of amusement for his family 
and guests. His house was the seat of elegant hospitality; 
and many persons of distinction, both of this and of for- 
eign countries, were happy to partake of it. Amgng the 
latter were Rochefoucault LianCourt, before mentioned, Tal- 
leyrand, and Louis Philippe ; the first of whom thus writes : 
"On the 3d day of October [1795] four and twenty hours 
after our arrival at St. George's,'* [after a journey down east 
with the General and his negro servant, mostly on horseback] 
" I was obliged to set out for Boston. I had experienced 
such friendly entertainment from Gen. Knox and his family, 
that it was with real concern I left them. They did not treat 
me as a stranger, but with the kind and easy attentions which 
are paid to one who is at once a relation atid a friend. Mrs. 
Knox is a lady of whom yoii conceive a still higher opinion 
the longer you are acquainted with her. Seeing her at Phil- 
adelphia, you think of her but as a fortunate player at whist. 
At her own house in the country, you discover her to possess 
wit, intelligence, a good heart, an excellent understanding. 



* DuYckinck's Biog. of Knox, in National Portrait Gallery, who quotes 
Griswold's Republican Court, p 172. 
t Letter of Mrs. Thatcher, before quoted. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMAJSTON. 221 

In the country, Miss Knox* lays aside her excessive timidity, 
and you admire alike her beauty, wit, and cheerfulness. As 
for Mrs. Flunker,f you find her interesting at a first acquaint- 
ance and no less so upon a longer familiarity. I say nothing 
of the General. I have already said he is one of the worth- 
iest men I have known ; cheerful, agreeable, valuable equally 
as an excellent friend and an engaging companion. With a 
heart grateful for so much kindness, I took my leave of this 
worthy family ; and . . . the whole family saw me de- 
part with the same kind concern as if I had been a near re- 
lation." I 

The General's hospitality was not, however, confined to 
such. Many a poorer exile from his native land, many a 
weary missionary in his round of frontier duty, many a dis- 
tressed adventurer with some real or pretended improvement 
in science or art, found here a refuge from oppression, rest 
from fatigue, a hearing and per'haps adoption of some scheme 
or discovery. He loved to see every one happy, and could 
sympathize with people of every class and condition, rejoice 
in their prosperity, and aid them in adversity. His compan- 
ion, on the contrary, wished to have nothing to do with what 
she considered the lower classes, unless when she needed their 
service ; and made no visits, exchanged no civilities that we 
are aware of, with^any families in the place — except, per- 
haps, on one occasion at the house of Capt. Vose. She used 
to ride out in her coach, the only one in the vicinity ; but re- 
turn, like Noah's dove, finding no place to alight at. On one 
of these occasions her carriage breaking down, she had to 
wait for some temporary repairs to be made ; the good peo- 
ple of a neighboring house came out, inviting her and her 
children into their dwelling; but she chose to remain stand- 
ing in the muddy street till the injury was repaired. Her 
principal resource was in summer to entice some of her city 
acquaintances and friends to make long visits at the mansion, 
and to spend her winters in Boston in the midst of gay 
amusements, splendid parties, or the excitement of the gaming 
table, where she delighted to play deep and risk extravagant 
sums, insomuch that her coming to the city was said to be 
dreaded as a misfortune by the wife of Lieut. Gov. Phillips 
and other sober and considerate matrons. These journeys 
were often made by land, especially in winter ; but on ac- 

♦ Lucy, afterwards Mrs. Thatcher, 
t Quaere, who ? 

X Travels in North America by the Duke de la Rochefoucault Liancourt^ - 
London edition, 1799, p. 449,'vol. L 
19* 



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222 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

count of the imperfect condition of the roads and want of 
suitable accommodations at the stopping places, a passage by 
water was generally preferred in summer. But even the pro- 
verbial levelling exigencies of a wood-coaster could not over- 
come her repugnance against mingling with the ignobile vuU 
gus, A daughter of Capt. Malcolm, being the youngest of a 
deceased mother, and often accompanying her father in his 
trips to Boston, remembers making the passage when Mrs. 
Knox, her children, and their nurse were on board, and that 
the lady remained shut up in her carriage during the whole 
voyage, neither speaking nor having any intercourse with 
any but her servants, although one of her daughters, Henri- 
etta, was suffering with the consumption, of which she after- 
wards died, and the dry nurse was too ill with sea-sickness 
to give much attention to the other children, who were glad 
to run about the deck and play with their little fellow pas- 
senger. On another occasion, when my informant went with 
her father, the commander of the- vessel, to see the General 
on business at his residence, she was welcomed with delight 
by the children, who were sporting on the lawn, till her fath- 
er returned with the General, when one of them ran up ex- 
claiming, " Oh, pa ! here's a little girl !*' On this, the Gen- 
eral took the little visitor up in his arms, and caressed her 
with all the tenderness and affection of a fbnd parent and true- 
hearted gentleman. Indeed, it is said, that he seldom pass- 
ed children in the street without speaking to them and often 
tossing them bits of change. Another lady*, still living in 
town, testifies that the General's wife, also, " was not so 
much stuck up as our aristocracy are now-a-days,^* for, being 
emplo/ed, when a small girl, to bring some of her mother's 
butter at every churning, as better flavored than that of Mrs. 
Knox's own dairy, the latter used to call her to her room and, 
with many kind words, pay her with her own hands. Yet, it 
is also said, that her pride of rank and family was always 
wounded by any allusion to her husband's early occupation. 
It is related that, when visiting at the house of a respectable 
friend in Massachusetts, with her little petled and spoiled son, 
who busied himself in disarranging every thing about the 
room, and especially the books, she said to the mistress of 
the house " Henry must not be restrained ; we never think 
of thwarting him in anything;" and, on the lady's replying, 
" but I cannot have my books spoiled, as my husband is not 
a bookbinder" Mrs. Knox was so offended that she immedi- 
ately and unceremoniously took her departure," 

♦ Mrs. Mary Hyler. 

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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH TSOMASTON. 223 

Among the fine arrangements in and about her magnificent 
residence, there was one feature which to persons of a true 
and cultivated taste would have enhanced its charms, but 
which to Mrs. Knox was only a source of annoyance and a 
subject of frequent complaint. Near the dwelling and in 
sight from its windows, was a small cluster of ancient graves 
and humble memorial stones of early settlers who had taken 
refuge in the Fort, of soldiers who had fallen in its defence, 
or of chaplains and missionaries who here closed their labors 
and were buried beneath its walls. These could not fail at 
times to interrupt her gayety by the unwelcome thoughts of 
death; and she proposed to have them removed. Her com- 
panion was shocked at the idea, and gave no countenance to 
such a violation of the last resting-place of humble but brave 
defenders of this frontier post in the wilderness. Subse- 
quently, however, in his absence, the work was done by her 
order, and the monuments all broken or levelled and re- 
moved, — to the indignation of those whose kindred and an- 
cestrel dust was thus disturbed, and to the regret and mortifi- 
cation of the General, who on his return is said to have 
seized his hair with both hands, tearing it and pouring out 
hearty execrations on such vandalism. 

Whilst Mrs. Knox was thus by her haughtiness and capri- 
cious conduct sinking in public estimation, her husband con- 
tinued to maintain his own popularity by the frankness, sin- 
cerity, and liberality so natural to him. Among other things 
he gave a piece of land for a burying-ground north of Main 
street, since the principal cemetery in Thomaston ; a large 
pulpit bible still in use by the Congregational Church there ; 
singing or hymn books, it is believed ; and the bell, before 
mentioned, the first that ever called a Christian assembly to 
worship in this the landing place of the earliest Anglo-Saxon 
explorers. Though pressed with his own business and multi- 
form occupations, he was often consulted by his townsmen, 
and readily gave his counsel and aid in relation to the settling 
or employing a minister, and other matters of importance ; 
was repeatedly chosen to represent the town in the General 
Court; was a member of the executive council, and his opin- 
ions had great weight with Gov. Strong, then the chief magis- 
trate of the Commonwealth. Though independent and firm 
in his political sentiments, like Strong he was disposed to 
conciliate those who differed from him in opinion, and was 
wholly free from the spirit of intolerance. Having now 
reached the height of his earthly wishes; beloved and re- 
spected by the people to whose prosperity he had so much 



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224 HISTOEY OF THOMASTON, 

contributed; courted and admired as the ornament of the 
highest circles, he was yet, — we may add, lest our account 
should savor of partiality, — not without his defects. He is 
said to have made too frequent a use of profane language ; — 
a habit he had probably contracted in the army. It was not, 
however, with him that vulgar, senseless, unmeaning use of 
sacred language so often met with, but consisted rather of 
solemn asseverations upon too unimportant and frivolous oc- 
casions. For instance, on some dispute with a back-woods- 
man about the number of logs furnished him, which the man 
offered to make oath to, "well!" he said, "if you are willing 
to risk your immortal soul for four and six pence, do it, in 
the name of G — !" This was uttered in so solemn a tone 
and manner that the man quailed and precipitately fled from 
his presence. Other faults of the General were, that he at- 
tempted more business than he could carry on without loss to 
himself and dissatisfaction to his employees; and was too 
easily persuaded to adopt the specious and Utopian schemes 
of pretentious empirics and adventurers. As specimens of 
these last, we may mention the substitution of an inclined 
plane of earth for a lock, at his mills in Warren, for which 
the Frenchman who constructed it took, care to get his pay 
and be off before the water was high enough to make trial of 
it ; . as also a marble-mill, the first in the place, which he was 
persuaded to have built back of the Scotch or Nicholson 
house, on a brook or stream, so small that after the mill was 
set agoing and the saw had worked into a block of marble 
about half its width, it stopped for want of water, and there 
remained, for years after the General's death, — a monument 
of easy confidence and misapplied expenditure. The build- 
ing was subsequently removed and converted into the dw^U- 
inghouse now owned and occupied by Peter Williams. The 
project, probably, seemed at the time less chimerical than 
now ; as, in early times, before the clearing up of the woods, 
the waters of this as well as of other streams were much 
more copious. It is moreover said that it was part of the 
plan to supply the deficiency of water by diverting the Part- 
ridge brook, so called, from its course into Mill River and 
turning it by means of a dam and canal into the brook in 
question. Knox seems to have been not unaware of this 
weak point in his character. When in the Legislature, and 
wishing to get an appropriation made for one of the pages of 
the House, he requested another to offer the resolution, saying 
he would do it himself, but " people say already that I would 
bankrupt the nation." 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 395 

Yet these failings were easily overlooked ; and, from aught 
that tradition has handed down, it does not appear that he 
was at all undeserving of the poetic eulogy bestowed upon 
him in his life-time by a co temporary writer, who thus apos- 
trophized him : 

<* Raised by thy toils the brazen bulwark stands, 
Thy care creates it, and thy voice commands ; — 
Yet as the truly brave are truly kind, 
And mildest manners mark the noblest mind, 
So, while a country's wrong thy spirit fires 
And patriot ardor every deed inspires, 
Not more in arms revered than loved by fame 
For every worth the social virtues claim, — 
In war, the terror of the blazing line, 
In peace, the soul of gentleness is thine." 



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226 HISTORY OF THOMASTON. 



CHAPTER XII. 

EYENTS IN OENEBAL FKOM 1795 TO CLOSE OF THE CEN- 

TUKY. 

The Baptist society, under the care of Mr. Snow, contin- 
ued to prosper ; and this season, 1795, something of a revival 
took place and many were added to the church. Thus en- 
couraged, the society set about providing a house of worship ; 
Wm. Howell and Ephraim Snow gave land for its site, and 
in 1796 the present church edifice was erected. This has 
since, in 1847, been greatly improved by lowering the gallery, 
removing the entrance from the front side to the west end, 
adding at that end a belfry and steeple and remodeling the 
pews and pulpit to correspond, — still remaining the only 
house of worship in South Thomaston, and increasing the 
interest as well as beauty of its principal village. The orig- 
inal house was built on contract by H. Prince, then residing 
in that village, was raised June 23, 1796, and the lower part 
finished by Aug. 20, 1797 ; three days after which the Bap- 
tist Association was held in it. The adjacent burying-ground 
was used, as occasion offered, from the first settlement of the 
place; but, though the town voted, April 6, 1818, to allow • 
$50 for fencing, it lay unfenced till 1824 or later, when, at 
the suggestion of Asa Coombs, Esq., the citizens turned out 
July 5th, hauled rock, and walled it in. A claim having 
been made on the town for this service, and a deed procured 
from Mr. Snow, in accordance with the town's vote to allow 
the same whenever such deed should be given, some $40 or 
$50 were received from its treasury. 

In May, 1795, Perez Tilson from Halifax, Mass., came to 
the place, and, a year or two after, married and settled on the 
farm which he long and successfully managed, and which 
still remains in the hands of his descendants. He was ac- 
companied, or soon followed, by Walter Hatch from the same 
neighborhood, and the two commenced trading in company ; 
but after a few years Hatch returned to his native place. 
Tilson was one of the founders of the first Congregational 
church in 1809, of which he became deacon and remained a 
worthy member and steady supporter till his death in his 
88th year. His elder brother, William, as before noted, came 
earlier, and for many years kept a public house — the site of 
which is occupied by the dwelling of Wm. Thompson, in 
Kockland. About this time, also, Joshua Adams came to 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 227 

OwFs Head from Lincolnville, where he had worked for some 
years as a blacksmith, and now commenced the same business 
here. Industrious and frugal, with a quick eye for business 
and great promptness in seizing opportunities, he rapidly ac- 
cumulated properly, went into trade, built vessels in dull 
times when wages and materials were low, and seldom failed 
of having tbem ready to take advantage of a favorable turn 
of the times. He is said to have built the first ship in the 
town. 

Philip Hanson came from Dover, N. H., about this time, 
or not long after, and commenced the tanning and shoemak- 
ing business near the present Mill-river school-house, next 
adjoining which, on the same side of the way, was his dwell- 
inghouse. He was an active and popular man ; was for a 
time, it is believed, deputy sheriff; opened a store of dry 
goods below the present residence of R. C. Counce, Esq., with 
a basement for heavy articles ; built two or more vessels ; and 
carried on his several branches of business with success till 
his untimely death in 1804. Peter Stone, a tanner from 
Framingham, was employed in Hanson's yard,- and after his 
death carried it on a few years for himself, but removed to 
Castine and there married for his second wife a daughter of 
Dr. Oliver Mann. Tanning was also commenced at an un- 
certain date, but probably in 1792 or 3, by Benjamin Wil- 
liams, in South Thomaston on the eighth lot above the St. 
George line, who carried it on to a moderate extent for some 
years. He came from Harpswell, and was followed by two 
of his brothers in 1805 and 6, one of whom, Daniel, took 
the farm since occupied by Perley Graves, but at that time 
settled by Samuel Otis, who exchanged with Williams and 
removed to Harpswell. Dea. James Weed, also, in the same 
neighborhood, had done something at the same business, but, 
it is believed, to no great extent. Another new-comer to 
the Mill-river neighborhood, about 1791, was Asa Bennett, 
from Ashby, Mass., whose comic minstrelsy and doggerel 
rhymes contributed much to the merriment of the huskings, 
raisings, and other gatherings of the time. Besides his oc- 
cupation as a cooper, he seems, by some of his verses still 
extant, to have tried his hand at trade also, " down by the 
Mill Creek ;" but settled, or at least lived for a time, in the 
Healey neighborhood west of the Meadows. 

The impulse given to business about this time was not 
confined to the western part of the town. Ship-building at 
Wessaweskeag had been and was at this time carried on to a 
considerable extent, as we find the schooner Betsey & Jennie 



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228 HISTORY OF TH0MA8T0N, 

was built this and the following season by Ooombs and Elder 
Snow.* The latter of these gentlemen was the first to begin 
the business there, and, in connection with his sons, most of 
whom were also ship masters and very enterprising men, car- 
ried it on successfully for many years. Coombs also began 
this business at an early period, having built the Experiment 
sometime before the close of the war, and, before the present 
year, the Little Sallie and the Arthur^ in both of which the 
Fessendens of Boston took shares. At the Shore or future 
Rockland also, John Ulmer, this year, it is believed, built a 
small sloop, which subsequendy, being loaded with lime, took 
fire and was consumed in Boston harbor. Not far from the 
same time too, I. Barrows built the sloop Olive, and John 
Crockett, the schooner Friendship, 

The season of 1795 appears to have been a cold one; as it 
is remarked, by a traveller here in the autumn, that " the 
mercury in the thermometer has not, in the course of the 
present year, risen above 72^ of Fahrenheit or 17^^^ of Reau- 
mur, in the vicinity of St. George's River There 

has been much cold and rainy weather."! 

1796. About this time, probably, a thrilling scene and 
mournful accident were witnessed at Wessaweskeag. As Oli- 
ver Keating and his sister Miriam were crossing the river on 
their way to school, upon a single plank or timber which 
formed the only bridge there had yet been in that place, the 
boy fell off" into the water. His sister instantly plunged in 
after to save him ; and Mr. Coombs perceiving the trouble 
jumped immediately from the fiood-gates in order to rescue 
both, but succeeded only in saving the sister. To effect this, 
required the utmost exertion of all his strength, insomuch 
that he was unable to walk on reaching the shore ; while she, 
from her concern for her brother, was so excited mentally 
that she experienced no ill effect from the plunge. A daughter 
of Mr. Stackpole had narrowly escaped drowning on a pre- 
vious occasion, but was saved by Sullivan, the school master, 
who kept her above water till Coombs came to their assist- 
ance in a boat. J These accidents acted as a spur to the slug- 
gish intentions that the citizens had before entertained of pro- 
viding a more commodious passage across the river there ; and 
the first Wessaweskeag bridge, supported by wooden piers, 

* Notes and memoranda by H. Prince, Esq , who did the joiner work 
in 1796. 

t Travels in North America by the Duke de la Rochefoucault Liancourt, 
p. 428. vol. i: 

X Messrs. R. Eowell and A. Coombs. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 229 

was accordingly built by H. Prince the present year, and the 
expense defrayed, we belieVe, by voluntary subscriptions. 
Ten years later, in 1806, it was reconstructed by the same 
builder, with abutments of cob-work and earth, by order and 
at the expense of the town, which, Nov., 1811, voted $200 
for its repair. It was again repaired in 1835. 

Another exciting but less fatal incident, in the same neigh- 
borhood, was experienced in the summer of this year. Char- 
lotte, a little three-year old daughter of Robert Thorndike, 
went out to play, strayed into the woods, and, when missed, 
was nowhere to be found. An alarm was immediately given, 
the neighbors turned out, horns were sounded, and the search 
continued with the aid of dogs all through the night, without 
awakening the little sleeper. The following day she was 
found by her father about a half mile from the house, asleep 
and uninjured, on the declivity towards the shore. 

At another time, the date of which has not come down to 
us, a similar but more nearly fatal case happened also in 
what is now South Thomaston, on the George's river side. 
One of the many sons of Benjamin Williams, then about four 
years old, was told by his mother, who was busy in her 
baking operations, to go out and get her some oven- wood. 
This was the last she saw or thought of him till supper-time, 
when one seat at table was found vacant. Search was tnen 
made by the family and their neighbors through the night, and 
renewed all the next day, but without effect. The following 
day, almost every man and woman from the settlement of 
Wessaweskeag turned out to their aid ; but still, with all 
their shouting, blowing of horns^ and the help of keen-scented 
dogs, no trace of the child could be found. On the third day, 
however, Tristram Jordan, who had felt at first that he could 
not afford to leave his work at shoemaking to join in the 
search, now, — in consequence of his labor not proceeding 
with its usual success, his wax crumbling, his thread snarling, 
with other petty annoyances, — began to entertain a convic- 
tion that he ought to be looking for that child. Accordingly, 
with a strong impression, amounting to full confidence that he 
was destined to find him, though perhaps in a starving con- 
dition, he took some bread and butter in his pocket, set off, 
and went directly to the spot where the poor child lay, ex- 
hausted and helpless. Though considerably bruised by falls 
and feeble from want of food, the boy was carried home to 
his afflicted but now joyful family, and after much care and 
VuL. I. 20 



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230 . HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

nursing through the night, rapidly recovered, and is still, 
(1862) among the living.* 

In 1796, Rev. Paul Coffin, D. D. of Buxton, was sent as 
a missionary and visited the frontier settlements on Sandy 
River, the upper Kennebec, and across the country to Belfast, 
returning by the sea-shore. The following extract from his 
journal, while passing this locality, may be of interest. 
"Aug. 14th. Duck-trap. Sabbath. [At] Squire Ulmer's. 
Preached from John 12: 46, to about ninety hearers. I was, 
I think, the first missionary who gave them a Sabbath. . . . 
15th. Cambden, formerly Meduncook. [Megunticook.] 
Squire McGlathry treated me with true and simple politeness 
and hospitality. This is a place beautiful for situation and 
promising for trade. . . . 15th. Cambden, Thomaston, and 
Warren. Rode this day about twenty miles to Warren, and 
put up with Rev. Jonathan Huse. This road was quite good, 
compared with what I passed through in most of the places 
of my mission. I passed through Clam Cove in Cambden ; 
then through Thomaston, where the famous Georgetown 
Lime is burnt, now called Thomaston Lime. Here is a pretty 
meeting-house, hipt roofed. Mill River has a bridge over it, 
and some houses and a trader or two near it, as is also the 
meeting-house. Here saw several waggons which was a rare 
sight, as I saw few iron-bound wheels in my mission. This 
town and Warren look like old places. The latter [quaere, 
former?] is seventy years old and has had a Mr. Rutherford 
for its minister. Dined at Gen. Knox's. His house is ad- 
mirably situated, looking south, almost directly down George's 
River, which makes a kind of a bay, and salt water here. 
The river itself empties below his house, and Ldid not cross 
it till I arrived almost to Rev. Huse's, about six miles from 
the General's. Before this, bet\Veen the General's and 
George's River, I crossed another, called Oyster River. The 
general has a garden fenced ovally. Indeed circles and semi- 
circles in his fences, &c., seem to be all the mode here. His 
house draws air beyond all the ventilators which I had before 
seen. I was almost frozen for three hours before we took 
dinner and a plenty of wine. The General being absent, 
gone East, in a Portland Packet with Mr. Bingham,! I dined 



* Mrs. S Fuller, Capt. R. Thorndike. 

t Probably looking to the wild lands of which he became an extensive 
purchaser. Bingham was accompanied to Thomaston by his wife, two 
dc^ughters, wife's sister, Miss Willing, afterward engaged to Louis Phil- 
lippe, the Viscount de Troailles, brother-in-law of Lafayette, and one of 
the most polished nobles of the French Court, Mr. Richards of England, 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOM ASTON. 231 

with Mrs. Knox and her daughters, and Mrs. Bingham and 
her sister and daughter. We had a merry dinner, the little 
misses talking French in a gay mood. Mrs. Bingham was 
sensible, had been in France, could talk of European politics, 
and give the history of the family of the late king of France, 
&c. The General's house with double piazzas round the 
whole of it, &c., exceeded all I had seen. In Warren and 
Thomaston, you see lime-kiLis, cooper's shops, and casks 
and wagons, which things as you come from the eastward 

seem new 20th. Saturday. The weather is 

still yery dry, and has been for three weeks."* 

Notwithstanding the marks of improvement which Mr. Cof- 
fin seems to have discovered, the town must have presented 
at this time a very different aspect from that which it now 
wears, in its three municipalities. It was still a woody re- 
gion, interspersed with straggling clearings, dotted here and 
there with small, low, unpainted houses, many of them of 
logs and some few of hewn timber, distant from each other, 
along half-made or newly laid out highways scarcely fit for 
wheel vehicles of any kind. The Beech Woods then meant 
something ; a heavy growth of that beautiful tree covered the 
place, with the exception of the Fales clearings; and the road 
from thence led through a dense forest, quite down to the 
present Main street, Thomaston. From Knox street between 
Main street and the St. George's, a forest, partially divested 
of its heaviest growth, extended nearly or quite down to Mill 
River. On the Warren road, beginning at Oyster River, 
were the houses of Nathaniel Woodcock ; Robert Porterfield, 
nearly opposite the present house of Mrs. Walker; Robert 
Shibles on ilie southern side of the road, and John Shibles 
on the northern side ; John Dillaway on the same side, about 
where the Washingtonian liberty pole was erected in 1843; 
Abiathar Smith, in an old dilapidated log-house on the corner 
east of Wadsworth street ; Drs. Dodge and Webb, or their 
successor Wm. Watson (2d), on the farm next to Dillaway's, 
at a litde distance north of the road ; Thomas Stevens, next, 
on the same side; then David Jenks's public house, where 
Dr. Rose now lives; then Jonathan Lampson, where the 
Keegan store stands ; and Mason Wheaton in his small, new, 
framed or plank house at the foot of Mill River hill. East 
of Mill River, a few clearings and dwellings were seen along 

and Alex. Baring afterwards Lord Ashburton, who in 1798 married Mr. 
Bingham's daughter Ann Louise, — all of whom spent six weeks here, a 
gay and brilliant party in the wilds of Maine. Mrs. Thatcher, «&c. 
* Coffin's Missionary Tour in Coll. of Me. Hist. Soc. Vol. IV. p. 326-7. 



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232 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

the banks of the George's, its Bay, the Meadows, and the 
Camden road. Of the future divisions of the town, South 
Thomaston was, prior to the coming of Knox, considerably 
the most populous, and could boast of the busiest and most 
enterprising village. The Shore, as Rockland was then 
called, lay wholly out of the traveller's range of observation, 
and had not yet attained to the dignity of a village; being 
approached only by a private way leading from the Camden 
road at Blackington's Corner. There was, however, no want 
of places of entertainment, since three persons in that part 
of the town, were this year licensed as innholders, as will ap- 
pear by Table VII. The first two-story house, in the future 
city, had been erected by Jonathan Spear, Jr., on the west 
side of what is now Main street, Rockland, a few rods, north 
of Pleasant street; and a second was this year added by 
Capt. John Ulmer on the site where Messrs. B. and H. Ulmer 
have since built a block of stores and Atlantic Hall. Ulmer 
was ai the same time building a small sloop, to take the place 
of the one burnt in Boston.* As to the good roads spoken 
of by Mr. Coffin, it must be remembered he passed on horse- 
hack and in a dry season. Corduroy bridges and causeways 
were universal ; by which every brook and springy place and 
long reaches of bog and quagmire, especially near Mill River 
and the Head of the Bay, were made passable, though in 
Spring scarcely so. 

Duke Rochefoucault also made another visit at Knox's in 
September of this year — making the passage froni and to 
Boston in the sloop of Capt. E. Kelleran, whom he charac- 
terizes as " a very civil, good-natured man." He remarks 
that '* the General's settlement assumes considerable stability. 
A part of his useful projects begin to be realized. . . . 
His popularity, ... his gentle and frank mode of pro- 
ceeding with the unlicensed settlers on his lands, confirm all 
his prospects of success." Yet the Duke's keen discernment 
led him to remark, also, that " his works cost him more than, 
with greater regularity and watchfulness, they ought to have 
cost him. . . . He undertakes too many things at once, 
to be able each day to inspect them all with sufficient care." 
The Duke perceived symptoms of increasing wealth here, in 
the augmented price of lands; of timber; of fire-wood, 
which, from $1 at the landing last year, now sold at 81,50 ; 
of carpenter's wages, which, from $10, had risen to $11 a 
month ; of cattle, risen one seventh ; and in the number of 

* Mrs. Hannah Watson, and others. 



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BOCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 233 

vessels now on the stocks, eleven in the several towns on St. 
George's river having been added since 1795. Lime, how- 
ever, in consequence of the increased number of kilns in op- 
eration, had fallen from 10s. 9d. to 8s. or 98.; and " hay had 
risen one tenth, but merely on account of the drought of the 
season."* 

D. Fales, Jr., Capt. Reed, and J. Bentley^ were appointed 
a committ,ee " to take care of the town Landing and see that 
it be not obstructed." The Legislature having passed an Act 
requiring towns to furnish a survey of their territory for a 
State map, the town voted that J. Coombs be appointed to 
make such survey and to allow him £31 for performing that 
service ; but, as he was no surveyor, it is probable that the 
task was not performed. The town, also, being called upon 
to collect the sense of its legal voters as to the expediency of 
revising or amending the State Constitution, conformable to 
a provision in that instrument; gave. May 6th, twenty-seven 
votes, the whole number cast, in favor of such revision. At 
the usual May meeting, the choice of representative resulted 
in the election of Capt. Reed; but, from some cause not as- 
certainable from the records, a subsequent meeting was called 
on the 18th of that month, when the former choice was re- 
considered and Dea. Brown elected. 

The first regular-bred lawyer in the place was Samuel Jen- 
nison, a graduate of Harvard, who came here not far from 
this time, and resided for the rest of his days. But either 
from want of business, or the habils he had acquired as an 
officer in the army, he did little in his profession, except as 
a scrivener. 

It was in January of this year that a meeting by appoint- 
ment took place at Frost's tavern in Warren, between Dr. 
Dodge of this town and Cornelius Turner of Waldoboro', 
which, as it throws some light upon the character of the 
times and of individuals, may be worth mentioning. The 
Doctor had, some time before this, contracted with Turner to 
build him a small sloop for carrying lime ; but when the ves- 
sel was built according to contract, for some reason he refus- 
ed to take her. Turner sued for damages, and, after the ac- 
tion was continued one or two terms, the present meeting 
was held for the purpose of attempting a compromise. After 
talking the matter over and making mutuj 1 offers, they came 
within $100 of agreeing. Nearer than this they were unable 
to come and were on the point of parting, when Dodge offer- 

■ * Travels in North America, vol. 2, pp. 179, 180. 
20* 



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234 HIBTOBY Oy THOMASTOH, 

ed to split the difference. This being refused, he then -pro- 
posed to decide by a game at cards whether he should pajr 
the $100 or Turner accept the $50. To this Turner agreed. 
He won the game and Dodge gave his note for 8100, paya-. 
ble in thirty days with interest. When the note became due, 
the latter refused to pay, on the ground that it was a gam-* 
bling debt and not recoverable by law. Turner sued ; and 
the case was continued from term to term and carried by the 
defendant, by appeal, to the Supreme Court, where, at the 
July term, in 1800, it was finally disposed of. At the trial, 
before Judge R. Treat Paine, who was distinguished for his 
stern severity, all the circumstances of the transaction were 
proved, the case was argued at length, and the Judge charg- 
ed the jury somewhat as follows:— " Gentlemen, we all 
know the evil of gambling ; its pernicious tendency cannot 
be too deeply lamented. It is a vice which we all ought to 
set our faces against in the most determined manner. Magis- 
trates and juries are bound to discountenance it in every 
possible way. But, gentlemen, but— when two men have a 
difference which they attempt to settle, and come within $50 
of effecting it, and then undertake by a game of cards to de- 
cide which party shall lose the remaining $50, — a-a-ah, gen- 
tlemen, you have the whole subject before you ; you will take 
everything into consideration and make up such a verdict, 
under all the circumstances, as you shall think just and rea- 
sonable." And, without any instruction as to what the law 
was, the jury retired and brought in a verdict in favor of the 
plaintiff for $126,50. The cost amounted to $57,88. 

Truth compels us to say that the practice of card-playing 
with its attendant vices of gambling, drinking, and late hours, 
received too much countenance at this time from those whose 
position enabled them to take the lead in social circles. It 
arose partly, perhaps, from the scarcity of books, newspapers, 
and other means of rational entertainment. Merchants, law- 
yers, physicians, and, in some instances even clergymen, were 
not free from the contagion, which gradually extended to other 
classes, insomuch that it was one great recommendation of 
a newly settled minister in a neighboring town that he was 
free from these immoralities. The Rev. Thurston Whiting, 
of Warren, frequently employed as a preacher in this and 
the neighboring towns, had been an intimate acquaintance of 
Dr. Dodge at college. The t\\o differed from each other; 
yet they had many traits in common, such as a lurking love 
of mischief at other people's expense, a keen sense of the 
ridiculous, the sublime, the passionate, and the daring. Both 



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ROCKLAKD AKD SOOTH THOMASTON. ^^ 

were equally fond of epic and dramatic poetry, loved the cre- 
ations of Shakspeare and Milton, and, with the aid of school- 
toaster Sullivan, delighted to personate FalstafF and Hamlet, 
Richard Third, and the fallen archangel. In the last of these 
characters, Dodge was pre-eminently successful. "Milton 
makes him a noble fejlow!'* he Once exclaimed to the writer, 
after reading with glowing countenance and flashing eye the 
speech of the defeated Lucifer, closing with, " for me, I'd 
rather reign in hell, than serve in heaven." Sullivan de- 
lighted in Falstaff, and all kinds of humor ; but his forte was 
in the character of Richard, the night before the battle at 
Bosworth field, when with a visage naturally wild enough, he 
would exclaim like one suddenly frightened from sleep, '* a 
hcffse ! my kingdom for a horse !" With companions so con- 
genial in many respects, it is not to be wondered at that the 
amiable and too facile Whiting, in times when cards and 
spirituous liquors were deemed essential in the highest cir- 
cles, should be occasionally drawn into excesses unbecoming 
the clerical character. These, however, were not indulged in 
without compunction of conscience, and, in his later years 
especially, were looked upon with the deepest contrition and 
remorse. These three persons are here brought together on 
account of their literary taste alone, and not from any general 
resemblance of character or particular intimacy in other re- 
spects. Whiting seldom lost sight wholly of the oroprietie* 
of his calling ; Dodge, though a lover of good eating and 
drinking, did not allow either to interfere with his business 
habits ; whilst Sullivan, constitutionally subject to intervals 
of depressed spirits, would fly to intoxication for relief and 
make a mere beast of himself for weeks. Between these 
spells, returning to such employment as he could obtain 
either as teacher or shoemaker, he would apply himself to his 
business assiduously, soberly, and sometimes moodily, yet 
never willingly omitting an opportunity for a witty joke or 
sarcastic repartee. On one occasion, when he was employed 
at his trade by Whiting partly from pity, partly for profit, 
that clergyman was setting out, on Sunday morning, to preach 
in a neighboring town and inquired of his wife, who had 
been brushing his coat, if there were any stains upon it. 
Thereupon Sullivan spoke up suddenly, *' the stains are in 
your hearty Mr. Whiting." Though a firm adherent to the 
Catholic church, he was not insensible to some of its weaker 
points. He was wont to exclaim to his drinking companions 
**^ thanks to the council of Trent; they forbade us. to eat 
meat on Fridays, but let us drink as much rum as we please ! " 



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236 HISTORY OP THOMASTON, 

Yet his love of science was pure, and he was ever ready to 
aid others in its pursuit* Havinj? led Dr. Dodge to com- 
mence or revive his arithmetical studies and indoctrinated hin* 
into the mysteries of compound interest, the latter exclaimed 
with animation "if I had only understood this rule soon 
enough, I would have owned half Thomaston by this time ! " 
Whiting, on the contrary, availed himself of Sullivan's aid to 
gain a deeper insight into the higher branches of mathemat- 
ics from the mere love of science and the conscious pleasure 
of overcoming difficulties. Others, by one or the other of 
these two, were gradually initiated into the secrets of geome- 
try and algebra, sciences little understood in those days, even 
by graduates; and the mutual proposition and solution of 
problertis became with Whiting, H. Prince of Thomaston, 
James Malcolm of Gushing, and others, a favorite amuse- 
ment for leisure hours and a refuge from the infirmities of 
age, to the close of life. 

Sullivan's strong love of science, connected with his im- 
patient and irritable temper, led him into much unjustifiable 
harshness and severity towards his intractable pupils, especial- 
ly the petty darlings and favorites at home, whom he used to 
designate as the " silver spoons." One of these victims, who 
still remembers him, cannot, without the keenest feelings, re- 
call the treatment he was doomed to suffer and the sickness 
which, while playing with his companions on the bridge at 
Wessaweskeag, came over him at the sight of *^the master" 
and compelled him to go home and betake himself to bed. 
Even that refuge proved unavailing. The master's voice was 
soon heard in the house inquiring, " where's Asa ? " "He 
has gone to bed, sick." " I want to see him " ; and he walked 
into the bedroom. After casting a look at the boy, he turned 
to the mother with "no more sick than you be" ; and, to his 
fiat, both boy and mother were forced to succumb. A school- 
master's authority in those days was something tangible, and 
his anger terrible. Yet "Master Sullivan's" most violent 
exacerbations would readily subside whenever an opportunity 
was presented for a bitter pun or cutting sarcasm. * On one 
occasion, a tall gawky lad, remarkable for a hump back and 
stooping form, whilst being reprimanded for coming late to 
school, said, "I came straight from home." ^^ Straight from 
home ! " replied Sullivan, with a pleased look, and sending 
him to his seat, "then you must have got confoundedly 
warped by the way ! " Keen at discerning the thoughts of 
people, he could more easily bear an open rebuke than a secret 
dislike or silent disrespect. Calling at Mr. Coombs's one day, 



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ROCKLiLNB AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 237 

and seeing Isabella spinning on the foot-whe6l, he asked, 
" Where's your mother, my dear?" She answered, with an 
air of indifference, '' I don't know where she is." Blandly 
repeating the question, " where's your mother, my dear ?" 
and receiving the same petulant answer, he exclaimed, " why 
don't you tell me it's none of my business, you son of a 
bitch ?" This last inelegant phrase was an habitual expres- 
sion of his, and, even when applied to females, as it indis- 
criminately was, meant nothing with him in any high degree 
offensive^ — litde more, indeed, than when a fond mother calls 
her little darling a rogue. To give it a more offensive sig- 
nification, the epithet "lousy" was usually added. Thus 
qualified, he had, on some occasion, applied it to Capt. Israel 
Jordan ; and, from the manner in which it was received, or 
the remembrance of the first cause of the offence, he continu- 
ed to use it whenever he fell in with him. At length Jordan 
told him that whatever his expressions to him in private 
might be, he would " not bear such opprobrious epithets any 
longer in public^ and, as sure as you repeat it again before 
people, I shall knock you down." Sullivan, in consideration 
of something to drink, promised to abstain. Not long after, 
however, on a town meeting day, when the crowd was thick- 
est, he called out, " Israel ! I want to speak a word with 
you !" and, taking him a little on one side, he whispered, far 
from inaudibly, ** you are a dirty, lousy ^ son of a bitch," — 
and continued to do so at each subsequent meeting. Treated 
in this way, the feud, instead of being healed, gradually be- 
came chronic, and assumed a more serious aspect. One day 
Sullivan, in a state of excitement, went up where Jordan was 
breaking flax, and insisted upon fighting him. His danger 
being seen by a neighboring woman, who, from his feebleness 
and the strength of his adversary, feared, in her benevolence, 
that he would be killed, she despatched Mr. Post, a neighbor 
who happened to be present, to bring off Sullivan before he 
should get the punishment which he certainly deserved. Post 
being a stout man, took him up in his arms and carried him 
off to the house ; when, instead of thanking his benefactors 
for their rescue, he commenced a tirade of abuse for their in- 
terference with other people's affairs, adding, that '* all that 
hating of Jordan's was nothing." Having to deal alike with 
whigs and tories, the schoolmaster avoided taking sides with 
either, and did not profess any knowledge of the merits of 
the contest ; but, having a grudge against Mr. Dillaway, a 
warm whig, he could not let so favorable an opportunity as 
the Biguyduce defeat pass without an attempt to add a fresh 



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238 mSTOEY OF THOMASTON, 

sting to his already lacerated feelings. So, going up to him, 
as if to deliver a message, he said, with a grave and serious 
air, 

" We burnt up all our shipping, 

Gave o'er the jolly eruise, 
And through the woods came tripping 

From captured Bagaduce." ^ 

Ephraim Hall, a brother-in-law of Elder Snow, though fa- 
vored with little education, became^ soon after his conversion, 
desirous of improving his gifts as a preacher ; and, by steady 
perseverance succeeded in his efforts and was long the worthy 
pastor of the Baptist church in St. George. In his early at- 
tempts, he, not unnaturally, felt solicitous to know how well 
lie succeeded and what people thought of him. Accordingly, 
after an association of the order was held at Wessaweskeag, 
be. sought to take advantage of Sullivan's intimacy with Snow 
to find out how he stood in the estimation of that distinguished 
minister. Cautiously inquiring at first what he thought of 
the performances and what brother Snow thought of them, 
what he thought of this speaker and how he liked that one, 
and at length coming to himself, he said, '' and what did 
brother Snow think of me and my poor performance ? " "I 
don't know" said Sullivan "what he thought ; but I know 
what I thought he thought." " Well," said Hall, what did 
you think he thought ? *' "I thought," said Sullivan, '' that 
be thought that fool had better sit down and hold his tongue.' ' 

But enough of the Irish schoolmaster. It is a little re- 
markable that in this as well as the year preceding and year 
following, no taxes were voted for schools, — apparently from 
some supposed or real injustice, or partiality in the expendi- 
ture of former appropriations. The new or federal currency 
being now legally established, #600 were voted March 7th, 
to repair the highways; payable in labor at an advance of 
one-fifth upon prices of 1795, and of one-third upon those 
of many years anterior to that ; from which we readily in- 
fer that an equal advance had been made in business and 
the demand for labor. Surveyors of lime were this year 
chosen for the first time, viz.: Thomas Shibles, John M. Wight, 
John Crockett, and James Fales, Jr. 

1797. Of the meeting, Nov. 7, 1796, for the election of 
a Congressional representative and an elector of president, 
nothing appears on record but the warrant for calling it ; as 
is t^ie case, also, with the May meeting, 1797, for choice of a 
representative in the General Court. 

Some of the aged and early settlers were, this year, called 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 239 

away by death ; among them, Capt. Nathaniel Fales, a warm 
and active patriot in the Revolution, a useful citizen and me- 
chanic, who had mingled much in. town affairs, died on the 
13th of April in the 71st year of his age. Connected with 
his death and burial, was one of those singular foreshadow! ngs 
in a dream, which sometimes closely correspond with succeed- 
ing events. He related before his death, that in his sleep he 
appeared to have died, was carried to his resting-place, de- 
posited in the grave, and left there uncovered till the bearers 
went back and brought another corpse to be interred in the 
same ground. * This actually happened ; Mrs. Judith, wife of 
James Stackpole, having died the same day and been buried 
Its predicted. These interments were made at the small bury- 
ing-ground down the bay, on the Lovett lot. The town this 
year, March 6th, appointed Capt. Jenks, Capt. Ephraim Snow, 
Wm. Heard, B. Cooper, and O. Robbins, a committee to look 
out a suitable place for a burying-ground in the westerly part 
of the town ; but as no further proceeding is on record, it is 
presumed their action resulted in the choice of the present 
burying-ground in Thomaston and its donation to the town 
by General Knox. The first burial in this gift of the General, 
was that of Dea. Barnard's daughter, who died Jan. 31, 
1800 ; the second that of Nat. Fales's daughter, in February 
following. 

Mechanics still continued to arrive. Adam Levensaler, a 
cooper from Waldoboro', after working some years for Knox, 
married, purchased and built where he passed the remainder 
of his life in the house recently occupied by his son Lincoln, 
toward Oyster River. In 1797, or the preceding year, Row- 
land Jacobs, a young blacksmith, came from Scituate, or 
Hanover, Mass., and was hired by Gen. Knox to take charge 
of his blacksmith shop on Vose's wharf, previously occupied 
by Major N. Parsons. Being a skilful, energetic, and faith- 
ful workman, he continued in Knox's employ till 1801 ; in 
which year, according to written agreement of Nov. 1, 1800, 
now before me, he was to receive $1,25 per day for himself, 
and 66 cents for his apprentice James Partridge; — Knox to 
provide " board, lodging, and washing, but not their liquor." 
At the close of that year, Dec. 24th, Jacobs took a lease of 
the shop and tools, and managed the business on his own ac* 
count till June 13, 1805, when he delivered up the tools to J, 
Gleason, Knox's agent, and removed to an establishment of 
his own, still occupied by his youngest son. He had pre^ 
viously lived, with his newly married wife, in one of the tene» 
ments of a large house, since that of R. Young, built by 



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240 HISTORY dP TH0MA8T0N, 

Knox in Wadsworth street, which he hired Dec. 24, 1801. 
He was naturally humorous, witty, and fond of convivial en- 
joyments, but possessed taste for reading and literature, and, 
after a half century spent in successful acquisition of property 
by industry and economy, died of a cancer in the ear at the 
age of nearly eighty-six. An instance or two of his blunt 
and tart humor may be worth narrating. • Returning with his 
neighbor, from a protracted and exciting town meeting, in 
which the two had taken opposite sides on some sharply con- 
tested question, he found himself unable wholly to discontinue 
it on the way; and his neighbor,. equally exlftited, began to 
heap upon him abusive epithets and call him all the oppro- 
brious names at his command. " Well," said Jacobs, when 
about taking leave and turning from the road toward his own 
house, "call me anything and everything you please, only 
dorit call me by your own name, neighbor!" On another 
occasion, two ladies were bantering upon the respectability of 
their different families. At length one of them appealed to 
Mr. Jacobs, saying, "You, sir, were acquainted with my 
father; you never knew any hurt of him, did you?" "Mad- 
am," replied he, in slow and measured words, *' I never knew 
any good of him." This humor of his, was not unlikely to 
elicit humor in return, and in one instance, at least, seems to 
have met with its match. Whilst shoeing a mettlesome horse 
for the Rev. Mr. Cheely, on being interrupted and nearly 
prostrated by a sudden start of the animal, he in his confu- 
sion exclaimed *' the devil. /" then looking up at the parson 
he added apologetically, " Mr. Cheely, is there any harm in a 
man's saying the devil ?" " There is no harm," coolly re- 
plied the clergyman, " in a man's talking about his own rela^ 
lives. ^^ 

This year, also, Darius Brewster, though a son of one of 
the earlier settlers, came to- the place for the first time, and 
settled on a rich, mountainous tract of land in the north-east- 
ern part of the town, on a part of which his descendants 
still remain. In the absence of the Proprietors, and at other 
times when not forbidden, it had been the custom for persons 
wishing to settle, to squat on the land, as the phrase is, or in 
other words, to select a lot for themselves, get a survey and 
plan made, and take possession. If, in addition to the sur- 
vey, a fence, however slight, was made to enclose the land, 
it gave the occupant a title sufficiently good against all inter- 
lopers but not against the original proprietors, or persons 
claiming under them. Even without fencing, such lands 
were often transferred by quitclaim deeds ; and titles thus 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 241 

acquired were considered valid until better ones could be 
shown. Prior to the coming of Knox, many such squatters 
were found here, and their claims to the right of pre-emption 
usually allowed by him ; but the want of a previous regular 
survey and general laying out of lots frequently caused con- 
flicting claims, from which much animosity, family feuds, and 
expensive lawsuits arose, — sometimes ruining one or both of 
the parties, and, perhaps, leaving neither of them the means 
of settling with the true proprietor and perfecting a title. 
Mr. Brewster soon found himself involved in one of these 
disputes, which came near being attended with very serious 
consequences. Dr. Dodge had also procured some title and 
laid claim to the same, or at least a portion of the same, 
tract of land taken up by Brewster, at Madambettox Mt. — 
including a piece of meadow near by. Brewster, we believe, 
had cut the grass before ; but, on this occasion. Dodge gave 
him notice of his determination to cut it himself. Brewster, 
who had been a soldier of the Revolution, said if he did he 
would certainly shoot him. Not putting much faith in the 
threat, however, the Doctor, with a gang of men well sup- 
plied with implements and ample stores both for eating and 
drinking, repaired to the disputed territory, hoisted a flag of 
defiance, and commenced work. After some hours, Brews- 
ter, finding what was going on, came down and ordered 
them to desist. This command not being complied with, he 
subsequently returned through the bushes, armed and unper- 
ceived, and leveled his musket, aiming at the legs of Dodge, 
wh6, happening to stoop down at the same instant, received 
a charge of slug-shot in the fleshy portion of his posteriors. 
Surprised and confounded, the men screamed with affright ; 
Dodge, perceiving Brewster about to rcrload, begged for quar- 
ter ; while Abiathar Smith thought himself already half killed, 
and unable to move. On closer inspection, however, he was 
unable to discover the place of injury, and the Doctor was 
found to be the only sufferer. Though perhaps possessing the 
better title, Brewster, in consequence of this violence, and 
after concealing himself in the woods, where he was secretly 
supplied with provisions by his family, till it was ascertained 
whether the doctor would recover or not, was at length com- 
mitted for trial, sentenced to imprisonment for a time, and 
was ultimately forced to yield a valuable portion of his pos- 
session. Here, on the declivity of the mountain. Dodge 
erected commodious buildings in a commanding situation 
overlooking most of the town, cleared up the land, and car- 
ried on extensive farming operations for some years, with a 
Vol. I. 21 



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242 HISTORY OF TH0MA8T0N, 

relish and a success which showed at ance his taste and skill 
in agriculture.* 

Several new roads^ for which the reader is referred to Ta- 
ble I, were accepted by the town, this year ; and, among 
them, one from the Meeting-house, between the respective 
lands of D. Fales and D. Fales, Jr., through J. Butler's land 
to Josiah Ingraham's at Owl's Head Bay, two rods wide, 
subject to gates. Humble and unpretending as this road was, 
and chiefly designed to accommodate the church-going people 
from the Shore, it not long after became much used, was, 
in 1806, made an open road, three rods wide, and remained 
till 1855, the principal medium of communication between 
the Shore and River villages, or, as they soon began to be 
called. East and West Thoniaston. 

On the 10th of May, 1797, the sense of the town was 
again taken on the expediency of applying to the Legislature 
for their consent to the separation of Maine into a distinct 
Commonwealth ; when 49 out of 50 votes were cast against 
separation. 

1798. The town having, during this interval of peace, 
grown negligent of military matters, and being under indict- 
ment for not having the stores of gunpowder, musket balls, 
flints, and tin or . iron camp-kettles required by law for its 
mUitia, voted, Jan. 30, 1798, Sam'l S. Wilde, Esq., of War- 
ren, its attorney, to answer thereto before the Court of Ses- 
sions, at Augusta. The militia of the town having now be- 
come too numerous for a single company, was about this 
time divided into two, — the North and South companies. Of 
the former, David Fales., Jr., was chosen Captain, John M. 
Wight, Lieut., and Phinehas Butler, Ensign ; and of the lat- 
ter Ephraim Snow became Captain, Joshua Adams, Lieut., 
and Jonas Dean, Ensign. 

The indictment, before mentioned, was not the only occa- 
sion the town had for the employment of an attorney, about 
this time. One John Ramsey, who had been employed in 
teaching school in the N. East Meadow District in 17^4 and 
1795, and for which he had received a town order, dated 
June 9, 1795, for £12 or $40, now, on refusal of payment, 
for some cause not handed down, brought a suit against the 
town, and, aftet a vigorous but ineffectual resistance on its 
part, recovered $57 39cts. debt and dost. 

The people this year seem to haVe awakened to the impor- 
tance or education, and voted a tax of $300 for schools. . John 

* Messrs, B. Webb, B. Brewster, and tradition. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 243 

Remington received $75, Aug. 29th, for three months teach- 
ing in the Western district. Rev. Daniel Weston, who was 
preaching in this town in October and November of this year, 
was probably employed also as a teacher; as he was after- 
wards, Nov. 6, 1800, applied to by Jenks, D. Fales, Jr., 
Stackpole', and P. Tilson, to teach four months at $25 a 
month, boarding himself out of it, and to preach at the same 
time ; to be paid for by contributions. But whether he actu- 
ally taught in either of these years, does not appear. 

The vexatious aflfair of the widow Anna Clark, whose es- 
tate and the place liable for her support had so long baffled 
the authorities of the town to discover, was this year brought 
to an end by her death and the admission of her claims as a 
State pauper. Only $66 50cts. were received from the State 
treasury, — the annual allowance which had been made to 
Mr. Porterfield for her support. 

William and James Watson, with their estates lying on 
the western side of the river and originally included within 
the limits of Warren, had up to this time, at their own re- 
quest, remained a part of that town, where they had many 
friends and family connections. But, as Thomaston had now 
become a place of active business, and as they found it much 
more convenient to attend worship here than at the new 
meeting-house in Warren, they had now made application to 
the General Court to set off them and their estates to Thom- 
aston. This application having been referred to the town at 
the annual meeting, a unanimous vote was passed in favor of 
the measure, and the General Court enacted, June 28, 1798, 
" That William Watson and James Watson of Warren, in 
the county of Lincoln, together with their real estate within 
the following metes and bounds, to wit : Beginning at a stake 
at the head of the Narrows, so called ; thence east-south-east 
to St. George's River ; thence northerly up said river, to the 
first bounds, be, and hereby are set off from said town of 
Warren and annexed to the town of Thomastown in said 
county." Thus the important locality of Watson's Point 
was now legally united with Thomaston, as it had formerly 
been by a ferry and has since been by the toll-bridge leading 
towards Cushing. 

Spencer Vose was succeeded in the tanning business, about 
1797 or 1798, by Josiah Keith, at the same stand ; and Abra- 
ham Lushe from Boston, known here by the soubriquet of 
Doctor Lushe, was the principal hand in the tan-yard, em- 
ployed, we believe, by each of these gentlemen. Keith was 
from Bridgewater, and an active man of business, which he 



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244 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

carried on with energy and success during his life-time. It 
is related that, at the birth of his oldest child, Wm. R. Keith, 
Esq., a silver dollar was put into each hand of the infant 
by his uncle^ Wm. Robinson ; whilst Dr. Lushe, who had 
been despatched for the physician, and, to quicken his horse's 
speed, had donned a pair of spurs, which he was unused to 
and forgot to take off, on going down cellar for a pitcher of 
cider to treat himself and the company with, got his feet en- 
tangled with the spurs, and pitched headlong into the cellar, 
to the alarm of the household and manifest danger alike of 
the pitcher and his own life. But, whether these circum- 
stances had any influence on the new-comer's future procliv- 
ities for good and fast horses and the management of pro- 
perty, is not averred. This year, also, we find the names 
of E. Scott Young and Ebenezer Vose, among those selected 
to be put in the jury box, — the first time they are men- 
tioned, though, being single men, they probably were here 
a year or two earlier. Young was a mason from Scitu- 
ate, and settled on the Healey part of the John Alexander lot, 
on which he built, north of the road, the house which he lived 
in during his life, and which has recently been purchased and 
rebuilt in costlier style by Capt. D. Oliver. That part of the 
land south of the road was, not long after, taken by John 
Barnard, a ship-carpenter from Newburyport, who first came 
to the river in 1 795, but worked some years at Warren and 
elsewhere. Vose was a joiner from Gushing, purchased and 
lived many years on the place now occupied by Capt. Simon 
M. Shibles, but' removed to and ended his days in Montville. 
Philip Fogler, a blacksmith from Waldoboro', was also here, 
and had a shop at Blackington's Comer, but subsequently re- 
moved to Camden and other places. 

In May, 1798, another change was made in the school dis- 
tricts; all the territory from the line of Warren including 
the Beech Woods and extending to David Creighton's and 
Ebenezer Thompson's to the N. E., John and Phinehas But- 
ler's to the E. and to James Stackpole's on the South, form- 
ing one district ; and all that at Owl's Head Bay firom and 
including Thomas Hix's to the line of Camden north-eaftt- 
wardly, including Robert and Charles Jameson, forming 
another. 

Wessaweskeag had now become a thriving place of busi- 
ness ; and, Notwithstanding many annoyances from the spolia- 
tions of French cruisers, ship-building was actively and suc- 
cessfully carried on. Besides Snow and Coombs, who still 
pursued the business, t>ea. Richard Keating had the pre- 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH TH0MA8T0N. 345 

ceding year built the sloop Miriam, and, four or &ve years 
later, built one or two other vessels. This, and the lumber 
business, attracted further emigrants to the place ; among 
whom were John, William, and Samuel Paul, shipcarpenters 
from Bristol, who about this time built several vessels further 
down the river. One of the hands this year employed by 
Wm. Paul was Jacob Demuth of Waldoboro', then 18 years 
old, who, two years before, had been employed by Dr. Webb 
in carrying messages and accounts in the lumber business 
from Union to Knox's overseer, Mr. Lowe, in Thomaston, and 
who, after working many years in different ship-yards, became 
a resident of Thomaston. William McLoon, another young 
mechanic from Bristol, commenced, also, about this time, his 
successful career of ship-building ; working on different ves- 
sels here, at the Shore, and Clam Cove. At the latter place, 
he had built a house as early as 1796, which he subsequently 
exchanged with Elisha Snow (2d), and settled on Snow's lot 
at Wessaweskeag, now owned by his son, Charles McLoon, 
Esq. About this time, perhaps a few years earlier or later, 
several vessels were built down the Bay on George's River; 
among them the schooner Rebecca by Dea. S. and Jas. Brown 
and Capt. I. Lovett, which was lost when going into New 
London ; a sloop of 80 tons by Dea. Weed and others, abati- 
doned in a gale on her return from Boston ; and the schooner 
Columbus ; followed by the schooner Inereaae and other ves- 
sels by James Stackpole. Something was done, also, in this 
business, at the Shore. One vessel, besides those previously 
mentioned, had been built there by an Englishman who soon 
left the place ; and his name, as well as that of his vessel, 
with the date of building, is not ascertained. In this or the 
subsequent year, 1799, the sloop Dolphin was built there by 
Wm. Spear and Mark Dexter ; both of whom followed coast- 
ing and probably shared in the management of her. 

1799. The school-tax voted the last year was now 
doubled, and, for the first time, a school-committee was chos- 
en, consisting of Thomas B. Wait, S. Brown, Ephraim Snow, 
Wm. Spear, J. Reed, Jere Tolman and Wm. Heard. Mr. 
Wait came from Portland, where he had been a printer and 
was now in partnership with Joshua Adams, trading at Owl's 
Head, having a good run of custom from the many coasters 
that made harbor there, and occasionally building and owning 
vessels of their own. The firm, however, did not continue 
many years. Adams was quick and sharp for a bargain, 
carrying the condition and management of affairs in his head ; 
while Wait was a regular methodical. book-keeper and wished 
2L» 



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246 HISTORY or thomaston, 

to find everything exhibited in the bocks. Of con«eauence, 
they and their two systems were often interfering, arid de- 
ranging each other's calculations. They, therefore, soon dis- 
solved. Adams continued the business, made money, and 
knew how to keep it ; while Wait returned to Portland and 
published the " Eastern Herald," a weekly paper which cir- 
culated to some extent in this and the neighboring towns. 
He afterwards became the head of a somewhat eminent print- 
ing establishment in Boston. 

The meeting-house having now been tastefully finished, the 
town was called upon at a meeting held at the house of Jona- 
than Spear, Jr., at the Shore, May 13th, " to see if the town 
will raise money for the support of the Gospel and to pay for 
preaching." This question being put to vote was decided in 
the negative. 

1800. The salt-works, most of which had been suspended 
or interrupted by the enemy during the war, were recommenced 
by many of the former proprietors and others. The business 
was prosecuted extensively by Wm. Heard from 1800 to 1810 ; 
when, as wood was becoming scarce, the works were sold and 
taken to St. George. Messrs. Coombs and Rowell also had 
similar establishments, and carried them on as long as the 
price made it profitable. Some others occasionally resorted 
to it at times in a small way ; among them H. Batchelder, 
and Leverett Gray, the last of whom had come from Yar- 
mouth, Mass., and settled near the Head of the Bay. 

During the many aggressions upon our commerce by French 
cruisers in the few last years of the century and beginning of 
the next, Elisha Snow, Jr., in command of a lumber-carrying 
vessel, was captured in the West Indies. A prize-master and 
seven men were put on board; but, before arriving at any 
port, Capt. Snow with the aid of his negro cook still on board, 
regained possession, sent the French crew ashore, and brought 
the vessel home in safety. Another maritime event of a more 
serious nature, made many mourners in that part of the town, 
now South Thomaston. It was, we. believe, in this or the 
following year, that Capt. Robert Dunning, in the schooner 
Columbus, sailed from this port with a cargo of spars, and 
was supposed to have foundered at sea, with all hands on 
board ; as nothing was ever afterwards heard of either vessel 
or crew. Among the lost, were Mr. Banks of Castine, mate, 
Thomas Buckland of Warren, David Haskell and Samuel 
PiDsbury of this place, seamen.* 

* Messrs. R. Rowell, A. Coombs, and others. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 247 

An alteration of the road so as to meet a similar alteration 
in Warren and unite with that town in erecting a new bridge 
at Oyster River — fourteen feet of it from the bank to be 
built at the expense of Thomaston, according to agreement 
between the selectmen of the two towns, was this year voted. 
The work was done in 1801, by or under the superintendence 
of Capt. T. Vose. The former bridge was further up the 
stream, in u less eligible situation, lying wholly in the town 
of Warren 5 and the reluctance of Thomaston to incur the 
^expense of its support had caused a rejection of this change, 
first proposed in 1 794. 

The small-pox having prevailed at Warren during the 
spring and summer with some fatality, apprehensions of its 
breaking out in this town seem to have been entertained later 
in the season, if indeed there were not actual cases ; and at 
a meeting, Dec. 31st, a vote was passed to allow a hospital 
provided it should be no expense to the town and be under 
the care of the selectmen, who were also to employ a suitable 
person as a health officer. 

Hitherto the votes for governor and other executive officers, 
though more or less divided among the friends and opponents 
of a federal constitution, under the party names of federalists 
and anti-federalists or republicans^ as they began to be called, 
had yet exhibited more or less of personal preference rather 
than of party discipline. But a change was now taking 
place ; and it will be seen by Table VIII that the vote for 
^ftvernor was this year divided between the two parties ; 
though Gen. Knox, a federalist, was in May chosen to repre- 
sent the town in the General Court, apparently by a unani- 
mous vote. 

The first Social Library in this town, was established this 
year by a sub-division of the Friendly Society, founded in 
Sept. 1787, by various individuals, between Newcastle and 
Ducktrap. Among its first members were the following 
from this town, with the sums each subscribed for laying its 
foundation, viz. : — D. Fales and D. Jenks, each £1 88., E. 
G. Dodge and Benj. Webb, each £2 16s., and John Paine, 
then of Bristol, but afterwards of Thomaston, £2. Its meet- 
ings were held at Waldoboro', Warren, and Thomaston, 
and, by means of public addresses, exhilarating conviviality, 
and the new books which assessments and fines enabled them 
to purchase, grew to be very popular. Its members became 
so numerous that, in Feb., 1792, a division took place, and 
the eastern portion of the members, 16 in number, were or- 
ganized as the " Friendly Society on St, George's River." 
For eight years thereafter, the annual meeting in January 



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248 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

was held, and the Library kept, at Warren and Thomaston, 
in alternate years. In 1799 its members were 86 in number, 
paying an annual contribution of $43 ; but in January of 
this year, 1800, the society was again divided, and the mem- 
bers belonging to this town, with their portion of the books, 
incorporated themselves as the ^^ First Social Library in 
Thomaston,*^ This society continued to flourish, more or less 
at different intervals, meeting and keeping its books at East 
and West Thomaston, in turn, till 1831, when it was again ^ 
divided between these two villages. A meeting of the Wes- ' 
tern branch was held early that year, 1831, and, perhaps, in 
connection with it, the " Thomaston Athenoeum" was formed, 
for the purpose of establishing a well selected library, obtain- 
ing chemical and philosophical apparatus, and holding meet- 
ings for discussion, but probably died out or was merged. 
in other similar associations. The Eastern branch also flour- 
ished for a time, and accumulated books to the number of 
500 volumes, kept by different persons, but gradually declin- 
ed and ran down. Mr. Pillsbury was its last librarian. 

A company of cavalry ^ the first of the kind in this quarter, 
was organized about 1800;* and chiefly composed of citi- 
zens of this town and Camden. Its first set of officers, com- 
missioned Jan. and Feb. 1801, were Wm. Grregory, Jr., 
captain ; Phillip Hanson, first lieut. ; Dr. Isaac Bernard, 2d 
lieut. ; and David Gay, cornet. This company made a fine 
appearance in their uniform of scarlet -coats and buff" under- 
clothes, which, about 1812, were changed to black close jacl^ 
ets and pantaloons trimmed with white cord ; high cavalry 
boots and caps of leather with bear-skin over the crown and 
a plume of white tipped with red. It numbered as the 1st 
squadron in the 1st brigade of the 8th division of Massachu- 
setts militia. At the same time the infantry companies of 
this town together with those of Camden, Hope, Union, War- 
ren, Cushing, Friendship, and St. George, formed the 4th 
regiment of the same 1st brigade and 8th division, and so 
continued till about 1808, when by a new organization they 
became the 3d regiment, 2d brigade, and 11th division. 

Signs of continued prosperity became every year more and 
more apparent, particularly in the erection of dwellings in a 
more stately and commodious style, mostly of two stories 
with hipped roofs. One of the most conspicuous of these, 
built the present year, was that of Dr. D. Fales, — a large 

* Mr. Locke, Hist, of Camden, p. 95, says this company, as near as he 
could ascertain, was formed in 1813, and Dr. Bernard chosen its first cap- 
tain ; but, the Gregory papers and the aged Capt. John Gregoij, concur 
with my own memory as far back as 1805, in setting the matter right. 



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BOCKLilND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 249 

square bouse with five chimneys, long remembered by emi- 
grants as one of the three buildings first seen on approaching 
Qie place by George's River ; the other two being the Knox 
mansion and North or Congregational meeting-house. It has 
lately been remodeled by his grandson, D. Thorpe Fales, the 
present occupant. A less conspicuous but well-known house 
was this year built in Wadsworth street by Benjamin Hast- 
ings, for a tavern. In excavating the cellar of this house a 
piece of ordnance was unearthed, which proved to be an iron 
six-pounder. When or why it was buried, no one knew ; but 
some asserted that there had been two such pieces here m 
the time of the revolution, and conjectured that they might 
have both been buried by Gen. Wadsworth when preparing to 
leave the place in 1781, for fear of their falling into the hands 
of the British or tories. But, had this been the case, it 
seems improbable that Col. Wheaton, who was then and some 
years afterwards living, should not have known and divulged 
the fact. If two were buried, one yet remains to be discov- 
ered. Some have supposed that the gun might have been 
buried at a much earlier period, during the French and Indian 
troubles ; but I can think of no probable occasion for such a 
transaction at this place, unless it were on the breaking up of 
the first trading establishment of Ashley and Pierce about 
1675, in consequence of the Indian War. Nine or ten years 
after its exhumation, this cannon was purchased by Mallard 
and Chase, taken to Union Common for use on festive occa- 
sions, passed into the hands of Major Gilmore, returned to 
Thomaston, and helped to arm the privateer ^' Fame," as re- 
lated elsewhere, in 1814,* ^ 

It was about this time, also, we believe, that the Wads- 
worth house or " castle" was enlarged, and a new story added 
to it by Gen. Knox, who rented it as a boarding house for 
his workmen. It was taken at first by Wm. Stevens, who 
this year came from Concord, N. H., with his wife and five 
children, and boarded as many lime-burners and brick-makers 
as the house would hold. He and his family were brought 
hither by land, all in a double or two-horse sleigh, which was 
subsequently sold to Col. Starrett of Warren, and, being the 
only vehicle of the kind, was long known in that place under 
the name of " the brig." Stevens was a cooper by trade, 
and afterwards owned a small square house, (originally a 
school-house,) on the place which his son, William K., has 
since occupied and adorned. f 

• Capt. S. M. Shlbles, Hon. Wm. Singer, &c. 
t Mrs. Mary Kenniston, Sec, 



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260 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 



CHAPTER XIII. 

INCIDENTS IN THE NEW CENTXTKY DOWN TO THE DEATH 
OF KNOX. 

1801. The first year of the new century, 1801, was 
signalized by the accession of Thomas Jefierson to the presi- 
dency and the inauguration of the party at this time styled 
by themselves Republicans and by their opponents " Demo- 
crats," "Jacobins," and "French Jacobins;" — terms of re- 
proach which they retaliated by denominating the Federalists 
"tories," "British tories," and "d — d tories." With the 
change of the administration, this town seems to have ex- 
perienced a similar change, for the time, in its politics ; the 
majority of its votes, which had hitherto been given for Fed- 
eral candidates, being in April of this year given to the Re- 
publican candidate for Governor. Yet Gen. Knox, who was 
one of the Federal candidates for the Senate, received here 
the unanimous vote, 65 in number, of both parties ; and in 
May was in like manner re-elected representative. Thus did 
the town show itself not altogether unmindful of the munifi- 
cence, enterprise, and public spirit of its distinguished citi- 
zen, the hero of Trenton and Monmouth. 

The destruction of the corn-crop by crows, had become so 

eat about this time as to induce the town, April 6, 1801, to 

ote a bounty of 20 cents for destroying them. In 1802 this 

bounty was reduced to 9d. and thenceforth discontinued until 

1811 ; when a bounty o^^O cents was again voted, and the 

same again in 1816. 

A suit, probably for teaching school, was commenced 
against the town in January, 1801, by Robert D. Sullivan in 
the Court of Common Pleas to be holden at Warren, now be- 
come a half-shire town. This was caused only by inability 
of the town to collect its taxes, or to get a settlement with its 
collectors ; and was got rid of by borrowing the money of 
Dr. Fales. Among the school teachers employed about this 
time, may be enumerated John Holland at Ash Point ; Abra- 
ham Gushe and Mrs. Robert Snow at Wessaweskeag ; O'iver 
Reals in the Thompson district, and Samuel Rinds in district 
No. 1, all in 1798 ; Martin Marsh in the N. E. and also W. 
Meadow district ; Sabra Fales in N. part of western Meadow 
district; and Joseph Underwood in district No. 1, from I. 
Lovett's to Cushing line, in 1799; Mrs. Micah Packard and 
Ruth Perry at Wessaweskeag ; Betsey Underwood and Eben 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 251 

Newell, both in Western district in 1800; and. Robert D. 
Sullivan in the district extending from Maj. Otis Robbins's to 
Gushing line, in 1801. Of these, Holland at South Thomas- 
ton and Marsh on the Mountain farm now Rocklland, became 
permanent residents. 

Notwitstanding the steady advance which the town had 
been making since the peace and the stagnation of business 
which followed, it still, at the close of the eighteenth century, 
and for some years into the next, continued to present all the 
appearances of a new country. The clearings, except near 
the Fort and along the river banks, still abounded with stumps 
of trees ; the rough fields were enclosed with fences of large 
hemlock logs ; few or no orchards or gardens, except the re- 
cently formed ones of Gen. Knox, were to be seen ; and no 
cultivated fruits were found, except a clump of red cherry 
trees and currants near some of the dwellings. From Mill 
River to Dea. Tilson's was a mere bog, through which a road 
was made of logs laid crosswise, so rough and miry that two 
yoke of oxen and a horse were requured to haul three 50-gal- 
lon casks of lime from the quarries to the landing. A dense 
spruce thicket extended the whole distance, and beyond, with 
slight interruptions, to the Ulmer neighborhood, and was the 
usual resort for the spruce poles used in the repair of roads. 
On this road, going eastward, were situated at this time, the 
houses of P. Tilson ; Capt. Jas. Blackington ; Wm. M. Dawes, 
afterwards an officer in the custom-house ; James Morse, now 
Joshua Allen's ; James Howard ; Thomas Stevens, with his 
wife and son Nehemiah, now removed hither and living in a 
small log house of one room and an entry ; Daniel Morse ; 
Ebenezer Blye, whose house is still, or was lately, standing ; 
Samuel Hammond, though probably five or six years later ; 
Matthias Ulmer ; and Jacob Ulmer, in the order of their names. 
Through these woods the cattle of the settlers used to range 
for subsistence, not without danger from the bears and other 
beasts of prey, and sometimes irom less honest depredators. 
One autumn a cow of Esq. Reed's, and soon after a neighbor's 
yoke of oxen, were missed. After some time, John Butler 
(4th) and another boy were in the woods on land afterwards 
that of Dr. Dodge, and found in a dark retreat*the beef of 
the slaughtered animals partly suspended from trees and part- 
ly barrelled up. This discovery being made known, the theft 
was traced to two persons by the name of Benjamin Aulds 
and Moses Brown. The roads being as yet but half made, 
and horse wagons and other light carriages not yet introduc- 
ed, horses were generally used in transporting men and other 



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252 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

l^ht burdens. Old Mr. Creighton usually kept two, three, 
or four; on one of which, his grandson, J. Butler, before 
mentioned, living in the family, used, mounted on three bags 
of corn, to traverse the lonesome road to Tolman's mill, and, 
in certain seasons, even to Richards's mill, in Camden, when 
only ten or twelve years old. 

About this time a number of Highland Scottish families 
were brought into this place, by one of the George's River 
vessels; probably coming on invitation from Gen. Knox. 
Most of them found quarters in the large house subsequently 
belonging to the late Wm. Nicholson, which Knox had re- 
cently built and designed for four families. Others found 
accommodation, by aid of their countryman and interpreter, 
McCallum, for themselves or their children at Warren, whei^e 
one of them, George Moriston, a promising lad, was unfortu- 
nately drowned in the river, Aug. 26, 1804. They excited 
considerable curiosity here, clad, as they were, in their native 
costume, plaided and kilted, and speaking for the most part 
only their native Erse. Besides the name of Moriston, there 
were, among them, M'Cullochs, M'Leods, &c. After a few 
years they all removed to Nova Scotia, settled a new town- 
ship, and became thriving men. 

1802* In April the subject of " swine running at large, 
well yoked and ringed," was brought before the town ; and it 
was voted to grant no such permission in any part of the 
town. So much interest was felt in education that a sum two- 
thirds higher than for three previous years, was voted for 
schools. The struggle which had for many years been going 
on in the town between the capability for office on the one 
side and the unpopularity on the other of Dr. or Esquire 
David Fales, seems to have been brought to a crisis this year. 
Notwithstanding the care and correctness with which he com- 
menced the records of the town, he was seldom, after the two 
first years, allowed to hold the Clerk's office, (which appears 
to have been his hobby,) though frequently elected as select- 
man or treasurer. Tradition has it that he was so tenacious 
of correctness, that he oflfered to make the records without 
compensation, and refused to give up the town book to what 
he considered incompetent hands. The story went that no- 
body could get the book from him ; but selectmen were, this 
year, chosen, pledged to do so or commence a suit, and were 
moreover appointed a committee to settle with him as treas- 
urer ; — he being excluded from every office. This was not 
effected till Messrs. Jenks and Adams were appointed agents 
to commence prosecution ; when a settlement was made, and 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. £68 

the to\im found itself indebted to Mr. Fales for services ren- 
dered, past orders unpaid, and monies advanced for its use, 
to the amount of $526,46. After this, he was elected on a 
board of assessors, separate, for the first time in 24 years, 
from the selectmen ; and, with the record of their doings, the 
handwriting of this exemplary, careful, and scholarly gentle- 
man disappears from the town records ; — to the regret of 
the writer, who has reason to bless his memory for the infor- 
mation imparted by his pen. 

1803. In 1803 many of the highways were laid out 
anew, re-surveyed by J. Gleason, and re-accepted by the 
town. One consequence of tkis, was the leaving unoccupied 
a small portion of land between the new straight and the old 
curving road ; — since fenced, adorned with trees by Wm. R. 
Keith and other public spirited individuals, and now denomi- 
nated the Pabk or Mall in Main street, Thomaston. The 
town this year voted to pay Dr. Benj. Webb, then of Warren, 
$7,33, for damage done to his chaise at Mill River Bridge, 
and chose D. Jenks agent to answer to complaint of Daniel 
Davis at the S. J. CJourt for defective roads. 

In consequence of Revolutionary reminiscences and later 
difficulties with France, a military spirit at this time generally 
pervaded the community. The militia was in various ways 
encouraged ; ambitious men eagerly sought promotion in its 
ranks ; and, by not less than four days drilling every year, 
its discipline was brought to such a degree of exactness that 
its parades, evolutions, and sham battles, became the chief 
amusements of the time, and never failed to attract large 
crowds of every age, sex, and condition. In that spirit, this 
town had furnished its two companies of ordinary militia with 
colours, four years before, at a cost of $22 ; and, this year, 
voted that each militia man should be allowed one quarter of 
a pound of powder from the town's stock, to be used on the 
4th of July under direction of company officers. 

In consequence of the increase of town paupers, the num- 
ber of selectmen was increased this year to ^ve^ who were to 
be overseers of the poor, also. April 4th, Shepard Robbins, 
Capt. D. Fales, and Lieut. Hanson, were app minted a com- 
mittee to inquire into the condition of Joseph Stackpole and re- 
port to the town what ought to be done in regard to him. This 
committee reported, May 2d, that, "in their opinion, the said 
Joseph ought not to be allowed to ramble or stroll about the 
country as he now does, and has done for a long time, and 
that the Overseers of the Poor ought to bind him out to ser- 
vice, according to law." This was easier to vote than to ex- 
VoL. I. 22 



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254 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

ecute. Joseph was a hard case. Born with a stiff and obsti- 
nate temper, which, irritated perhaps but not subdued in 
early childhood, seemed to grow with his growth, he became 
so viciously spiteful and malignant as to defy all attempts at 
coercion, and set at nought alike parental authority and the 
la^s of the land. The slightest offence would be brooded 
over in secret, and nursed into an insane desire of revenge 
which no time could allay. He studied to appear ragged and 
filthy; travelled about the country, retailing scandal from 
house to house, sometimes exciting pity by tales of ill usage 
or disappointed love, and oftener extorting favors firom the 
fear of his witty sarcasm or bjfter slander. He would take 
infinite pains to gratify his revenge, especially upon his excel- 
lent father, — going great distances to intercept him at some 
known stopping place on a journey, and coverdy shear his 
horse's mane and tail, or otherwise render his appearance 
ridiculous. On the occasion of his father's second marriage, 
■ when the guests were assembled and the ceremonies about to 
commence, Joseph made his appearance in his most squalid 
attire which he had taken great pains to scent with the per- 
fume of the skunk.* To Mr. Fales's inquiry as to the cause 
of the smell, Joe replied, " it is your character. Squire Fales." 
Yet there were those to whom he could be kind and for a 
time take pleasure in obliging, cunningly ingratiating himself 
into favor by ridiculing the defects and exaggerating the faults 
of those they were known to dislike ; but his friendship was 
precarious, liable to be interrupted by the slightest opposi- 
tion. He particularly hated the earnest friends of good or- 
der at Mill River ; whom he used to represent to his audit- 
ors as depending for subsistence in the spring upon smelts, 
" which," he said, " in scarce seasons a kind Providence, in 
pity to their necessity, sent a month earlier than usual." 
The present attempt of the town to restrain him was prob- 
ably unsuccessful, as all later attempts were. Although, 
while the British in the war of 1812 occupied Castine, he 
contrived, under pretence of visiting his sister there, to carry 
on the smuggling business in a small way, and was supposed 
to have acquired some little property, yet, if such he had, he 
took care to keep it out of the way, and, by real or affected 
sickness in some distant place, often caused a heavy bill to be 
brought against the town for his support. To prevent this in 



* This animal, though natire to the country, was unknown here, it is 
said, in early times, but made its appearance, with other emigrants; to- 
-^rd the close of the last centnry. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 255 

future, various means were resorted to. In 1830 he was ad- 
vertised, and all persons forbidden to harbor or trust him. 
This not availing, a year or two afterwards, while the poor 
were under the care of Jeremiah Berry, he was many times 
brought home, and at length locked up in the powder-house 
for A time. At the first opportunity, however, Joe made his 
escape, complained to the grand jury, and, the confinement 
being in cold weather, obtained a verdict against Mr. Berry, — 
the fine and cost together amounting to $130,40, which the 
town, April 15, 1833, voted to reimburse. Similar difficulties 
continued to occur,, and once at least with a similar issue, — 
as April 18, 1836, it was voted that the town pay the cost in 
the case of Joseph Stackpole against the selectmen of Thom- 
aston. This perverse and pitiable man was obliged at last to 
succumb to age or disease, and died the March preceding that 
vote, 1836, unwept and unregretted, in the town poor-house. 

The yeSr 1803 exhibited some remarkable eccentricities, 
of weather. On the 15th of April, wrote Capt. Watson, 
"the Oreat Snow came on, a Friday; — lasted 36 hours;'* 
and again, "May 9th, a Snow Storm, very cold, came on 
Sunday evening." This year, it is believed, the sch. America^ 
belonging to the Pendletons, was loaded with staves, lime, po- 
tatoes, and other commodities, and sailed in February for the 
W. Indies under the command of Capt. Henry Morse of this 
town. On the seventh day out, however, the vessel was 
overtaken by a violent storm, shipped a sea, and was cap- 
sized, — the deck swept clean from stem to stern, and the 
cabin filled with water before the captain could secure any 
of his clothing except the shirt and drawers in which -he slept. 
She righted, however, while he was attempting to cut a |^lis- 
age for himself through the side of the vessel with his knife. 
The crew stuck by her, subsisting, without water and with 
scarcely any provision, for fourteen days ; — when their thirst 
was relieved by a plentiful supply of rain. They had man- 
aged to get at a cask of brandy, with which they moistened 
their lips, but scarcely dared to swallow ; and, some time after, 
obtained access to the potatoes which they were forced to eat 
raw, or half roasted in the heat generated by slaking lime. 
At length a dolphin was taken, which afforded a temporary 
relief. But the captain, after remaining in his half naked 
condition to the thirty-fifth day, was now too much emaciated 
and debilitated to swallow, and expired ; as did also Joshua 
Wade and Hezekiah Getchell. There were now two surviv- 
ors- left ; James Sears, a seaman, and John Emerson, cabin 
boy, 13 years old. At length, after being seventy-nine days 



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256 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

on the wreck, a ship appeared in sight and Sears exclaimed 
" the trees of which that ship was huilt, grew in the forest on 
purpose to save our lives!" They were taken off by a Span- 
ish brig, transferred to an English vessel and carried into 
Liverpool, whence they found their way back in safety; but 
Emerson could never relate the story, or hear the matter 
spoken of, without the most violent and agonizing emotions. 
About the same time a shocking accident occurred at the salt- 
works of Mr. Heard at Ash Point James Mathews of that 
part of the town, by some misadventure, fell into a boiling 
salt kettle, and was scalded to death.* 

About the commencement of the present century a consid- 
erable stir was made in the place by a prosecution of some 
money lenders for taking unlawful interest. Frederic Reed, 
who had owned a farm and kept tavern at Owl's Head, hav- 
ing, in time of embarrassment, sought relief by borrowing 
. money at a high rate of interest and lost his faftn at last, 
DOW attempted to right himself by instituting a prosecution 
against his creditors; and Major Parsons and Dr. Dodge, 
both of this town, were indicted for usury. The last of these 
became frightened, put his property into the hands of Dr. 
Webb, and, to avoid being arrested, took refuge in New 
Brunswick, where he remained. for upwards of a year, until, 
in June, 1803, his case as well as that of Parsons was termi- 
nated by a verdict of not guilty. 

Before or about the time of his return, however, another 
physician came to the place. This was Jacob K. French of 
Andover, who, after studying medicine with his namesake. 
Dr. Jacob Kittredge of Brookfield, established himself here, 
fixihg his quarters at Jenks's tavern. The first charge that 
appears on his books is in 1803, against Dennis Rivers of St. 
George ; and, with the prestige of his name and instruction, 
he succeeded to a moderate share of practice, which he con- 
tinued for a period of forty-six years, being particularly suc- 
cessful in his treatment of sores and wounds. He built on a 
part of the Jenks lot, and, with the exception of a year or 
two in Hope, resided, and died in the house now occupied by 
his widow and sons. In the following year, 1804, he was 
followed by Isaiah Gushing, a graduate of Harvard University, 
an accomplished physician, of agreeable manners, a social 
disposition, and not inferior talents. Locating himself in 
what is now Wadsworth St., at Hastings's tavern, he readily 
gained the greater part of the practice in that part of the 

* Tradition in the Morse Family ; Messrs. W. & B. Heard, &c. 

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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 257 

town, in which he was both successful and popular ; but liot 
suificiently satisfied, he removed for a few years to Noblebo- 
ro', where, if not before, he contracted those habits of in- 
ebriety which became the bane of the rest of his life. 
Returning to this place, he found it difficult to regain his 
former standing ; whilst Dodge continued to retain his by 
promptness, assiduity, and the blunt decision with which he 
caused his directions to be followed. *' Has the patient taken 
the medicine?" inquired he of a nurse on one occasion. 
" No, doctor, he was so restless, I thought" — " Thought! " 
interrupted he with one of his usual expletives, '* what busi- 
ness had you to think ? You have enough to do to follow my 
directions. Let me do the thinking." He was well aware, 
also, of the medicinal virtue of a good laugh, and, from his 
unfailing fund of humor was ever ready to try it in all needful 
cases. Being called in to see Howland Rogers whose nasal 
organ was remarkably well developed, " Rogers, how are 
you?" he asked. " Oh, very poorly, I am almost discour- 
aged." " How do you feelf — how's your nose ?" " Noth- 
ing aib my nose." '*Damn you, then — you'll do well 
enough ; that's the largest part of you ! " 

This gentleman. Captain Rogers, as he was styled, con- 
tinued to build vessels for Gen. Knox, and about this time 
launched the Montpelier for him. At the launching of a ves- 
sel, in those days, everybody was expected to be present, 
and everybody to be feasted. The master-builder contribut- 
ing to this entertainment as well as the owners, this launch- 
ing is particularly remembered by the daughter of Capt. 
Rogers, on account of an accident which befell a favorite 
dripping-pan of her mother's — a part of her marriage outfit, 
broken by the fall of a huge piece of beef that was roasting, 
suspended before the fire.* Gen. Knox continued his munifi- 
cence, and this year gave a new proof of it in presenting a 
complete set of weights and measures to the town ; which. 
May 2d, appointed Reed, Gleason, and Jenks to return him 
thanks for his generosity. A book was this year purchased 
by the town, of J. Gleason, for recording births, deaths, and 
marriages, which, when recorded at all, had before been en- 
tered promiscuously in the common town book. 

1804. Some further alteration was made in the School 
districts this year, and their number increased to thirteen ; 
but these districts continued to undergo so many changes 

♦ Mrs. H. B. H. of Camden. 
22* 



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258 HI8T0EY OF THOMASTON, 

from lime to time, that it is difEcult and scarcely adviseaUe to 
attempt a particular description of them. 

Business continued to flourish, and in 1804 a lime-shed for 
the protection of manufactured lime from the weather, was 
built at the Shore ; — the first structure of the kind in that 
village, since city, and the greatest mart for that article in the 
Union. Charles Spofford, at the foot of what is now Lime- 
Rock street, was about the only trader there ; and the village 
consisted of eight or ten buildings only. On what is now 
Main street, Rockland, were the houses of the three oldest 
sons of Capt. Jonathan Spear, one of which, that of Capt. 
William, was a kind of public hcHise ; and beyond Mr. Lind- 
sey's, before mentioned, was that of Capt. Jonathan Crockett, 
on the street leading to Crockett's Point and the present Comr 
mercial wharf. Wm. Spear, in the sloop William^ and James 
Robinson, were then the only coasters running from that vil- 
lage to Boston. Spofford had come to the place from Pel- 
ham, N. H., in 1800, and commenced business as a shoe- 
maker ; but soon went into trade, became popular, was in 
1812 chosen representative, and, besides other town offices, 
sustained that of town clerk four years prior to his death in 
1819. It has been said of him by one of his apprentices* 
who was bound to and lived with him six years, that " a bet- 
ter or more kind-hearted man never lived." His brother, John 
Spofford, also came to the place in 1803, and, after working 
four years as a journeyman shoemaker for J. Keith, at the 
River village, removed in 1807 to the Shore and set up the 
business for himself, which he carried on successfully till he 
also went into trade, lime-burning, and navigation; — still 
remaining (1864) one of the substantial citizens of Rock- 
land. 

The same year, 1803, John Lovejoy from Andover, Mass., 
took up his residence here, married four years later, and en- 
gaged in trade and mercantile affairs with distinguished suc- 
cess for a long series of years. His brother. Dr. Enoch 
Lovejoy, came a few years later and established himself as a 
physician at Blackington's Corner, built on the Wm. Tilson 
lot, where he continued with a moderate share of practice 
the remainder of his life. 

Ship-building continued to be carried on to some extent at 
South Thomaston ; and a schooner of 100 tons commanded 
by Capt. James Spalding was this season built there, prob- 
ably by the Snows, and named the Wessaweskeag . This ves- 

* Cha^. Holmes, Esq. 

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ROCKXAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 259 

sel was once lying at anchor in one of the West India ports, 
when the officers of a barge passing under her stem ordered the 
crew to slacken their oars in order to read her name. They 
commenced : " W-ee-sa-saw-we-w-i-s-k-e-a-g," when Jack, 
who had become very uneasy lying on his oar and listening 
to him who was reading her name, turned over his quid and 
exclaimed, with an old tar's usual oath, "she's the Whis- 
key-keg ! let's go aboard and get a horn." * The orthog- 
raphy of this name has undergone many transformations and 
abridgements, and is scarcely yet fully settled. Lime, it is 
probable, was not yet burned to any amount in this section, but 
that business at this time was carried on to the greatest ex- 
tent in the western part of the town, where Knox had a range 
of six or eight kilns; and Jenks, Morse, and others, were 
engaged in the same business. In the ship-building line, 
also, a ship of 220 tons was set up by Lieut. P. Hanson — 
the first of the class ever built at Mill River, or in any part 
of the present town of Thomaston. But in the full tide of 
prosperity, a shock was given to the business and the com- 
munity of that place by the sudden death of the builder, who 
was killed almost instantaneously on the 29th of August 
He had been up to the launching of the ship Fredonia in 
Weston's yard at Warren, and on his return in company with 
Messrs. P. Stone and G. Vose, all mounted on gay horses, 
and probably stimulated by the generous potations in those 
days thought indispensable at every launching, Hanson's horse 
became frightened near the present house of Mrs. Kennedy, 
in Warren, and threw his rider. His foot caught in the stirrup 
and he was dragged as far as Page's tavern, when his neck was 
found to be broken. His funeral was celebrated with both 
masonic and military honors, attracting large crowds of spec- 
tators from this and the neighboring towns. By request of 
his creditors in Boston, H. Prince, Esq., was soon after ap- 
pointed administrator on his estate ; and the ship, timbered 
out but not planked, was bought by J. Coombs and E. Bar- 
nard, finished by them, launched at twelve o'clock on a Sat- 
urday night, and sold in Boston.f Hanson's death was not 
the only accident of the season. Samuel Kenniston was 
killed as suddenly in what is now the Prison quarry, by the 
caving in of a clay bank which he was engaged in removing, 
to uncover the limestone. He was one of Knox's workmen, 
a pleasant young man, and his death was much lamented. 



♦ Thomaston Recorder. 

t Capt. B. Webb, D. Standish, papers of H. Prince, Esq. 



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260 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

On the 20th August, 1804, the town passed a vote "that the 
selectmen draw from the treasury a sum not exceeding $45, 
for the purchase of one or more palls to he used at the inter- 
ment of the dead.** 

The business and fame of Knox continued to attract hither 
mechanics and other emigrants ; and, among them, about this 
time, perhaps earlier, Monsieur Kendall, a Frenchman, set up 
his business as a baker ^ — the first in the place, except one Tre- 
feathering, said to have been here before. He did well for a 
time i but the business became crippled by the stagnation after 
the death of Knox, and still more by the war of 1812, during 
a great part of which there were few materials for a baker to 
operate upon. Since his removal, the business has been re- 
newed and carried on successively by Wm. Butler, at the 
present Prison corner, who removed to Standish ; by Joseph 
Fowler, at the same comer, who afterwards removed to Salem ; 
by Edward Boyles, near the foot of Wadsworth street ; by 

Charles Boyles, at Oyster River bridge ; by Merrill ; by 

John Hunt from Windsor ; by John Pierson from Portland, 
since a Second Advent preacher in Newburyport; and by 
John B. Wight, still a resident of the place.* At the eastern 
part of the town, the first baker was Charles Clark, who came 
from Belfast and established himself in the present Rockland, 
about 1830 or 1832, where his family still remain; but his 
successors in the busitiess there have been numerous, and the 
dates of their coming not easily ascertained. 

The flame of party, spirit was now burning so warmly as 
to produce in this town wavering and oscillation between the 
influence of Knox and his Revolutionary compatriots, on the 
one side, and* the popularity and success of President Jeffer- 
son's administration on the other. The former prevailed in 
April, but, in May, Joshua Adams, a mode^pte, or perhaps, 
doubtful Federalist, was elected Representative in opposition 
to Knox ; and, in November, the Republican ticket, contain- 
ing the names of the whole nineteen Presidential Electors, 
prevailed by a large majority, 52 to 25 votes. In the follow- 
ing year, 1805, however, the town seems to have hesitated, 
and, in April, gave a handsome majority to the Federal can- 
didates. Yet, in May, after two unsuccessful trials for the 
choice of Representative, in which the Federal votes were 
nearly equally divided between Gen. Knox and Esq. Adams, 
and, after once voting not to send a Representative, this vote 
was reconsidered at an adjourned meeting and Dr. Isaac Ber- 

♦ Mr. J. Tarbox ; Hoi^ G. 8. Wiggin ; and others. 

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ROCKLAND AND S0X7TH THOMASTON. 261 

nard, a Republican,* was elected by 99 votes, against 88 for 
Adams; the name of Knox having been withdrawn. One in- 
fluence in bringing about the election of Representative in 
this and the preceding year, though it does not appear on the 
record, was undoubtedly that exerted by Dr. £. G. Dodge, 
who, besides being naturally predisposed towards the Repub- 
lican or Democratic party, as imbodying greater latitude in 
thinking and acting, could not but chafe under the overshad- 
owing prestige and influence of Knox. He accordin^y did 
not scruple to foster the suspicions and charges of unfairness 
which he found existing, in certain quarters, in regard to the 
manner in which the Waldo property had come into that gen- 
Heman's hands. Making use of Mr. -Adams's ambition and 
influence to defeat the election of Knox the preceding year, 
he now availed himself of the division, thus created in one 
party, as a stepping-stope towards the success and ultimate 
supremacy of the other, in which he became henceforth the 
acknowledged leader in the town. 

To show the extent to which the manu&cture of lime was 
carried on by Gen. Knox, as weU as to give a specimen of his 
method of doing business, we give the following : *' Mr. 
William Howe Wiggen, Having been well satisfied with the 
zeal, industry, and integrity you exercised the last year in the 
manufacture of Lime in my employ, I am desirous of your 
superintendence of my business in that line during the pres- 
ent year, — and, you having agreed with me for that purpose, 
you will regard these Instructions as the general outline of 
your duty. . . . We must get out as much wood of our 
own this winter as possible, and as many teams are to be 
hured as can be, and employed in hauling kiln-wpod to con- 
venient places near the kilns so as to incumber as little mow- 
ing ground as possible. We could at present have five of our 
own teams, and we may next week have two more from the 
mills. But we should want six or seven more. It is my 
anxious desire to have cut and hauled out of the Swamp at 
least 2000 cords. It is also my desire tiiat as much Lime- 
rock should be gotten and hauled, and all the kilns fitted so 
as to be burned early in March. Mr. Jordan, Williams, and 
others, must be employed to break into the north side of the 
west end of the quarry. The Coopers must be so regulated, 
and supplied with heading, as to be kept constantly at work ; 
and they must be pushed to have a stock of hogsheads on 
hand. Our cattle must be so fed as to be able to work con- 
stantly; for this purpose They must have boiled potatoes, meal, 
and a little salt when necessary. The hay must be used with 



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2BZ HISTOBT OF THOBfASTON, 

entire economy. You will, under the direction of Mr, Glea- 
8on, attend to the objects of the wood, the rock, the teams, the 
hay, the wood for home consumption, the care of the build- 
ings, and everything for the care and promotion of my inter- 
est. . . . You will please to observe clearly, that your 
personal labor is not so much my object, as that you should 
see that others in my employ work faithfully. You must 
therefore observe daily that every part of the arrangements 
of the farm and lime works, digging clay, &c, goes on with 
fidelity and that I am not imposed upon in any shape, by be- 
ing plundered either of time or property ; idleness of hired 
men is either a theft* of time or money, and I would have Mr. 
Gleason discharge any* hired man who should prove idle. I 
depend on your industry, activity and integrity. My son 
must be supplied with teams for his fire wood and necessary 
teaming. The sheep and poultry you will take especial care 
that they are well fed and secured fi-om injury. Thomaston, 
15 Jan., 1805."* 

The year 1805, is the era of the introduction of Free-ma- 
sonry into the town by the establishment of the first lodge 
here. Amity Lodge in Camden had been previously estab- 
lished, and its master, H. Prince, still of St. George, took an 
active part in getting up a Lodge in this place. The first 
meeting for the purpose was held at Gleason's tavern, March 
' 11th, and, by adjournment, April 4th, — Rev. Mr. Chealy, who 
was now employed here as a preacher, being moderator ; 
when the following officers were elected : H. Prince, R. W. 
Master ; Jas. Spalding, S. W. ; C. Spoffbrd, J. W. ; D. S. 
Tales, Sec'y; Joshua Fuller, Treas.; Elisha Snow (2d) S. D.; 
J. Gleason, J. D.; Peter Stone, 1st S.; and L Gushing, 2d 
S. Thirty-one persons attended this meeting ; all of whom, 
but four, advanced 85 each. St. John's day was celebrated 
by a procession to. the meeting-house, an address by Mr. 
Chealy, and a dinner at Gleason's ; but the charter firom the 
Grand Lodge was not obtained till September, when Prince 
made a second journey to Boston by land, for procuring it. 
The name of '* Orient Lodge''* was taken; and on the 7th 
Aug., 1806, its officers were installed and the Lodge dedicated 
in a public and somewhat imposing manner by Geo. Ulmer, 
D. G. M. aided by Rev. Mr. Cochrane of Camden. An act 
of incorporation for it was obtained Jan. 27, 1823. In com- 
mon with most other lodges, its meetings were suspended for 

♦ See original paper in Gleason's handwriting, now in possession of 
Hon. O. S. Wiggm of Rockland. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOHASTON. 263 

a time during the excitement following the death of Wm. 
Morgan, but it is now, we believe, in a flourishing condition, 
occupying an elegant hall in Union Block, Thomaston.* On 
the 15th July, 1828, Aurora Lodge at East Thomaston was 
constituted and its officers installed as follows: Ephraim 
Perry, Master ; John Tolman, S. W. ; Stephen Barrows, J. 
W. ; Rev. Nat. Copeland, C. ; J. Lovejoy, Treas. ; C. Har- 
rington, Sec'y ; C. Holmes, S. D. ; Jas. Crockett (2d), J. D. ; 
B. A. Gallop, S. S. ; T. Healey, J. S. ; Jas. Walsh, T. On 
the 2d of June, 1825, the members of the New Jerusalem 
Royal Arch Chapter at Wiscasset were authorized to hold 
their meetings alternately at Wiscasset and Thomaston ; and 
on the 17th July, 1828, a new and commodious hall owned 
by members of that chapter and Orient Lodge was publicly 
consecrated to masonic uses at West Thomaston. This ar- 
rangement continued for several years, when King 8olomon*8 
Chapter was located 4at East Thomaston, now Rockland, 
though in 1859-60 its meetings were held in Thomaston. 
This chapter, of which Capt. E. B. Hinkley was High Priest, 
succeeded in 1863 by Dr. C. N. Germaine, is composed of 
residents of Rockland, Thomaston, Camden, Warren, Waldo- 
boro', and Union, and numbered in 1862 about 80 members.f 
" Bockla/nd Lodge" was instituted in that city 1855, and its 
officers installed and hall dedicated shortly after; as also, 
Jan. 24, 1856, " King Hiram's Council of Royal and Select 
Masters " in the same city ; but of these we have no further 
account.J 

In the militia, a Company of Artillery was formed in this 
and the neighboring town of Warren, either in 1 805 or the 
beginning of 1806. This was furnished by the. State with 
two brass fleld pieces, four-pounders, and commanded by E. 
Thatcher, captain ; I. Cushing, lieutenant, both of this town ; 
and D. Patterson, ensign, of Warren. As this was the first 
artillery company in this region, its splendid appearance in 
red-trimmed blue uniforms, adroitness in exercise, and its 
loud speaking guns, gave an eclat and popularity which, with 
the Cavalry company, made this a distinguished regiment, 
and its annual musters, held alternately in this town and 
Warren, an interesting spectacle to assembled crowds from 
all the neighboring towns. The cannon, however, were usu- 
ally kept in Warren. When the military spirit at length de- 

* Recorcls of Orient Lodge, O. Prince, Esq., Th. Register, Author's 
diary, &c. 
t Capt. E. B. Hinkley, Thomaston Register, &c. 
X Rockland Gazette. 



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264 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

clined and militia trainings were done away with by law, the 
company becaine virtually if not . legally disbanded ; and in 
1850, by order of the Legislature, its guns were removed to 
the State arsenal. 

The first captain of this company, Ebenezer Thatcher, was 
a native of Cambridge, Mass., a graduate of the university 
there, commenced the practice of law at Newcastle, and, 
marrying a daughter of Gen. Knox, had lately removed to 
this town. Here he remained with the exception of a few 
years' residence at the Upper Falls in Warren, until the close 
of 1829; when he removed, and, twelve years later, died at 
Bingham. He was affable, companionable, and prepossessing 
in appearance and deportment; rose in the militia to the 
ranks of Major, Colonel, and Brig. Greneral ; and, though not 
eminent as a lawyer, obtained about 1808 and for twelve suc- 
cessive years filled the office of Judge of the Court of Com- 
mon Pleas. At the end of that term He resumed his practice, 
continuing it more or less till his death in 1841. 

A magazine for l^e military stores which the town was 
by law required to keep, was, Sept. 2, 1805, ordered to be 
built of brick, ten feet square. This was placed, we believe, 
in the Beech Woods neighborhood. In 1817 a vote passed 
to accept the ofier of John Spear to build a powder house near 
the town road on the west side of the meadow, near his own 
house, for ^155, But in 1839, when towns were by law no 
longer obliged to keep military stores, this was ordered by 
the town to be sold. 

The year 1805 is an epoch of some importance as being 
the first in which the town, as a corporation, ever took any 
effective part in supporting religious worship and instruction. 
The Baptists, indeed, by private exertion had erected a church 
and for 19 years maintained worship, more or less constantly,. 
• at Wessaweskeag ; and a similar edifice had been built in 
like manner, as we have also noted, at Mill River, for the 
Standing Order, as the Congregationalists were then called. 
But, with the exception of missionary labors and the occa- 
sional employment of Rev. T. Whiting, we do not learn that 
any great efibrt had been made for maintaining public wor- 
ship prior to 1804. But in that year, Rev. Wm. Henry 
Howard Chealj, a native of England, it is believed, came to 
the place and preached very acceptably. He was a man of 
fluent speech, respectable talents, apparent zeal, great ambi- 
tion, and somewhat given to egotism. His discourses, select- 
ed perhaps with reference to a first impression, and composed 
on the most important and thrilling subjects, were so much 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 265 

superior in power to those of the neighhoring clergy that 
they took the people, as it were by storm, and, for a time, 
were the subject of almost unlimited admiration. His min- 
istry was renewed Jan. 24, 1805, and a meeting was called, 
July 29th, to see if the town will raise such sums of money 
as may be necessary, and also to give the Rev. Mr. Chealy a 
call to settle. At this meeting, of which Greo. Knox was 
moderator, it was voted to raise 1^700 for the support of the 
Grospel ; and, in order to do this without injuring persons of 
other denominations, it was voted to allow them one month 
to bring in the certificates necessary to exempt them from 
this tax. It was also voted to give Mr. Chealy a call 
to settle, and H. Knox, M. Wheaton, J. Reed, W. Tilson, 
and Jere. Tolman, were chosen a committee to wait upon 
and confer with him "on the subject. At the adjourned meet- 
ing of September, in consequence of a petition from D. 
Crouch and others of Wessaweskeag, an article was pre- 
sented to see if the town would reconsider the foregoing 
votes. This was negatived, 45 to 57. It was subsequently vo- 
ted to give Mr. Chealy a salary of $500, with $150 for a par- 
sonage ; and, if the town became dissatisfied, to give six months 
or a year's notice before stopping his salary. Thus far, every- 
thing seemed fair and auspicious. A good choir was formed ; 
the principal male members of which were David S. Fales, 
Oliver Tales, Stephen Thompson, and John Leeds, the last of 
whom came from Dorchester to this town, in 1804. 

1806. The $700 voted in 1805, or what remained of it, 
was this year voted by the town to be placed at the disposal of 
the North Parish. This north parish, on petition of the 
people, was now incorporated by an act of the General Court, 
March 10, J 806 ; and included all the northern part of the 
. town as far as the asouth lines of the Stack pole lot on George's 
river, the Wessaweskeag marshes, and the lot of Josiah In- 
graham on the shore of OwFs Head Bay; — leaving in the 
South Parish most of that which is now South Thomaston. 
The first legal meeting of the north parish was held June 21st ; 
and D. Fales, M. Wheaton, H. Knox, W. Tilson, and J. Tol- 
man were appointed a committee to supply the pulpit with a 
minister. But, in the mean time, Mr. Chealy's popularity had 
greatly declined, especially with the keen-sighted Knox, who 
complained of the minister's having too much to say in his 
own praise, adding that " even Cicero could never speak of 
himself without appearing ridiculous." The General's hesi- 
tation was still farther increased by a letter to Rev. Mr. Huse 
of Warren, from a western clergyman, advising the people of 
Vol. I. 23 



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266 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

Thomaston not to be in a hurry about settling him till his 
character had time to develope itself. Several letters passed 
between Knox and Mr. Huse on the subject ; in one of which, 
now before me, the former says, Aug. 17, 1805, '* Hitherto I 
have made no use of the papers you were so good as to trans- 
mit respecting Mr. Chealy, whom I have not seen since. The 
settlement of a proper character as a minister is of great im- 
portance to the reputation and happiness of this Town. I 
therefore request to know how far you consider me restricted 
from a disclosure to Mr. Chealy and others. It is but fair the 
accused should have an opportunity of defense." The reply 
to this letter and the proceedings thereupon, do not appear ; 
but the advice given seems to have been approved of by the 
General, who declared that the minister of Thomaston must 
be like Caesar's wife, " not only pure, but unsuspected." The 
parochial concerns of the place being now transferred to the 
North Parish, the connection between Mr. Chealy and the 
town was brought to a close May 26th ; and $600 were paid 
him in part by subscription and in part by $179 of that 
raised by the town. The sequel of his life proved the wis- 
dom of the advice given and taken. He became a partner 
with one Martin in a grocery store on Tileston's Wharf, Bos- 
ton, which was much frequented by the coasters of this and the 
neighboring towns, with whom for many years he made him- 
self popular by his wit, jests, and anecdotes, but becoming 
intemperate, gradually sank into obscurity. One of his say- 
ings may be given as a specimen of his character and self- 
esteem. To one who was joking him upon his change of 
occupation from preaching the Gospel to retailing liquors, he 
replied that " if Satan should once find out that I, who bad 
long been his greatest opponent, have now come over to his 
side, and engaged in his business, I am afraid it would go 
hard with me." 

After the departure of .Chealy, there was no regular preach- 
ing until Sept. 7th, when, at the invitation of Gen. Knox, the 
Rev. Jason Chamberlain, a graduate of Brown University in 
1804, came here and supplied the pulpit most ably and ac- 
ceptably, until the 16th of December following. The parish 
would gladly have retained his services, and instructed their 
committee to agree with and continue him as their minister, 
for a longer period ; but the committee were deterred from 
entering into any permanent engagement by the gloomy 
shadow which had fallen alike upon the parish, the town, 
and the community at large ; and Mr. Chamberlain was paid 
off and allowed to depart, having had the mournfril satisfaction 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 267 

and the painful duty of paying his last tribute of respect to 
the character, and officiating at the funeral obsequies of his 
friend and patron, the leading man of the parish, the bene- 
factor of the town, the life of the business community, the 
promoter of every kind of improvement, the friend of virtue, 
his country, and the human race. Mr. Chamberlain was af- 
terwards, Jan. 6, 1808, ordained at Guilford, Vt., became a 
Unitarian, and, on being appointed professor of languages in 
the University of Vermont, resigned his charge and was dis- 
missed Feb. 27, 1811. He continued in the professorship 
till 1814, and died in 1821.* 

Major General Henry Knox died on the 25th of October, 
1806. His death was occasioned by his inadvertently swal- 
lowing one of the minute sharp bones of a chicken, which, 
lodging in the oesophagus, or stomach, produced an inflam- 
mation that could not be controlled. His short but distress- 
ing illness was soothed by the assiduous care and affectionate 
solicitude of his family, especially of his two daughters, who 
ministered to every want, reading and offering up prayers at 
his bed-side. 

On the 28th, his funeral was celebrated with military honors. 
The day was fair, the assemblage numerous, and the services 
impressive. A prayer, solemn and pertinent, offered up in the 
deep clear tones of Mr. Chamberlain, penetrated far into the 
crowds that filled and surrounded the mansion ; and a eulogy 
was pronounced by Hon. Samuel Thatcher of Warren. A 
procession was then formed, preceded by the company of 
militia, marching with arms reversed, under Capt. David 
Fales, jr., the company of artillery under Lieut. I. Cushing, 
and the company of cavalry under Capt. Wm. Gregory, suc- 
ceeded by the bearers and coffin, on which lay the General's 
hat and sword. Behind this was led the departed hero's fa- 
vorite horse, with the boots of his late rider reversed in the 
stirrups, followed by the mourning relatives, domestics, cit- 
izens and strangers. The who^e, under the direction of D. 
S Fales, marshal of the day, marching slowly to the music 
of a solemn dirge accompanied by the muffled drum, amid 
the tolling of the bell and minute guns fired on the heights at 
a distance, moved from the house up the '* Lane," now Knox 
street, to the present Main street, down the same to the wood 
near Mill River, passed under the lofty pines sighing respon- 
sive to the weeping friends in concert with the mournful tune 
of Roslin Castle, and rendered more sombre by the cloud 

# , 

* Rev. J. L. Sibley, librarian of Harvard College. 



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368 HISTORY OP TH0MA8T0N, 

which just then overcast the sun, till they arrived at the tomb 
under the General's favorite oak, where he, in his contempla- 
tive moods, loved to linger while living. There the corpse 
was deposited, a few volleys fired above it, and the proces- 
sion returned in the same order, the music playing a livelier 
air. 

This tomb, about half a mile from the mansion,* proving 
unsatisfactory on account of injuries from frost and water, his 
remains were, seven years later, removed to a second on the 
margin of the river, nearer the house, and again, three years 
afterwards, for similar reasons, to a more suitable place about 
six rods east of the mansion and separated from it by a small 
grove of spruce and larches. Here, in the centre of a walled 
enclosure of some four square rods, was constructed a tomb of 
granite, surmounted by a modest shaft of marble. On the 
south side of this, faci% the river, within sight and sound of 
its murmuring waters, was this inscription : 

THE TOMB 

OP 

MAJOR GENERAL KNOX, 

WHO DIED 

•Oct. 25th 1806, 
Aged 56 Yeabs. 

*' 'Tis fate's decree ; Farewell ! thy just renown, . 
[The Hero's honor, and the good Man's crown." 



■ * Whilst resting in its first depository under the oak, the honored dust 
of the hero was visited by Gen. Henry Jackson, an old companion in arms 
and friend of the family, then a guest at the mansion. Taking a walk to 
the tomb, he seated himself upon it, and, calling up reminiscences of the 
past, lingered there far into the twilight. His reverie was suddenly inter- 
rupted by a voice exclaiming, ** in the name of God, what are you here 
for? — dear General, I loved and respected you while living — why not 
rest in peace ? " Rising to ^ve an account of himself, he found it pro- 
ceeded from Mr. Brown, a neighbor of Knox, who, in company with Wm. 
"W. French, had been round to the grist-mill in a canoe and landed to sae 
the recently constructed tomb, but from the dusk of evening and similarity 
of stature, had mistaken the friend for the veritable ghost of the departed. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 269 

CHAPTER XIV. 

FROM 1806 TO THE COMMENCEMENT OP THE SECOND 
WAK WITH GREAT BRITAIN. 

The subject of building a work-house, for the employment 
of the idle and support of the poor, was in 1806 brought be- 
fore the town, but passed over, and the maintenance of pau- 
pers voted to be sold to the lowest bidder ; — each to be set 
up separately. The number of such at this time was four ; 
and they were taken by different individuals at an aggregate 
cost of $260,52. 

The year 1806 was that in which the town first sent two 
representatives^ instead of one as heretofore, to the General 
Court ; a fact which, as well as the gubernatorial vote, indi- 
cates a decided Republican majority in the town, and the 
great effort made here and throughout the State to secure the 
ascendency of that party in the Legislature. 

Wm. Watson (2d) who had long kept a ferry near the 
point which bears his name, being now deceased, the town, 
April 7th, of this year, voted that the selectmen apply to the 
Court of Common Pleas to establish a ferry across George's 
River at that place. This ferry was continued by James 
Watson, Jr., son of William, until it was superseded by the 
present lower toll-bridge. Though young Jamie was some- 
thing of an oddity from his childhood, yet his general man- 
agement of the ferry was, we believe, unobjectionable ; the 
following somewhat amusing occurrence being probably an 
exception. John Wyllie, Jr., on his return from Cashing to 
his home in Warren, on a hot summer^s day, thought it would 
save a few miles' riding to cross at this ferry, and, embarking 
in Jamie's float, led his horse as far as he could reach bottom, 
after which the animal was expected to swim. But, becom- 
ing restive or frightened when about half way across, he^ 
floundered, and jerked his owner into the water ; who, being 
a good swimmer and unwilling to risk his horse without a 
guide, kept hold of the bridle, making towards shore and ex- 
pecting the ferryman would soon come to his aid. But, on 
looking round, he saw Jamie had turned about, and was pad- 
dling back to the shore he had left. The horse and his rider 
reached land in safety ; but on asking Watson, the next time 
he met him, what he meant by leaving him in such a perilous 
situation in the middle of the river, Wyllie was answered, 
'* Oh! I see'd you helped yourself." 
23* 



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2^0 HISTOEY OF THOMASTON, 

The year 1806 was memorable, June 16th, for that sub- 
lime phenomenon, a nearly total edipse of the sun at noonday. 
It was the nearest approach to a total eclipse ever witnessed 
by the inhabitants here, and long formed an epoch among 
farmers, who used to date from it the commencement of those* 
cold seasons and precarious harvests, which, with some excep- 
tions, continued with increasing severity for ten years. 

Among the wrecks and other disasters of this year may be 
mentioned the loss of a coaster from this river, on Richmond 
ledge. She was commanded by Matthias Islcy, a native of 
Waldoboro', but at the time residing in this town in the house 
now occupied by G. Webster Shibles. He was a man of 
some smartness for business, but fond of gambling and ca- 
rousing. Returning from Boston on this occasion, with many 
passengers on board and a fair wind, he at night intrusted the 
helm to one of the hands, with directions what course to 
steer, went below, and joined a number of the passengers at 
the card-table; There he continued, participating in their 
play, their liquor, a^d their consequent merriment, without 
regard either to time or the vessel's progress, till she struck. 
Startled and confused, he ran upon ^deck, utterly at a loss 
where he could be or what was to be done. The passengers 
were equally alarmed, and, in the confusion, a boat was 
launched, and, with a number of passengers in it, was imme- 
diately upset by the surf. Another boat was launched, but, 
as soon as entered, the plug was found to be out and the 
water fast gushing in ; one of the passengers attempted to 
stop it with his thumb, which was immediately taken off by 
the grinding rock beneath; and worst of all, in the eager 
scramble one life at least was lost. This was the wife of 
Peter Stone of this town, who was returning with her hus- 
band from a visit either to his friends in Framingham or hers 
in Belchertown. The survivors, with one exception, finally 
got able to manage the boats, and put off for the land, arriv- 
ing safe in Portland. One of the hands, Alex.* Bird of War- 
ren, a veteran tar, seeing the confusion and deeming the risk 
of life greater in the boats than on the wreck, took his pipe 
and quietly sat down in the cabin, where he was found next 
morning by those who came to see what could be saved from 
the vessel. Among the passengers saved, besides Mr. Stone, 
was the late Wm. Rice of Gushing. 

1807a The town having been complained of for neglect- 
ing to make the county road laid out by Tolman's Pond in 
1804, chose its new lawyer^ Elias Phinney, agent to answer 
to that and any other matter that may be brought against it. 



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EOCKLAND AND SOUTH THOM ASTON. 271 

Phinney was born at Lexington in 1778 ; graduated at Har- 
vard in 1801 ; and, after studying law, commenced practice 
in 1804 at this place, in an office over Miss Lydia Webb's pres- 
ent shop at Mill River ; boarding at Dr. Fales*s. There being 
then no lawyer in this part of Thoraaston, except Mr. Thatch- 
er, before mentioned, he soon had a great run of business, 
sometimes entering before Esq. Prince, then of St. George, 
as many as eight, sixteen, and even eighteen actions in one 
day.* These justice actions had formerly been tried by jus- 
tices of the peace, on writs issued by themselves ; which 
practice the members of the bar about this time attempted 
to suppress, by adopting a bar rule that, in case of an appeal, 
none of its members should lend their aid in advocating such 
suit in the court above. A countervailing agreement was 
then entered into by the justices of the county, not to sign 
any blank writs to be furnished to the lawyers. Prince, 
' however, either not having been a party to the agreement, or 
having been prevailed on to break through it, was resorted to 
' in his secluded situation, and for a time did a lucrative busi- 
ness in that way, till, by his means, the agreement was aban- 
doned. Phinney continued his business about eight years ; 
built here a ship for his brother in Charleston, S. C. ; mar- 
ried, July 3, 1809, Catharine, daughter of Hon. J. Bartlett 
of Charlestown, Mass., whither he removed about 1812. He 
subsequently obtained and for many years kept the office of 
clerk of the courts in Middlesex county, all the while culti- 
vating the farm on to which he removed in Lexington, which, 
though naturally sterile, he brought to the highest state of 
fertility, and by his own personal superintendence, scientific 
and practical skill, made it a model for imitation and the 
wonder of connoiseurs. He died July 24, 1849.t 

The town this year, for the first time, chose a superintend' 
ing committee for the purpose of examining teachers and 
schools, consisting of Messrs. Dodge, D. Fales, and Phinney. 
A school-house was built now, or in 1808, in what was then 
District No. 6, for which a tax of $400 was assessed on it ; 
and many of the schools underwent a manifest improvement 
in discipline and instruction. Something in this line was 
done by David Eaton,J who, in 1^04, had taught some four 
or five months in the school-house which then stood on Lime- 
stone hill, or Prison corner. Other successful and popular 
• 

* Diary of H. Prince, Esq. 

t Rev. J. L. Sibley, librarian of Harvard University, &c. 

j A brother of the author, who settled in Portland, N. Y., on the bor- 
ders of Lake Erie, where he was, in 1864, still living at the age of 82. 



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272 HISTORY OP TH0MA8T0N, 

teachers succeeded, among whom were this year, Jos. H. 

Underwood in the same district, and Fiske at Mill 

River, the former of whom became a skilful trader, manufac- 
turer, and stock farmer in Fayette, Maine, and the latter a 
merchant in Concord, N. H. — both of whom were, in 1864, 
still Kving, in the enjoyment of wealth and honor, at the age 
of 80 years and upwards. 

After the staggering blow which the business of this town 
received in the death of Gen. Knox, it still survived, though 
in a less Commanding form, in the hands of those who had a 
little before thai event, or soon after, engaged in it. Capt. 
T. Vose continued merchandise at the upper wharf, until near 
his death, in 1810. Mrs. Sarah Dun ton, who, aft;er being 
abandoned by her husband, had commenced a milliner's shop 
which was gradually extended to fancy goods, then to Eng- 
lish, and ultimately to a general assortment of W. I. goods 
and groceries, continued the business with profit and success, 
to the time of her death, June 28, 1812, in the house which 
she had built on Main street, now occupied by Mrs. R. Rob- 
inson. John Paine, also, was now a resident of the place ; 
having come about 1805, and, finding no suitable place for 
sale lower down, built a store and wharf near the foot of the 
Narrows, and, soon after, on the Shibles' lot, the mansion 
now occupied by his son's widow. He did an extensive busi- 
ness in the lumber trade from here to Liverpool, Bristol, and 
other foreign ports, — sometimes loading English vessels on 
contract, and freighting others owned or chartered by him- 
self; bringing back the proceeds in salt, coal, dry goods, and 
hardware, for this or the Boston market, according to the de- 
mand. This trade, particularly in pine timber, was brisk and 
profitable, till it was suddenly stopped by the embargo laid 
upon all American vessels, on the 22d Dec. of this year, 
1807. During this embargo, the non-intercourse which suc- 
ceeded it, March 1st, 1809, and the war which followed, Mr. 
Paine continued to carry on a precarious but active business, 
preserving, by use, his shipping from decay, and without any 
heavy or material losses. At Mill River, goods had been 
sold at diflferent periods, or were now selling, by J. Reed, 
whose store stood on Mill-river hill, about 100 rods from E. 
G. Dodge's ; by Henry J. Knox, a partner with Reed ; by 
Samuel M. Martin, and Major Nathan Parsons, east of the 
«bridge; by Jackson Durand, below the town landing; by 
David Fales (2d), before 1800 for himself, and after 1802 as 
clerk for Dr. Webb, near the bridge ; and by John Blacking- 
ton, who removed there from Blackington's comer and bought 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 293 

out Durand & Abrams. Parsons, as before noted, continued 
business as a blacksmith, made axes and warranted them ; 
which term, on trial, turned out to mean " warranted only to 
he axes" He had been in the army of the Revolution, an 
officer, if his title of Major were not apocryphal, as some 
have supposed ; but, being fond of money, he was not over 
scrupulous as to the means of amassing it. The following 
anecdotes, whether true or not, are handed down of him, 
here. Graves, who was tending for him, told him, one night, 
that a man had been in and got some articles on credit, but 
he had neglected to ascertain his name till he had gone, and 
now knew not whom to charge them to. " Charge them to 
Carny !" said the Major. " Bud," (this was one of his sons,) 
" have you charged that rum ?** " Hav'nt drawn any, sir." 
" Yes, you have — two gallons; — charge it to Oliver Smith." 
" Sparrowhawk," (another son,) " is not that Matthew Kel- 
loch going over the bridge ?" " Yes, sir." " Charge him 
with a mug of flip." If these floating traditions were but 
caricatures of his real dealings, it is not strange that he soon 
became able to loan money, for doing which, at twelve per 
cent., he was indicted, as before noted, and subsequendy re- 
moved to Bangor. His store was at the corner east of Mill 
River bridge, on the northern side, now owned by Mr. Fish. 

Among the sea-captains in Mr. Paine's employ about this 
time and later, were his son John G. Paine, James Spalding, 
Niven and Lawrence Cn^wford of Warren, and Stephen 
Clough. The last had been in France at the time of the 
Revolution, and brought away emigrants fleeing for their lives 
and freighting his vessel with their goods ; — was at one time 
in possession of a fortune and lived in an elegant mansion on 
Wiscasset Point ; — but met with losses and subsequently re- 
moved to this town. After residing here and at Warren in 
different houses, he was employed as commander of a river 
steamboat in the South-west, where he Ad of sun-stroke, 
having previously lost by sickness all the crew who com- 
menced the voyage witlir him. He having requested to be 
buried on land and a stone bearing his name to be erected, it 
was done accordingly at Mobile ; and the grave has been vis- 
ited by some of his relatives since. His wife, a woman of 
energy and public spirit, kept for some years before and after 
his death a milliner's shop in Warren, and resided there till 
married late in life, to Capt. Pendleton of Camden. 

At the Shore village, business was at this time on the in- 
crease in the hands of the Ulmers, C. Spoffbrd, and Josiah 
Ingraham. The only regular coaster, at this time, was the 



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274 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

sloop William, commanded by Wm. Spear, which was after- 
wards wrecked on Monhegan with a cargo of lime ; but her 
place was soon supplied by a schooner built for him and 
named the Oliver from Oliver Fales, one of the principal 
owners, who, not long after this date, commenced his success- 
fill career in business, at the corner of what are now Main and 
Lime Rock streets, Rockland. Lindsey's and Spear's were 
still the only wharves in the place. 

The question of Separation of the State was again voted 
upon this year, with the follov«ring result ; viz., 22 in favor, 
and 148 against the measure. A project was also in agita- 
tion at this time for a separation of the town, and making a 
new one of the south parish; but the citizens, April 6, 1807, 
passed a vote disapproving of the measure. The year seems 
to have been one of a somewhat disorderly character, both 
among men and cattle, judging from the following votes. 
Having chosen four poUnd-keepers, the town voted to accept 
the offer of Samuel Lindsey to build a- pound, of boards, free 
of expense to the town ; and also to accept on the same terms 
the barn-yard of Jacob Ulmer and that of Capt. Elisha Snow, 
as pounds for the present year ; making some half dozen in 
all. And, on an article to see if the town would provide 
Stocks foF confining disorderly persons, the town " voted not 
to have stocks the present year." 

In the North Parish, the zeal for settling a minister was 
partially revived by Rev. J. Warr«n Dow, who preached nine 
Sabbaths prior to July 21st, 1807; and it was quite re-* 
kindled in the autumn by the preaching of Rev. Richard 
Qriggs, a promising candidate for the ministry who had been 
here a short time. He was born in Halifax, Mass., and 
graduated at Brown University in 1804. To him a call was 
extended, and a yearly salary of $650 voted, Nov. 9th, at a 
parish meeting. iSOS. At a subsequent meeting, Jan. 20, 
1808, the answei^ Mr. Briggs, declining the call given him, 
was taken into consideration, and a motion to renew the call 
was passed, to appearance unanirtiously ; with a salary of 
$600 and in addition a settlement of $300. This was ac- 
cepted Feb. 10th, by Mr. BHggs, who expressed his happi- 
ness that the divisions which prevented his accepting their 
call at first, were now composed. Thus far, everything seem- 
ed fair and auspicious ; a day was fixed for the ordination ; 
find the young minister went home to prepare for the event. 
But an undertow was soon perceived beneath the surface, in- 
dicative of an approaching storm. At a meeting called by 
request of a large number of signers of different denomina- 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 275 

tions and of no denoipination, April 2, it was voted '* to 
reconsider and disannul the vote for the settlement of Mr. 
Richard Briggs, — to reconsider the vote for raising monies 
for Iris support, — to employ Rev. Aaron Humphrey as a re- 
ligious instructor, — and to give him $400 per annum/' 
Though a committee was appointed to acquaint Mr. Hum- 
phrey with these proceedings, it does not appear that any 
money of the parish was ever paid to him. He was a 
Methodist minister ; but his adherents in the parish were 
too few, to have carried or even asked for such a measure, 
had they not been joined by others, who, from personal mo- 
tives wished to prevent the settlement of any minister. These 
votes were passed so late, that Mr. Briggs could not be ap- 
prized of them till he arrived all prepared for the ordination, 
which he supposed was to take place under the most encour- 
aging auspices. His chagrin and disappointment were great ; 
but could hardly be more keen than that of many, his fViends 
in the parish. At subsequent meetings, April 25th, and May 
27th, a less hostile spirit was manifested ; a committee was 
appointed to take measures for dividing the parish into two, 
but was unable to agree upon any line of division ; and 
nothing was done, except to vote $300 to Mr. Briggs in con- 
sideration of his disappointment and expense incurred by his 
preparation and journey hither. In the following year. May 
24, 1809, Mr. Briggs was ordained at Mansfield, Mass., and, 
by his interesting and amiable character and demeanor, won 
and retained the confidence and love of his people till his 
dismission, Dec. 8, 1834; which he asked for in consequence 
of ill health and mental derangement, terminating in his death 
July 5, 1837. * 

Whilst the North Parish was thus disappointed in its pleas- 
ing expectations, in the First or South Farish a serious 
awakening had commenced under the auspices of Elder 
Snow, which, by the accession and aid of the Rev. Samuel 
Baker, rapidly spread and soon became the greatest revival 
ever experienced there. Not far from 150 persons were 
baptized and received into the church as the fruit of this 
work, which continued several months. Mr. Baker, then a 
Methodist minister, had, about the time of its commencement, 
visited the place ; and soon after, Feb. 4th, 1808, was re- 
baptized, admitted to the church, and ordained, March 31,* 
1808, as the colleague of Elder Snow. He was then young, 

* H. Prince's Journal; who notes, on the day of the ordinath)n, 
*♦ weather moderate." 



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276 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

possessed of good natural talents with some literary ambition ; 
and his discourses, differing considerably from those of Mr. 
Snow, attracted greater numbers, and crowned his labors 
with great success. 

In 1808, an association called "<^e Temperate Society"* 
was formed in the Southern division of the town, and held its 
meetings at stated intervals by rotation at the houses of its 
members, for the double purpose of promoting social inter- 
course and moderation in the use of ardent spirits, — the 
more safe and effectual remedy of letting them entirely alone, 
being at that time unthought of. This being the first step 
taken toward checking the great evil then pervading the land, 
we give the names of some of those known or believed to 
have belonged to it; viz., H. Prince, then of St. George, 
Elisha Snow, Jr., Wm. Russ, Wymond Bradbury, Joshua 
Adams, and Josiah Ingraham. 

The first gristmill, built by Elder Snow at Wessaweskeag, 
having been consumed by fire, a second one was this year 
built, at the same place, by him and Mr. Coombs ; who sub- 
sequently bought out Snow's part and became sole owner. 
Another fatal accident occurred in that part of the town, the 
present year, by which Timothy Spalding (2d), a lad twelve 
years of age, was drowned at the mouth of the river on the 
10th of July. 

The town in 1808 chose no less than fourteen inspectors of 
lime — a number nearly equal to one half of the lime-kilns in 
operation. 

The disastrous effect of the embargo upon the prosperity 
of the place, began to manifest itself in the diminution of the 
school tax from $1500, as it had been for tfie two previous 
years, to $1000, as also in the election of Mason Wheaton, 
republican, with Joshua Adams, federalist, as representatives 
in the General Court, against Dr. Isaac Bernard, the opposing 
candidate to each of them. This apparent staggering of the 
party, however, beneath the burden that so heavily pressed 
upon it, was in this town but temporary ; for in the following 
year, 1809, the republican candidate for governor received a 
majority here, of more than two to one ; and Drs. Dodge and 
Bernard, of the same party, were elected representatives. 

1809. The sch. Aurora, built the previous year, at Stack- 
pole's shore, on George's River, this year proved a total loss 
to her owners, Messrs. Stackpole, Jacobs, Keith, and others. 
She sailed on the 4lh July, 1809, from Wessaweskeag River, 
loaded with lumber, and navigated by Capt. Isley of this 
town, before mentioned, and a crew of five men, among whom 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 277 

was John Leeds, then residing in the Clark or Bradford house. 
She arrived safe at her destined port at Bristol, England, 
where the captain, too much engaged in dissipation, paid lit- 
tle attention to the lading of the return cargo, which, being 
mostly of iron, overloaded the vessel to such a degree that, 
when she came out, the water was standing on deck and 
warning was given the captain that she would never reach 
port in safety. This proved true ; at the end of 70 days, her 
sails and rigging having become much worn, she at length 
shipped a sea, which threw her upon her beam 6nds, and car- 
ried away her foremast whilst in the water. By the exertions 
of the mate aJid crew, she was kept above water two or three 
days ; when a Scituate vessel took them off, with their imbe- 
cile captain, and carried them into Halifax, N. S. From that 
place they found their way home as best they could. This 
was Isley's last voyage from this port. He removed to War- 
ren, kept a tavern there some years, but finally left his home 
and wife, found temporary employment at Baltimore, and 
never returned. 

The weather of February, 1809, was remarkable for the 
severity of the cold, with frequent badly drifting sngw storms. 
All the rivers and harbors were frozen up. The snow was 
very deep, and sleighing continued more than three months 
prior to April 1st. Wild animals, though now thinned by 
advancing settlements, were still productive of trouble. Saml. 
Fales, at the Beech Woods, missed six or eight sheep, and, 
after much search, was unable to find them. Shortly after, 
Nathaniel Fales (3d), who had been aiding his brother-in- 
law. Blood, to construct his log house, returning thence 
through the woods or bushes, saw a crow fly up at a little 
distance, and having the curiosity to go and see what she had 
been feeding on, soon found the carcass of a sheep buried in 
the leaves. Others were discovered round about ; and, in a 
clear space of some 14 feet square in the midst of a spruce 
thicket, he came upon a large mound of dry leaves, and on 
his coming up close to examine it, a large bear, roused from 
her sleep on the other side, rushed by him with such velocity 
that he plainly felt her shaggy coat, or the wind of it, brush 
his clothes as his dog took after her. The marauder escaped, 
however, unharmed ; and the dog with a loud yelp returned, 
discomfited. 

The Fourth of July was quietly celebrated at Wessawes- 

keag, and an oration delivered by Rev. S. Baker. At the 

same village a ship named the Holofernes^ built, as before 

mentioned, by Elias Phinney, was launched at the yard of 

Vol. I. 24 



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278 HISTORY OF THOMASTON. 

Elisha Snow, jr., Nov. 23, 1809, — being the second of her 
class built on that river, — one only having been previously 
built by Snow and Spalding for men in Boston, about 1805. 
Phinney's master builders were McLoon and L. Hayden of 
this town, who employed Weston of Warren to aid and su- 
perintend the work. The commercial restrictions, however, 
and the war that followed, prevented the sailing of this ves- 
sel, and she lay in the river till the close of the war in 1815. 
A similar fate awaited the ^^ Bristol Trader," a ship built by 
Charles and William Pope, on a wharf which they about this 
time constructed above Watson's ferry-way on the George's, 
since called Pope's, or G. Robinson's, from ks successive 
owners, and now, we believe, the Commercial wharf. The 
Popes, originally from Spencer, first commenced business in 
Union ; but about this time removed here, and traded at first 
in partnership, afterwards separately — William at the wharf 
and Charles at the Prison corner. But the building of this 
ship, and the subsequent obstructions of trade, clouded their 
prospects, and they eventually relinquished business here, — 
William, about 1821, returning to Spencer, and Charles be- 
taking himself to teaching and other employments, being at 
one time cfeputy sheriff. The ship, after the peace, was pur- 
chased and rigged by Mr. Paine, and for many years plied 
between here and Bristol, England, under command of Jas. 
Spalding. 

It was during the depression of business of this year that 
a new trader was added to the Shore settlement in the person 
of Iddo Kimball, from Bradford, Mass., who, having at the 
age of three years lost his mother, and on the subsequent 
death of his father been denied any share of the estate on 
pretence of some want of formal legality in the marriage, 
was early left to his own resources. Acquiring some educa- 
tion, he had spent the preceding winter in teaching school 
here, and now returned in the autumn \v ith a small stock of 
goods that were most in demand among the Shore settlers, 
such as ox-bows, white beans, dried apples, cheese, thick 
boots, &c., — thus humbly commencing a mercantile career of 
long continued and uniform success. With that career, com- 
menced and gradually grew up the business of that part of 
the town, now Rockland city, to an extent and degree equally 
unexampled. To its prosperity his scrutinizing mind and 
sound judgment contributed no small share ; as did also his 
example of devout strictness to that of the Congregational 
Church in that place,* of which he was long a deacon and 
bountiful benefactor. Having great power of concentrating 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 279 

his thoughts on a single subject, he engaged in few unprofita- 
ble speculations, and amassed a large property, which at the 
time of his death was appraised at $136,179,45; after re- 
tiring from business and suflfering much from mental depres- 
sion and a temporary loss of sight, he planned, amid the in- 
^rmities of age, and, by his single energy, brought to comple- 
tion, the most expensive brick block then in the county, 
which remains a memento to the people of Rockland of one 
of its ablest business fathers. As an evidence of the little 
advance made in the place at the time of Mr. Kimball's 
coming, it is stated that the whole of Ulmer's Point was, this 
year, 1809, offered to Daniel Emery for the sum of $500, 
with his own note only for security ; and nothing was more 
common than for the Shore people to resort to the store of 
Wm. Hovey in Warren, or J. Paine in the western extremity 
of Thomaston, for the purchase of English goods.* 

The tax for schools was this year reinstated at its former 
rate, $1500. In like manner the town, or rather the North 
Parish, seems to have re-awakened in some degree to the im- 
portance of religious instruction. Rev. John Lord had sup- 
plied the pulpit, with some interruption, from Aug. 30, to 
Dec. 7th, 1808 ; during which time, a proposition was made 
for settling him ; and, after several conferences between him 
and the parish committee, and several meetings adjourned 
from time to time, a committee was appointed, Feb. 7, 1809, 
to make arrangements for his installation. For this, $50, 
subsequently increased to $100, were appropriated; and his 
salary seems to have been fixed at $500, until he, on the one 
side, or two-thirds of the parish voters on the other, should 
give one year's notice of a wish for a discontinuance of the 
connection. The installation took place on the 15th of June, 
1809; the ministers invited, being Husc of Warren, Coch- 
rane of Camden, Johnson of Belfast, True of Union, Cutting 
of Waldoborough, Kellogg and Payson of Portland, Blood 
of Buckstown, Webster of Hampton, N, H., and Morse of 
Charlestown. 

The same day a Church, the first in the place of the Con- 
gregational order, was duly constituted, consisting of the fol- 
lowing members, viz., — Rev. John Lord, Elias Phinney, 
David Fales, Jr., Chas. Bradford, Perez Tilson, Andrew El- 
lison, Reuben Fales, Sarah Stackpole, Elizabeth Paine, Sarah 
Lord, Nabby Fales, and Elizabeth P. Bradford. 



* Hon. I. K. Kimball of Rockland ; Obituary, and Inyentory ; Capt. D. 
Emery of South Thomaston. 



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280 mSTOET OF THOMASTON, 

Mr. Lord came from Lyme, Ct., graduated at DartmouUi 
College, 1799, was a man of some talent and energy, and is 
believed to have been a faithful laborer in the vineyard. But 
he lacked the prestige of youth ; the times were hard ; the 
parish taxes were collected wiih difficulty, even on a com- 
mission of ten per cent, to the collector ; the community was 
rent by civil dissension^ ; and, after mutual consultation, the 
parish and pastor, Aug. 18, 1810, came to an agreement that 
he should leave on the first of May, 1811, his salary be con- 
tinued to the 1 5th of June succeeding, and six per cent, in- 
terest allowed him on such parts as remained unpaid. During 
his ministry, two baptisms, only, took place ; and four female 
members, viz.: — Mary Ellison, Sarah Vose, Melinda Tilson, 
and Hannah Fales, were added to the church. Of Mr. Lord's 
subsequent history, no particulars have come to our know- 
ledge, except that he died in 1839, at the age of sixty^-six. 

1810. This year, no inspectors of lime were chosen by 
the town, as they had bee^ annually since 1796. The omis- 
sion was in consequence of a law then recently enacted, 
which provided for a general inspector of lime for the three 
towns of Warren, Thomaston, and Camden, with power to 
appoint deputies, for whose conduct he was to be responsible, 
and receive from them a given per centage of the fees. The 
inspector first appointed under this law was Ebenezer Thatch- 
er, Esq. • 

Among the disasters of this year, the sloop Margaret, be- 
longing to Mr. Ulmer, and commanded by Capt. James Sear? 
of the Shore, loaded with plaster and bound south, was lost 
on that day, long called the cold Friday, Jan. 19, 1810, in a 
tempest of snow and N. W. wind. She probably sprang 
aleak, and sunk with all on board, among whom, besides the 

captain, were Jonathan Spear (3d) and Gray of this 

town. Capt. James Watson, at his home on Watson's Point, 
thus makes note of the weather at this time, in his account 
book. "1810, January about the 20th, on Saturday the Cold 
Snow; Sunday and Monday veary Cold; pretty Cold till 
February the 9th. River full of Ice." 

About this time, Sullivan Dwight came to the place and 
established at Mill River the first successful marble manufac- 
tory ; which he carried on with such spirit and enterprise 
that Thomaston marble soon came into fashion, and found a 
ready sale in all the principal seaports in the Union. A. sec- 
ond factory was subsequently established by his apprentice, 
John O'Brien, in connection with J. Ruggles; and at still 
later periods the business has been carried on with success by 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH TH0MA8TON. 281 

Otis Edgarton, and continued in company with his son to the 
present day, as it was also by Joel Levensaler till interrupted 
by death ; -^ both of whom were also among Dwight's ap^ 
prentices. Col. Dwight was possessed of a fine taste, a 
mechanical genius, and a love of natural science. He early 
led the way in that cultivation of flowers, trees, and shrub- 
bery, which has since added so much to the beauty of Thom- 
•aston. His services in the militia, also, were highly appre- 
ciated at the time, and contributed much to its martial ap- 
pearance and discipline. His aesthetic enjoyments were keen ; 
but he, with the family he reared, fragile as the flowers he 
cultivated, has been carried away by that destroyer, consump- 
tion ; and his residence passed into other hands. 

1811. The pressure of the times continuing and increas- 
ing, the North Parish did little during this and the two suc- 
ceeding years, except making sundry abatements of taxes, 
and raising such further sums as were necessary for the pay- 
ment of Mr. Lord. In the . SotUh Parish^ on the contrary, 
an extensive revival was experienced, and fifty new members 
were added to the church. But the relaxation or reaction 
which often succeeds such periodic revivals, seems to have 
given Mr. Baker leisure for further investigation, and led him 
into doubts respecting certain tenets held by that church. 
These he was too honest, and too destitute of worldly pru- 
dence, to conceal. His candor as a Methodist had led him 
to listen to the arguments of Mr. Snow, arid his promptness 
in following the conscientious convictions of his understand- 
ing, had induced him to adopt the conclusions which that 
gentleman's vehement acutenesa of logic rendered plausible, 
and which seemed so efiicacious in awakening the thought- 
less and converting the sinful. Now, however, he began to 
inquire, " if the tenet be true that the atonement had made 
salvation sure to all for whom Christ died, and the equally 
plain declaration of Scripture that Christ ta.sted death for all 
men, be also true, why then is not salvation sure to all?" 
These doubts were freely expressed ; and, in spite of all re- 
monstrances, he soon became an open advocate of universal 
salvation. For this cause, after having enjoyed the confidence 
and esteem of his people for about five years, he was excluded 
firom the church in 1813. The same year he so far entered 
into political life as to be elected representative to the General 
Court, together with Dr. Dodge. The latter felt little sympathy 
with either this society or its pastor, and when inquired of in 
Boston in regard to his colleague's change of sentiments, used 
24* 



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282 HISTORY OF THOMASTOK, 

to reply, jocosely, '* he has such a set of people to deal with, 
that he can get them to heaven in no other way.** 
^^ Instead of a fish committee, the town, in 1811, chose seven 
jUh wardens ; in order, we suppose, to conform more literally 
to the Act of 1795, regulating the shad and alewife fisheries 
in the counties of Lincoln and Cumberland. At the same 
time a vote was passed " not to take up Wheaton's Mill- 
dam to make Fish- ways the present year*' — firom which we' 
infer that the shad and alewives then taken in Mill River 
were very inconsiderable. The same fishery in Greorge's 
river was chiefly prosecuted in Warren, whose particular priv- 
ilege it was, till the adoption of a new law, in 1844, by which 
its management was surrendered to wardens chosen by this 
town, Warren, Gushing, and St. George, and since which 
large quantities of alewives have been annually taken here in 
seines and weirs. 

A committee was this year appointed to see about relin- 
quishing a small comer of the eastern landing -'place ^ which 
had been purchased by the town near Spear's wharf, and upon 
which buildings were standing; which corner was supposed 
to have been included by mistake in the conveyance. This 
committee's report was accepted by the town. May 27th ; but 
the dispute continued until May 11, 1819, wlien the town, 
rather than lay out a road for Capt. Wm. Spear, the only 
alternative that would satisfy him, voted ** that the selectmen 
be empowered to re-convey the town landing near Spear's 
wharf to Wm. and Jonathan Spear, ihe original owners.*' 

In consequence of the embargo, non-intercourse, and other 
restrictions, which had nearly annihilated foreign trade and 
greatly embarrassed the general 'business of the country, new 
channels began to be sought out for the employment of cap- 
ital and enterprise. Seamen, no longer finding employment 
at sea, began now to look for it on shore ; and fishermen, to 
some extent, were driven to draw subsistence from the soil 
rather than the waves. Farmers, instead of further encroach- 
ing upon their valuable forests of lumber, began to clear up 
their waste lands and extend their fields and pastures. Many 
sold out or abandoned their mortgaged farms, and invested 
the scanty remains of their fortunes in the cheaper lands of 
our own or the more inviting soil of some western State. 
Others searched for wealth beneath the soil, attempting the 
discovery of hidden ores and minerals, which, for want of a 
foreign supply, were now at high price and in great demand. 
Among the many localities subjected to searching operations, 
Thomaston was selected at an early period. Brown Stimp- 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 283 

son, then of Boston, and engaged in mercantile pursuits, first 
called attention to the subject ; and, having made several ex- 
plorations, he collected specimens which, on examination by 
those supposed to be skilled in mineralogy, were pronounced 
favorable indications of coal. Thus encouraged, he proceeded 
to bargain with sundry individuals for the right of digging 
and carrying off ores and minerals from their several lots ; 
and, the present year, 1811, took deeds to that effect from 
Oliver Robbins, 1 70 acres ; James Fales and James Fales, 
(3d), 150; Lydia and William Killsa, 55; B. Blackington 
and John Spear, enough to make up in all 680 acres. Shares 
of these rights were disposed of by him to Warren Button, 
Isaac P. Davis, Jos. R. Newell, John Heard, Jr., Dr. Wm. 
Mead, and others, of Boston. After some explorations, these 
were joined by several able and enterprising individuals of 
Thomaston. In 18 16, the right to dig on large tracts of land, 
was purchased by Col. Dwight, Esq. Gleason, and Aaron 
Austin; and these with their associates werie, in 1818, in- 
corporated into the Thomaston Coal and Mineral Company, 
Under this act, the first meeting of the company was called 
by notice in the Portland Argus, and held at Gleason's tavern 
May 19th; when, and at other meetings here and at Boston, 
by-laws were passed, and a vote to divide the stock into 3000 
shares ; 500 of which were reserved to be vended to defray 
company expenses. Being now duly organized, the company 
purchased of Messrs. Dwight, Gleason, Austin, and Stimpson, 
who had then become a resident of Thomaston, their several 
claims to minerals, at $1000 each, and Saml. Parkman's sim- 
ilar claims on three several lots the soil of which he had pre- 
viously sold to Tolman, Sherer, Marsh, and Norwood, for ^10. 
In 1819, after several abortive meetings, a tolerably full one 
was held at the house of J. Dwight in Boston, Aug. 7th, 
when directors were chosen and a vote passed to refer to the 
next meeting the question " whether any means should be 
taken to continue the business of searching for coal." After 
other adjournments and transferring the books and papers to 
this town, the confidence, especially of the Boston members, 
having abated, a meeting was called July 19, 1820, at Mr. 
Gleason's ; but it is believed none took place, and nothing 
more was done by this company for the next twelve years. 

Early in September of this year, a beautiful comet was ob- 
served above the western horizon in the evening; which, as 
it receded from the sun, increased in splendor and magnifi- 
cence for weeks and months, and, as it moved northerly, was 
visible also, mornings, in the N. E., — a spectacle of rare 
beauty to some, and of terror and ominous import to others. 



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284 HISTORY OF THOMA8TON, 

CHAPTER XV. 

AFFAIES OF THE PLACE DUBINO THE WAK OF 1812. 

1812. Wm. White, Esq., who had been in practice of 
the law in Union since 1809, opened, this year, an office in 
town near Gleason's tavern; where he remained for a shc^ 
period and then removed and spent the remainder of his life 
in Belfast. He was a native of Chester, N. H., and a grad- 
uate of Dartmouth. Another lawyer's office was also opened 
about this time by Joseph Sprague, Esq., at Mill River, 
whose quiet and unobtrusive life henceforth mingled, to its 
close, a genial element in the society of Thomaston. This 
year, also, the place received the accession of J^emiah and 
Joseph Berry, two masons, who came from Portland, and to 
whose labor and skill in their vocation the place has been 
much indebted for many of its earlier substantial buildings. 
The former, after serving in the war then pending, settled at 
the Shore, where he many years kept the principal public 
house, and by industry, enterprise, and public spirit, did 
much to promote the growth and prosperity of what is now 
Rockland, leaving sons equally enterprising. His brother^ 
Joseph settled in the western village, and left no posterity, in- 
deed, but many mementoes of his interest in the public wel- 
fare. 

From the pressure of the times and the gloomy prospe'ct 
of the war, the school tax was cut down to one-half that of 
the preceding year, #500 only being voted for schools. Not- 
withstanding the hardness of the times and the apprehensions 
of fiurther suffering, the town, though now by a somewhat 
diminished majority, maintained its allegiance to the Repub- 
lican, or as it now began to be called the Democratic party, 
and, in May, sent three representatives of that political school 
to the General Court. 

Having been thus pledged to the party which commenced 
and was carrying on the war against England, declared by 
Congress on the 18th of June, the inhabitants of this town 
did not content themselves with a pledge only, — but took 
immediate measures to aid in its prosecution and prepare for 
their own defence. At the most busy season of the year, 
July 9th, a town meeting was called and a vote passed " to 
give the detached troops, when called into actual service, 815 
per month in addition to their other pay." The following 
votes were also passed ; 1st. " to petition to the General 
govemm^t to grant us the aid of one or more Gun-boats or 



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BOCKLAND AKD SOUTH THOMASTON. 285 

Qatteries, as they shall think proper, for the fNroteetion of 
OwPs Head Harbor;" 2nd., that *'I. Bernard and Jos. lograr 
ham, Benj. Webb, J. Adams and Otis Robbins, Jr., be a com- 
mittee to petition for that purpose ;'' and 3d, that " Dr. Webb, 
Major J. Spear, and E. Thatcher, Esq., be a comipittee to con- 
fer with neighboring towns on Penobscot Bay, and concert 
measures with the General Qovemment for defending the 
waters of that Bay by similar aid." At this tiipe, it should 
be recollected, the idea of meeting the enemy at sea (most 
successfully practised afterwards) bad not entered the mind of 
the administration and party in power ; whose favorite policy 
was fo sell off or dismantle the ships of war so long the pride 
of our patriot Knox, to save them from falling a prey to tho 
superior power of the British navy, and to rely on gun-boats 
and 4P&ting batteries alone for the defence of our harbors 
and sea-ports. 

At another meeting, held on tl^e 21st of the same month, 
the town '^ yoted to purchase thirty stands of a^ms, 1^ lbs. 
of powder, 100 lbs. of ball, and 500 flints," and that " the 
selectmen be a compiittee to purchase the same '' ; for which 
a tax of $610 was voted to be raised. At the same time, the 
following persons were chosen a Committee of Safety, viz. : 
Wm. M. Dawes, Dr. B. Webb, T. Rendell, O. Robbins, jr., 
^. B. Rider, J. D. Wheaton, B. Williams, J. Jameson, B. 
Packard, jr.. Dr. Dodge, D. Crockett, Q. Spofford, Job In- 
graham, and Jacob Ulmer. 

Jn consequence of the prostration of business and general 
gloom which hung over t$e maritime portion of the country, 
party animosity rose to a higher pitch, and was manifested in 
new or unusual forms. Town and county ccmventiops were 
held by one party to express their disapprobation of the war, 
and by the other to denounce such proceedings c^s treasonable 
and to sustain the government In the county of Lincoln, in 
consequence of a circular issued by the selectmen of Bath, a 
convention was held, August 3d, at Wiscasset, and passed 
resolutions condemning the policy of the general government 
ii^ the most pointed manner. Of this circular, Thomaston, 
a? a corporation, seems to have taken no notice ; but Messrs. 
E. Thatcher and Oliver Fales attended the convention as del- 
egates from the federal portion of the inhabitants. In regard 
to the selection of a candidate to represent the district in 
Congress, however, the town did not hesitate to act in its cor- 
porate capacity. A to>yn meeting was called, Sept. 22d, " to 
see what method the town will take to promote a general 
meeting of delegates from the republicans in the several 



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286 HISTORY OF TH0MA8T0N, 

towns in the 4th eastern congressional district, for the pur- 
pose of uniting in a candidate to represent said district in 
Congress, and to act upon any other matter of public inter- 
est that should be thought proper." At this meeting, W. M. 
Dawes and Drs. Webb and Lovejoy were elected delegates, 
and also a committee to notify the other towns to send simi- 
lar delegates to said convention. This may seem an extraor- 
dinary assumption of the functions of a partisan caucus by a 
civil corpdration^ and must be regarded as an evidence of the 
unusual intensity and bitterness of party spirit at the time. 

A national fast was appointed, Aug. 20th, and observed in 
the usual manner, but with different feelings according to the 
different views of the people concerning the causes of our 
troubles. 

Without any encouragement of additional pay from the 
town, many recruits had been already enlisted here for the 
regular army. Even before the war was declared, Jackson 
Durand, with a Lieutenant's commission, had enlisted a num- 
ber whose names are not recollected, — being chiefly transient 
persons who probably never returned to the place. This was 
certainly the case with Durand, who remained in the service, 
and was joined by his wife and family. Ebenezer Childs, 
who had been employed as clerk in the store of Col. J. Has- 
kell,'also obtained a Lieutenant's commission, and enlisted a 
number of recruits in this place, as did also, at different times, 
Lieuts. Denny and Lyon. Among these, was John Bentley, 
an active citizen of intelligence and education, who was, most 
unfortunately, killed by a cannon ball at Burlington, Vt, on 
the 11th of Sept. of this year. 

On the 6th of the same month, a fatal accident occurred 
here, by which another citizen of this town, Benjamin Black- 
ington, senior, one of the early settlers west of the Meadows, 
was suddenly killed. Whilst he was going to mill on horse- 
back, one of the bags became untied and the com spilled 
upon the ground ; by the noise of which, the horse was fright- 
ened, the rider thrown, and his neck broken. 

1813. Near the close of 1812 and the beginning of 
1813, a company of Coast Guards, to the number of sixty or 
sixty-five men from this town and Camden, were enlisted for 
one year ; of which John Spear was captain ; Isaac Russ of 
Camden, 1st lieut.; Leonard Smith, 2d lieut.; Thomas Tol- 
man, ensign ; Jere. Berry, orderly sergeant, Asa Sartelle, 
Freeman Harden, and Richard Smith, sergeants ; Jas. Spear, 
drummer; and the following from this town, so far as recol 
lected, were privates, viz. : Wm. Singer, John Butler (4th)^ 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 287 

Wm. Walsh, Wm. Walsh 2nd., Asa Brewster, Asa and 
Thomas Crockett, Rnfus and Isaac Spear, Moses Heard, 

Geo. Wooster, Job Tower, Geo. W. Stevens, Harding, 

Joseph Hasty, James Shibles, Simeon Blood, and Jas. Wat- 
son. On the 22d January the company was quartered at the 
Fort in St. George ; was publicly addressed there, Feb. 22d, 
by Elder Baker ; and on March 13th took its departure for 
Gas tine, where it was joined by the Montville company, and 
then sailed to Machias ; which they reached by keeping close 
in shore, thus eluding the Battler^ a British 20-gun ship, lying 
in wait for them. After a stay there of about one month, 
these troops sailed in the night time for Eastport and Rob- 
binston. Here they remained, mostly employed in detecting 
and suppressing contraband trade, finding good quarters in 
houses deserted from fear of the enemy, until about Christ- 
mas ; when they were discharged, without a farthing of pay 
to carry them home. Singer, and some five or six others, 
chopped wood in Robbinston for Mr. C. Stetson, to gain, money 
for the purpose, and then set off for home on foot. At Steu- 
ben, however, about half-way home, they met some gentlemen 
on horseback ; who proved to be government agents, and, the 
next morning, paid them off. John Butler, one of the above, 
at the time of his enlisting had just returned from sea, and, 
not being included in the militia roll, was at liberty to take 
any one's chance of being drafted for future service. This 
he did five times in succession at one dollar apiece, and, not 
being drawn, took by agreement the place of George Lindsey, 
at $5, with the usual pay of $12 a month; did duty thirty 
days at Camden, and afterwards received the government 
bounty.* 

Other companies, or parts of companies, were enlisted here 
during this war. Among them Jabez Morse, as orderly ser- 
geant, enlisted Robert and Samuel Creighton, James and 
Henry Tings, Isaac (?) Robbins, Finley Kelloch, Henry M. 
Wight, Pompey Brown, and probably others not recollected. 
During the service, Morse was promoted to be Sergeant Ma- 
jor of the regimen I. Wight was taken sick with the measles, 
and died at Burlington. In the course of the war, many 
other recruits were furnished by this town, who either died in 
the service or settled elsewhere and never returned. Among 
these may be mentioned Caleb Young, a non-commissioned 
officer, since a resident of Camden; Ebenezer Smith ; Ward 



* Hon. William Singer, Messrs. Leonard Smith, and J. Butler (4th}, 
Prince's Diary, &c. 



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288 HISTORY OF THOMA8T0N, 

Russell; and Benjamin Hastings, the last of whom died in 
the army at Sackett's Harbor. R. K. Shibles also enlisted 
and received his bounty; but being lame with rheumatism 
and of somewhat intemperate habits, his children were afraid 
to risk his life in the camp, and his daughter, Mrs. Hyler, 
sedulously saving his bounty, look it together with testimonials 
of his physical inability to the proper officer at Bath, and 
obtained his release; — making the journey alone in a one- 
horse sleigh before the days of buffalo robes and furs. 

In the mean time, the British were not idle ; and the coast 
was soon so beset by their ships of war and privateers, as to 
make it dangerous for any of our vessels of value to put to 
sea. Even old wood-coasters were often overhauled, and 
robbed of anything valuable that happened to b« on board. 
Fishermen and even landsmen were occasionally captured, 
and held, temporarily, for the purpose of gaining information 
about matters on shore and along the coast. John Paul, who 
had settled at Ash Point, being taken prisoner by a British 
armed vessel while engaged in taking fish for his family use 
in the Muscle *Ridge channel, was interrogated in relation to 
a certain swivel kept at Owl's Head for defensive purposes in 
care of Capt. Nath. Merriman, then become a resident there. 
Paul replied, " it may be in Merriman's barn, — it may be be- 
hind his barn, — or it may be in the guard housd, — or it 
may be in the bushes, — and I don't know where the d — 1 it 
isn't; and if I did^ I wouldn't tell ye." Among other places 
of rendezvous for the enemy, was Mark or Fisherman's 
Island, small and uninhabited, lying south of Sheep Island. 

In June, 1813, Capt. Wm. Spear, a skilful pilot, projected 
a trip to Boston in the sch. Oliver — a first class vessel for 
that time, of about ninety tons burthen. After waiting a num- 
ber of days for wind and weather suitable to elude the vigilance 
of the enemy, he set sail from the harbor of what is now Rock- 
land. The wind was blowing fresh at the time from the north- 
east, with thick weather and a drizzling rain. After rounding 
Owl's Head, with every prospect before him of a favorable 
passage, he was most unceremdniously brought to and cap- 
tured by the British sch. Fly, This privateer had taken a 
position in that celebrated roadstead, with American colors 
flying at her mast-head to decoy the unsuspecting coasters, — 
of which five or six besides the Oliver were there entrapped, 
and lying at anchor as prizes. During the afternoon of the 
same day, the privateer made signal to her prizes to get under 
weigh and follow — she standing on the wind, endeavoring to 
beat out of the north-east entrance of the harbor. In obeying 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOJiASTON. 289 

this order, some two or three of the prizes managed to have 
their sails fill on the wrong tack, and, by so doing, plumped 
themselves purposely ashore on the beach. Capt. Spear was 
endeavoring to execute the same manoeuvre, when the priva- 
teer opened her battery and peremptorily ordered him to desist 
and follow, or "he would blow him out of water;" and, with 
great reluctance, Capt. S. was compelled to obey the command. 
Disappointment, perhaps, or a malicious feeling towards those 
who, by their shrewdness, had eluded his grasp, provoked the 
captain of the privateer to give vent to his feelings by firing 
a parting broadside. A spent round shot lodging against the 
sill of the house of Dr. Benjamin Webb, — whose wife and 
children had retreated to the cellar for safety, — and another, 
bespattering with dirt the garments of the doctor himself, 
who was out looking on, down near his store on the Point, 
were the only visible effects of this act of civility. Spear, 
disappointed and dejected, was set on shore, and allowed to 
take what personal effects he had on board. One of his 
hands, Barnabas Webb, being called to assist, laid hold of 
whatever came to hand without much regard to ownership, 
and, although once or twice forbidden, still continued to hand 
kettles and other articles over the stern into the boat ; then, 
returning into the cabin, his eye fell upon the captain's watch, 
forgotten in the confusion, which he, though a prisoner, seized 
and kept for the downcast owner. 

With her three prizes, the privateer stood out of the harbor 
and stretched across the bay towards the southern extremity 
of the South Fox Islands, where, in one of the most roman- 
tic harbors on our coast, they all came to anchor. The sun 
had now set ; and a brisk north-east wind, which had been 
•sweeping all day over the water, had died away, leaving a 
long ground swell heaving in upon this rock-bound and appa- 
rently uninhabited island. In this secluded spot, in anticipa- 
tion of uninterrupted security, (a small whale-boat only being 
seen to enter the harbor), the privateer commenced putting 
on board the Oliver the goods taken from the other two 
prizes. But, by means of that boat, it afterwards appeared, 
the inhabitants, notwithstanding the ominous silence that pre- 
vailed, had been warned of their close proximity to a British 
privateer ; and, as soon as the dusk of evening had begun to 
gather, men collected from every nook and corner with mus- 
ket, fusee, and fowling-piece, ready to give her battle at 
early mom. At its coming, the men of the privateer wer^ 
busily engaged in finishing the transfer of the goods, while 
the fishermen from their well selected positions were watch 
Vol,. I. 25 



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290 HISTOIIY OF THOMASTON, 

ing unconcernedly these operations. "What schooner is 
that?" cried at length a voice from the shore. "The Shear- 
Water of Baltimore! won't you come on board?" replied 
the captain of the privateer, "No; but we invite you to 
come ashore." " I'll see you d — d first," replied the officer. 
This abrupt answer caused a simultaneous fire from the land, 
in all directions. The captain of the privateer fell at the 
first discharge, having two balls shot through his body. Tak- 
en so completely were the officers and crew by surprise, that 
they sought safety below ; while their boat was ordered 
ashore and captured. There they were, seventy-five in num- 
ber, driven fr6m the deck ; and not a solitary being could 
show his head without being shot. But the inventive genius 
of man, always greatest when put to the severest test, was 
called into requisition ; and one man, stimulated by the dying 
injunction of the captain "not to be taken," volunteered his 
services to cut the cable. He accordingly ventured on deck, 
and, by creeping along under the hammock nettings, succeed- 
ed in accomplishing his object. But while in the act of pass- 
ing below the halliards of the jib and main-sail, he dearly- 
paid for his temerity ; for the bullet of some correct-sighted 
fisherman shattered his under jaw — he fell, but succeeded in 
creeping below. 

Changeable as fortune had thus far been to this luckless 
vessel, a ray of hope yet lingered among her crew, and an 
attempt at escape was resolved on. To keep in check in 
some measure the continual pelting which they were receiv- 
ing, it was proposed to open a fire from the main hatch ; but, 
in the first attempt to do this, a well-directed bullet grazed 
the beard and lip of the venturesome Englishman and lodged 
in the combings of the hatch. The plan was then abandoned,^ 
as futile in the extreme. But a gentle breeze and favorable 
current came to their assistance ; and, by hoisting the jib and 
mainsail and managing to steer the vessel by means of a bay- 
onet and musket thrust through the sky-light, they at length 
got out of harm's way, and finally made their escape ; — leav- 
ing the brave and hardy fishermen of Fox Islands the suc- 
cessful captors of their boat's crew and the three prize-ves- 
seis. 

On board of the privateer, confined below, were five Amer- 
ican prisoners, — Capt. B. Webb of Thomaston (the narrator 
of this adventure, lately passed from earth, to the deep re- 

Eret of the writer,) together with Capt. Bunker of Mt. Desert, 
uther Snow and John Snow of this place, and one other 
whose name has escaped recollection. Their apartment was 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOM ASTON. 291 

adjacent to the cabin — so near that they could easily hear 
the groans of the dying captain and wounded seaman. These 
sounds with the pattering of bullets, like hail, against the 
wooden sides of their prison, caused them mingled emotions 
of sorrow and rejoicing. The wind being now S. W. the 
privateer shaped her course for the Wooden Ball, an unin- 
habited island in Penobscot Bay. While pursuing their way 
thither, the prisoners were allowed by the Lieutenant to come 
one at a time on deck, and, while taking his turn, Webb, 
perceiving a small boat at some distance, requested him to 
ha^il it and give them their liberty. This request was granted ; 
but, before going, he also expressed a desire to see the corpse 
of the captain. The humane feeling of course could not but 
meet with the approbation of the Lieutenant, who escorted 
him to the cabin. • Pistols, sabres, pikes, boarding axes, and 
all the minor implements of marine warfare,*were arrayed 
about the cabi«, giving it an appearance of wild embellish- 
ment; while at the same time each wa*s convenient to the 
hand. Around the mast was placed a stand of muskets. 
The cabin seemed a citadel of itself. In a berth lay the 
corpse of the captain. There was a latent expression of sat- 
isfaction, modified by a sympathy not altogether affected, as 
the Yankee stood in presence of the Lieutenant and his late 
commander. This sympathy, though in the breast of an en- 
emy, was not without its softening effect. The unfortunate 
result of the late encounter was freely discussed, and the dis- 
astrous effects of the fishermen's fire pointed out by the sad- 
faced Lieutenant. " There you can see the murderous design 
of your countrymen !" said he, pointing to some charts which 
hung in beckets on the sides of the trunk-cabin. Taking 
them from their place of security, two leaden bullets rolled at 
his feet; "Oh, my God!" ejaculated he, ''what a miracle 
that we have thus escaped with the loss of no more lives." 
" I should think there must also be some visible effects on 
the vessel's deck, if I were to judge from my place of con- 
finement by the rattling of bullets -and buck-shot against the 
sides of the privateer," said Webb. "Yes; truly, there," 
said the Lieutenant, " is evidence sufficient to satisfy the most 
skeptical; for sixty-two balls are lodged in our masts, and 
sixty-four can be counted as having passed through our main- 
sail below the two reef-gearings!" *'You," rejoined Webb, 
" have lost your captain and received other damage, which 
you charge upon my countrymen. I might retort by saying 
you have taken from my captain his vessel, his only means of 
support to a large family. But, sir, it is the fortune of war, 



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292 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

and we must submit to the good or ill which befalls us." 
Perceiving now was the time to effect his purpose, he respect- 
fully asked the Lieutenant if he would restore the papers of 
the captured vessels, now re-taken at Fox Islands ; as they 
might relieve the distresses of many a poor family ; not for- 
getting at the same time to express his heart-felt sorrow for 
the bereaved family of the deceased captain. This request 
was granted, and the papers restored. In the mean time the 
boat, which was too small to carry more than one at a time, 
had transported the other prisoners to their landing place on 
Matinicus Rock, and was now in waiting. Webb ascend- 
ing the deck, stepped into it with inward feelings of satisfac- 
tion; the hat was raised, a cordial salutation given; — and 
thus parted the rival sailors of the two belligerant nations.* 

The sch. Oliver seems, however, to have had the misfor- 
tune to be agfin captured, the year following ; as, on the 29th 
Sept. 1814, a permit was granted by Maj. A. Xj. Coombs as 
commander of the militia here, to Capt. Spear, his son Wil- 
liam, and Samuel Hix, to go to Castine with a flag of truce 
for the purpose of ransoming the sch. Oliver. This was 
accomplished, and they returned with the vessel, Oct. 17th. . 

Previous to this occurrence, Capt. Isaac Snow, in command 
of a coasting vessel bound to Eastport with supplies for the 
American soldiers stationed there, was made a prize of by 
this same privateer "i^Zy." A prize master and one man 
were put on board, together with Capt. Snow, and ordered to 
St Johns; whilst the crew, Luther Snow, son of the captain, 
and John Snow a kinsman, were confined as prisoners on 
board the " JP/y." Capt. Snow, hobbling about the de3k 
with his wooden leg, (having formerly suffered amputation in 
consequence of an injury on board his vessel) was not re- 
garded as in any way dangerous, and was allowed to be at 
liberty, sometimes lending a hand in steering. When off Ma- 
chias, with a fair wind, coming up on deck in the morning, 
he asked the prize master then at the helm if he had had his 
bitters. Receiving a negative answer. Snow offered to take 
th6 helm whilst he should go below for them. Going accor- 
dingly, he was met at the gang^^ ay on his return by Capt. 
Snow, who levelled* him to the floor with a handspike, locked 
the door to confine him and the only other man on board, and 
steered the vessel up under the fort at Machias. There the 

* Capt. B. Webb ; whose account of the adventure was also taken down 
by Messrs. J. W. Dodf<e and H. P. Coombs, written out in a popular 8t>le 
and published in the Thomaston Recorder, of May 26, 1846 ; — copied also 
in Locke's Hist. Camden. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 293 

prize master was found to have been instantly killed ; con- 
trary to the intention of Snow, who meant to have given a 
stunning but not a fatal blow. Having now recovered his 
vessel, he proceeded to his destination, and resumed his bu- 
siness. On his first trip, however, when returning from Bos- 
ton off the Isle of Shoals, he was met and again captured by 
the same privateer, which had been to St. John and there re- 
fitted under a new captain in place of the one killed at Fox 
Islands. There were enough on board, however, who re- 
membered his former capture, and now threatened him with 
drowning, shooting, and various other punishments ; from all 
which he was finally delivered, with the loss only of his ves- 
sel, the steering of which he was not a second time intrusted 
with.* 

About this t^me Charles Holmes, then an apprentice to C. 
Spofford, and 19 years of age, shipped on board the priva- 
teer Dart of Portland, and made a six weeks cruise. Soon 
after his return, the American privateer Wasp^ coming into 
the Shore harbor in want of hands, he, with six others of 
that place, was engaged and sailed for the Bay of Fundy. 
In about three weeks they were captured by a British ship of 
war, thrust into the St. John's jail, and, after six weeks, sent 
to Liverpool. There, by a stratagem, he escaped, and en- 
deavored to find his way to France ; but was pressed, and, to 
escape the British service, delivered himself up a prisoner of 
war. Thrust into the lower hold of a sloop-of-war, in utter 
darkness during the twelve days' voyage around to Plymouth, 
he, after two days confinement in a prison-ship lying in that 
harbor, was, with sixty other Americans, marched to Dart- 
moor; — a prison covering 20 acres, and of such famous and 
cruel memory, there as here, that the farmers call it the 
DeviVs land^ and do not dare to pass it at night. Here, 
among 10,000 French and 1000 American prisoners, the poor 
lad found himself, with only his hammock, his chest, and $6 
concealed in his boots. The first was immediately stolen 
from the stanchion where he had hung and left it a few mo- 
ments, to buy some coffee and lunch at a stand; and the 
.second night his boots were taken. He succeeded, however, 
after sharing and borrowing a time, in obtaining a good cot 
bed and blanket from the officers ; but took a cold aud fever, 
and was removed to the hospital, where he was taken care of 
by a kind hearted surgeon, and kept six weeks. Finding the 
prison allowance of one pound of barley and peas bread, one- 

* Capt. B. Webb, and others. 
26* 





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294 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

third pound of beef, and a pint of soup, too scanty for his 
returning appetite, he purchased goods of a trading French 
prisoner, and, retailing them at a small profit, managed to 
supply his wants. Having been joined by 7000 other Amer- 
icans, who, after the release of the French prisoners, were col- 
lected from Halifax and the prison-ships, he found among 
them his brother Elijah and his old ship mates, and remained 
to witness the memorable massacre of sixty fellow-prisoners 
by Capt. Shortland, April 6, 1815, from which Holmes es- 
caped by diving among the legs of the crowd into the prison 
out of the yard, as did Paul Thomdike of Camden, by jump- 
ing into one of the . cook-room windows. • Being released 
April 26th, and sent home from Plymouth in a Dutch ship 
bound to Norfolk, Va., he, with his fellow-prisoners, mostly 
from the north, chose a shorter cut, took charge of the ship, 
and brought her into New York after a passage of 45 days. 
Finding his way to Boston, he there exposed for sale a ship 
about one foot in length, made of bones, rigged with human 
hair, and mounting 136 guns, the work of a French prisoner, 
which he had bought in Dartmoor, and now, with some dif- 
ficulty, sold for $53. Remaining there three weeks, he took 
passage in a coaster, landed at Owl's Head, and reached on 
foot his welcome home at Mr. SpofFord's, — after an absence 
of two years and two months, of which one year and a half 
was spent in Dartmoor Prison.* 

Human foes were not, it seems, the only objects of hostility 
at this time, as the town, May 10, 1813, voted to give a 
bounty of $2 for every wild-cat killed within its limits. The 
dependence of the people upon home-made cloth, rendered, 
at this time, the protection and improvement of sheep an ob- 
ject of great interest. Mr. Paine, this year, imported a 
French Merino or two, the half-breeds of which sold readily 
at $50 apiece, greatly improving the wool in this vicinity. 
He subsequently imported largely of other improved breeds, 
and was considered in this respect a great public benefactor. 

On the 24th of July, a meeting was called *' to see if the 
Town will agree to settle with Otis Robbins, Jr., as Collector 
for 1809, 1810, 1811, and 1812, and choose some person lo 
receive the bills and complete the collection in his stead." 
But the town voted not to do so. This gentleman, having 
filled several town offices, was now seeking reputation in a 
different field. Devoting himself to the defence of the coun- 
try, he joined the regular army, and, July 11, 1814, was ap- 

* Narrative of C. Holmes, Esq., Rockland Gazette, April 20, 1865. 

% 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH IHOMASfON. 295 

pointed let Lieutenant in the 34tli regiment of U. S. infantry, 
although his commission was not made out till the 20th Feb. 
following. Among those enlisted under him, were Waterman 
Fales of the Shore village, and others not remembered. 

The year was distinguished by the continuance and in- 
crease of the burdens and dangers of war, the wants and pri- 
vations incident to a lack of business and employment, and 
the extreme scarcity and high price of provisions. So de- 
pendent were the people along the coast of Maine on the 
]»rofits of trade and navigation, and so great was the tempta- 
tion arising from the scarcity of foreign goods, that many 
contrived, by one means or another, to continue such pur- 
suits in some degree during the war. At one time, British 
licenses were obtained ; and vessels clearing for a neutral 
port carried th.eir' cargoes to Bermuda and other British 
places, where they were allowed to traffic. After a while 
these licenses were annulled, to the jeopardy of those sailing 
under them. Just after this annulment was made known at 
Bermuda, one of the vessels belonging to Mr. Paine of this 
port, arrived at that place, unsuspicious of any change. As 
soon as she hove in sight, however, Mr. Winter of Bath, and 
other Americans there, put out to meet her with the Swedish 
consul, and, before entering port, she was furnished with a 
complete set of Swedish papers. These were not very close- 
ly scrutinized, and she was allowed to enter and clear as a 
neutral vessel. 

1814. The disheartening pressure of the war so far pre- 
vailed over the spirit of the Democratic party, that, in May, 
1814, two Federalists, J. Gleason and E. Thatcher, were 
chosen to represent the town in the General Court. The 
town also appointed J. Adams, M. Marsh, and Jos. Ingraham, 
to instruct them in relation, and probably in opposition, to a 
State insolvent or bankrupt law then in agitation. 

The coast was much harassed thfs season by ships-of-war 
and privateers, prowling among the islands and headlands for 
plunder, as well as by more serious attempts at invasion. 
Among these, besides the "Fly" before mentioned, were the 
brig ^''Bream^" the ship ^' Battler ^'^ and the ^^ Liverpool 
Packet;^'* the last of which was particularly successful and 
troublesome. Their policy, with regard to prisoners taken 
from private and unarmed vessels, was now changed; most 
of whom, instead of being set on shore as formerly, were 
sent to Halifax and detained as prisoners of war. The " BuU 
warh^''* an English battle ship of 74 guns, was well known 
by the people here to be on the coast, cruising in the bay. 



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296 HISTORY OF TH0MAJ3T0N, 

, and occasionally sending a barge among some of the adjacent 
islands, with no ostensible object but to plunder and frighten 
the fishermen of the region. Few or no coasters were willing 
to venture out of port; but on the 22d June, 1814, captains 
McKellar and Say ward, in a lime coaster of 50 tons, impa- 
tient of further delay and against the remonstrances of neigh- 
bors and friends, dropped down the George's River, resolved 
to take advantage of the prevailing N. E. wind and a dense - 
fog that enveloped the whole bay, to elude the enemy and 
reach a market They were met, however, near the mouth 
of the river by two of the Bulwark's barges well manned 
and armed proceeding up the river, and were captured at 
once. The officer in command immediately entered into a 
negotiation to restore their property on condition the prison- 
ers would pilot them up the river. This they agreed to do, 
it is believed, as far up as George's Fort, — a small unimpor- 
tant work in the town of St. George built by Government in 
July, 1809, under superintendence of Capt. Thomas Vose of 
Thomaston. A Major Porter was also there from June 28th 
to July 11th, probably to inspect or direct; and H. Prince, 
still of St, George, was employed to get sods and timber for 
the work. It consisted of a rampart in the form of a cres- 
cent towards the river, upon which were mounted two if not 
three 18-pound iron guns. Attached to this -were the bar- 
racks, a small block-house, and magazine of brick ; and the 
enclosure was completed in the rear by a high board fence. 
At or soon after the commencement of the war, a guard of 
soldiers was stationed in this post, under command of Serg't 
Nute; but these having been withdrawn for service else- 
where, Nute, June 8th, 1813, left the establishment in the 
charge of H. Prince, who engaged an elderly man, Ephraim 
Wylie, to stay there and keep things in order.* 

When the barges came up, this sole defender of George's 
fort and the river, was within doors, preparing his evening 
meaU Advancing with a quick but steady pace, the enemy 
mounted the parapet of the fort, and the officer in command, 
with a stentorian voice, ordered a surrender. No one appear- 
ing at the door, the officer ordered a musket to be fired at it ; 
the ball of which passed through the upper panel, and, graz- 
ing the shoulder of Mr. Wylie, lodged in his bunk. '* Surren- 
der !" again shouted the officer. On this, the occupant salli- 
ed out, and peremptorily ordered the intruders from the prem- 
ises. Not' intimid ated by the appearance of one man only, 

* Common place book of H. Prince, Esq. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 297 

however valorous, the officer inquired for the commander of 
the battery. " I am the commander !" replied Wylie ; " this 
is 'Squire Prince's Fort, and he has put me in charge of it." 
Others of the force had, mean time, spiked the guns ; and 
the officer, finding no impediment in the garrison, ordered the 
whole establishment to be blown up. Powder enough for this 
purpose not being found in the magazine, the little they did 
find was scattered to the winds, and Wylie was ordered to bring 
forward and surrender his fiag. " I told you once," was tho 
reply, " that this was 'Squire Prince's fort, and if you want 
any flag, you must go to 'Squire Prince." Not far from the 
fort were several sloops, which the barges proceeded t^^ap- 
ture or destroy. The Fair Trader^ Capt. Andrew Robinson's 
vessel, in Collins's cove, on the Gushing side, and a vessel on 
the stocks, belonging to Capt. Burton, were set on fire, which, 
however, went out of itself or was subsequently extinguish- 
ed ; while the Ex-Bashaw^ Capt. Matthew Robinson, and 
another sloop, belonging to Capt. John Lewis, (on board which 
was Christopher Curtis, who vainly endeavored to escape in a 
punt,) were cut out of Broad cove and towed off". The sound 
of firing and the sight of the flames had by this tiine brought 
many of the people to the scene of action. Capt. Joseph 
Gilchrist, seizing his gun, ran across and rallied Burton, tell- 
ing him he would fire and «care away the enemy. Accord- 
ingly, putting a bullet and three buckshot atop of a charge 
already inserted for ducks, he discharged his piece, and, re- 
peating the fire, the enemy desisted. In the mean time the 
Kellerans, Mclntyres, and others, had arrived on the ground, 
and not perceiving, in the darkness, how aflairs stood, and 
mistaking Gilchrist and those who now joined him for the 
British, commenced a brisk fire upon them. Esq. Malcolm, 
then in age, who had also got down to reconnoitre, hearing 
the balls whistling by his head, was obliged to retreat precip- 
itately to a safer situation, and yelled out so lustily to the 
combatants as to bring about an explanation. 

By this time a great part of the night was spent ; yet the 
design of the enemy was not fully accomplished. Thomas- 
ton was a higher mark, and promised richer booty. The 
young man, Christopher Curtis, before mentioned as taken 
prisoner in Lewis's vessel, was compelled to act as pilot, and 
the barges proceeded on up toward this place. This lad, 
though he dared not disobey orders enforced by threats and a 
pistol at his breast, did what he could to prevent further mis- 
chief, by exaggerating the distance and the time necessary to 
reach Thomaston ; and so well succeeded, that when almost 



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298 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

there, as the dawn hegan to open in the east, the enemy be- 
came discouraged and hastily returned. Curtis* was then set 
on shore at the lower narrows, to negotiate for a ransom of 
the prizes. This was so far effected that Capt. Matthew Rob- 
inson, through a relative on Monhegan, agreed to ransom his 
vessel at $600 ; but, having collected the money and put off 
for Monhegan, where the ships and prizes lay at anchor,, he 
was met by a gale of wind and storm so severe as to retard 
his progress till the fleet had been compelled to sail for Hal- 
ifax.! 

After the capture of Castine by the British, Sept. 1 st, the 
presittnption was that Camden would also be visited • by the 
enemy ; to repel which Col. E. Foote, Sept. 2d, ordered the 
regiment under his command, including the militia of Thom- 
aston, St. George, Camden, Hope, and Appleton, to assemble 
immediately at the Harbor in Camden, well equipped for ac- 
tual service and with three days provisions. On the next 
day, Sept. dd, all was bustle and preparation among the sol- 
diers in ** buckling on their shining arms in haste," and the 
selectmen in slaying cattle, cooking beef, and providing bread 
for their subsistence. Before night the regiment was paraded 
at Camden under command of the colonel aforesaid and Ma- 
jors John Spear of this town and Jona. Wilson of Camden. 
The Thomaston companies of infantry, under command of 
Capt. Elkanah Spear of the north company and Capt. George 
Coombs of the south, together with the company from St. 
George and those from Hope and Appleton were quartered at 
or near the Camden meeting-house. On the 5th, Major Reed 
of Waldoboro', with one battalion of Col. S. Thatcher's reg- 
iment, advanced from Warren to this town and took quarters 
at Tilson's or Haskell'sJ tavern. The next day, news came, 
express, that an attack upon Camden was momentarily ex- 
pected from several ships-of-war which had entered the 
western channel and taken a menacing position. On receipt 
of this. Reed's battalion and the artillery company under 
Capt. John Haskell, by order of Col. Eben. Thatcher, both of 
this town, proceeded on early in the day to the place of dan- 
ger. These were followed in the afternoon by the other bat- 
talion of S. Thatcher's regiment under Maj. Hawes of Union. 

* Curtis afterwards settled in Damariscotta. Dea. I. Robinson. 

t Capt Henry Robinson, Capt. Jos. Gilchrist, Prince's Diary, Thomas- 
ton Recorder. 

X Israel Haskell, a joiner from the westward, had come to the place 
prior to 1808, built the house which he at this time occupied as a taTern, 
on the old Camden road in Rockland, where he and his wife both died of 
the typhoid or, as it was then called, slow nervous fever. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 299 

Throughout the day all was suspense and anxious expecta- 
tion. During the night an alarm came that the enemy were 
hauling in shore, preparatory to landing; the troops were 
turned out and paraded, muskets were loaded, and consulta- 
tions of officers held as to the hest place and manner of meet- 
ing the foe, when it was ascertained that the hostile fleet was 
getting under way, and sailing, as it afterwards proved, for 
Halifax; and all returned to their repose. The next day, the 
two regiments, including two companies of light infantry, to- 
gether with the cavalry company under Major, then Capt. I. 
Bernard, the artillery, and a volunteer company of exempts 
from Warren, were paraded in review before Major Gen. 
King of Bath, and, after. sundry exercises and evolutions, re- 
turned to their homes under their respective commanders. 
The 3d regiment marched in a body as far as Gleason's tav- 
ern, (at the present Bank Corner) and were there addressed 
and dismissed by their colonel, S. Thatcher. 

On Sunday, Sept. 11th, an express arrived from McCobb's 
Narrows with the intelligence that the British were coming 
up George's River. The people generally turned out with 
their muskets, and the artillery promptly took its station on 
Vose's wharf at Thomaston. After waiting till daylight, how- 
ever, it was ascertained that the alarm was without founda- 
tion, having been caused by a swivel discharged by some 
mischievous boys down the river, for -the purpose of fright- 
ening two young men by name of Gay and Mclntyre who 
were out on a courting expedition, and which, being taken for 
a signal of danger, was answered by three guns at the lately 
captured fort, spreading the alarm in every direction. 

In connection with these hostile demonstrations and ground- 
less rumors, the following* extracts of a letter, from Lieut. 
Otis Robbins, Jr. to his brother in this town, may be given, 

dated "Fort Sumner, [Portland] 17th Sept., 1814 

On the 15th instant I took command of Fort Sumner, which 
is the first garrison duty I have done since I left Thomaston. 
Tell uncle Shepard he must not think hard because the Argua 
came on half a sheet ; it was owing to the alarm in this town, 
and Mr. Douglas is a Militia officer, therefore, could not at- 
tend to his paper. If the enemy should get possession of this 
Town they would not get much,ior all the property is moved 
out, the Town is nearly a wilderness, .... no stores open, 
and the flnest houses are used for barracks for militia ; there 
is, this day, said to be 10,000 militia in town; .... I see 
men every day from Eastport, Castine, &c., therefore have the 
news very correct ; but we often have false reports respecting 



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300 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

places being taken and burnt, dec. — have heard several times 

Thomaston was taken I board at Mr. Boston's, and 

fare very well for $5 per week.'* 

On the 27th Sept., a detachment of one company of militia 
was made from Thomaston and St. George, under the com- 
mand of Capt. Thomas Kenny of* St. George, Lieut. Sul- 
livan Dwight from the north company in Thomaston, and 
Ensign Ralph Chapman of the south company. These, about 
80 in number, rank and file, were posted as follows : Capt. 
Kenny, with the St. George soldiers, in that town at Tenant's 
Harbor, with a picket guard near McCobb's Narrows ; Lieut. 
Dwight, with the troops detached from the north company in 
this town, at Lermond's Cove near- the school-house, with a 
picket on Jameson's Point; Ensign Chapman, with those 
detached from the south company, at Wessaweskeag near 
the school-house, and a picket at Owl's Head. This detach- 
ment, thus posted, continued in service forty days, from Oct. 
1st to Nov. 9th, with orders to let no boats pass without ex- 
amination ; none to go to Castine without a flag ; none to go 
to Fox Island, Long Island, across the Bay, or up the same, 
without a pass ; and none to return or come from those places 
without strict examination. The party at Lermond's Cove 
was composed as follows: S. Dwight, Lieut., commandant; 
Elisha Fales and Iddo Kimball, sergeants ; John Ulmer, Jr., 
corporal ; John Achorn, Benj. Blackington, Briggs Butler, 
David Crockett, Jr., Abner Cutler, Walter Edmunds, Free- 
man Harden, Jos. Ingraham, Jr., Theodore and, Henry 
Kenneston, Wm. Killsa, James Morse, Sylvester Manning, 
Andrew Rankin, Robert Rivers, Shepard Bobbins, (place 
supplied by Barnabas Webb) Geo. W. Stevens, Simon M. 
Shibles, (by John Butler, 4th,) Elijah Torrey, Jacob Traf- 
ton, Haynes Whitney, and Moses Kelloch, privates. Those 
at Wessaweskeag and Owl's Head, were Rftlph Chapman, 
Ensign, commanding ; John Montgomery and Thomas Bart- 
lett, sergeants ; Nathan Pilsbury, Jr., Wm. Kelloch, and David 
Perry, corporals; Edward Robinson and Benj. S. Dean, mu- 
sicians ; Jordan and Ephraim Lovett, Isaac and Coit Ingra- 
ham, Nathan Sherman, Jr., Eben. Thompson, Robert Heard, 
Wm. Snow, Jas. Sayward, John Pillsbury, Israel Dean, Isaac 
Packard, John Simonton, Chas. Dyer, Isaac Brown, Arch. C. 
Lowell, Wm. Monroe, Abiezer Coombs, John Eastman, John 
Emery, Joseph and Hanse Kelloch, and Ezekiel Post, privates. 

These guards did good service; and several exciting scenes 
occurred. On Sunday, Oct. 9th, a privateer-looking vessel 
with American colors flying, having been observed lying iu 



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ROCKLAKD AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 801 

Owl's Head harbor three days or more, without any person 
coming on shore, was suspected to be a British privateer in 
wait for coasters, like a spider for flies. It was now deter- 
mined to put her to the proof. At evening, one hundred or 
more men from the Shore, Head of the Bay, and Wessawes- 
keag, including the guards above mentioned, mustered under 
command of Major Arch. G. Coombs, and took station partly 
on Munroe's Island and partly on the main opposite the ves- 
sel, which lay between the Point and Esq. Adams's house, 
now that of Capt. Jere. Sleeper, Jr. At about ten o'clock, 
in a calm cloudy night, they commenced an attack with mus- 
ketry on both sides of her ; and with effect, judging from 
the cries on board. There being no wind, the privateer put 
out her sweeps, and passed along down between the Point 
and the island ; at the extremity of which, she again caught 
the nearer and more galling fire of her assailants. She finally 
escaped, however, well riddled witli bullets, as reported by 
the people of Monhegan, where she stopped and sent a boat 
ashore for assistance. She was supposed to have been the 
former Revenue Cutter, captiured by the British on taking 
Castine.* 

One small boat of four or five tons, with seven cases 6f 
cotton goods probably intended for smuggling, was seized by 
the party at Lermond's Cove, Oct. 20th, delivered to the cus- 
tom house, and libelled for trial. 

Two days later, a little schooner loaded with lime for New- 
bury port, Capt. Barns, master, was observed coming out of 
what is now Rockland Harbor with a W. N. W. wind ; but 
soon discovered a suspicious craft, and tacked. This craft, 
supposed to be a privateer, but which afterwards proved to be 
a revenue officer's boat from Wiscasset, employed in detect- 
ing smugglers, immediately gave chase to the schooner, which 
fetched up at Clam Cove, followed on land by the soldiers 
from Lermond's Cove as far as Jameson's Point, for her pro- 
tection. The revenue boat was hailed by them ; her papers 
ordered to be sent on shore ; and, after a satisfactory explana- 
tion, she put off towards Owl's Head. The main body of 
the soldiers then returned to I^ermond's Cove ; but the picket 
guard, nine in number, under command of Sergt. E. Fales, (one 
of them, B. Webb, being acquainted with Capt. Bams,) took 
it into their heads to go on board the little schooner, and help 
take her back toward R(jckland. They, however, were ob- 
served by the British privateer, Thinks- I-to- Myself^ prowling 

* Dwight's orderly.book ; Capt. B. Webb, &c. 
Vol. I. 26 



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302 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

about off in the Bay. This vessel was furnished with five 
guns and one on a pivot, and immediately bore up directly 
towards them in pursuit. They stretched along Jameson's 
Point, till, getting under the lee of the trees with which it 
was covered, the wind failed them. The privateer then gain- 
ed rapidly upon them till she also got under the trees ; but, 
her sails being loftier than theirs, still kept gaining. Coming 
to a beach beneath a high wooded bank, the schooner was 
luffed on to it ; and the soldiers and crew, twelve in number, 
got on shore with their weapons and three trunks which the 
captain felt anxious to save. The privateer came up and 
opened a brisk fire upon the little party, who lay under the 
bank concealed from view among the bushes and rocks, 
awaiting her approach. She manned a barge to send after 
them, and continued firing grape and other shot, which mostly 
passed over the heads of our men, cutting down shrubs and 
even tall trees on the bank above. They waited with mus- 
kets well loaded, some of them, Webb's in particular, with 
two balls and eleven buck-shot, and who remarked to 
Thomas Amsbury placed near himr " now, Tom, you'll have a 
chance to kill an Englishman." When the barge came up 
rounding to and heaving up her oars, they suddenly fired, 
taking good aim and making the splinters fly. The privateer 
continued her fire ; to which oiu: men only replied by shout- 
ing " try it again ! " After a time, the barge-men attempted 
to land ; but so sharp was their reception by the little band 
now reinforced by the main body from Lermond's Cove, and 
Capt. Elkanah Spear having in the mean time mustered and 
brought his company to the rescue, that they became dis- 
couraged ; and the Thinks-Lto-Myself thought proper to 
abandon her attempt and make off; — allowing the schooner 
to reach the harbor in safety and leaving at the Point one 
permanent memorial of her visit. This was made upon a 
large rock near the beach, surrounded at half-tide by water, 
behind which Jeremiah Berry (who, as well as Amsbury, was 
here at the time, either as volunteer or substitute for some of 
the party,) had taken shelter during the action, and found it 
a convenient bulwark ; for he had scarcely reached it when 
a 14-pound ball struck upon its front, making the fragments 
fly about his ears, and leaving a hole large as a man's hat, 
which at low water may «till be seen.* 

Some affairs of a ludicrous chare^^cter, as is always the case 
on such occasions, also took place during this term of serNdce. 

, L 

♦ Dwight's orderly book, Capt. B. Webb, Mrs. Diana Jones, &c. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH TH0MA8T0N. 803 

The guards at Wessaweskeag made use of the old unoccupied 
house of Elder Snow for barracks, and had their sentinels on 
the lookout posted at different points in the neighborhood. 
On a certain night John Eastman took his stand as sentinel 
on the eminence then, as now, known as Dublin. The air was 
still, the moon shone bright, and all things promised a night 
of peace and quiet. But, before his watch was finished, a 
thick mist came in from sea and concealed the approaches to 
the place ; a pair of oxen, left yoked in the yard of Luther 
Hayden, at no great distance, as they quietly chewed their cud 
or changed their position, could not well help jingling the 
iron ring hanging loose in the staple, the sound of which in 
the mi^t and silence of the night seemed to his excited im- 
agination like the clanking arms of an approaching foe ; and, 
when the cattle began to rise, stretch, and groan, he leapt to 
tlie conclusion that the work of knocking down and slaugh- 
tering cattle was going on. Without waiting to hail or dis- 
charge his piece, he ran circuitously across the fields and gave 
the alarm at the guard house or barracks, that " the enemy 
had landed S. E. of DuWin and were kilUng Mr. Hayden's 
cattle." The guard, which numbered some 15 or 20 men, 
immediately rallied and went over to give the enemy battle 
and get at least a. part of the fresh beef for their breakfest. 
But in this they were disappointed ; no foe had been there, 
and the beeves were still alive and ruminating*.* 

Eager as ships-of-war and privateers were to make prizes 
of vessels and cargoes of value, there was much less com- 
plaint made in this, than in the former war, of petty depre- 
dations upon cattle, sheep, and other private property ; partly 
owing, perhaps, to the fact that the two nations were now 
more distinct from each other, with fewer old grudges to 
avenge and fewer intimate acquaintances to aid in such enter- 
prises; and partly, from the greater danger attending them 
on account of the increased density of the population. Still, 
however, apprehensions existed ; and persons who possessed 
plate or other valuable articles of furniture, were frequently, 
upon any alarm, induced to remove or conceal them. Among 
others, Capt. Josiah Ingraham at the Head of the Bay, hav- 
ing an old fashioned brass clock, a rare possession in that day 
in common houses, often carried it in his arms, for safety on 
such occasions, as far up as Mr. Butler's.f 

These different affairs, together with a march to Camden, 

* Messrs. P. Lermond, A. Coombs, and others, 
t Mrs. M R. Ludwig, a descendant. 



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804 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

Nov. 2d, when that place wais again threatened with an at- 
tack from the British brig of war Furieuse, on account of a 
rich prize brought in there by Major Noah Miller of Lincoln- 
ville, comprise all the material events of interest that have 
been handed down, of this detachment of coast guards. 
Their rations, ammunition, and lights, but not fuel, as it 
would seem, were furnished by the selectmen ; and the ex- 
pense subsequently refunded, and the soldiers' wages paid, 
from the treasury of the Commonwealth. 

The proximity of the enemy at Castine, and the many rich 
prizes captured along the coast, often, no doubt, by collusion 
between the owners and captors, but sometimes, by mistake, 
falling as legitimate prizes into other hands, as in the case 
of Miller's prize at Camden, led •others to try their luck at 
similar adventures. Among other vessels fitted out as priva- 
teers, was the schooner Fame, originally a Chesapeake Bay 
craft, captured by the British and by them used as a priva- 
teer, and sometimes as a vessel of burthen. In the latter 
capacity, freighted with a cargo of sugar and molasses, proba- 
bly destined for the American market, she had been, at one 
time, on her way, in company with a fleet of other vessels, 
from the British Provinces to Castine, under the command of 
a British captain and a lieutenant by the name of Lowe, an 
American, but not known to be such, as he was shipped in 
Nova Scotia. -As they were approaching the destined port, 
Lieut. Lowe took occasion to apprize the crew, four or five 
in number, that there was a great want of seamen at Castine, 
and impressment was so hotly going on there, that it would 
be better for them to keep out of sight. Having, in this 
way, got them all below, he fastened them down, and then 
went to the captain, told him he was an American, and demand- 
ed the surrender of the vessel as a prize. The captain, being 
thus taken all unprepared, and, perhaps, not feeling interest 
enough in the vessel to risk his life in its defence, yielded 
without resistance. Gradually changing her course, Lowe 
soon fell in with a fishing boat manned by two of our citi- 
zens, Jonathan Maker and Nathaniel Graves, whom he took 
in as pilots and brought the vessel safely into the Wessawfes- 
keag. The vessel and cargo having been legally condemned 
and ordered to be sold, the schooner was bought by a Capt. 
Milliken of Northport, in behalf of a company formed in 
Thomaston, on shares, to fit and send her out as a privateer. 
The shares were taken up by Healey, Dodge, Gleason, Paine, 
Chas. and Wm. Pope, C. and J. Spofford, and probably others. 
She was then armed with two guns — a six and twelve-poun- 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 305 

der, (the latter taken with ihe vessel from the British, and the 
former dug up, as before related, in Wadsworth street,) and 
was properly supplied with small ^rms and all other necessa- 
ry equipments. Her officers, as far as recollected, were, Alex. 
Milliken of Northport, Captain ; James Cook of Friendship, 
at first, and afterwards Wm. Robinson, then of Warren, 1st 
Lieut. ; Patrick Simonton and Wm. Singer, gunners, the 
former of the twelve and the other of the six-pounder ; with 
Simon M. Shibles, steward. Jere. Berry, Mores and Hanse 
Kelloch, were among the privates, most of whom were from 
Friendship, Northport, and other places. Thus fitted out, 
the Fame sailed Dec. Ist. ; which was the annual Thanks- 
giving and a stormy day. Her object was to intercept 
British vessels running fron^ Halifax to Castine, often loaded 
with valuable cargoes of dry goods to supply the contra- 
band trade carried on at the latter place. She took several 
smuggling vessels and boats, by skilful searching and dodging 
in thick weather among islands and harbors ; and, at length, 
falling in with a considerable fleet under convoy, below Mt. 
Desert, she succeeded, by. dogging them up in midst of a 
heavy snow-storm, in cutting off one of the squadron, and 
carried the rich prize into what is now Rockland, Jan. 2, 
1815. The news of peace soon after arriving, prevented her * 
from attempting further exploits ; and both vessels were taken 
round into George's River. In the mean time the prize was 
condemned as forfeited, one half to the government and one 
half to the captors; the goods which had been landed and 
stored, were, March 13th, sold at vendue, and purchased by 
R. G. Shaw and others of Boston; and the captors' share 
divided between the owners of the Fame and the ofiicers and 
crew who manned and sailed her — each of the privates re- 
ceiving some $400 or $500, and the owners $160 to each 
sixteenth. The Fame being then disarmed and converted 
into a coaster, the guns were left idle upon the wharf, till one 
of them, the six-pounder of so interesting and mysterious a 
history, was disabled by the breaking of one of its trunnions, 
and sold for old iron.* 

The following extract from a diary, kept in the western 
part of the town, gives a little picture of passing events here : 
'*Thomaston, Nov. 1, 1814. Pleasant. At work on the in- 
ventory of J. Keith's estate. A rich prize arrived at Cam- 
den. — Nov. 2. The roads are full of teams early in the 
morning, removing the goods from Camden. News arrived 

♦ Hon. Wm. Singer ; Prince's diary, &c. 
26* 



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806 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

in the afternoon that the enemy, with a ship of 44 guns and 
two hrigs, had made a demand on Camden for the goods cap- 
tured, or a ransom of £20,000 sterling. The militia called 
upon to turn out. — Nov. 3d. All the militia are in motion 
and gathering. An express is sent on to the Judge to see if 
he wUl consent to give up the goods — at night our houses are 
filled with officers and soldiers, and so continue until the 5th. 
Nov. 5th. The troops march on towards Camden. — Nov. 
6th. The express returned — the goods cannot be given up. 
I went to St. George to meeting. — Nov. 7th. Rain storm. 
Soldiers return." 

The foregoing is from the diary of Hezekiah Prince, who, 
on the 13th June this year, removed from St. George to the 
neighborhood of Mill River in Thomaston. This be did in 
consequence of his connection with a number of citizens of 
this and some of the neighboring towns, who, in 1814, were 
incorporated under the name of the Tkomaston Cotton and 
Woolen Manufacturing Company. This company, through 
his agency, the same year erected their factory building, forty 
feet wide and sixty feet in length, and four stories high. It 
was raised on the 6th and 7th July ; stood on the southern 
side of the road and western bank of Mill River, neal the 
bridge; and went into operation the following spring, — 
Prince being the principal manager of the establishment, and 
Oliver Amsbury the constructor of its machinery, and many 
years superintendent of its operations. It was at first suc- 
cessful, and promised well for a season ; but, from the change 
in the times consequent upon the peace of 1815, (in the 
midst of the rejoicings for which its machinery was received) 
the business became unprofitable ; and, though several times 
afterwards revived for short periods, it could not be made to 
compete with foreign importations and the newly invented 
machinery of larger establishments. It stood, a useless mass 
and a dead loss to the original company of about $20,000, 
till 1828, when it was sold to Isaac Snaith and others from 
New Hampshire. 

Prince also went into trade in company with Job Wash- 
bum, a native of Kingston, Mass., who, after working a while 
at his trade of shoemaking in St. George, about this time 
removed to Thomaston. For their accommodation. Prince 
built the dwell inghouse and store combined, in which they 
did business for a time, and were afterwards succeeded by the 
late Patrick Keegan. Samuel Fuller, also, an apprentice and 
kinsman of Prince, having traded a while in Hanson's store 
at Mill River, as also in Lincoln ville, St. George, and Cas- 



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ROCKLA.ND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 307 

tine, returned hither in this or the preceding year, residing in 
the Dunton house ; in 1816, built a store and traded east of 
Mill River bridge; in 1822, removed to Boston and followed 
coasting to this place ; in 1 826, returned, and built the house 
and store where he passed the remaining 20 years of his life. 
Mrs. Dunton, the first milliner in the place, heing now de- 
ceased, Mrs. Fuller, wife of the ahove, set up the husiness in 
her bouse, where, and in her present house on Main street, 
Thomaston, she has, with one slight interruption, continued 
it successfully down to 1864 ; having, hesides her own twelve 
children, brought up several orphan grand children, and in 
1860 dressed an infant, her first great grand child, which, like 
herself, was born in the last hour of the last day and the 
last month of the year. 

During the season of 1814, though heef, pork, and West 
India goods remained high, the scarcity of hread was greatly 
mitigated by an abundant crop of wheat, rye, and other Eng- 
lish grain, which, from the high prices of the preceding years 
and the low rate of wages, had been extensively sown on 
lands lately cleared up. But the collection of a direct tax of 
$3,000,000, levied the preoeding year on real estate, detract- 
ed somewhat from the otherwise ample returns of the farmer; 
and the internal duties bore hard upon other classes of the 
community. The amount of this latter class of duties col- 
lected in this town in 1815, was as follows, viz.: Wymond 
Bradbury, 71 cts., Amos Foster, $1,71, Gilbert Tilson, 72 
cts., and John SpofFord, $6.54, as shoemakers; Susman 
Abrams, $4,28; Joshua Adams, $22,50; Lydia Webb, 
$21,87; Samuel Fuller, $21,87 ; Eusebius & Elisha Fales, 
$8,55; Samuel Hewett, $6,76 ; Iddo Kimball, $21,87 ; John 
Lovejoy, $1,95; Thos. McLellan, Jr., $22,50; Prince & 
Washburn, $21,87; John Paine, $21,^7; Jas. Stackpole, 
$21,87; Chas. Spofford, $21,87; all as merchants; Benj. 
Williams, $2,11, tanner; John Gleason, $3,42, innkeeper; 
and Isaac Bernard, $1, probably for a carriage. These 
sums were exclusive of those paid on furniture, stamps, and 
time-pieces ; which have not been ascertained.* 

Besides martial events and alarms, this year was marked 
by some distressing casualties of a private character. On 
the 9th of May, as Edmund Robinson, Isaac Spear, and Chas. 
Ingraham, tliree promising young lads of the Shore, were 
fishing at Ash Point, in a cove a mile or so below Owl's 
Head, the boat was by some mischance upset, and all three 

* Statement of Ezekiel Thompson, Collector for 3d District of Mass. 

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308 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

met a watery grave. Sarah Rawley algo, a girl livmg in the 
family of Mr. Coombs at Wessaweskeag, was accidentally 
drowned in that river or pond. 

1815. Notwithstanding the good fortune of the Fame^ 
the great demand and generous remuneration of teams and 
men for transporting the goods brought in by captures and by 
contraband traffic, and the ample crops of grain raised the 
preceding season upon newly cleared lands, which had af- 
forded great relief and increased activity to business in this 
and the neighboring towns, still the general condition of the 
country was distressing in the present and gloomy as to the 
future. Poverty, taxes, and want of employment, pressed 
heavily upon private life; whilst a rapidly accumulating debt, 
political divisions, and party animosity, perplexed and dis- 
tracted public councils. In this state of things, the 12th of 
Jan., 1815, was observed as a national Fast. But, in the 
midst of this cloud of despondency, there suddenly burst a 
gleam of light and sunshine on the 1 4th February ; when, at 
6 o'clock, afternoon, came to this place the news of Jack- 
son's victory at New Orleans, and, two hours later, that of 
the cessation of war by a treaty of peace concluded at Ghent. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 309 

CHAPTER XVI. 

CHANGES CIVIL, SOCIAL, ECCLESIASTICAL, AND DOMESTIC. 

To go back a little; — in 1814 the pulpit of the North Par- 
ish was supplied from March 22d to Sept. 7th as it had 
been three weeks in the preceding December, by Rev, Enos 
Merrill, a missionary, whose board and horse keeping were 
paid by the North Parish. During 1815 and 1816, being 
still in debt to Mr. Lord for a portion of his salary, the parish 
contented itself with ordering its treasurer, J. Paine, lo pay 
the same out of any monies that should come into the treas- 
ury — and voting to pay Dea. Tilson $32,25 for board and 
horse-hire of Rev. James Weston, who, as a missionary, la- 
bored with them ten weeks prior to April 11, 1816. In the 
South or First Parish, since the defection of Mr. Baker, the 
church had been under the sole care of Eldejr Snow, who 
seems to have retained a brollierly affection and charity for 
his colleague, and used to pray earnestly that he might be re- 
claimed; using, on one occasion, it is said, the following 
language: — "Take him. Oh Lord, and shake him over the 
pit of everlasting fire, till he shall see the error of his way ; 
but, God, donH let him fall in !" This prayer seems, in the 
sense in which it was offered, to have been answered ; and, 
this year, Mr. Baker renounced his alleged error and was 
restored to his office. A brighter day appeared then to dawn 
upon the church ; and a fourth general revival ensued which 
resulted in the addition to it of more than fifty members. 

This South church having become numerous and the society 
in a prosperous condition, many members in the western part 
of the town, finding it inconvenient to travel so far, now be- 
gan to hold meetings at Mill River; and, January 20, 1816, 
united with others lately come to the place, and were con- 
stituted the 2d Baptist Church in Thomaston, The first male 
members, seven in number, were H. Prince, Job Washburn, 
John Barnard, Jas. Stackpole, Asa Fales, Wm. Say ward, and 
Everett Williams, who, together with thirteen female mem- 
bers, held their church meetings each month in the district 
school-house, — being supplied by Rev. S. Baker six com- 
munion Sabbaths in the year, and three each by Elders Ames 
of St. George and Fuller of Warren, at $3 a Sabbath. In 
1819, Rev. John Wakefield came from Waterville to the 
place, and was ordained as an evangelist. Mar. 1, 1820. He 
being soon called to Warren, this church licensed, Feb. 13, 



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310 HISTORY OF THOMASTON. 

1822, one of their brethren. Job Washburn, to preach; who, 
Sept. 3, 1822, was ordained and became the settled pastor of 
the church, faithfully laboring in his vocation till 1841. The 
church gradually increasing in numbers and ability, in 1827 
contained 66 members; and in 1828 an extraordinary revival 
took place, 43 new members being added between Jan. 13th 
and June 8th. The society had then purchased and repaired 
the old N. Parish meeting-house, and the Lincoln Baptist As- 
sociation was for the first time held in it, Sept., 1830. The 
deleterious effects of ardent spirits having become generally 
acknowledged, this church after some discussion unanimously 
voted, July 12, 1834, that total abstinence in the use and 
sale of spirituous liquors except as a medicine, be required of 
its members, and that the same be made a subject of disci* 
pline. The old house of worship being again out of repair and 
inconveniently situated to many in t^e western part of West 
Thomaston village, which had comparatively greatly increas- 
ed in population, a new one was now erected there by sub- 
scription at a cost of $11,288.* But it was found that a large 
pc»:tion of the church in the neighborhood of the old one 
were utterly averse to the change, and, being unable to agree, 
it was voted, Dec. 3, 1836, that this church be divided into 
two, and that certain members by name, to the number of 21 
males and 39 females, shall form one of said churches; 
which, Dec* 10th, was duly constituted under the name of 
the 1st Bap. Church in W. Thomaston. The remainder, 17 
males and 47 females, were to form the other church, and re- 
tained the old name of the 2d Baptist Church in Thomaston. 
But difficulties soon arose as to which should be considered the 
old church ; the pastor and a majority of members being in- 
cluded in the western division, taking the new house, claimed 
to be, and retained the name of the 2d Bap, Gh, in Thomas- 
ton ; whilst the other section, retaining the clerk, the records, 
and former house, made the same claim, which they attempted 
to fortify by adopting the name of the Ist Baptist Society in 
West Thomaston. After calling a council July 12, 1887, 
these conflicting claims were at length adjusted by allowing 
those worshiping in the new house to be the old church, and 
those remaining in the old house to be considered as dismissed 
from her, and to retain the name of their choice. Being 
now established in their elegant and capacious house of wor- 
ship, this mother church went on prospering, under Mr. Wash- 
bum^s ministry, and, aided by the professor and students of the 
Bap. Theological Institution then recently located in that part 
of the town, enjoyed quite a religious revival, and, in the 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH TH0MA8T0N. SH 

spring of 1839, received 31 new members by baptism. But 
a portion of its 127 members becoming desirous of a change, . 
Mr. Washburn's connection of 19 years duration was dis- 
solved Jan. 14, 1841 ; and Rev. Wm. Lamson fronfGIoucester, 
Mass., was installed Aug. 3d, as their pastor, succeeded in May 
1842, by Rev. Enoch Hutchinson, Nov. 13th, by Rev. Alvan 
Felch of New Gloucester, and at the close of 1843, by Rev. 
Lorenzo B. Allen, whose services continued till his resignation 
on account of ill health, July 1, 1848. Rev. L. D. Royce 
ftom Claremont, N. H., was ordained Oct. 17, 1848, but re« 
moved, by death, Sept. 2, 1850 ; Rev. O. O. Steams, became 
pastor July 1851 ; and Rev. Isaac Sawyer from Manchester, 
N. H., July, 1854. The latter removed to Alleghany City, 
Pa., in 1858, and was succeeded by Rev. Luther D.^Hill, a 
native of New York ; and iq 1863 by Rev. Thos. Atwood. 
The deacons of this church have been John Barnard and 
Henry S. Swasey in 1822, Joel Miller in 1830, Wm. Butler 
and Abel Hildreth in 1832, Jos. Catland in 1834, and Asa 
Perkins in 1844. According to the minutes of the Lincoln 
Baptist Association for 1863, the whole number of members 
was 155. Since its formation, this church has furnished no 
less than six licentiates for the ministry, all of whom have 
been ordained. 

Returning to the year 1815, it may be noted that, on 4th 
Oct. of that year, a *' Foreign Missionary Society'* was form- 
ed in the town, and H. Prince, Esq., chosen Treasurer. 

The three winter months prior to Feb. 28th, were very cold 
and dry, springs and wells very low, the rivers and coves all 
frozen uncommonly hard. On the 19th of May, when farmers 
were plowing for com, there was quite a storm of snow, 
which, though much of it melted as it fell, through the whole 
day, accumulated in this town to the depth of two or more 
inches, and was still deeper further from the sea. The 4th of 
July was celebrated this year at W. Thomaston, by a collec- 
tion of people, public dinner, and an oration by Samuel S. Wil- 
kinson, Esq. This gentleman graduated at Brown Universi- 
ty in 1809, commenced practice as a lawyer here, in 1812 or 
1813, and continued it successfully some ten years ; when he 
removed westward, wo believe, entered the ministry, and has 
since deceased. 

As an evidence of some mitigation in the hardness of the 
times, the town, in March, 1815, voted a school tax of $1000 
instead of $500, to which it had been reduced in the three 
preceding years. A project of dividing the town having 
been brought before a meeting. May 1st, the vote on its ex- 



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312 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

pediency was taken with the following result ; in £avor, 9 ; 
against, 85. 

From the non-importation of woolen goods during the war 
and the commercial embarrassments which preceded, together 
with the greater number and improved breeds of sheep kept 
in the country, the manufacture of domestic woolens had been 
greatly extended, and the dyeing, fulling, and dressing of 
these became a very lucrative business. The first clothings 
mill in this town was erected this year on the Mill River 
stream at some distance above the bridge, by Aaron Gleason. 
He learned his trade of his brother Micajah in Union, and 
proaecuted the business here till his death in 1819; when it 
was carried on by Edward Thomas, till the works were pur- 
chased in 1821, by Henry K. Gleason and Capt. David N. 
Piper, who became a permanent resident of the town. They 
added in 1824 a machine for picking oakum^ and did a good 
business till 1828. They then sold out to Horatio Alden 
who continued the works till 1833; when the fulling-mill was 
abandoned, and he removed his oakum business to Camden. 

But the more important to the country and profitable to the 
owner the product of the sheep was becoming, the more 
severely was felt the injury occasionally sustained fi-om its 
destruction by wild animals. These had been pretty well 
exterminated in the town ; but a few wolves were still lurk- 
ing in the woody region between here and Waldoboro', occa- 
sionally making inroads upon the flocks ; and the town there- 
fore voted to give '' $15 as a bounty on wolves the present 
year." Depredations had been made at the Beech Woods, as 
also between Mill River and the Wessaweskeag ; and a pack 
of five black whelps and one old she-wolf (which, though of 
the black species, had grown grey with age, and lost one leg 
on some former occasion,) having been discovered, notice was 
given, and the people turned out, eager for their destruction. 
Great pains were taken to keep them south of the Wessawes- 
keag road, and also prevent their escaping to the woody 
region in St. George. This succeeded, and the pursuit be- 
came so close that the wolves took to the water and endeav- 
ored to reach one of the Muscle-ridge islands by swimming. 
Being headed off by a man and boat from thence, they bent 
their course to other islands, where one of them made out to 
land, while the rest came ashore on a point of the ifiain land. 
Here they were beset by numbers, some of whom were afraid 
to fire for fear of injuring each other ; some guns would not 
go off; others did ; and the old wolf was shot through the 
body by Nathaniel Fales (3d) ; some of her whelps fled 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH TROMASTON. 313 

wounded, and it was thought three in all must have been 
slain. Some weeks later, a fourth was caught by Harvey 
Healey in a bear trap baited with a dead horse, near Muddy 
Pond. This was about the last of the wolves in this vicinity. 
A bear, not far from the same time, was caught by Mr. 
Healey in the same trap, where it was left unvisited till the 
flesh was spoiled for eating ; and this was the last of Bruin's 
race ever known to be killed in the place. Wild-cats and 
loup-cerviers have been, and still are, perhaps, occasionally 
seen in woody and mountainous quarters ; but do little dam- 
age. 

There being a petition in the Liegislature for a toll bridge 
across the St. George's, near Vose's wharf, the town, Dec. 
26th, voted that it was for its interest that such a bridge 
should be built and that its representatives be instructed to 
procure an act for incorporating the petitioners. This was 
strongly opposed by the inhabitants of Warren, as also by 
the masters and owners of such coasting vessels as were ac- 
customed to pass up to that town for lading; but, in 1817, 
new efforts were made here ; which at length prevailed ; a 
charter was obtained Feb. 24, 1818; and the bridge built 
the same year by Abel Hildretli. 

1816. The town voted. May 6tli, to lease " to J. Paine, 
or other citizen of the town, the privilege of building a lime- 
store on some part of the town-landing at Mill River, if they 
think proper." This offer was accepted by Mr. Paine, who 
built a wharf and lime store there, the latter partly over the 
water so that casks could be dropped from it into gondolas 
beneath. This gentleman had been, at the close of the recent 
war, the owner of the only two or three vessels that hailed 
from Thomaston on the river side. These, which he had 
managed to save through the war, he now joyfully sent abroad 
in the fond anticipation of renewing his former prosperous 
trade. He had built and was at this time trading in a store 
at the Prison Corner, with Wm. R. Keith and John T. Glea- 
son for clerks ; and still, as formerly, when other freights 
were poor, imported coal, salt, and other goods for the Boston 
market. But, in consequence of the general peace in Europe, 
American vessels had now to compeffe with those of all other 
nations, freights were down to a merely nominal figure, our 
markets became overstocked with English goods, importa- 
tions resulted in loss, and every voyage yielded only bills of 
expense to the owners. Thus this enterprising and perse- 
vering merchant, having withstood the vicissitudes of the war, 
, was wound up by the peace, and, a few years later, suspended 
Vol. I. 27 



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314 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

business ; having, prior to 1820, paid into the U. S. treasury 
9170,000 as duty on goods imported by him. 

The business of the Mill River district began to revive, 
however, in a small way ; and this year, on the 5th or 6th of 
June, during one of the snow-squaUs of that disastrous sea- 
son, was launched the schooner Lavinia^ 88 tons, Capt. John 
B. Hawk, built by James Stackpole, John Blackington, and 
J. Wheaton. Col. Halsey Healey also began his career in 
ship-building in the same neighborhood by launching the 
schooner Catharine of 105 tons, Capt. Barnabas Webb, mas- 
ter. Healey also set up in business as a merchant in a part- 
nership with Dr. Dodge, which, through tho pleasing address 
and urbanity of the younger, and the extensive influence of 
the elder partner, was now attracting considerable custom. 
As characteristic of Dodge's love of fun and profit at the 
same time, it is related that on a professional visit at the 
house of Mr. Holland, at Ash Point, seeing many of the 
family busily employed in their occupation of making lace, he 
curiously inspected the operation, made many inquiries as to 
the quantity, price, &c., and finally, buying up all they had, 
put it, marked as "Holland lace," into the company's store; 
where, as a foreign manufacture of wonderful cheapness, it 
met with a rapid sale. 

The extensive tanning establishment of Josiah Keith, after 
that gentleman's death, was managed for a time by Edward 
Breck for Wm. R. Keith, but was in a few years transferred 
to Capt. R. Robinson, M. Copeland and others, and by them 
ultimately to Capt. Qeorge Robinson, who, at first as a part- 
ner, employing Breck and others, and afterwards as sole 
owner, carried on the business in person for fourteen years ; 
when it was abandoned and the ground converted into house 
lots. 

On the question of erecting Maine into a separate State, 
this town, as on all former occasions, voted in the negative. 
May 20th, by the decided majority of 107 to 26. The en- 
tire vote of the District of Maine, however, being in the 
affirmative, at a second meeting held for its confirmation, the 
vote in this town was, wo, 75, yc.>, 100; and Wm. M. Dawes, 
who, since 1810, had he€n surveyor and inspector of customs 
in this place, and Dr. I. Bernard, were chosen delegates to 
the succeeding convention at Brunswick; which, notwith- 
standing zealous efibrts and some chicanery, failed to accom- 
plish its purpose of separation. 

This year was long remembered for the coldest summer 
season ever experienced in New England. Rain-drops firozen 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH. THOM ASTON. 315 

upon the apple* blossoms, on May 24th ; frozen ground, and 
squalls of wind, snow, and hail through the early part of 
June, the season during that month making no advance, so 
that many tender birds perished; the crops of corn, grass, 
potatoes, Ajc, mostly cut off; and a general scarcity of pro- 
visions, were its most remarkable features. 

In the eastern part of the town a melancholy casualty de- 
prived that place of one of its primitive settlers. John God- 
ding, near the Head of the Bay, whilst eniployed, Dec. 30th, 
in hauling out manure on the ice, slipped, fell, and was 
crushed to death by a heavily loaded sled. It is something 
of a coincidence that his wife, who survived him nine years, 
came to her end by a somewhat similar accident. Having 
fallen upon the ice, she expired a few minutes afterwards. 

1817. The maritime and commercial business of the 
town having now considerably increased, a Deputy Collector's 
office in connection with that of Inspector, was established 
at Mill River in the fall of 1817; and.H. Prince appointed 
to. fill the same. This office he continued to hold up to the 
time of his death in 1840, — a period of 23 years, under the 
successive administrations of Presidents Monroe, J. Q. Ad- 
ams, Jackson, and Van Buren. He was succeeded in March, 
1841, by John T. Gleason; the office has since been filled by 
Edmund Wilson, in 1845 (who in March, 1846, was appointed 
Collector of the District) by James H. Rivers in 1849; by 
Henry T. Rivers, 1851; Edwin Rose, 1853; A. Levensaler, 
1857; Sam'l H Allen, 1861; Christopher Prince, the same 
year; and Geo. W. French, 1863. 

This year was made somewhat memorable by the arrival in 
town of the Rev. John Henniker Ingraham, a native of Port- 
land, and student, but not graduate, of Bowdoin. He preach- 
ed some weeks in the North Parish as a missionary, and, by 
his eloquence and zeal so captivated the minds of the people 
and waked up that parish, that, at a meeting held Aug. 5th, it 
was voted to give Mr. Ingraham a call to settle as their pastor, 
to pay him $450 annually towards his salary, and to ascertain 
what further sums could be obtained from the several Mission- 
ary Societies and by private subscription, for his support. 
The call was accepted, and the ordination took place Oct. 
15th; when the sermon was given by Rev. Mr. Payson of 
Portland, and the other services by Rev. Messrs. Ellingwood of 
Bath, Bailey of Newcastle, Gillet of Hallowell, Ward of 
Alna, Mitchell of Waldoboro', and Tappan of Augusta. From 
the churches and ministers thus invited, it is easy to perceive 
that the new pastor's sympathies were with the Hopkinsian 



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316 HISTORY OF THOMA8TON, 

party then struggling for ascendency in the Congregational 
order, and that the older churches in this vicinity were not to 
be held in christian fellowship. Accordingly, April 3, 1818, 
the church voted that members recommended from other 
churches should, before being received into this, be required 
to sign the articles of faith and give satisfactory evidence of 
their religious experience. 

The military spirit kindled by the late war continuing to 
bum, and the militia companies of the town containing more 
than their complement of men, an independent company of 
Light Infantry was this year formed, called, from the color of 
their uniforms, the Silver Grays. Of this company Sullivan 
Dwight was, July 30th, chosen captain, Eusebius Fales, lieu- 
tenant, and Wm. Pope, ensign. Under these and succeeding 
sets of officers, it kept up a fine discipline and efficiency for 
many years, but finally declined and was disbanded June 21, 
1834. 

A pound was this year ordered to be built ; and the prac- 
tice of dram-drinking in stores, having increased to such a 
pitch as to be considered a public nuisance, the town, in 
April, voted " that the law forbidding the sale of liquor to be 
thus drank, should be duly enforced," the selectmen to carry 
this vote into effect. 

The gloom spread over the community by the disastrous 
season of 1816, was in some measure relieved by the warmer 
summer of this year, which proved to be the commencement of 
a series of fevorable seasons for Indian corn. With returning 
harvests and productive seasons, also returned the former ac- 
tivity of business and the general prosperity of the country. 

181 8. About this time Dr. David Kellogg came from 
Framingham, Mass., and after consulting with Dr. Dodge 
amongst others, agreed to commence practice here in part- 
nership with him ; but the two disagreeing in the very outset 
on the first case that presented itself, they parted in ill-humor 
and had no further intercourse with each other. Kellogg 
then commenced on his own account at the Mill River village, 
and had a successful run of practice till his removal about 
1842 to Waukegan, Illinois, where he still resides. The le- 
gal profession here, also received a new accession in the per- 
son of John Ruggles, Esq. ; who after studying law in his 
native Westboro' and graduating at Brown University, finished 
his legal studies with Gov. Levi Lincoln of Worcester, Mass., 
and in 1815 commenced practice at Skowhegan, but this year 
removed to Thomaston and entered on his long and success- 
ful career as a lawyer, magistrate, and statesman, — opening 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOM ASTON. 317 

an office at Mill River. Among the students initiated at his 
office in the profession, may be mentioned Demerrick Spear 
of Rockland, whose early promise was soon blighted by con- 
sumption ; Nathaniel Haynes, who became a lawyer and editor 
in Bangor, deceased in 1838 ; Jonathan Cilley, whose history 
is blended with that of the town and the country ; Wm. Tyng 
Hilliard, since a lawyer in Bangor and Clerk of the Courts in 
Penobscot county ; Abner Knowles, who removed hence to 
Bangor and has acquired some distinction, by his ability and 
urbanity, at the Penobscot bar ; and George W. French, now 
in the practice of law in Thomaston. 

In October of this year, Major Archibald G. Coombs, then 
in command of the sloop Asa^ which was built by him and 
his father, going with a cargo of lumber from Brewer, bound 
to Boston, after leaving Townsend harbor was overtaken by 
heavy snow-squalls and never heard of, after. He was last 
seen reefing, by Capt. S. Fuller, who sailed in company, and 
with great difficulty, by aid of stanch sails and rigging, made 
good his passage. On board the Asa, were the captain, his 
son of the same name aged 16, and Jordan Lovett, all of the 
present South Thomaston, together with one Crawford, sea- 
man, and a woman with her three children, from Brewer, on 
her way to meet her husband in Boston. 

The cause of religion and the church in the South Parish 
having flourished for about three years under the united min- 
istry of Snow and Baker, the junior pastor again in 1818 
broached doctrines which were deemed to be unscriptural ; 
and, after an ineffectual efibrt on the part of the church, aided 
by a council, to restore harmony, he was excluded from 
their fellowship a second time, and- dismissed April 15, 1818. 
After the lapse of several years he again sought and obtained 
admission into the church, but was never after restored to the 
pastoral office. Rev. L. B. Allen, to whose historical sketch 
of this church, published in the Zion's Advocate of Oct. 15, 
1844, we have been greatly indebted, remarks that "those 
who are best acquainted with Mr. Baker very generally con- 
sider his errors to have been those of the head, not those of 
the heart." The truth seems to be that he entered the min- 
istry with very slender educational qualifications. His taste 
and style, as well as his opinions, were crude and imperfectly 
formed; his early discourses were more voluble than solid, 
abounding with elegant and sublime passages from Young 
and Milton, mixed in with his own extemporaneous matter, 
"like rubies and diamonds," as Sullivan, the schoolmaster, 
used to say, " in a basket of chips.'* But he had candor, 
27* 



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318 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

sincerity, and a spirit of inquiry. He read, and thought, 
and, as new ideas and seeming truths broke in upon his mind 
he was led to embrace them, and impulsively hastened to 
share them with others. The consequence was, that, though 
always sincere in his opinions and rigid in the discharge of 
what he deemed to be duty, his mind was too vacillating to 
retain the confidence of his people or regain his influence 
over them. He continued to preach whenever and wherever 
requested ; to study, consider, and think ; to grow in candor, 
learning, liberality, and charity, — even late in life he is said 
to have studied the Greek language, spent some time in the 
Theological Seminary at Bangor, and, altogether,- so far im- 
proved himself in matter and manner, that the earliest and 
latest sermons which it fell to the lot of the compiler of this 
work to hear from hini, formed as strong a contrast to each 
other as could well be found or imagined. It is not strange 
that such a contrast between his youth and his age, so wide a 
departure from himself, together with his total disregard of 
outward observances, and his gratuitous preaching in the 
streets to any or all who chose to hear, should have led many 
to consider him partially insane. Neither is it- wonderful 
that such a man should be often destitute of worldly wealth 
and relieved only by the hand of Christian benevolence. His 
death occurred at Rockland. 

1819. This year was marked by the death of two of 
Thomaston*s most eminent physicians. Dr. Isaiah Gushing, 
having in great measure lost his practice, buried an excel- 
lent wife, and become a great sufferer in health and in spirits, 
was, in June of this year, found dead in a field or pasture 
north-east of the Knox mansion. As quantities of laudanum 
or opium were found with him, it was presumed to be a case of 
suicide. Dr. Dodge, who, from the time of Cushing's first com- 
ing, had been alternately on terms of professional enmity and " 
friendship with him, now, under the influence of the former, 
objected to his being interred in the burying ground, — de- 
claring that if he were, neither himself nor any of his family 
should ever be buried there. Tradition adds, however, that 
his was the next burial that took place in that cemetery. On 
the 4th of July, after dining at *' Aunt Polly Spear*s" tavern 
at the Shore, he was taken with a fit of apoplexy, of which 
he lingered speechless, but apparently sensible, till the 5th of 
August, when he expired, — greatly lamented by his friends, 
and especially his family, to whom he was uniformly kind 
and affectionate. Thus these two rival physicians ended 
their lives, clouded, indeed, by evil passions, but by no 



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BOCKL/LND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 319 

means destitute of virtues, and were allowed to deposit their 
remains and resentments in the same common resting-place. 

A short time before his death, Dr. Dodge had made pre- 
parations for going into the tanning business, then a very 
profitable investment for capital, and had induced David 
Gloyd of Abington, Mass., who, in the militia service of the 
preceding war, had risen to the rank of Colonel, to remove 
hither for the purpose of taking charge of the establishment. 
Disappointed in his expected engagement as a tanner, Gloyd 
toolc charge of the late Doctor's mountain farm, and continued 
there some three or four years, he and his family becoming 
permanent residents. Abner Rice, also, with his newly mar- 
ried wife, from Kingston, came to the place and commenced 
a prosperous business as a blacksmith, at Mill River, which 
was then the most fashionable and busy part of the town, 
containing about 20 buildings. To emigrants approaching 
the place, by the river, the first objects presented were still 
only the Knox mansion, the house of Dr. Fales, the North 
Parish meeting-house, and Madambettox Mt. rising and over- 
looking them from behind. There was then but one wharf 
fit to moor a vessel to, near which were the Vose and four 
other houses ; at Paine's corner were three buildings ; and, 
from thence to Mill River, were eight other^.* Ballard Green 
and Eli Merrill were now doing an extensive business in Eng- 
lish and West India goods, as tenants under Hon. Wm. King 
of Bath, who then owned the upper Knox wharf, the Prison 
quarry, and other valuable property here, carved out of the 
Knox estate. 

At the annual town meeting held on the first Monday of 
April, instead of March as heretofore, C. Spoffbrd was re-elect- 
ed town clerk, but, being debilitated by sickness and unable to 
attend, was succeeded by J. Ruggles, who was chosen clerk 
pro tem. Sept. 20th, and filled the office to the end of the 
year. 

Although, since the late war, business had been gradually 
reviving, and the unpropitious seasons which followed were 
now somewhat ameliorated, yet the effects of these two causes 
of distress and poverty still remained. For alleviating these, 
J. H. Ingraham, J. Washburn, and 23 other principal citi- 
zens, were incorporated, Feb. 18, 1819, as the Thomaston 
Charitable Society. The first meeting was held at Mill River 
school-house, March 26, 1822 ; by-laws were adopted; offi- 
cers chosen ; one dollar admittance and one dollar annually 

* A. Rice, Esq. 

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820 HI8T0BY OF TH0MA8T0N, 

required of each member, besides contributions at the annual 
June meeting; at which an address was to be delivered. 
But, after one such address by Rev. Mr. Ingraham, and the 
probable expenditure of the funds on hand, the records are 
silent. 

The question of Separation having again been mooted, the 
Legislature required the several towns in the District to ex- 
press their minds anew on the expediency of the measure ; 
and an act of Congress having been passed removing the 
principal objection, as to entering and clearing of coasters, 
the inhabitants here now voted, 121 in favor of the measure, 
to 89 against the same. The whole District having given a 
majority on the same side, this town chose Isaac Bernard, 
and John Spear delegates to the convention at Portland in 
October, which, after a prolonged session, framed the present 
constitution by which the district became the State of Maine. 
This was submitted to the people, Dec. 6th; when those of 
Thomaston gave 74 votes in favor of its adoption and none 
against it. 1820. Thus was the year 1820 permitted to 
dawn auspiciously upon our new-born Commonwealth; and, 
agreeably to the provisions of its adopted constitution, the 
firsU annual election of executive and legislative officials was 
held April 3d, and resulted with unusual unanimity in the 
choice of the Hon. William King of Bath, for Chief Execu- 
tive magistrate ; although in filling up the Senate and House 
of Representatives there was of course greater diversity of 
opinion. Isaac Bernard was chosen Thomaston's first rep- 
resentative in the new State of Maine ; he receiving 102 
votes, John Ruggles 51, Jos. Sprague 13, and John Spear 4. 

The population of the town having now greatly increased, 
especially in the north-eastern part, a ,house of worship for 
the accommodation of the residents there was felt to be de- 
sirable. A subscription was accordingly got up and an edifice 
of brick, the first meeting -house ever built within the pre- 
cincts of what is now Rockland, was erected this year, 1820, 
on land of Isaac Brown upon the old post road leading to 
Camden. The pews were sold to defray the expenses, and 
the house was intended for and used by any and all denomi- 
nations according to their several wants. It was mostly oc- 
cupied by the Methodists and Universalists, till after the in- 
creased population nearer the Shore and principal place of 
business had led to the holding of meetings and final erection 
of separate churches there by those two denominations; when, 
having gone somewhat to decay, it was purchased and taken 
down by B. A. Gallop, — the proprietors having been author- 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 321 

ized by a law of March 20, 1837, to dispose of it for the 
benefit of the pew holders. 

The location of this edifice was probably decided upon in 
order to draw in and accommodate the large number of Meth* 
odists then in its vicinity. The first introduction of this sect 
into these parts, was, according to tradition, made by one 
Mayo, who had been a blacksmith at Cape Cod, was converted 
by Rev. Mr. Lee from England, came to Vinalhaven, preached 
there and occasionally at what is now Rockland, Camden, and 
Brownsville, where he died at the age of 84. From an inju- 
ry in his head, his latter days were more or less marked by 
insanity ; but he still continued to preach, oftentimes without 
sensible aberration. The first converts made here, were Oli- 
ver Beais and Ebenezer F. Newell, two joiners then tempo- 
rarily employed on the new house of Jacob Ulmer. Through 
these, who joined the church at Vinalhaven about 1797, and 
became preachers, others were led to embrace the same faith ; 
and, in the spring of 1801, the first Methodist class was 
formed here, by Rev. Aaron Humphrey, then at Vinalhaven, 
and his assistant Rev. Reuben Hubbard. It consisted of 
Nathaniel Fales (2d) and wife, Samuel Brown and wife, Jas. 
BroWn and wife, Jas. Partridge and wife, Hannah Loring, 
afterwards Mrs. Butler, Wm. Brown, and Lucretia Brown, af- 
terwards Mrs. Thompson. Though it is said that in 1811 
the class here contained 30 members, we find no recorcTof any 
appointment for the Thomaston station till that of Samuel 
Plummer in 1820 He was succeeded in 1822 by Joseph S. 
Ayers, and in 1 825 by Sullivan Bray. At a quarterly meeting 
conference, March 1, 1828, a board of trustees, viz.: B. A.. 
Gallop, J. Colson, V. B. Bobbins, J. Partridge, Jas. Spear, 
Jas. Morse, J. Ulmer, S. Manning, and A. Ulmer, were ap- 
pointed to build a Methodist meeting-house in xhomaston, 
according to discipline ; and J. Colson, V. B. Bobbins, B. A. 
Gallop, S. Albee and J. Partridge were chosen a committee 
to estimate the expense of said house. In accordance with 
this vote, a chapel was shortly after, in this or the following 
year, built at the Shore on land of Andrew Ulmer, and fur- 
nished with a steeple and bell ; constituting, with subse- 
quent additions, their present house of worship in Rockland. 
In 1827 a class seems to have been formed at Mill River 
by Greenleaf Greeley, who, with Philip Munger, had charge 
of this circuit. The succeeding appointments for the Thom- 
aston station, were, in 1835, Chas. D. Bragdon; 1836, Mo?es 
Palmer; 1837, Benjamin Bryant, assisted in 1838 by S. W. 
Partridge, under whom a new society was formed in the 



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322 &ISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

western part of the town, whose history, with that of the 
East Thomaston or Rockland church, will be resumed under 
the head of the respective municipalities to which they be- 
long.* 

1821. At the annual town meeting. May 14th, it wiis 
voted ** that the selectmen build, hire, or purchase, a work- 
house, as they may judge proper." The election for State 
officers was this year, in accordance with the new constitu- 
tion, held, as at present, on the second Monday of September, 
instead of April. Licenses to inn-holders and retailers, which 
had hitherto been granted by the county authorities, were 
this year, under a new law, granted by the selectmen, treas- 
urer, and town-clerk of each town, within its own limits. 
The number thus granted in Thomaston was 25 ; all of them, 
we believe, retailers, except Wm. Tilson, an inn-holder. 

Not far from this time, a project was formed for keeping 
up the price of lime and prevent its reduction by the natural 
effect of competition. To this end, a mutual obligation was 
entered into by the producers, not to undersell each other, nor 
have more than one kiln of it on sale at once, — each kiln, 
as soon as put up in casks and inspected, to be entered with 
the town clerk, and not sold till its predecessors had been dis- 
posed of. This scheme worked well for a short time, and 
brought the price of lime up to $1,50, and even $1,75 ; but, 
like all plans for sustaining artificial prices, it was evaded in 
one way or another, and soon abandoned.! 

After the dismission of Elder Baker, the South Parish^ or 
First Baptist Church, remained under the single administra- 
tion of the stable and inflexible Snow for three years ; till, 
June 21, 1821, the Rev. Samuel Fogg was ordained as his 
colleague. He was then recently from the Theological Sem- 
inary in Waterville, and remained about five years ; during 
which time 32 were baptized into the church. The affairs in 
the North Parish, also, since the ordination of Mr. Ingraham, 
had been managed with increasing prosperity. His ministry 
was very successful ; his salary of $450, annually raised with- 
out difficulty ; and an order for $48, now voted to him for 
services six Sabbaths prior to his ordination, with the interest 
due on it, he voluntarily gave to the parish, Dec. 14, 1820, 
as a present to his people. 

1822. In consequence of the many disorders and vices 



♦ Mrs. James Morse, daughter of Rev. Mr. Mayo ; Records of the So- 
ciety, and Hist sketch by Rev. S. Albee, &c. 
t J. Bird, Esq. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 323 

which, from the seeds sown during the late war, had grown 
up with the years of prosperity that had succeeded, and were 
fast coming to maturity, an association signed by Jos. Sprague 
and 26 others, was formed called the Thomaston Moral So- 
ciety. Its purposes, as we gather them from the preamble 
and by-laws, were to suppress vice and immorality in general, 
especially among the young; to prevent violation of the 
Lord's day, the useless and wicked habit of profanity, and 
every kind of rudeness and indecency towards strangers and 
others ; with a mutual pledge to stand by each other and the 
proper officers in restraining and punishing all offenders. 
This society held its preliminary meeting at the house of Mr. 
Stimpson, Feb. 7th, and continued to flourish, — frequent 
meetings being held; addresses delivered by Messrs, Ingra- 
ham, Thatcher, and probably others ; and a salutary influence 
exercised till 1824-5, when an extensive excitement under 
the united ministrations of Revs. Washburn and Ingraham, 
overshadowed or rendered unnecessary its further labors ; and 
its written record closes without formal dissolution. 

On the 16th of June, 1822, the North Parish assessors 
gave an order for the payment of $12 "to Eusebius Fales, 
executor to the estate of David Fales, Esq., deceased, for 
ringing the bell and tending the fire in the meeting-house, by 
that aged gentleman, the year past." Thus it appesgrs that 
he who had filled so large a place in the annals of the town 
and the parish, and left so fair a mark on the records of them 
all, had not wholly ceased from his faithful public labors till 
the very close of his long life ; — which lacked but little of 
fourscore and nine years. He died on the 4th of April ; — 
leaving 17 children, 69 grand-children, and 5 great grand- 
children, then living. The descendants of his twenty-four 
children form no inconsiderable part of the population of the 
three corporations which, before their separation, he repre- 
sented in the State Convention for ratifying the Constitution 
of the United States. As a man he was not popular, as we 
have elsewhere said ; but his correctness in business, his 
firmness in adhering to principles, and his attachment to the 
institutions of religion, cannot be questioned. Conservative 
in character and faithful to his employers, he hesitated, as 
agent of the Proprietors and a magistrate under the king, to 
rashly commit . himself in the revolutionary struggle ; but we 
are not aware of his ever having been accused of aiding the 
enemy, or plotting against the colonies. As a physician, his 
judgement was reliable and his practice safe ; but he was 
wanting in promptness, and hence easily supplanted in prac- 



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824 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

tice by young, energetic, and bold practitioners. As a sur- 
veyor, a justice, a clerk or attorney, he was equally care- 
ful ; and no necessity of haste could prevent him from doing 
his work correctly as far as he went. If he had faults, if he 
was opinionated, if he treated with some contumely the ob- 
scure penmanship, the false orthography, and intolerable syn- 
tax of some of his successors in the office of town clerk, 
those, who, like the writer, have occasion to consult the 
records, will easily pardon him and sympathize hx his feelings. 
In the parish, whose interests he cherished with a kind of pa- 
ternal devotion, his services were duly appreciated and not 
wholly dispensed with till his final departure from the scene 
of his labors. 

The North Parish bell, still the only one in the place, hav- 
ing become disabled, was this year sent to Boston and re-cast. 
It was brought down from thence by Capt. W. J. Fales, in 
the sch. Dodge Healey, and re-hung, June 1 5th ; after which 
the house was re-painted by E. G. Dodge, Jr. 

In consequence of an early drought and a fire at Jenks*s 
kilns, on Sunday, the 16th of June, consuming large quanti- 
ties of kiln- wood, threatening Luther Lincoln's store, and 
raging in the woods before a violent gale, till the calmness of 
night allowed its partial arrest, Rev. Mr. Ingraham recom^ 
mended the observance of the following Thursday as a day 
of fasting and prayer. It was accordingly kept as such ; and, 
says the diary of H. Prince, Jr., " the exercises of the day 
had not been over more than one hour, before it came in 
thick and foggy, and in the night we had a most refreshing 
rain." This was followed by copious showers, and the crops 
of hay, maize, and grain were good ; as were all fruits and 
vegetables. 

Equally prosperous were commerce and navigation. The 
manufacture of lime was considerably extended ; yielding to 
tl^e burner from $1 to #1,08 in the early part at' the year, 
and from 84 to 92 cents in the latter portion. This, with 
other freight, gave ample employment to the many sloops and 
schooners then running from this port (especially from the 
George's River side) to Boston and other places along the 
coast, and" several of them, together with sundry brigs and 
perhaps some larger vessels to the South and to the West In- 
dies. Two, the brig Adams, of Owl's Head, Capt. Emery, 
and the sch. Ann, Capt. Webb, made European voyages and 
returned with cargoes of salt. The great number of pas- 
sengers transported to Boston, the large amount of merchan-' 
dise brought back, and the speedy trips made by the small 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 325 

coasters, rendered them a profitable investment, and a fine 
nursery for seamen, from which many a poor man's son and 
penniless orphan have since come to command ships of a 
thousand tons and to circumnavigate the globe. The number 
of merchants or traders licensed to sell liquor, (and at this 
time nearly ever^ store-keeper was thus licensed,) was about 
twenty-two ; to supply whom, a large and greatly increased 
quantity of goods was brought frqn Boston, where they were 
easily obtained, credit being now well re-established. Most 
of the vessels at this time sailing from W. Thomaston had 
been built in Warren or at Mill River; of the five this year 
added to the port, three were built in Warren, one at the 
shore, and one at Wessaweskeag. The fees to measurers of 
wood and bark as this year prescribed for the first time by the 
selectmen, were 5 cents per cord by the wagon load, and 3 
cents by gondola, raft, or vessel load. 

The high duties at this time levied upon W. I. Goods, more 
especially upon ardent spirits, gave great temptation to clan- 
destine importations as well as profits to their detecters, — 
which led to some sharp and ludicrous conflicts. On the 2d 
of Sept. 1822, General McCobb, collector, was informed of 
the arrival at the mouth of the Wessaweskeag of a small 
schooner named the Fox, with smuggled goods on board. 
With an order from him for its seizure, H. Prince, Jr., the 
Inspector of the port, had a search-warrant filled out, and 
with Asa Coombs, as constable, and Ephraim Bartlett, as as- 
sistant, hastened to the place, arriving rather suddenly and . 
unexpectedly, before the actors had completed their arrange- 
ments. Taking possession of the schooner in behalf of the 
United Steles, and placing two men on board as keepers, the 
officers then went on shore, and, after searching among out- 
buildings, haylofts, cellars, and bushes, 34 barrels of rum 
were found, — nine of them under what appeared on the sur- 
face to be a barrel of soap, which was unfortunately spilled in 
the search, and one other dug up jfrom a potato-field with no 
tool but a ram's-horn. These were all put on board the 
schooner again, and, though obliged to arm themselves to 
prevent a rescue, they got safely up the river about midnight. 
" The next day," writes Mr. Prince, *' we unladed the vessel 
and had her stripped ; stowing the rum, sails, and rigging in 
Esq. Snow's store, and came home that night well tired, not 
having had any sleep for about forty hours." Two days af- 
terwards, the rum was hauled over and stored at Mill River, 
till it could be legally disposed of. It was subsequently con- 
demned; and, Oct. 26th, was sold at auction for about $651, 
Vol. I. 28 



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326 HISTORY or THOMASTON, 

and the vessel, for $94, to Capt. Ambrose Snow. The schoon- 
er First Attempt, owned by E. Merrill, was also seized not 
long after ; but the owner had her appraised, gave security 
for the amount; set her going again, and, at the trial, made 
no defence. 

Independence was not formally celebrated this year in the 
place ; but the old soldiers of the Revolution came out to en- 
joy its reminiscences, an^the younger classes in different 
parts of the town, contrived to burn, in course of the day, 
some fifteen kegs of powder. The Regimental muster was 
held in this town, Sept. 24th, in a field near Dr. I. Bernard's 
at Blackington's corner. The day was fine, the martial ar- 
ray imposing, the exercises and evolutions skilfully perform- 
ed, attracting a large collection of interested spectators. 

This year was not without some distressing ccLSucUtiea. 
Lieut. O. Robbins, Jr., having gone with Isaac Spear to serve 
some process as constable on Sheep Island, on his return 
home, July 9th, a short distance from Owl's Head, was cap- 
sized in a small sail-boat whilst jibing, and went immediately 
down. He rose again, however, and by the strenuous exer- 
tions of Mr. Spear was brought to the boat; but he seemed 
to have lost his senses and all activity, and, being unable to 
keep his head above water, soon let go his hold and disap- 
peared. Spear with difficulty kept his hold on the .boat, 
which was now water-logged and too heavy to bear his weight, 
and, partly by swimming and partly by aid of the oars, was 
enabled to support himself several hours until he was picked 
up by a vessel and landed at OwFs Head. On the morning 
of Aug. 19th, Ormond, youngest son of Leonard Fales, was 
seen floating in the water at Mill River village ; where, it was 
judged from the circumstances, he must have been nearly an 
hour. Every attempt was made to resuscitate him, but to no 
purpose. He was about three years old. 

In the North Parish, the pastor's talents and assiduity con- 
tinued to be eminently successful in gaining converts and in- 
creasing the activity of the church; although his indiscreet 
zeal, in rebuking the younger members of the parish for danc- 
ing, had caused a reaction in favor of that amusement, and 
offended some. The following extracts from a letter of JVfrs. 
Swan, Knox's youngest daughter, to a young friend, dated 
April 29, 1822, may give the aspect of society in one part of 
the town, and awaken pleasant reminiscences in some who 
then moved in its gayer circles. "The young people of our 
village have passed a gay winter, frolicking from house to 
house continually, and most indefatigably dancing away dull 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 327 

care ; but the married folks have been very sedate and orderly. 
Tliere is great excitement at present among the religious com- 
munity, — in other words, there is a reformation, as they ex- 
press it. • I sincerely hope there may be truth and justice in 
the expression. Your Aunt is, I believe, wholly absorbed. 
She is, I am told, a never-failing attendant at all the meet- 
ings ; which, to people less interested in the good work, would 
be considered a most arduous undertaking.*' . . . *' Mrs. S. 
has another great homely boy; which is really provoking. 
Why will she not have children to resemble her pretty self? 
But you will be glad to hear that, though she continues incor- 
rigible on this subject, yet that she is well, and happy, and 
her husband makes a good living. No person whom I see 
appears more completely happy than Mrs. Merrill, and no 
person certainly has more reasonable cause. Her husband 
has become a very general favorite, which you know is a con- 
siderable change. / truly think him the most agreeable man 
in the country. But I must not go on specifying individuals 
in this way, or I shall never have done." Again, Aug. 16th, 
she writes in a more sombre mood, to her husband's niece. 
Miss Howard of Boston ; '^ Elizabeth says you intend making 
a visit at Nahant, during the college vacation. I had thought 
that you and John intended making a trip to. Thomaston at 
that time. It is selfish to ask you to change your destination 
from so desirable a place to one which offers so few attrac- 
tions as a retired country village. But I should indeed re- 
joice to meet you, and so would your Uncle. My Mother 
likewise would be happy to see you here, but she appears to 
think it impossible for you to be amused.* But I tell her you 
would amuse yourselves. If you will keep in mind * that 
the Glory of Israel has departed,' that the days of show and 
parade and profusion have all gone by, and that we are a 
plain retired country family, we will promise you a sincere 
welcome, and„ if we cannot offer you any entertainment you 
can be assured of the liberty of doing as you please ; and the 
state of society and manners which are so different from any- 



♦ Mrs. Knox at this time was, no doubt, hard pressed for amusements, 
herself. Continuing to make no visits here, and finding it inconvenient 
to keep up an equine establishment, she refused to leave her house till 
she could do so m her former style and in her own carriage, which she re- 
tained unused in the carriage house till it became powder-posted by time ; 
and she is said to have never left the mansion till carried out, for burial. 
Her favorite diversion was, however, still a resource ; and Messrs. Snow 
Paine, C. Pope, and J. Ruggles, usually made' it a point to drop in 
weekly to join her in a quiet game of whist which always closed with a 
snug litUe supper at eleven o'clock. 



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ase HISTORY OF TH0MA8T0N, 

thing you have ever been accustomed to, may, from their 
novelty , .afford you some amusement." 

The following extract is given, also, as an illustration of 
the change of feeling which, with the change of circumstances, 
now pervaded the mansion so lately the refuge of the exile 
and the envied abode of generous hospitality, convivial hi- 
larity, and uninterrupted enjoyment. " I beg of you, my dear 
girl, to write to me, and tell me what are your occupations 
and amusements. I know almost as little of Boston and its 
inhabitants as I do of London or Paris. I suppose your 
Grandmamaf has removed to town. Uncle James seems pretty 
much resolved to go to Boston when his mother removes. 
I wish he could be gratified by seeing you all, but I anticipate 
no good from his going to town under present circumstances. 
He would have to encounter too much of mortification and 
vexation, and I greatly fear the consequences would not be 
advantageous to himself pr pleasing to his friends. But he 
is at the same time so painfully situated here that I am at a 
loss what to advise. 

Oh Thou who driest the mourner's tear, 

How dark this world would be, 
If, when deceived and wounded here. 

We could not fly to Thee ! 

. . . There is an oppression at my heart I can by no means 
shake off. It is true a long habit of suffering in silence still 
enables me to prevent much of this appearing on the surface. 
. . . But this very restraint is unnatural and helps to wear 
me out, and I forcibly feel that it cannot last much longer. 
Forgive me, Elizabeth, for this egotism, possibly the unbur- 
dening my oppressed spirit to you may do me good, and I 
know you too well to think you will need any apology." 

1823. The arrival in Thomaston of the gifted and ac- 
complished Mellen seems to have had a cheering influence 
on the mind of Mrs. Swan, as will appear from the following, 
written Jan. 14, 1823, to the niece before mentioned, then 
recently married to a Mr. Sage. " I have heard of you sev- 
eral times lately, through the medium of Mr. Grenville Mel- 
len, who has been passing some weeks here, and thinks of 
making this his place of residence. If such should be his 
conclusion, he will assuredly be an immense acquisition to 
our society. Indeed, I think him one of the most agreeable 
and companionable persons I have ever met with. He seems 

t Mrs. Swan of Boston; whose son, the Uncle James spoken of, was 
the writer's husband. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 329 

to have that blessed disposition which is disposed to make 
the best of circumstances, and to look on the bright side of 
things. He speaks of Elizabeth and yourself with much in- 
terest, nay, with enthusiasm. He said he would give half of 
a year's income to be present at the wedding, and he desired 
me, when writing you, to say from him that " the Sagest 
thing you can possibly do, will be, not to forget Aim," and a 
variety of compliments which I think I had best not repeat. 
He is now gone home on a visit, but will probably return in 
a few days. My dear Hepsy, will you let me know who the 
Mr. Everett is who corresponds with Mr. Mellen, and who, it 
would appear, is a constant visitor at your house. Some 
hints have reached me of a strong partiality which this gen- 
tleman has for a little white rose-bud in whom I have the 
strongest interest." 

To this '* rose-bud," (Miss Elizabeth Howard,) about the 
same time, after some further bantering, she writes — *' In 
case you should be at a loss, I will mention that I allude to 
a certain travelled gentleman of splendid talents, and great 
acquirements, who, when in Europe, fell in love with a Ger- 
man countess, who exactly resembled your ladyship. I 
wrote to the bride by Mr. Gleason and mentioned the acquisi- 
tion which our society had received, by the addition of your 
old acquaintance, Mr. Mellen. His vivacity and agreeable 
qualities have operated like a charm, and roused the faculties 
of the good people here to some degree of emulation. We 
are about establishing a Friendly Society, who are to meet at 
each other's houses weekly, during the cold weather. You 
may form some idea of the growth of our village when I tell 
you that there are fourteen places of meeting. Mr. Mellen 
requested me to remember him particularly when writing you, 
and I hope you will send the poor youth some message in 
return. He is expected back daily from a visit to Portland 
and his dear Mary. The girls think it monstrously provok- 
ing that he should have engaged himself before coming here, 
but I tell them to take comfort and remember the old adage, 
"there's many a slip" — you know the rest. My dear girl, 
I must perforce break off. Some time since you offered to 
send me ' Love and Time.' I was then in such a gloomy 
frame of inind that I wished there had never been any such 
personage as Love, and was wholly indifferent to old Time 
and all his ravages. But, as it is the present fashion to be 
cheerful, I should now be glad to see them." 

Seventeen years had now passed away since the death of 
Gen. Knox, during which, a double contrast had taken place 
28* 



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330 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

• 
in the condition of things, alike in the town at large, and 
that illustrious family in particular. The many branches of 
business theu carried on by Knox, which overshadowed and in 
some degree repressed all minor efforts, had now passed away ; 
and individual enterprise, which attained but a sickly growth 
while in the shade, was now expanding itself to the light and 
air, making up in numbers what it lacked in capital. New- 
buildings had been erected and old ones repaired, new quar- 
ries were worked, new kilns constructed, new ship-yards laid 
down, wharves built or extended, and new men of business 
were now floating on the flood"- tide of prosperity. But great 
and pleasing as was the change thus wrought in the commu- 
nity around, not less great, painfully great and melancholy, 
was the contrast made in this interval at the chateau and in 
the affairs of its occupants. " Time's effacing Angers " had 
been at work, and left their traces on and about the mansion. 
The fences, gates, and outbuildings were dilapidated. The 
piazza, colonnade, and balconies which surrounded it, had 
become so ruinous that about this time they were removed ; 
and with them went the greater portion of the exterior beauty 
and magnificence of the structure. The estate of the (Gen- 
eral had been administered upon by his widow, and proved 
to be insolvent; the debts as allowed by the commissioners, 
amounting to $165,107,19, whilst the inventory of the real 
estate amounted to $105,388, and the personal to $15,758,81. 
There was a large amount of litigation, and several thousand 
dollars expended in lawyer s fees. Eight years were occu- 
pied in its settlement; and it would doubtless have been the 
occasion of much mortification and regret could the once busy 
proprietor have foreseen that two dividends only, one of five 
and the other of three and a half per centum, were all his 
creditors ever received. The widow, although an allowance 
of $9299,10 was made her out of the personal property 
in addition to her dower in the real estate and one-fifth part 
of the Patent held in her own right, had not been able to 
adapt her style of living to her income, and was now involved 
in debt and pressed by creditors. What remained of the for- 
est growth in the park between the mansion and Mill River, 
had, seven or eight years after the General's death, been sold 
standing to John Blackington, who cut it off for the manufac- 
ture of lime. The land itself she had mortgaged to Benj. 
Buzzy of Roxbury; and Saml. Parkman of Boston, under an 
old mortgage from the General, had come into possession of 
mDst of the vacant or unsold wild lands of this and the 
n3ighboring towns. Her only surviving son, who, as the 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 33I 

General used to s&y, had cost him his weight in gold, now 
separated from an amiable wife, was a penniless depend^Dt on 
his mother's bounty; her eldest daughter, with a numerous 
family, was by no means in affluent circumstances; and the 
younger daughter, amiable, affectionate, and self-sacrificing, 
had been, at the age of sixteen, and by the influence, it was 
said, of two scheming mothers, united to a spoilt child of 
wealth and dissipation, who had no business, no capacity, lit- 
tle taste, and no means of gaining a livelihood but by a yearly 
allowance made him by his mother out of an estate which, 
as rumor has it, was saved by the perpetual imprisonment of 
her husband in Paris. In addition to all this, Mrs. Knox's 
health began to fail her. Her daughter writes in January, 
1823, **I should have been extremely unwilling to have been 
absent from my Mother, during this winter. She is so far 
from well, that I should have been continually anxious and 
unhappy on her account. 

Oh welcome, though with care and pain, 

The power to glad a parent's heart, 
To bid a parent's joys remain. 

And life's approaching ills depart. 

We thank you much for the books. To you, who live in so 
different a scene, it is, perhaps, scarcely credible how vcdua- 
hie books are, to us secluded beings.** 

The situation of the property and the peculiar trials of 
this worthy member of the family, may be judged of by the 
following, addressed by her to the Hon. James Sullivan of 

Boston, brother-in-law of her husband. " Thomaston, 

14, 1823. Dear Sir: It was the wish and intention of my 
mother to have answered your letter respecting Mrs. Swan's 
business herself, but illness has rendered her incapable of the 
exertion of writing, and she has therefore desired me to ad- 
dress you on her behalf. My mother was in hopes that the 
security already given was sufficient ; but it would seem that 
the very person who selected the property, and told her he 
considered it ample, has thought proper to say very differendy 
elsewhere. This^ however, was to he expected. But as great- 
er security is required, my Mother is perfectly willing to give 
any in her power. What this shall be, however, remains to 
be determined. She has several large sums to raise within a 
short time, and she can only raise them by a great sacrifice 
of what little property mistaken views and faithless agents 
have left in her possession. Under existing circumstances, 
would it not be better for Mrs. Swan to pay off the incum- 
brance now existing upon this property, namely, the house 



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332 HISTORY OF TH0MA8T0N, 

and twenty acres of ground adjoining, and take a new mort- 
gage #f the same, herself ? As a mere matter of speculation, 
I should think this an advisable step. This estate is now 
valuable, and* must every year be becoming more so. It in- 
cludes by far the most important water lots in the town ; and, 
as yet, my mother has not disposed of one foot bordering on 
the water. It also includes a new wharf and two stores, with 
3 excellent lime-kilns, all of which have lately cost more than 
$5000. I do not mention the house as an inducement, but 
$800 were, the last summer, expended in repairing it. I 
ought to add that the wharf, stores, and lime-kilns, now rent 
for $400 per annum. The amount for which the estate is 
now mortgaged is exactly $2000, and no more. I have ob- 
served that, for those who have money, it would be a good 
speculation to employ it in this way. But Mrs. Swan would 
doubtless be interested by purer and higher motives. Could 
she see things as they are, she would be disposed to recollect 
that Gen. Knox was her valued and esteemed friend, and 
could she see my mother at this moment, she would discard 
all prejudice and resentment, and see in her only the intimate 
companion of former days, the widow of her former friend, 
and now an afflicted, infirm woman, who in all probability has 
but a short time to remain in this world. It is even so, my 
kind friend, and I repeat with anguish of heart it is the con- 
viction of her children and indeed of all who behold her. At 
such a moment as this, it is. our first wish that her mind 
should be at peace, and that she should be undisturbed by 
business or cares of any kind ; but it seems to be our hard 
fate that the very reverse of all this should be the case. 
There is scarce a possibility that my mother's heirs would 
have it in their power to redeem this property, and she, fore- 
seeing this, would much rather it should be in possession of 
Mrs. Swan than of a stranger, under the idea, as I frankly 
tell you, that it might eventually prove a benefit to one of her 
children. James is attached to this spot, and if he ever ob- 
tains a respectable station in life, it will be as a country gen- 
tleman and in no other way. Should Mrs. Swan, however, 
refuse to listen to this proposition, it only remains to endeavor 
to find her satisfactory security in some other form ; and anoth- 
er difficulty here presents itself. Mr. Thatcher has just setoff 
for Washington on pressing business ; and he appears to be 
the only individual on whose judgment and fidelity my moth- 
er can rely to act as her agent in the business. He will 
probably return in the course of a month, and Mrs. S. may rest 
assured that should the above proposal not meet her approba- 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 338 

tion, she shall then be satisfied in some other way. I felt 
strongly tempted to address myself directly to Mrs. Swan, but 
the fear of giving oflfence deterred me. The signs of heart 
and feeling which, when last in Boston, I observed in her, in- 
duced me to think that she will regret to see the family man- 
sion of my dear Father pass into the hands of strangers. 
Have the goodness to present my warmest regards to Mrs. 
Sullivan, and believe me, dear Sir, sincerely yours, 

" Caroline F. K. Swan." 
To Mrs. Sage, she also writes, April 2, 1823, among other 
matters, — " There seems at present to be an opening for our 
having an establishment which we might call our own. The 
feeble state of my mother's health renders her wholly unable 
to sustain the cares of a jQamily, and she has determined not 
to burthen herself with one any longer. Indeed, her only 
chance for a restoration to tolerable convalescence, must be 
derived from the use of air and exercise, and some little 
change of scene. To this end she has come to the resolution 
of passing the greatest part of the next summer in journey- 
ing ; and she has offered your uncle the use of her house and 
all that it contains, rent free, during her life. Whenever she 
is here, she will pay her board, &c. This certainly is a lib- 
eral offer, and much to our advantage. It is time your uncle 
had a home ; and it is truly highly important that he should 
feel himself of some consequence in the world. Your Mother 
and your Aunts will understand me, and it is to secure their 
interest in his behalf that I trouble you with this statement. 
This scheme cannot go .into effect without some assistance 
from your Grandmama. Indeed it rests with her altogether. 
If this tide in his affairs is neglected, I see no chance of his 
ever having a home, and consequently there is no hope of his 
ever becoming what his mother and all his friends doubtless 
would rejoice to see him. You will find uncle James not a 
little rusticated by his long sojourn in the widerness. But 
I trust your society will polish him, and send him back quite 
a pattern for the Thomaston gents." These and other affect- 
ing appeals to her mother-in-law seem to have had no effect, 
as in another letter to Mr. Sullivan, dated the 15th of Sept., 
1823, she says "my mother's situation is indeed a painful 
one. The incumbrance upon her property still remains, and 
the time for redemption will expire on the first of December. 
There appear to be difficulties as respects raising the money, 
which could hardly have been anticipated. The property un- 
der mortgage has lately been appraised by three impartial 
men at 89500, and this estimate is by most persons consider- 



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334 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

ed much too low. The sum required is only 82000. Is it 
utterly impossihle to prevail with Mrs. Swau to assume this 
mortgage? — Considering the improbability of its ever being 
finally redeemed, my sister and the other members of the 
family would much rather it should be in the possession of 
Mrs. S. than of a stranger. By so doing she would provide 
a home for her unfortunate son, which would be the most 
likely means of preserving him from error, and even should 
he persist in his present course bis mother and family will at 
least be spared the pain of witnessing it. But, my dear Sir, 
if Mrs. S. remains deaf to our solicitations, will you not assist 
my mother with your advice and prevent the necessity of hav- 
ing recourse to so ruinous and desperate a measure as raising 
the money by means of the Brokers?" 

From these interesting letters of this unfortunate daughter 
of Gen. Knox, I would gladly make further extracts ; but 
want of space compels me to forbear. Grenville Mellen, so 
frequently mentioned and eulogized, was the eldest son of Chief 
Justice Mellen of PortlaAS bom at Biddeford, June 19, 1799. 
He graduated at Harvard k» 1818, commenced the practice of 
law in Portland, removed to Thomaston in Dec. 1822, sup- 
plying the place made vacant by the removal of Mr. Wilkin- 
son, and with a fair prospect of success. But, after remain- 
ing about a year, he left for North Yarmouth, where he re- 
sided about five years, and married Mary Southgate of Portland. 
Having, in Oct. 1828, buried his wife,, and, in the following 
spring, his only child, he became depressed in spirits and 
removed to Boston, continuing to write, as he had done from 
his college days, poems and other articles for the U. S. Lit- 
erary Gazette and the various periodicals of the day. From 
Boston he removed to New York, where his delicate health 
still further declined, and where, after an attempt to regain it 
by a voyage to Cuba, he died of consumption, Sept. 5, 1841, 
— having established a name and a fame among the poets 
and prose writers of our country. 



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ROCBXAND AND SOUTH TH0MA8T0N. 335 

CHAPTER XVII. 

ADVANCING STEPS; FIBST TEMPEBANCE SOCIETY, FIBST 
PBINTING OFFICE, FIBST BANK, &C. 

At a meeting April 7, 1823, the selectmeD were appointed 
a committee to remonstrate against the division of Lincoln 
and the formation of a new county, west of the Kennebec, 
with Bath for its shire town. The project failed, and was al- 
lowed to rest until consummated by the erection of the coun- 
ties of Sagadahoc and Androscoggin in 1854. 

In consequence of a new law requiring real estate to be 
taxed for the building and repair of school-houses only in the 
districts where the same is situated, it became necessary to 
define the several school districts of the town by territorial 
limits^ instead of by families and dwellinghouses. This sub- 
ject was referred to the selectmen, together with J. Gleason 
and W. Heard, whose report with certain amendments vf&s 
accepted. May 5th ; at which time it was voted " that the Se- 
lectmen be authorized to agree with Esq. Gleason to furnish 
a plan of the town." Such plan, however, the compiler of 
this work has never been able to find. 

A committee, consisting of Dr. Daniel Rose of Boothbay, 
Hon. Benj. Ames of Bath, and Hon. Thos. Bond of HalloweU, 
having been appointed to purchase a suitable site for a State 
Prison^ — which the legislature, on report of a previous view- 
ing committee, had determined to locate in this town, and 
which was to be constructed under superintendence of Dr. 
Rose, — met, Feb. 18, 1823, and, after inspecting the several 
localities of the place, decided, May 7th, in favor of Lime- 
stone Hill. The site, consisting of ten acres of land, including 
the quarry of limestone so long used by the first proprietor 
and his successors, Wheaton, Knox, and others, and extend- 
ing from Main street to George's river, was purchased of Ex- 
Gov. King, at a cost of $3000, and the building, as far as its 
eaves, contracted for at $12,000. The contractors (from 
.Quincy or Boston) had, by the middle of July, no less than 
fifty men employed on the ground, with two lighters trans- 
porting the granite firom St. George; and, after Gov. Parris 
and one of the council had inspected the work, Oct. 15th, 
they finished their job and left by Nov. 24th. Other contracts 
were made ; among which Jos. Berry was to cover the top of 
the hospital with rock for $500, which, with the house for the 
warden, was finished within the year. In June, 1824, all 
being in readiness, and Dr. Rose having been appointed war- 



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336 HISTORY OF TH0MA8T0N, 

den, convicts began to arrive, fourteen having been brought 
by water from Charlestown, Mass., July 14th, making, with 
those previously received, a total of 35, — mostly employed 
in the lime quarry. In 1828, the western wing was enlarged 
by the construction of 20 additional cells. The original plan 
of the prison, by which the convicts were nightly let down 
through an opening in the stone floor to cells ill- ventilated, 
damp, and cold, not proving satisfactory, a great improve- 
ment on the side of humanity was made in repairing and re- 
modelling it, in 1843, by constructing three tiers of cells, 
one above another, substantially built of stone, entered by 
iron doors of open grates, secured by an iron bar running the 
whole length of each tier and simultaneously bolted. This 
alteration was planned and executed chiefly, we believe, by 
agency of Dr. B. F. Buxton of Warren, at that time one of 
the inspectors, at a cost of $13,177, — the sanction and ap- 
propriations for which were greaily aided by Hons. A. H. 
Hodgman and B. Fales of the House together with J. L. Pat- 
terson of the Senate. The limestone got out by the convicts 
not meeting with sufficient demand, the hewing of granite, 
brought up the river from a quarry which the State purchased 
in St. George, was to a considerable extent substituted later ; 
but the shoe and carriage makers' shops having eventually been 
found the most profitable, at present employ the greatest 
portion of the inmates. A large part* of the prison having 
been destroyed by fire, Dec. 22, 1850, the warden took imme- 
diate measures for repair; and being visited, Jan. 2, 1851, by 
Gov. Hubbard and council,. his doings were approved and 
$5,500 appropriated to conclude the work. A main building 
of stone was erected, and nearly completed in May, 1851. 
The stone wall around the whole yard, in progress some years, 
was finished in 1854. In 1855, a guard-house was built on 
the south-east corner of the wall and a story added to the 
wheelwright's shop — $3000 having been appropriated. In 
1858, the number of prisoners had so much increased (num- 
bering 128) that there was a great want of room ; and, though 
<>1 3,000 were appropriated in March of that year, nothing 
was done, in consequence of the sum being supposed insuf- 
ficient for the plan proposed by the architect employed to 
make examination. Warden Rose's successors have been 
Joel Miller of St. George in 1828, John O'Brien of Thomas- 
ton in 1836, Benjamin Carr of Palermo in 1839, Wm. Ben- 
nett of Ellsworth in 1850, Thomas W. Hix of Rockland in 
1855, Wm. Bennett again in 1856, Thomas W. Hix again in 
1857, and Richard Tinker of Ellsworth in 1861. The last 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 337 

of these met a tragical death, May 14, 1863, just hefore the 
close of his term, from the hand of Francis Spencer Couil- 
lard, one of the convicts, who, without any known cause or 
previous aritercation, struck him with a knife, in passing, upon 
the right side of the throat, severing the carotid artery and 
producing death in a few moments. The murderer was im- 
mediately secured, indicted for murder, pleaded guilty, and 
received at Rockland, May 19th, the sentence 6f death, which 
was executed in the prison-yard, June 24, 1864. Before Mr. 
Tinker's murder, Warren W. Rice, a native of Union, was 
appointed to the office of warden and entered upoti its duties 
June, 1863. This prison, unless the time since Mr. Rice's 
appointment be an exception, has never been self-sustaining, 
the annual appropriations for its support having varied from 
$2,605 to 826,360 .♦ 

The flames of party spirit having been allayed in a good 
degree by the conciliatory and prosperous administration of 
President Monroe, fewer occasions than usual had been sought 
for political demonstration. Signs of a change, however, 
now began to exhibit themselves, in view of a coming Presi- 
idential election. At the annual meeting, in this town, a new 
board of selectmen and assessors, consisting of democrats 
only, was chosen. This disturbance of the political calm be- 
came still more manifest on the Fourth of July ^ when a dou- 
ble celebration was held in the place. One of these, styled 
the republican, was at the brick meeting-house, which was 
neatly and handsomely decorated. The clerical services were 
performed by Rev. J. Washburn; the declaration read by 
Wm. J. Farley of Waldoboro' ; and an oration, which was 
received by the audience with much applause, delivered by 
Mr. Ruggles. A procession was then formed and moved to 
the house of Jacob Ulmer, where a company of about 300 
took dinner. Gen. Denny McCobb of Waldoboro' presiding.! 
The other or Federal celebration was held at the North Parish 
meeting-house, and is thus described by Mrs. Swan in a letter 
to her friend Mrs. Clark, whose husband. Dr. Daniel Clark, 
after spending a few years here as physician, had recently 
removed with his family to Portland. " We had quite a 
brilliant celebration here on the Fourth, I assure you. The 
division of parties in such a village as this, was doubtlessly a 
ridiculous.affair. It could not be termed a political division, 
as we had many of the most respectable democrats on our 

♦ Wardens* Reports ; Journals of the day, &c. 
t Diary of H. Prince, Jr., Esq. 
Vol. I. 29 



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338 HISTORY OF TH0MA8T0N, 

side. The question was I believe, rather between the Rug- 
glesites and their opponents. Mr. Cleland of Waldoborough 
gave us a well written oration. Mr. Ingraham made an im- 
pressive and appropriate prayer and looked like* a perfect 
beauty. The Declaration of Independence was read in a 
prodigiously fine style. Of course^ you will say, seeing it 
was Mr. Mellen who read it, — and of course likewise the 
singing, notwithstanding a great deal of previous practising, 
was but indifferent, because Mr. Mellen was transferred from 
the Choir to the Pulpit." The fdlowing toast by Col. Healey 
is given a^ characteristic of the feelings on the occasion. 
"Party spirit; — its fires having been securely raked up, 
may whoever attempts to open them again, burn his own 
fingers." 

This incipient political division was further aggravated by 
the personal animosities which grew out of the Post Office 
affairs. Early in 1821, J. D. Wheaton who had held the of- 
fice of postmaster ever since its first establishment, was un- 
expectedly superseded by the appointment of H. Prince, then 
Dept. Collector and also a merchant here. Wheaton, al- 
though accused of being petulant and somewhat behind the 
times, was esteemed as an honest, free-hearted, generous citi- 
zen, and, being of the same Democratic party, many of his 
friends felt indignant that he should be thus suddenly super- 
seded by one who certainly did not need the office. From 
the agency which Mr. Rubles had in procuring this appoint- 
ment, he of course shared in the odium which arose Irom it, 
and which his political adversaries endeavored to make the 
most of. Prince, however, by his superior management of 
the office, was gradually disarming hostility, when in Jan. 
1823, three different sums of money, amounting in all to 
about 8200, directed to one Pierce of Boston, and mailed at 
this office, failed to reach their destination. As at that time 
all letters for places beyond Portland were put in a separate 
package, marked "Westward" and not opened short of that 
place, inquiries were made and no account found of the 
missing packages ever having arrived. Under these circumr 
stances, an action was commenced April 4th, by Pierce, for 
the recovery of the money, against Prii\ce and Ruggles, the 
latter having sometimes assisted in the .office; aii4 they^ 
conscious of their own innocence, resolved to stand* trial and 
have a full investigation. Five days later. Prince commenced 
an action for defamation against Dr. Clark, who, as the pro- 
fessional rival of Kellogg, Prince's son-in-law, was thought 
Jo Jiave made himself liable by circulating for facts many 



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EOCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 339 

groundless sarmises. To increase this state of exacerbation, 
on the return of Judge Thatcher from Washington, Mr. 
Wheaton entered the post office April 22d, and informed Mr. 
Prince that he had an order to resume its duties and should 
like to take possession the following morning. This was 
done, accordingly, on the 24th. Thus Mr. Prince found him- 
self deprived of the office which had« proved such a source of 
trouble and vexation ; his character traduced by his enemies 
and perhaps brought into doubt in the minds of his friends ; 
his assistant and friend involved with himself in lawsuits, to 
the uncertain issue of which and an overruling Providence he 
could alone look for redress and the elucidation of truth.* 
But the cloud that hung over him was broken June 3d, by 
the news, that two mails from Wiscasset had been missed in 
the same way as those from this town ; and wholly dissipated, 
before the end of the month, by the detection of the culprit, 
(a young law student at Bath) by means of a draft from B. 
Green of this place to his partner, R. N. Foster, stolen in the 
same way. The feelings engendered, both personal and poli- 
tical, still remained, however, though the election of Mr. 
Ruggles as representative was secured in September, by a 
vote of 169, against 140 for David Crockett. On the 25th 
Dec. judgment in the action of Pierce vs. Prince and Ruggles 
was entered against the plaintiff, and, on his appeal to the 
Supreme Court, was finally disposed of Oct. 1, 1824, by a 
verdict in favor- of the defendants, whose characters in pub- 
lie estimation no longer needed this triumphant vindication. 

In the winter of 1822-3, an association of young men of 
promise, headed by Richard and Demerrick Spear, G. Marsh, 
and others, called the Alpha Society, was formed for declama- 
tion and kindred branches, held interesting weekly meetings 
in the Ulmer school-house and other places for two years, and 
was again revived in 1826. Its first president was Rev. J. H. 
Ingraham, succeeded by J. Ruggles, E. Thatcher, H. Prince, 
Jr., and J. Cilley. 

Among the gala days of the year, attracting crowds of spec- 
tators, were a regimented muster at Blackington's Comer, 
Sept. 9th ; and July 24th, a caravan of wild animals includ- 
ing two bisons, exhibited two days at Esq. Gleason's, — be- 
ing the first collection of any extent ever brought to the place. 

In regard to weather^ the mercury fell, Jan. 8th, to 8® below 
zero ; when Georges river froze up as far down as McCobb's 
Narrows, and did not open till after the equinox. The tem- 
perature was again 6^ below, Feb. 7th, and 5® below, March 
4th, after a storm of snow and wind which left hard-crusted 



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340 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

drifts ten or twelve feet deep. Another snow storm, still 
more violent, March 31st, destroyed many vessels along the 
coast. In consequence of severe winters, with the growing 
scarcity and higher price of wood, many contrivances were 
resorted to about this time for the saving of fuel. Among 
these, the most important was the introduction of cooh stooes^ 
one of which, believed io be the first in town, was used by 
the family of H. Prince, as early as 1820. Lucifer matches, 
air-tights about 1838, furnaces, the use of coal, and other im- 
provements, have since succeeded and made great changes in 
the dwellings of the people. On the night of May 25th, 
•when the moon was a little past the full, during a gale of 
wind from the N. W., a bright lunar rainbow was observed 
about midnight by such of the people here as had the good 
fortune to be out and witness so rare a phenomenon. On the 
18th of June, early in the forenoon, a sudden shower of a 
few minutes' duration, was attended with the heavies't thunder 
ever heard in this town. The lightning struck near Mr. Ev-. 
erton's, at the toll bridge ; shattered the fence on Maj. Rob- 
bin's place ; descended on the bam of Daniel Palmer, which 
was burnt to the ground ; passed down the N. W. comer of 
James Eaton's house, tearing off boards, near which, in a bed- 
room, lay a child uninjured, though the bed was covered with 
fragments of plastering; struck and utterly demolished a 
tree in the comer of the burying-ground, near which William 
Stevens, senior, was at work, — shattering a jug under the tree, 
and stunning him considerably. The next day, though the 
wind blew fresh from the N. W., the mercury stood at 85*^. 
In July, a drought commenced, and was very severe till Sept. 
18th; in consequence of which a fast was kept by the North 
parish church Sept. 11th. Extensive fires prevailed at Owl's 
Head and other woody parts of the town, and several houses 
were at times thought to be in jeopardy. These were as 
nothing, however, to the conflagration at Wiscasset and Alna ; 
to relieve the sufferers from which, this town voted, Oct. 4th, 
to give $200. On the night of Dec. 4th and 5th, a violent 
storm did considerable damage on the George's River side of 
the town, to the shipping moored at the wharves, sinking gon- 
dolas loaded with lime, and blowing over some old buildings. 
Navigation was tolerably prosperous, one vessel only from 
this port, the Thomas & Edward, being lost; and one, the 
Hercules, with a crew of young men from this vicinity, miss- 
ing since the preceding autumn, was never heard from. 
Lime brought only 95 cents in Boston ; but large quantities of 
it were burnt, furnishing constant freight to 12 or 15 coasting 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 34I 

vessels, 'which, not having to wait for lading, made great dis- 
patch. The year is notable for the commencement of a reg- 
•ular line of stearnboats along the coast. The steamer Maine 
of 125 tons, Capt. D. Lunt, plied from Bath to Eastport, 
regularly touching at OwFs Head, South Thomaston. Mr. 
Bussey, now in possession of considerable property obtained 
by mortgage out of the Knox estate, engaged in extensive im- 
provements by Bryant and N. Rice his agents, built kilns 
and a wharf at the mouth of Mill River, caused a new road 
to be laid out by Morse and Ferrand's to the wharf, and ex- 
pended large sums in clearing up and improving his lands, 
divesting tiiem of unsightly stumps and the upspringing 
growth of young evergreens-. 

Among the removals by death, may be mentioned those of 
Col. Qeo. Coombs, a valued citizen and military officer of 
Wessaweskeag village, who died of consumption May 13th, 
and w^as buried the 16th with masonic honors, more than 300 
persons walking in procession to the grave ; and, on Sept. 2d, 
afler an illness of five months, Dr. Isaac Bernard, who had 
been a distinguished citizen and successful physician in the 
place for more than thirty years. He was buried on the 4th 
with masonic and military honors, also, — the occasion calling 
together a very large concourse. His successor as a physi- 
cian in that part of the town, now Rockland, was Dr. Jacob 
S. Goodwin, who had received a good education, and soon ob- 
tained considerable practice ; which, from lack of attention, 
or other cause, he gradually lost, removed to Mill' River, and 
subsequently died. 

The year 1823 was distinguished by the formation, Dec. 
25th, of a Temperance Society at the Shore village, now Rock- 
land; — the first ever formed on the principle of total absti- 
nence in the territory of Old Thomaston, and probably the 
first in the State, or the United States. Its earliest recorded 
meeting for choice of officers was held at the house of John 
Spear, Esq., Jan. 7, 1824, when Jos. Hasty was chosen pres- 
ident ; Knott Crockett, treasurer ; and C. Holmes, secretary. 
It advanced firmly and successfully on in its career of useful- 
ness, and, Feb. 19th, the first public temperance address was 
deli^red in its behalf by Demerrick Spear, and listened to 
with equal curiosity and satisfaction. This took place in the 
old or earliest school-house in the district, if not present city ; 
it stood on the site now occupied by the Spear block at the 
corner of Main and Park streets, and has since been removed 
to Holmes street, and occupied as a dwelling. In this, or the 
brick meeting-house, and sometimes in private houses, fre- 
29* 



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342 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

quent meetings were held, and addresses delivered by Revs. 
.Lovell and Ingraham, with one at Christmas by Richard 
Spear, — the whole number of members admitted during 1824- 
being sixty-three. This society obtained an act of incorpo- 
ration under the name of the Thomaston Temperate Society^ 
Feb. 26,. 1825, and continued to thrive with more or less 
success at different periods. The persons named in the act 
were, Knott and David Crockett, John and Elkanah Spear, 
Iddo Kimball, Freeman Harden, and Oliver Fales, with their 
associates ; the first being president, and the last, secretary. 
The conditions of membership were, the payment of $1 ad- 
mittance fee, fifty cents at each annual meeting, and the same 
sum as a fine for every transgression of their rule to abstain 
firom ardent spirits unless prescribed by a physician. From 
these sources funds accumulated, and were invested by a com- 
mittee in flcur, corn, and other speculations for the benefit of 
the society.* An able and eloquent address in its behalf 
was delivered March 30, 1830, by J. A. Lowell, a native of 
the place, then established in the profession of the law at East 
Machias. At that time, 1830, the cause of temperance had 
got to be a general topic of interest through the community. 
Temperance lectures were everywhere exciting attention, and 
there were already said to be not less than 1015 temperance 
societies in the United States, of which sixty-two were in 
Maine. One at South Thomaston, in connection with a read- 
ing room, was formed Dec. 23, 1829, of which G. Emery 
was secretary; and succeeded in 1832 or *3 by another on 
more stringent principles, commenced under inauspicious, al- 
most ludicrous circumstances, but productive of great good, of 
which Chas. Glover was president, Ezekiel D. Hall, vice pres- 
ident, Joshua Bartlett, A. Coombs, and R. Rowel I, prudential 
committee, and B. Robinson, secretary. A call was made on 
the citizens of West Thomaston also, to meet at the Bank 
Hall on the evening of April 12, 1830 for the purpose of 
forming a similar society; — which was accordingly done, and 
T. P. Vose was chosen secretary. To this society Mr. Wood- 
hull gave an address Oct. 14, 1830, Hon. I. G. Reed of^ 
Waldoboro', March 4, 1831, Dr. Holman of Gardiner^ m 
1837, and other lecturers of the day. This society continued 
itS' labors with alternate success and discouragement, till by 
increased exertions its numbers in 1837 amounted to more 



* Printed Constitution and By-Laws in possession of Mrs. K. C. Perry ; 
Editorial in Rockland Gazette, Ap. 30, 18o4; which says it was familiarly 
known as the Humility Society. 



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ROCKLAJJD AND SOUTH TH0MA8T0N. 343 

than 300, at which time Abner Rice was chosen president. 
But its pledge by many being deemed defective in allowing 
the use of wine, a new society was formed upon more strin- 
gent principles, called the 2d West Thomaston Temperance 
Society, to which able addresses were delivered by Rev. Mr. 
WoodhuU, Feb. 27, 1838, Hon. J. Holmes, Jan. 11th, and 
by Prof. C. Newton, Oct. 22, 1839. A course of six lectures, 
in Jan., 1839, was given to the citizens of West Thomaston 
in general, by Rev. Mr. Caldwell ; and a second course by 
the same gentleman the following year; before the close of 
which between 300 and 400 persons signed the pledge. Then 
arose a general excitement on the subject here and through 
the country by means of the Washingtoniana^ as they were 
called, who, by recounting their own tragic and comic ex- 
periences, electrified the community, and drew immense num- 
bers into the ranks of temperance. In June, 1841, a delega- 
tion of this order arrived here from Bath, and by their efforts 
a Washington Temperance Society was formed both in the 
Eastern and Western parts of the town, embracing some of 
the most confirmed inebriates of each, as well as other friends 
of temperance. Of the W. Thomaston society, Wm. Singer, 
Jos. Berry, and J. D. Barnard, were officers, as were Larkin 
Snow, Benj. Berry (2d), and M. E. Thurlo, of the East Thom- 
aston society. One at South 'Thomaston soon followed ; and 
early in 1842 there were Martha Washington societies in 
each section of the town. By the exertions of all these, a 
great change was produced in the customs of social inter- 
course, the fare of laborers and mechanics, and the fitting 
out of vessels; in all which spirituous liquors were dispensed 
with, except for medicinal purposes. The principles adopted 
at home, our mariners carried with them to distant ports ; 
Washingtonian meetings were held by them at New Orleans ; 
and Capt. S. M. Shibles, Dec. 25, 1841, held a grand ball on 
board his ship Massachusetts for the seamen there, who found 
no difficulty in keeping up their amusement and spirits to a 
late hour on the strength of cold water alone. 

1824. The year began so mildly that George's River 
did not freeze up till Jan. 20th, and was open before the end 
of February. A small comet was seen in the east by many 
here about 3 A. M., Jan. 8th, and was still visible in the N. 
E. on the 23d at 10 P. M. The temperature, Feb. 5th, was 
l.O*' below zero ; and on the 12th a S. W. gale did consider- 
able damage in the place, unroofing sheds and prostrating 
fences. On the 5th March, half grown grasshoppers were 
picked up in sunny places and brought in by the pupils of the 



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344 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

writer, then teaching at Mill River; but a dry and frosty 
May greatly injured the grass crop. Business continued 
good; about 700,000 casks of lime were manufactured; — 
bringing from 92 cts. to $1 ; and navigation, though less pro- 
ductive, was increased by the building of several schooners, 
five brigs, and one ship, the Georges', of 320 tons — the first 
ship, it is believed, with the exception of Lieut. Hanson's, 
ever built in what is now Thomaston, which, small as it was, 
excited much interest as a grand affair unprecedented in the 
place. Several new mercantile establishments were also com- 
menced; viz.: those of Coombs & Mann and Anthony Hall at 
Wessaweskeag, and Tolman & Barrows, J. Spear, C. Har- 
rington, and Jas. Crockett, Jr. at the Shore and Blackington's 
Comer. In the course of this season sailmaking was set up 
at Fort wharf, in the western village, and also, soon after at 
the Shore, by Joseph Colson ; but discontinued in the latt» 
place after four or five years. About the same time John El- 
liot of Wiscasset came, and, in company with Benjamin Met- 
calf of Damariscotta, set up business as blockmakers and 
ship chandlers at the same wharf, as did also J. Palfrey, a 
rigger, at Paine's wharf. The first watchmaker in the place, 
except one, (a foreigner, who, after a short stay, went off, 
Feb., 1824, with several of his customer's watches,) was Ed- 
mund Moores of Bath, who, in April of this year, opened 
shop at Mill River ^ — at this time the general centre of bu- 
siness for the whole town. His apprentice, J. Bently Starr, 
succeeded, Feb. 14, 1826, to the business on his own account. 
A new hotel, at the Prison Corner, was this year opened by 
Capt. John Copeland of Warren, who thenceforth became a 
resident of Thomaston. This, the George^s Hotd^ built of 
brick manufactured by himself, he kept many years, and was 
at the same time much engaged in the mail-carrying and 
stage business. Up to this time and some years later, Mrs. 
Hastings's tavern and boarding-house in Wadsworth street or 
Prison lane, (as styled for a time,) had been the principal re- 
sort, especially for seamen and passengers by water, in that 
part of the town. But, after hers, Mrs. Mary Hyler's became 
a very popular boarding-house and home for sailors and oth- 
ers, who found in her a generous and motherly, but at the 
same time strict and unyielding, hostess ; taking as much 
care of their money or other property as of her own. Early 
left a widow, she brought up her five sons, all of whom be- 
came sea-captains, and four daughters, who have all married 
master mariners. 

The claims of Mill River, as the general seat of business 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH IHOMASTON. 345 

in town, began now, however, gradually^o be weakened by 
the rising importance of the shore village, or East Thomas- 
ton. One evidence of this was the successful application for 
a Post Office in that village ; which was granted on the 23d 
of December, 1824, under the name of the East Thonmston 
Post Office, and David Crockett was at the same time ap- 
pointed its first post-master. His successors in the office, 
down to the present time, have been, John Spoffijrd, appoint- 
ed April 2, 1831; E. S. Hovey, May 24, 1841; James 
Crockett, June 29, 1841 ; Leander Starr, Nov. 8, 1842 ; John 
Spofford, re-appointed, June 19, 1844; Wm. H. Titcomb, 
Aug. 28, 1850, and, on change of the name to that of Bock- 
land Post Office, re-appointed, Jan. 21, 1851; followed by 
Halford Earle, Aug. 21, 1851 ; Elkanah S. Smith, April 7, 
1853, who, on the office becoming Presidential, was re-ap- 
pointed, Feb. 21, 1856; Benj. W. Lothrop, March 1, 1859; 
Miles C. Andrews, June 1 7, 1 861 . The office was first kept in 
Mr. Crockett's house, at Blackington's comer, on the main 
county road ; then in a building on Lime Rock street, nearly 
opposite Berry's brick block, to which block it was removed 
in 1856, and from thence, in 1861, to No. 1, Kimball block, 
Main street. Its business has greatly increased, especially 
since the commencement of the present war, and now amounts 
to about $3000 per annum. 

A Fire Company of 20 members, at the Western village, 
having been got up, held its first regular meeting Oct. 9, 1824, 
and appointed committees to contract for ladders, buckets, 
&c. From the book of H. Prince, Jr., treasurer, it appears 
that fifty cents, as a fee of membership, and a like sum, as 
an annual tax from each member, were regularly paid for two 
or more years, and a fire engine procured by Mr. Ruggles ; 
but interest in the matter soon died away and the engine ap- 
parently remained on his hands. An Act of incorporation 
however was obtained, Feb. 24, 1827, but nothing appears to 
have been done under it till Dec. 17, 1828, when, immedi- 
ately after the burning of the post office, a company was or- 
ganized, and $172 were paid Mr. Ruggles, in 1830-2, for 
the engine, which did good service and supplied the wants of 
this part of the town for ten or more years. 

The Alpha Society for lack of other celebration of inde- 
pendence held a public meeting on Monday, the 5th July, at 
the Brick church, tastefully decorated ; where a good audience 
listened to religious services by Mr. Ingraham, an oration by 
Demerrick Spear, disputations between R. Spear and J. D. 
Barnard against W. T. Hewitt and Wm. Spring, Jr. ; follow- 



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346 HISTORY OF TH0MA8T0N, 

ed by an address (o the society by H. Prince, Jr., after 
which about fifty persons dined at Mrs. Spear's at the Shore 
village, and the day closed with a ball at Mrs. Hastings'. On 
the 28th the steamer Maine, Capt. Rand, came up George's 
River, being the first craft of the kind ever borne upon its 
waters; remained at the wharf until 12 o'clock, then came 
round into Mill River bearing deckloads of delighted people 
to witness the launching of the brig Dodge Healey ; and, the 
following week; took a large excursion party to Monhegan. 
On Sept. 4th, a battalion Muster was to have been held near 
Mill River ; but the day was so rainy that no line was formed, 
and the companies, after being inspected at different places 
where shelter could be found, were dismissed at an early 
hour, leaving the spectators wet, disappointed, and noisy. 
1824 is an epoch somewhat distinguished in the legislation of 
the State by the commencement of measures for encourage- 
ment of the militia ; but which ended in the final abandon- 
ment of the system in time of peace, except such volunteer 
companies as the commander-in-chief should think proper to 
retain under pay. This year, each soldier who did duty at 
the annual regimental muster was allowed one ration, or its 
equivalent of 20 cents in money ; the latter being preferred 
by this town, this and the following year. 

The North Parish was now experiencing one of those vi- 
cissitudes in its affairs which await all human institutions. In 
1824 the dissatisfaction with Rev. Mr. Ingraham had become 
so great, that many heavy tax-payers and persons of influence 
began to decline subscribing, or notify their withdrawal from 
the parish. In 1825 a council was called to investigate certain 
charges against the pastor, which met at his house Jan. 19th, 
when, after considerable conversation, it was concluded that 
its members had not been properly called and were not au- 
thorized to go into an examination. On the 6th of Novem- 
ber following, however, Mr. Ellingwood of Bath preached in 
this parish and read the full confession of Mr. Ingraham, made 
before the association of ministers shortly before, in which 
he acknowledged that he had been an intemperate man, and 
that the reports which had been in circulation were true. Mr. 
E. recommended to the society to forgive him, and receive 
him again into favor. This advice the church readily fol- 
lowed, requesting him, unanimously, to continue his ministry; 
and the parish apparently acquiesced. 

On the 6th of Aug. the wife of John Grace, employed in 
the cotton and woolen factory at Mill River, still under charge 
of Capt. Amsbury, had her right hand and wrist caught and 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 347 

mangled by the picker so badly as to require amputation. 
For relief of her distressed family $140 were immediately 
subscribed. On the 25th of August, the community was star- 
tled by the announcement that Miss Catharine Paine, the 
beautiful, accomplished, and respected daughter of John 
Paine, Esq., had been missing for the last three days. On 
the evening of Saturday the 21st, about dusk, she- was last 
seen going across the pasture from Mrs. Hastings's in Wads- 
worth street, towards her father^s house, having left Mrs. Han- 
son's, where she had previously been. Some peculiarity in 
her manner and appearance for a short time previous, at once 
gave rise to the most painful apprehensions. Search was im- 
mediately commenced and about thirty persons formed a line 
and swept the ground and bushes the whole distance she 
would have had to travel in reaching home. By noon, more 
than a hundred persons had collected ; search was renewed in 
every direction; and boats and instruments prepared for. 
sweeping the river. About half-past three, her lifeless body 
was found, floating on the surface of the water, about half 
way from her father's wharf to the State Prison landing. 
Another cause of mourning was soon added in that part of 
the town by the news which arrived Sept. 1st of the death of 
two promising young men, Capt. Edmund Fales, at that time 
mate of the brig Enterprise, and his younger brother Almond 
Fales, of yellow fever at Charleston, S. C. These, with an 
elder brother who commanded the brig, were reckoned among 
the most resolute, active, and enterprising seamen of the 
place, and, we believe, were the first to demonstrate by their 
own example that vessels could be managed more safely and 
expertly without the use of ardent spirits than with. On the 
20th June, 1824, about three o'clock in the morning. Madam 
Lucy Knox, having now outlived her fortune, her pleasures, 
and most of her friendships, departed this life, at the age of 
sixty-eight; after a gradual failure and one month's severe 
illness. For the last fortnight she was mostly delirious, but 
was thought to have had her senses a little before her death, 
when, so great was her distress and agony, that it required 
several persons to keep her in bed. Her funeral took place 
at five o'clock on the afternoon of the 21st, and was attended 
by quite a collection of the most respectable people of this 
town and Warren. Her remains were deposited in the tomb 
of ber €ho»en companion and hero,* to the eastward of the 

* On this oeeM»ion the Oeneral's cofBn was opened, and his features ap- 
peared almost AS perfect as in life, till the air struck them, when thej went 
Jike a puff asid erumbled into dust. 



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348 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

mansion, near the spot where '^the rude forefathers of the 
hamlet sleep/' and amid the fragments of their humble mon- 
uments which she had caused to be demolished; though 
there, we regret to say, her bones were not destined to re- 
main. 

1825. The Thomaston Bank, the first institution of the 
kind in this town, or this vicinity, was incorporated, Feb. 22, 
1825, with a capital of $50^00. J. Gleason, J. Sprague, 
D. Rose, R. Foster, of Thomaston, E. §mith and W. McLel- 
lan, of Warren, and I. G. Reed, of Waldoboro', were the 
first directors, who, May 31st, elected J. Gleason president, 
and J. Sprague cashier. Proposab were soon after issued 
for constructing a suitable building of granite ; and that now 
occupied was erected in the course of the summer. Gleason 
held the office of president till 1831 ; when he was succeed- 
ed by Edwin Smith, two years ; Edward Robinson, one year ; 
and Richard Robinson, 21 years; till 1855, when the present 
incumbent, Wm. Singer, was chosen. The cashiers, since 
Sprague's death in 1826, have been John Paine until 1840, 
John D. Barnard, till his death in 1858, and Oliver Robinson, 
the present incumbent. The business of this bank was com- 
menced with caution and managed with success, until 1831, 
when it was discovered that $11,000, consisting of bills done 
up in packages, were missing from the vault. The doors were 
found locked as usual, everything in order, and the directors 
were not more shocked and amazed at the loss of the mcmey, 
than perplexed and confounded by the mysterious manner of 
its disappearance. No one had the key of the vault but the 
president; and, after many attempts to account for it other- 
wise, suspicion began slowly and unwillingly to point toward 
him or some member of his family. Even the cashier, though 
a brother-in-law, began to have misgivings, and went so far 
as to say to him in one of their consultations, " none but you 
and I, Gleason, have had access to the vault ; the money is 
gone ; I have not taken it, and I don't see but you have." 
It was a hard case for the worthy president ; the implication 
preyed upon his health, and was supposed to have caused the 
sickness which resulted in his death in 1832. But in the 
mean time, circumstances transpired which completely exon- 
erated him, and directed suspicion to a different quarter. It 
was ascertained that a large amount of Thomaston bills had 
been deposited in a bank in Dover, N. H., by Isaac Snaith, a 
native of England and one of the recent factory firm at Mill 
River. The large amount deposited by one individual led to 
suspicion, and he was indicted for the theft. At his protracted 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 849 

trial (it Warren, in April, 1831, sufficient evidence was adduc- 
ed to convince most people of his guilt ; yet, by the liberal 
use of money in feeing some four or five of the ablest lawyers 
in the State, he succeeded in raising doubts in the minds of the 
jury, and was acquitted. After the trial, however, a bunch of 
false keys, done up with a ball of putty in a piece of cloth, was 
found in Thomaston, near the bank, partly concealed under a 
fence in a brook or gutter, where Snaith had been allowed to 
.stop a few minutes by the officer in charge. This removed all 
doubt of his guilt ; and the bank immediately commenced an 
action against him in the courts of N. H., whither he had now 
removed. But the jury were unable to agree, and the matter 
was finally compounded by his paying $2000, a sum about 
sufficient to cover the expenses the bank had been at in sus- 
taining the prosecution. The loss, about $12,000, resulting 
firom this affair, and some bad debts, was made up by with- 
holding dividends. The bank has since been successfully 
managed, and its credit has never been impaired ; the stock 
having risen from 1*0 or 16 below par at that time to its pres- 
ent high premium. It now pays a dividend of 10 per cent., 
numbers 780 stockholders, and its discount day is Monday.* 
On the 17th day of May, 1825, was issued the first num- 
ber of the Thomaston Register, the first weekly newspa- 
per 'ever established in this town or anywhere in the old 
county of Lincoln, east of Wiscasset. It was got u } chiefly 
by the friends and agency of Mr. Ruggles, who entered into 
a three year's contract with Edwin Moody of Hallo well, to 
print the paper for $500 a year ; whilst he himself was to man- 
age the editorial department, furnish paper, and receive all in- 
come. Esq. Prince, according to an agreement, immediately 
commenced adding a new story to his store at Mill River for the 
printing office ; which, afler an ineffectual attempt to induce 
Moody to locate in another place and under different control, 
was taken, near the office of Mr. Ruggles. The mechanical 
part of the paper was in general well executed with care and 
correctness; and the editorial, with modest ability and with 
an apparent freedom from party bias, until the approach of 
the Presidential election of 1828, when, under the editorial 
care of Mr. Cilley, it became a warm political paper in sup- 
port of Jackson's administration. In Sept. 1831, Mr. Moody 
having lost his wife by consumption and concluding to re- 
move to New Hampshire, transferred the establishment to 
Abner Knowles, one of Ruggles's law students, who had that 

* Hon. Wm. Singer ; Bank Commissioners' Report, 1862, &c. 
Vol. I. 30 



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360 HISTORY OF TH0MA8T0N, 

season commenced practice at Mill River village. The pa- 
per was continued by him under the name of Independent 
JouKNAL, and printed by Wm. S. Tyler, assisted by his fel- 
low apprentice under Moody, H. P. Coombs, till the spring 
of 1832, when the establishment was sold out to Geo. W. 
Nichols and brother. 

This year, 1825, in consequence of a new law of the State, 
School agents instead of the former school committee, were 
chosen; and, conformably to another provision of the act; 
the town voted that each School District should choose its 
own School Agent in district meeting. This mode of choos- 
ing agents, however seems not to have succeeded satisfac- 
torily ; and in the year following, the town returned to the old 
method. Hawes's, in lieu of the old Webster's spelling book, 
and Bezout's arithmetic this year made their appearance, and 
were partially introduced into the schools, but gained no very 
lasting place. The latter was a French work, translated by 
Nathaniel Haynes, a recent graduate of Bowdoin, and another, 
we believe, of Mr. Ruggles's law students ; but who subse- 
quently left this town for Bangor, edited the Eastern Repub- 
lican of that place, married Caroline I. daughter of Hon. 
Wm. D. Williamson, the historian of Maine, and died in 1837, 
at the age of 38. Another student in Mr. Ruggles's office, 
at this time, was Jonathan Cilley ; who, Sept. 9th, the day 
after graduating at Brunswick, set out for this place, taking 
a seat in the chaise of H. Prince, Jr., who had been over to 
witness the commencement exercises; and it may be noted 
as a coincidence, that, on their way hither, they called a few 
moments on Prince's sister, a young lady then attending 
school at Wiscasset, who was destined to be the wife and 
widow of his companion. Another accession to the legal 
profession and social refinement of the place was made about 
the same time in the person of Wm. J. Farley; who after 
graduating in 1820 at the early age of 18, had studied law 
in his native Waldoboro', and now commenced practice here 
under the prestige of a distinguished family and honorable 
connections. From the same town, M. R. Ludwig of the 
medical faculty, also, (who had commenced the study of his 
profession with Drs. Bowman and Caldwell of Somerset 
county and completed it with Dr. John Manning of Waldo- 
boro',) commenced his successful career here as a physician, 
and, on the appointment of Dr. Rose as land agent, three 
years later, succeeded to his practice. He has educated a 
greater number of young men for his profession than any 
other physician in the county. Among his students have been 
Drs. Jona. Huse, now in practice at Camden ; Joseph Huse, 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH TH0MA8T0N. 851 

who commenced practice at Blackington's Cqmer, where he 
died in 1839; Gardner Ludwig, now in the practice at Port- 
land; Warren Ludwig, now in Boston; Daniel Rose, Jr., 
now a successful practitioner in Thomaston; Wm. Hobby, 
now preceptor of Belfast Academy; Henry C. Levensaler, 
surgeon of the 8 th Maine regiment, and Medical Director of 
the Southern department; and Moses M. Ludwig, his only 
son, who was in study of the profession at the time of his 
death in 1858. Dr. John Merrill, from Topsham, also came 
the same year, 1825, and went into a similar career of busi- 
ness in the eastern village, now Rockland ; where he still 
continues p/actice, besides having filled several official and 
responsible stations. 

The anniversary of St. JohrCs was celebrated here on the 
24th, by the Masons of Amity, Orient, St. Georges, and 
Union lodges ; when an oration was given by Rem J. H. In- 
graham, a dinner provided for the brethren at Capt.. John 
Copeland's, and, for the ladies, at Col. J. Haskell's. Gen. 
Lafayette, then in Portland, had been invited to be present on 
this occasion ; but the prolonged and grateful honors bestowed 
elsewhere, compelled him to decline. Several citizens of the 
town, however, had the gratification of beholding this early 
and gallant defender of our country's independence. Among 
them, Capt. B. Webb, in the brig Montpelier, was the first to 
greet his arrival at Alexandria, by the discharge of a 14- 
pound gun which he had on board ; Mr. Ruggles, as Speak- 
er of the House of Rrepresentatives, presented to him the 
members of that body, at Portland, June 25th, together with 
an invitation of the selectmen and citizens of Thomaston to 
visit this place; and Gen. E. Thatcher, at an interview at 
Saco, on the 24th, renewed, in behalf of the four lodges, an 
invitation to the place on some future occasion ; to which 
Layfayette made a feeling reply alluding to the residence of 
his ** excellent friend Gen. Knox." Under different circum- 
stances, it is presumed the General's visit would have been 
extended to this town according to his original intention. 
Had Mrs. Knox been living and in the affluence of her for- 
mer days, nothing could have .afforded her greater pleasure 
than a visit from her old acquaintance, the companion and 
friend of her husband and of Washington; but had not 
death supervened, her own circumstances and those of her 
family — the noble mansion in decay and the marks of dilapi- 
dated fortunes but too apparent on all about it — render it 
too probable that she would have felt more mortification than 
pleasure, and have said in her heart what her son Henry did 
not hesitate to express, '* I have no wish to see him.*' The 



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352 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

meeting would ^irobably have been a melancholy one to both 
parties. 

The Fourth of July was, this year, celebrated at Wessa- 
weskeag ; the religious services being performed by Messrs. 
Washburn and Ames ; the Declaration read by Asa Coombs ; 
an ^ration delivered by J. Ruggles to a crowded house, and a 
collation served up by Anthony Hall, at which E. Snow, Jr., 
presided, assisted by H. Prince, Wm. Stackpole, and Wm. 
Heard. Cannon and music accompanied each sentiment; 
and everjrthing went off weU. The Regimental Muster was 
largely attended this year at Blackington^s comer, but the 
military turn-out was not so great as usual — a symptom that 
the martial spirit was beginning to decline. A volunteer com- 
pany of riflemen, however, called the Thomaston Cruards, was 
organized for service in cases of emergency in the State pen- 
itentiary, smd, Aug. 22d, made choice of Ballard Green for 
captain, John O'Brien, lieutenant, and James Vose, ensign. 
This company, under a succession of different officers, con- 
tinued its organization till disbanded in Feb., 1843. A Bifle 
Company in East Thomaston, also, was formed, either in this 
or the following year, of which Alexander Barrows was cap- 
tain, John Brown, lieutenant, and Alanson Dean, ensign* 

Among the many casualties of this year, may be noted the 
burning of the hatter's shop of Henry S. Swasey near the 
present house of T. Rose, Thomaston, on the evening of New 
Year's day; loss $700. On March 16th, Wm. M. Bentley, a 
young seaman with Capt. Almond Bennett, was lost at sea, 
supposed to have walked overboard in his sleep — he having 
been addicted to somnambulism ; and, Sept. 3d, the brig 
Mark of East Thomaston, returned without her valued and 
enterprising captain, Mark Spear, who died at Martha's 
. Vineyard, on passage home from the Chesapeake. This sea- 
son also, Jairus Munroe was severely injured by a premature 
explosion in a lime quarry which, wholly destroyed hitf sight ; 
but, after some efforts to regain it, (to aid which, the town 
voted in 1827 to loan him $50, and again in 1835 gave up 
his note for the sum as farther encouragement,) he learned to 
pursue his former business in^e dark, and, by perseverance, 
industry, and economy, brought up his children, acquired a 
good property, and receives a large share of the respect and 
admiration of the community. A similar acccident befell 
John and Josiah Achom, Sept. 16th, whilst drilling out a 
charge in the lime-rock ; the latter losing a hand, and the 
former being severely injured in the head and eyes. Benja- 
min Snow, whilst greasing the cogs of a wheel in the grist- 
mill at Wessaweskeag, Oct. Idth, had his arm caught between 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 353 

the spur and lantern, and dreadfully broken and lacerated in 
its whole length, — besides being injured in the back, precip- 
itated eight feet into deep water, and carried by the current 
about 20 feet down the stream. Here he succeeded in reach- 
ing the shore, shut the gates to stop the mill, and then fainted. 
He was soon after discovered, carried home, and had his arm 
amputated the following day ; but died on the 24th. 

The winter of 1824-5 was very mild, — the lower river 
not having frozen over at any time ; the summer very hot, 
and, in July and August, very dry, with destructive fires at 
Beech Woods. The dysentery, in its most malignant forn^, 
extensively prevailed, and carried off upwards of twenty-two 
children of this town, besides several adults. Grasshoppers 
were abundant, but the crops, with the exception of potatoes, 
were tolerably good. During a week of severe cold, the 
xnercury, Dec. 13th, fell, in the midst of a violent gale, to 8® 
below zero. Many vessels, among them Captain Witham*s 
sloop Mary, was so loaded with ice as to be in danger of 
sinking ; some were driven on shore ; while others, as those 
of Captains Shibles and Champney, escaped with the loss of 
deck-loads ; the crews being in many cases much frost-bitten. 
The Milo, Capt. John Robinson, first struck on York ledges, 
was got off in a leaky condition, but again went ashore On 
Coffin's beach, Gloucester. The crew and one passenger. 
Miss Mary French of this place, in a boat, with difficulty 
reached the shore, about half a mile distant, through the ice ; 
but not till the lady's feet were much frozen. 

Business in 1825 was generally prosperous. Large quanti- 
ties of lime were manufactured, at 90 to 95 cents in Boston. 
Navigation did well, some of it remarkably so ; and ship- 
building flourished. Col. Healey, this year, paid bills of dif- 
ferent mechanics employed by him to the amount of $50^002 
To facilitate the increasing commerce of this and other "places 
on Penobscot Bay, a light house of granite was this year built 
on OtoVs Head promontory, in what is now South Thomas- 
ton, and lighted up, for the first time, about the end of Sep- 
tember. A keeper's house was also put up, and Isaac Stearns 
was, Sept. 10, 1825, appointed the fiirst keeper, retaining his 
office 13 years. His successors have been, Wm. Masters, 
appointed Aug. 3, 1838; Perley Haines, July 28, 1841; 
Wm. Masters, re-appointed, AprH 22, 1845; Henry Achorn, 
August 8, 1849; Joshua C* Adams, April 8, 1853; Asa 
Coombs, Feb. 27, 1857 ; and Geo. D. Wooster, Mar. 29, 1861.* 

* Books of Accts. of Light £[ou8e Board, Washington, D. Q. 
30* 



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354 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

CHAPTER XVIII. 
FBOM 1826 TO 1829 inclusive. 

1826* Business continued flourishing. Many importa- 
tions, particularly of salt and coal, were entered and paid du- 
ties here. Shipbuilding increased, as well as trade, notwith- 
standing some changes and failures. The firm of Green & 
Foster was unexpectedly struck upon, January 31st, by the 
owners of a cargo lost in their brig Washington ; and they 
were obliged to discontinue. A rope walk^ 600 feet in length, 
was, early this year, erected on flie high land east of Mill 
River by John & Israel Dresser of Castine ; who manufac- 
tured cordage here some years, but returned to that place. 
Elliott & Co. this year dissolved ; and John Elliott, Jr. and 
Wm. Metcalf set up separate establishments as pump and 
blockmakers; — carrying on the same successfully, the former 
till 1855, and the latter, to the present time. To accommo- 
date the increased business. Mill River bridge was widened, 
and adjoining shops moved. The sale of lottery tickets was 
DOW at its acme ; and, in March, a ticket sold by a principal 
dealer here, drew a prize of $1000, which, with another of 
$800 duly bruited, greatly stimulated this species of gamb- 
ling, till the traffic was prohibited by law. 

In this and the preceding year no tax appears to have been 
raised in the North Parish, and nothing done except to vote, 
in consequence of a sede of their portion of the old meeting- 
house to the Baptists as related under date of 1816, that 
Perez Tilson "collect the furniture of the pulpit and take 
care of the same until called for by said parish." Here end 
the doings of this parish as a legal territorial corporation. In 
the mean time, within its limits, Methodism had continued to 
increase; the seeds of Universalism sown by Mr. Baker while 
an advocate of that doctrine, were in course of cultivation by 
Rev. Wm. A. Drew and other occasional preachers ; and the 
Congregational ist portion now proceeded to build a new house 
of worship. A lot of one acre of land was given for that 
purpose by Benjamin Bussey of Roxbury, conveyed by deed, 
Oct. 3, 1826, "to the Proprietors of the new Meeting House 
in Thoraaston, and their associates," for the consideration, as 
expressed in the grant, of " my regard for our holy religion, 
my interest in the support of moral institutions, and my desire 
for the prosperity of the Town of Thomaston.'* The lot was 
pleasantly situated on the south side of Main street, in the 
present Thomaston, as now occupied ; and was given on ^^ the 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 355 

express understanding that no other huilding than a meeting- 
house is to /he erected on the premises." The proprietors in- 
corporated themselves, Oct. 12th, and voted that $3800 he 
raised by subscription in fifty-dollar shares. These were all 
taken up by 46 subscribers; of vvrhom Col. Healey took 15 
shares; Benj. S. Dean, .14; Wm. R. Keith, 3; Eusebius 
Fales, J. Gleason, and A. Austin, two each ; and W. Nichol- 
son, W. Singer, and 36 other substantial citizens of the 
western village, one each. The pews, 78 in number, were 
appraised at $4066; the right of choice selling for $606,- 
25 ; and the house was dedicated, Oct. 2, 1827. Assess- 
ments have been made at different times for fencing and 
adorning the grounds; for constructing a furnace in 1830; 
for sundry repairs on the roof and foundation, more particu- 
larly for raising the house and making a vestry under the 
Southend in 1839; and for lowering the ga'lery and other 
alterations in 1857. The donation of a communion table was 
made by J. Gleason in 1828, and a fine organ has been lately 
provided, chiefiy by the efforts of the ladies. In place of the 
old North Parish, a new religious society was now formed un- 
der the name of the First Congregational Society in Thorn- 
aston ; and, being virtually the same society, succeeded to all 
its rights and remained connected with the same church. 
Rev. Mr. Ingraham, now a reformed man, having continued 
his services, preaching in Stimpson's Hall and other places, 
with somewhat discouraging success, seems, with the new 
house, to have . renewed his power, and an extensive revival 
took place; adding in 1828 sixty-nine new members, to the 
church. Among these was Henry J. Knox, the only son of 
the General that arrived to years of maturity ; who, after a 
life so unworthy of his honored parent, now became a changed 
man, desirous of doing what he could to atone for the past 
and prepare for the future. At his death four years later, 
impressed with a deep sense of his own unworthiness, he re- 
quested that his remains might not be interred with his hon- 
ored relatives in the family vault, but deposited in the com- 
mon burying-ground near the tomb of his former associate, 
Dr. E. G. Dodge, with no stone or other memorial to tell 
where. But now Mr. Ingraham asked his dismission, which, 
by advice of council, was granted, with regret, Jan. 1 , 1829 ; — 
there having been added to the church 146 persons during 
his ministry, and 183 baptized. In July, 1829, Rev. Eber 
Carpenter, of Waterville, accepted a call to settle in the place. 
A salary of 8450 was voted him, and Sept. 23d fixed for his 
ordination. But, from the inadequacy of salary, dissatisfaction 



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856 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

of certain members of the cliurch, and general indifference of 
both chtirch and society, the council on that day refused to 
proceed ; and a second call, in November, was declined by 
Mr. Carpenter, then in Belfast. In the following year. Rev. 
Richard WoodhuU, a graduate of Bowdoin college and Bangor 
seminary, came to the place and was ordained as pastor, 
July 7, 1830. Faithful and zealous in the work of the min- 
istry, he also exerted a salutary influence on the education of 
the young, as an able lecturer, a superintendent of the com- 
mon schools, and teacher oftentimes of. a private school for 
the higher branches. His connection with the church and 
society, having continued for the long term of twenty-five 
years, during which there had been 99 admissions to the 
church and 95 baptisms, was finally dissolved March 6, 1855. 
He has been succeeded by Rev. Levi G. Marsh, two years, 
installed in 1855; Rev. James McLean, a native of Scotland, 
installed Aug. 30, 1859 ; Rev. James Orton, Sept. 1, 1861 ; 
who left in 1863. The deacons of this church have been C. 
Bradford, appointed 1812; P. Tilson, 1818; Jas. Starrett of 
Warren, 1822 ; J. M. Gates, 1830 ; S. Albee, 1834 ; Alex. 
Singer, 1838; D. Vaughan, 1844; Isaac Loring, 1857; Wm. 
S. D. Healey and J. A. Fuller, 1861. The present number 
of church members is 112. 

Sahhaih Schools were this year systematically organized 
in the town, under the influence and according to the recom- 
mendations, we believe, of the Sabbath School Union. Five 
were established, viz.: — one at Mill River, one at Wessa- 
weskeag, one at OwFs Head, one at the Head of the Bay, 
and one at the Shore ; including 133 scholars, in all. A 
purchase of books was made, and, according to the report of 
Capt. A. C. Spalding, secretary of the board of directors here, 
an encouraging degree of success was observable. 

On the 3l8t of January, the mercury at Mill River stood 
in the morning at zero, at noon, with a high N. W. wind 
and bright sunshine, 16^* below, and at evening 22^ below. 
The next morning it was 24° below, — not rising above 5** 
or 6** below, during the day. Influenza prevailed in Febru- 
ary, here and throughout the State with great severity. Three 
remarkably warm days occurred in May, when, at noon of the 
16th, the mercury stood at 98°. Though dry and the crops 
unpromising till July 28th, the season was not unproductive. 
Grasshoppers, however, were innumerable, appearing as early 
as March 15th ; and dysentery again swept off" many children. 
Boisterous storms and severe weather occurred in October ; 
and, among other disasters, the sch. Dolphin, loaded with 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 357 

joist, left this port, George's River, the 22cl, Thos. Colley, Jr., 
captain, and was fallen m with, bottom upwards, off Cape 
Ann, Oct. 27th, every soul on board having perished. Our 
marine also lost two other young active shipmasters. Capt. 
Wm. Biskey, of the brig Tobacco Plant, died very suddenly 
at Norfolk, Va., in Au^st ; and Jas. Bumham, master of the 
brig William, came home sick Sept. 5th, died two days after, 
and was buried with masonic ceremonies. Of the members 
of the bar, Samuel Jennison, an aged, retired, and Well nigh 
forgotten practitioner, ended his days, Sept. 1st, at the house 
of Jonathan Spear, in what is now Rockland. He had held 
a commission in the army of the revolution and was a pen- 
sioner at the ihne of his death. Joseph Sprague, who had 
for the last fourteen years been in the practice of law, died 
Sept. 21st, after a sickness of six or eight weeks, — esteemed 
alike as a man, a citizen, and a christian. But the number 
of attomi<es hi the town was made good by the removal hither 
of Charles Cleland to Mill River, and of Seth Bardett, last 
from Wiscasset, who boarded at Mrs. Hastings's, and was 
soon removed by death, — his funeral being celebrated with 
masonic honors. May 13, 1827. Few casualties occurred 
this year. One of the inmates of the Prison, Isaac Martin, 
of Durham, in a state of mental derangement, cut his own 
throat and died August 12th, after lingering ten days without 
being able to swallow. 

The fiftieth anniversary of American independence was 
ushered in by the ringing of bells, and a grand national sa- 
lute from artillery stationed beneath the stars and sti*ipes, 
floating from a liberty pole on the hill in front of the bridge 
at Mill River. A procession was marshalled at 10 o'clock, 
from Mason's Hall to the Old Parish meeting-house, which 
was tastefully adorned with oak trimming, mottoes, and the 
names of Washington, Knox, and other patriots, in white 
roses, with that of Bolivar ill red. The services were, prayer 
by Rev. J. Washburn, original ode by C. Eaton, reading of 
the Declaration by H. Prince, Jr., oration by J. Cilley, and 
concluding prayer by Rev. T. Whiting, who, fifty years be- 
fore, had read the Declaration from the pulpit, and preached 
an appropriate discourse, the first Sabbath after his ordination 
at Newcastle. A dinner was provided by Copeland and 
Piper for 400 guests, at the rope-walk ; and a display of fire- 
works, novel and splendid for those times, closed the day. 

1827. From the great number of vessels arriving and 
sailing coastwise, as well as from foreign ports, with cargoes 
of salt, coal, &c., it would seem that navigation and com- 



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358 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

merce were, this year, in a very prosperous condition. The 
principal merchants and ship-owners at this time were. Col. 
Healey, Esq. Gleason, Maj. Foster, T. McLellan, Jr., B. 
Green, P. Keegan, W. Cole, W. R. Keith, and R. C. Counce, 
at the western village ; I. Kimball, J. Spear, O, Fales, /. 
Lovejoy, C. Holmes, K. Crockett, and Ephraim Perry, at the 
Shore ; J. Adams, at Owl's Head, and E. Snow, Jr., at Wes- 
saweskeag. The Shore or eastern village had of late been 
rapidly gaining upon other parts of the town ; its merchants 
had become wealthy; and its trade and navigation were 
thought to be about equal to that of the western village. An 
attempt was made in the course of 1827 to obtain the estab- 
lishment of a daily instead of a bi-weekly mail ; which was 
accomplished in the spring of 1828. 

The first regular law office in that part of the town, was 
opened about this time by Edwin S. Hovey, who had studied 
his profession with Edwin Smith, Esq., of Warren, and, as his 
only predecessor, S. Jennison, had no office, and did little or 
no professional business, he may justly be considered the 
first lawyer in the limits of Rockland. 

But the commercial prosperity of the place was not with- 
out some of its usual inconveniences. On the 5th of May, 
the brig Thomas and William, Capt. Colley, 19 days from 
Limerick, Ireland, with coal and 68 Irish passengers, arrived 
in the Georges, anchored half a mile below the wharf, and 
reported one of the crew, Washington Boyd, sick of a dis- 
ease feared to be small-pox. Dr. Kellogg, being sent on 
board, could not determine the disease with certainty ; but 
the vessel was laid under restrictions, with Mr. Breck as 
keeper, a red flag hoisted, and all persons forbidden to leave. 
By midnight the sick man died ; and was immediately buried 
on Simonton's Point. Next day the vessel was cleansed, and 
it was hoped all danger was over. Yet, as this was the first 
appearance of the disease here, with all its traditionary hor- 
rors, and some of the crew had been on shore before the re- 
strictions had been imposed, it is not strange that considerable 
alarm and excitement prevailed; and the restrictions were 
continued till the 11th, when many of the passengers came 
on shore. On the 13th, the brig sailed for New York, and, 
all on board being in good health, the public alarm subsided. 
On the 19th, however, a letter was received from the physi- 
cian of the quarantine hospital, Boston, stating that the brig 
had arrived there in distress, with four of her crew sick with 
the small-pox. Upon this, immediate measures were taken 
to arrest the spreading of the disease here. H. Prince, Jr., 



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ROC&LAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 359 

then deputy inspector, rode express to Belfast and thence by 
water to Castine, returning, after an absence of only 24 hours, 
with vaccine matter ; and all that could be was done to allay 
the new panic which, at this news, had seized the community. 
By the 22d, the Selectmen had erected a hospital on Simon- 
ton's Point. On the 25th, news came from Boston that 
young Colley had died there of the small-pox ; but as no 
cases had yet occurred here, the alarm began to subside, and 
the public mind soon after regained its usual tone. The es- 
cape was attributed to the general vaccination which had 
taken place a few years before. Further operations on the 
hospital were suspended; but, on the 18th of July, it was 
found convenient, as a case of small-pox occurred, in the 
person of a stranger by the name of Allen, recently from 
New York, who soon recovered. This building was, in Sep- 
tember, accepted by the town, and remained till 1835. 

A case of insanity occuring this year, the town authorized 
the person to be sent to the Insane Hospital, under the direc- 
tion of the selectmen; and similar aid was, in 1831, 1843, 
and 1847, extended to others. 

A plan to increase the revenue of the town by substituting 
itself for the Inspector General of lime, appointing deputy 
inspectors like other town officers, being accountable for their 
conduct, and receiving for the risk thus incurred the same 
compensation which the deputies had heretofore paid, was 
this year got up, and the town, Dec. 26th, unanimously voted 
*' that the selectmen petition the Legislature for that purpose.*' 
Warren and, we believe, Camden also petitioned for a similar 
change ; but, as the measure would have deprived somebody 
of a lucrative office, a secret but powerful opposition was got 
up, a hundred remonstrants during the winter obtained, and 
the Legislature voted it down. 

Meetings of the Tkomaston Mechanic Association were held 
in 1827, and a course of lectures on natural philosophy was 
commenced before it by A. Williams, Dec. 19, 1828, at Ma- 
sonic Hall ; but how long or with what success they contin- 
ued, the author is unable to state. In 1843, however, such a 
society was incorporated, of which R. C. Counce was pres- 
ident, E. C. Tilson vice president, G. A. Starr secretary, and 
R. Jacobs, Jr., treasurer. 

On the annual fast, April 5th, an able address in aid of the 
Greeks^ struggling to free themselves from Turkish bondage, 
was delivered by Charles Cleland, Esq., and a contribution of 
<>30 taken up, subsequently increased to $53, and forwarded 
to the Boston committee. Mr. Cleland was from North Yar- 



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360 HISTOEY OF THOMASTOi^, 

mouth, read law at Portland with Gen. Fessenden, and prac- 
tised a few years at Waldoboro' previous to coming to this 
town. He was a man of prepossessing appearance, a social 
disposition, a cultivated taste, aod no mean ability as a poet ; 
but too infirm of purpose to resist dissipation, and too warmly 
attached to one political party to avoid trouble from the other. 
Money sent to the town by mail, failed to reach its destination. 
Cleland was accused of purloining it. By the exertion of 
Wheaton, postmaster, and Cilley, his assistant, a prosecution 
was commenced ; a bill of indictment found ; and in Dec, 
1829, he was sentenced by the Court of Common Pleas to 
two years' imprisonment at hard labor ; and it was not with- 
out great exertion on the part of his personal and masonic 
friends that he escaped conviction on an appeal to the Su- 
preme Court. As Mr. Cilley was the chief witness against 
him, great exertions were made to discredit his testimony ; 
and, not satisfied with having so far succeeded as to obtain 
Cleland*s acquittal, his. friends got up a review of the case, in 
which they alleged that Judge Weston charged the jury that 
Cilley's testimony was entitled tO no weight whatever. This 
being published in the Eastern Argus, Cilley brought a suit 
for libel against Gen. Todd the publisher, and, in Sept. 18^4, 
recovered 81150 damages. Unable to bear the mortification 
this affair caused him, Mr. Cleland soon left the place, was 
for some time editor of a newspaper in Detroit, Mich., and 
died, according to the public papers, in Houston, Texas, 
early in 1840, in the 45th year of his age. 

On the 24th and 25th of April, an extraordinary freshet 
did much damage to bridges, roads, and mills, and was fal- 
lowed by stormy and cold weather, with some lightning and 
snow, for nearly three weeks. Yet the crops were excellent; 
although not wholly secured before the cold and snow set in, 
early in November. 

1828. At town meeting, March 24th, it was voted " to 
authorize the lease of a part of the town landing for five 
years." This vote passed at the request of Samuel Albee, 
who had now been engaged in trade here some years, in the 
building since occupied as a dwelling by Hon. A. Levensaler, 
and which had been moved there by Jona. P. Bishop, a law- 
yer and teacher, who afterwards died in Medford, Mass. No 
use of this vote, however, was ever made. A new step was 
this year taken in educational affairs by setting off Oyster River 
neighborhood from district No. 3 ; removing the old school- 
house to Woodcock's hill for its use ; creating from its re- 
mainder and that part of No. 2 west of Mill River, a new 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 361 

and extensive district ; in which, after the erection of a com- 
modious school -house near the Bank, monitorial and infant 
schools were taught with great success by Mr. and Mrs. J. C. 
Converse, who, after a time, removed and taught in Bangor. 

Two new three-story buildings for public entertainment, 
were this year erected; one by Joseph Berry, called the 
Knox Hous^^ whi-ih was immediately occupied as a tavern by 
Chas. Sampson of Waldoboro', and not long after by his son- 
in-law, John Balch, a shoe-dealer from Haverhill, Mass. 
The other was of brick, at East Thomaston, by Jeremiah Ber- 
ry for his own use, called the Commercial House, and which, 
under his management and that of his sons, was for many 
years the principal hotel in the place. A new hall which had 
been erected by Brown Stimpson and usually known as 
Sampson's or Mason's Hall, was consecrated to Free Ma- 
sonry July 17th of this year; when a highly wrought address 
was delivered by Mr. Cleland. 

To show the rapid increase of the business, population, and 
wealth of the place, the following statistical account is given. 
There were, in the fall of 1828, 3700 inhabitants, (nearly 
one half of whom were under 21 years of age,) forming 643 
families, and dwelling in 476 houses. The town contained 
four meeting-houses, two of them having bells, one Imnk, 
State prison, 15 school-houses, two post offices, five lawyer's 
offices, seven physicians, one deputy collector's office, one 
printing office, 32 stores, one watchmaker and jeweller, one 
book-binder, three cabinet makers, two marble factories, 15 
blacksmith shops, 12 shoemakers' shops, one hatter's shop, one 
pottery, two saddlers, five inns, 149 coaches, chaises, gigs, and 
one-horse wagons, 204 ox-wagons and carts, 226 yoke of ox- 
en, one cotton factory, four wool carding machines, four mills 
for sawing marble, one clothing mill, four grist-mills, one mill 
for picking oakum, one rope walk, two pump and block- 
makers, two sail-lofts, one hospital, one light-house, two com- 
panies of infantry, one of Light infantry, two-thirds company 
of artillery, two-thirds company of cavalry, one company 
Thomaston guards, one of riflemen, one engine company, one 
fire club; shipping, hailing from the port, four ships, one bark, 
22 brigs, 53 schooners, 14 sloops, one boat, total tonnage 
about 21,000; 30 wharves, and 160 limekilns. Of these 
kilns, 1 2 were on the western side of Mill River below the 
bridge, five on St. George's below Mill River, three above 
between the bridge and Tilson's, five at Fort wharf, three at 
Foster's wharf, three at Qleason's, one back of Eaton's, six 
at Green's v^hapf, three at VYqodcock's, and eight at Beech 
Vol. I. 31 



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803 HISTORY OF THOM ASTON, 

Woods; and this territory, viz., from Mill River to Oyster 
River, contained 16 wharves, seven at Mill River, and nine 
on the George's, above it. East of this region, there were at 
Jacob Ulmer's, 12 kilns ; at P. Ulmer's, thrfee ; on road across 
Meadows, three; west side of Wessaweskeag River to St. 
George, six; east side of that river, six; at Maker^s, two; 
on Meadow cross road to main road, two ; north of Kimball's, 
eight ; south of KimbalPs, 30 ; down at McLoon*s, nine ; at 
Butler's, four; Blackington's comer, &c., 15; aiid round the 
bay to Owl's Head, 10; whilst of wharves in this part of the 
town, there were seven north of KimbalFs, three near Mc- 
Loon's, three about Owl's Head, and one or two at Wessa- 
weskeag.* 

The first side-walks of any extent in the place, were made 
in the west village, July, 1828, under the superintendence of 
H. Prince, Jr. The extreme muddiness of the roads during 
the nnusually warm open winter and wet spring of this year, 
together with the frequent evening meetings, occasioned by 
the extensive religious excitement which prevailed, had, no 
doubt, much influence in bringing about this desirable im- 
provement. New roads, or rather streets, as they now began 
to be called, were laid out, tasteful dwellings erected, orna- 
mental and shade trees extensively planted, front yards and 
other grounds adorned with beautiful and fragrant flowers and 
shrubs. The Mall also was ploughed, leveled, fenced, and 
bordered with elms, which have now become an ornament to 
the place as well as an honorable memorial of the public 
spirited individuals who undertook it. As foremost in these 
improvements, we may mention the names of S. D wight, dis- 
tinguished for his taste in laying out and ornamenting his 
grounds, Casimir Lash for the introduction of rare flowers, 
choice fruits and the earliest successful cultivation of foreign 
grapes, and Wm. R. Keith for the many convenient and truly 
tasteful dwellinghouses built for himself and others and the 
planting of elms and other forest trees. In later years, many 
have delighted their own and the public eye by their fine 
array of skilfully cultivated flowers, together with fruit trees 
and graperies, till now these lovely and useful appendages 
have become, or are becoming, more or less common in each 
of the three divisions of the ancient town. 

Prior to this year, few buildings had been insured against 
fire. Marine insurances had been eflected at Wiscasset, Pcnrt- 
land and other places ; but, for fire insurance, so far as any 

* Statement of H. Prince, Jr., and Thomaston Register. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 363 

was made, resort was bad to companies beyond the limits of 
tbe State, some of which had of late been employing agents ' 
here. But, in consequence of certain restrictions imposed by 
our Legislature, their further operations here were, in June, 
1828, suspended. In anticipation of such suspension, the 
Thomaston Mutual Fire Insurance Company was incorpor- 
ated, Feb. 23, 1828, adopting by-laws and commencing busi- 
ness, Oct. 17th. Its first board of directors were, J. Ruggles, 
president, J. Gleason, treasurer, H. Prince, Joel Miller, Oliver 
Fales, and H. Healey of Thomaston, and A. H. Hodgman of 
Warren. H. Prince, Jr., was secretary. It has since been in 
i^ccessful operation, having its office on Main street, Thom- 
aston ; enjoys the reputation of paying its losses promptly ; 
and its assessments have fallen short of one quarter per cent, 
yearly. It is one of the earliest companies of the kind incor- 
porated in the State, and has property at risk to the amount 
of about 82,000,000. Its present directors, (1862,) are At- 
wood Levensaler, president, M. R. Ludwig, T. O'Brien, R. 
Jacobs, O. Robinson, L. B. Gilchrist, O. W. Jordan, and W. 
R. Keith, secretary. 

Not long after the formation of this company, the citizens 
received a hint of its utility by a Jire which broke out about 
three o'clock on the morning of Dec. lOth^ in the rear and 
roof of the building owned by J. D. Wheaton, in which the 
Post Office was kept and also the offices of Messrs. Farley and 
Cleland, together with the broker's office of J. Swan. A 
fire-engine, still owned by an individual, with no organized 
company to take charge of it, was brought to the spot, and, by 
' its aid, the partially consumed marble manufactory of S. 
D wight, but three feet distant, together with the adjacent 
buildings, mills, and cotton factory, was saved. The princi- 
pal loss fell upon Mr. Wheaton. Most of the letters and 
papers in the Post and other offices were saved, except Mr. 
Cleland's, and his valuable law library, which was insured for 
$500. The building burnt, stood on the site of the store 
now owned and occupied by S. Waldo 

After the open winter before spoken of, with little or no 
snow, it is remarkable, that the warm weather continued, with 
drought in April and heavy rains in May, succeeded by a fine 
growing season, with good crops, and no frost till Oct. 12th. 
At that time, a cold snap occurred, producing ice and frozen 
ground, but was soon followed by mild weather, which con- 
tinued, without snow, to the very close of the year. 

On the 9th of June, 1828, John Smith, one of the Hessian 
soldiers, who remained in the country after the revolutionary 



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364 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

war, living, in the upper part of Gushing, having taken pas- 
sage here on board the sch. Milo, for Boston, was knocked 
overboard shortly after leaving Green's wharf, by the fore 
boom, and drowned, at the age of 80 years. Capt. Simon 
McLellan, Jr., of this place, in conynand of the schooner Mary, 
at Hichmond, Va., while returning from another vessel to his 
own, on the evening of Dec. 18th, was knocked down, rob- 
bed, and thrown into a lighter, where he was found the next 
morning, with fractured skull and nlany wounds, but died 
without recovering his senses to give any account of the mat- 
ter. On the 2 2d August, Oliver Gay, at the age of twenty- 
one years, whilst drilling out the tamping of a charge in thfe 
lime quarry, had his hands dreadfuUy mangled by its acci- 
dental explosion, and a piece of the rock driven through the 
side of his neck, cutting the large artery. He was led a few 
rods towards a house, but soon fainted from loss of blood, and 
in a few moments expired. 

1829. On the 9th January, the cotton factory at Mill 
River, was, between 11 and 12 o'clock at night, discovered to 
be on fire, the flames having already spread so rapidly through 
the whole building, as at once to preclude all hope of saving 
it, and soon producing such a heat as to prevent all near ap- 
proach. The engine however was brought out, and so skil- 
fully managed by the Mill River Engine Company, now fully 
organized under the command of Wm. K. Stevens, as to pre- 
serve the neighboring buildings, and even the factory store, 
only twelve feet distant, already on fire. Nothing was saved 
from the factory, which had been lately purchased and fitted 

up with new machinery by Isaac Snaith, McGee, and 

Thomas Thacker, from Dover, N. H. ; who, though partially 
insured, were thought at the time to be losers to the amount 
of 815,000. It was not known how the fir^ originated, but 
subsequent events in connection with Mr. Snaith and the 
Thomaston Bank, led some to doubt whether the fire was not 
kindled intentionally by the owners. In addition to the 
Engine company, the old Fire company still continued its op- 
erations, and, at the .annual town meeting this year Fire- 
Wardens for the first time were chosen, fourteen in number. 

The cause of temperance had now made such progress in 
the State, that the legislature passed an act giving towns the 
power to grant or to withhold as they thought proper the au- 
thority of the selectmen to license innholders and retailers to 
sell ardent spirits. But this town, at their September meet- 
ing, voted to grant such authority ; and the licenses this year 
granted, viz., 3 innholders, and 30 retailers, show that the 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 355 

traffic here, had not yet become disreputable. In the follow- 
ing year, however, 1830, a different result was arrived at; 
when, Sept. 30th, the town voted not to allow the selectmen 
to grant any such licenses. 

Among the marine disasters of this year may be mention- 
ed the death, March 15th, of Capt. Josiah Spalding, of the 
schooner Leo, at the age of 36, who, when forty miles S. W. 
of Monhegan, wind blowing N. W. with a heavy sea, was 
knocked overboard by.the parting of the tiller rope, and, be- 
ing incumbered with overclothes, perhaps injured by the til- 
ler or benumbed with the cold, disappeared before assistance 
could reach him. The schooner Ann, Capt. Reuben Mos- 
man, loaded with lime and bound to New York, left Chatham 
early on March 22d, and, a violent storm coming on, was* 
wrecked on the eastern shore of Nantucket. The crew at- 
tempting to make their way to some place of shelter from the 
fury of the storm, the first mate and the steward, sons of the 
captain, became exhausted with fatigue and cold. Finding 
that they were unable to walk, the captain, with the energy 
and fortitude of an affectionate father, bore them alternately 
on his shoulders for about a mile ; when one of them died in 
that position, and the other he found dead when returning to 
take him up. After this, Capt. Mosman was barely able to 
crawl upon his hands and knees to the house of which he 
was in search. Another of the crew, George Hart of St. 
George, also perished. The two young brothers were buried 
side by side, in the same grave. Our shipping at this time 
was still occasionally troubled by pirates, the lingering re- 
mains of those nests nurtured by the late war with England ; 
several vessels from here being chased and fired upon near 
the Florida Keys. On the 17th of April, three boys at the 
Shore village, Joseph Guptill, seven years old, Isaac Spear, 
six years, and Charles Marshall, four years, were poisoned 
by eating, as it would seem, of the root of Gicuta maculaia, 
or American hemlock ; that plant being found near \vhere 
they were at play, and some of the same, to appearance, be- 
ing thrown from the stomach. The eldest recovered, after 
severe vomiting ; but the other two were thrown into most 
violent convulsions and died, one in twenty-eight, the other 
in forty-six hours. 

The year 1829 commenced with a severe spell of weather. 
On Friday, Jan. 2d, the mercury at sunset stood at zero; on 
Saturday, sunrise, 6** below ; noon and sunset, 2® below ; on 
Sunday, sunrise, 18® below ; noon, 6® below ; sunset, at zero; 
and on Monday, sunrise, 14** below, noon and sunset, 6** above. 
31* 



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366 HI8T0EY OF TH0MA8T0N, 

Two great snow storms, one late in February, and the other 
the first week in March, blocked up the roads and retarded * 
the mails two or more days, each. Shortly after, a fine deer, 
weighing 200 lbs. was shot by Lincoln Levensaler of this 
town — probably the' last slain here of these rare and beatiti- 
fa\ tenants of the forest. A severe drought prevailed in July 
and August, during which some 400 acres of wood and un- 
cleared land were burnt over in the north-western part of this 
town and Warren. 

A second sail-loft was about this time established at Brown's 
wharf, or graving ways, by Richard Elliott ; who, six years 
later, removed to Colson's stand at Fort wharf. Otiier es- 
tablishments of the kind have been since set up in this neigh- 
borhood, by G. K. Washburn in 1835, on Central wharf, and 
by Tobey & Dunn in 1856, on O'Brien's wharf; besides sev- 
eral at the eastern village, now city of Rockland. At that 
place Gen. George Thomas from Vinalhaven had been en- 
gaged since 1827, or before, in his successful career of ship- 
building. Col. Healy, who had for many years been the 
principal shipbuilder and business man at MiU River, launch- 
ed, Nov. lOtii, of this year, the brig Pensacola, — the last of 
his operations in that line. Using materials and employing 
workmen from this and the neighboring towns, his business 
had been a great public benefit in stimulating the industry 
and increasing the wealth of the community. In the course 
of it, besides the large amount of lime and other products 
required for outward bound freight, he had built one ship, 
twelve brigs, five schooners, and one sloop, amounting in aJl 
to 3390 tons. It was, therefore, to the general regret, that his 
beneficial course of business should have been, by unforeseen 
reverses, brought to a premature close, — particularly so, to 
the immediate vicinity of Mill River, then the general centre 
of business for the whole town, St. George, and Cushing, but 
from which it began, afler this time, to remove eastward to 
the Shore, and westward to the Bank comer, Prison corner, 
and neighboring wharves. 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASrON. 867 

CHAPTER XIX. 

NEW CHUBCHES, NEWSPAPERS, AND PARTIES. 

1830. On the 26th of March occurred a memorable 
high tide and storm of wind and snow, which blocked up and 
for many days rendered impassable the roads on shore, and 
destroyed vessels and lives at sea. The schooner Thomas of 
this town, having left Herring Gut about two hours before 
the storm commenced, with a cargo of lime, was supposed to 
have been unable to enter Boothbay harbor from the thickness 
of the weather and severity of the gale, and was subsequently 
found, sunk keel uppermost in fourteen fathoms water, six 
miles £. S. £. from Seguin light. Those on board, who thus 
sank to a watery grave, were the master, Capt. John Spald- 
ing ; two seamen, Wm. Thompson, and John Barrett ; and 
two passengers, Capt. Edward Crockett, and Albert Baker ; 
all, except the last, of this town, and leaving wives and chil- 
dren to deplore their untimely fate. This disaster was fol- 
lowed. May 2d, by that of Capt. Jas^ Say ward of this place, 
who sailed in the schooner Fame of Warren, from Gloucester 
for Norfolk, with a cargo of 1 79 tons of granite, and was last 
seen off Cape Cod, in a gale and heavy sea, with pumps at 
work. From the 16th to the 24th July it was unusually 
hot, — the mercury ranging from 90® to 98®. A four days' 
rain succeeded, drenching the parched earth, and accompanied 
with cold which rendered flannels and over-coats comfortable. 
Severe gales were experienced in August and September ; in 
one of which, the schooner Bradford, nearly new, Capt. John 
Lindsey, which lefl this place for Richnfond, Va., Aug. 12th, 
with a cargo of lime, was thought to have foundered, when 
five days out at sea, with the loss of all on board ; of whom, 
besides the worthy master, this place had to lament Thos. J. 
Bentiey, mate, and perhaps others not recollected. 

According to the census ^ taken here by Henry C. Lowell, 
the town had increased in population, since 1820, fifty-nine 
per centum ; and in that respect stood, we believe, the second 
town in the State. 

American independence was this year celebrated at East 
Thomaston village, by the supporters of Jackson's adminis- 
tration, then in the full tide of increasing popularity. The 
decorations of the brick meeeting-house ; chapel services by 
Mr. Woodhull; reading of the Declaration by E. S, Hovey; 
the oration by Mr. Ruggles; the procession conducted by 
Col. Meservey ; and the dinner provided by Jeremiah Berry, 



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868 HISTORY OF THOMASTON, 

on an open green, shaded by an awning, surrounded by ev- 
ergreens, and presided over by Albert Smith, marshal of 
Maine, — combined to give an eclat to the occasion alike 
honorable and gratifying to the young men of that village 
who made the arrangements. 

1831. Some accessions were this year made to the Thom- 
aston bar. Hermon Stevens from Waterville, who had grad- 
uated at that college and studied law with Hon. Timothy 
Bouteile of that place, came, in the autumn of this year, 
opened a law office at the Shore village, and is still in the 
practice in Rockland. Henry C. Lowell, also, a native of 
the place, having read law at intervals with his brother Hon. 
Joshua A. Lowell of East Machias, and also, it is believed, 
with Hon. J. Thayer of- Camden, opened an office here not 
long after, and soon, by his talents, industry, and suavity, 
gained an eminent standing in the profession. Jonathan Cil- 
ley, who had, since leaving Mr. Ruggles' office, been in the 
practice at Mill River, was at this time fast rising in popular 
fevor ; having this year been chosen moderator, town agent, 
and representative to the Legislature, in the room of his late 
instructer, who had for many years filled all these offices, but 
had now been appointed a Judge of the Court of Common 
Pleas, and in March commenced his judicial labors at the 
term in Warren under favorable auspices and to the general 
satisfaction. 

Mill River, Mosman's, and Oyster River bridges having 
been carried away or badly injured by the late freshets, the 
town voted that the second should be repaired at discretion of 
the selectmen, and the first rebuilt thirty-five feet wide, on the 
most favorable terms*obtained by means of sealed proposals. 
The last was also rebuilt, and made passable for carriages by 
April 22d. 

In the fall of 1831, Edward Robinson, and Wra. Singer, 
having concluded their prosperous and exeitiplary course as 
shipmasters, began business in company by establishing them- 
selves on Fort wharf, one half of which they purchased, the 
other part remaining in the hands of the heirs of H. J. Knox 
and J. Gleason. They established a commodious warehouse 
for storage, and did a kind of wholesale business in .corn, 
flour, salt, and other bulky articles ; burnt lime from the 
Beech Woods quarry ; and began ship-building, by launch- 
ing, in 1832, the ship Brunette. By their influence and that 
of others, the tide of business began to flow up street and 
culminate about the bank corner, which soon began, though 
unsuccessfully at first, to make demands for a removal of the 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON. 3()9 

post office to that locality. Spring business throughout the 
♦own was lively, especially in lime. Highly admired chimney 
pieces, taken from our quarries were this year manufactured 
for the new State House at Augusta, by Hon. J. O'Brien, 
whose marblo factory, together with that of Col. Dwight, an- 
nually furnished large quantities of such articles, which then 
found a ready sale as far south as New Orleans. A new ho- 
tel, named the Lime-Bock^ was this year put up at East Thom- 
aston by Messrs. Joseph and Charles Thorndike. 

The severest gale known for years occurred Jan. 1 5th and 
16th, with badly drifted snow; and March 30th there was an 
extraordinary fall of rain, — carrying away Oyster River 
bridge. The Thomaston Register of April 1st says, " the 
whole of Mill River was completely under water, and serious 
apprehensions were expressed by some that our lime kilns 
would all go to sea. We saw a boat with a number of men 
in one place towing a house ashore." The spring was back- 
ward, the summer cool, and the fall free from frost till Oct. 
28th. A storm, Nov. 22d, did considerable damage, espe- 
cially at the Eastern village. The tide was said to have risen 
two feet higher than was ever known before, and, being driven 
in by the strong east wind to which the harbor there is ex- 
posed, nearly destroyed several wharves, gullied and washed 
away the earth quite into the town road, and drove three ves- 
sels ashore, two of which were wholly lost, and the third left 
high upon the rocks. The damage was variously estimated 
at from 85,000 to 811,000. The cold in the greater part of 
December was remarkably severe, and occasioned much suf- 
fering, e'specially at sea. Capt. Oliver Robinson in the sch. 
Billow got into the George's River with himself and crew so 
badly frozen that their caps and boots could only be removed 
by cutting. The Lafayette, Capt. Crockett, took fire off Cape 
Cod from her lime ; and, after closing the hatches, the captain 
and crew remained on deck forty-eight hours, without food or 
any but their ordinary clothing. They were badly frozen, 
but made out to get back into East Thomaston harbor, where 
the fire was extinguished. 

The Fourth of July was duly observed by a procession from 
the Knox hotel, through Main and High streets to the Mill 
River church, where, with the usual services, an oration was 
delivered by Mr. Cilley, and an original spirited ode sung; after 
which a repast at the Knox hotel, provided by J. Balch, was 
partaken of with the usual sentiments. David Kelloch, Col. 
B. Burton, and other revolutionary soldiers, were in the pro- 
cession, and added much to the interest of the occasion. 



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870 HI8T0EY OF THOMASTON, 

1832. The ceDtennisJ return of Washington's birthday 
was celebrated at the Cong, church, Feb. 22d, by the Thorn- 
aston Athenoean Society, when the Farewell Address of the 
pure minded patriot was read by M. R. Ludwig, and an ora- 
tion given to a large and attentive audience by Wm. J. Far- 
ley. Besides the Athenoean, other literary associations, and 
especially debating clubs and lyceumsy were got up in differ- 
ent parts of the town and continued according to the talents 
of the members and the interest they were able to excite* 
One of these was formed at Wessaweskeag as early as 1828, 
and, for a time exciting considerable interest there, was fid- 
lowed by another at Owl's Head ; which, having somewhat 
declined, was revived Dec. 6, 1832, by the choice of S. G. 
Adams, president, G. Emery, Jr., clerk, and Messrs. Nat. 
and Jos. Pillsbury, John and Daniel Emery, J. W. Dodge, J. 
Post, and others, debaters. Besides this, we have found no 
record of any others, till 1839, when the George's Debating 
Society was organized by the choice of CoL Starr, president, 
and E. Vose, secretary. The Wessaweskeag society was re- 
vived the same year, when Jesse Sleeper was chosen presi- 
dent, and Capt. H. Spalding, secretary. All these, in thek 
time, contributed much to improve the young, and bring out 
latent talents. 

In March, the Thomaston Coed and Mineral Company^ 
which had slumbered for the last twelve years, was re-awak- 
ened by an Act of the Legislature ; but the doings of the 
year seem to have been mostly confined to the sale and 
transfer of stock, which in December took a prodigious rise ; 
viz. : from 25 cts. to $7 per share. During 1833, ils oper- 
ations for discovering coal were resumed and carried on till 
the weather rendered a cessation expedient. Boring waS 
commenced at the bottom of a shaft twenty feet deep, for- 
merly dug by the company, on the old Killsa farm west of the 
Meadows, then occupied by Capt. R. Robinson ; and a depth 
of 100 feet was reached by a 4^ inch auger. There, ob- 
structions occurred, and an iron tube 50 feet in length was in- 
serted, when boring was continued 40 feet further with a 3^ 
inch auger ; but obstructions again arising and the season be- 
ing far advanced, it was thought best to suspend operations 
till the next spring. The whole distance penetrated was 183 
feet, through the following strata ; viz. : slate, 40 feet ; cby, 
34 ; slate, 33; sandstone, 13; clay, 12; and slate, 51 feet ; 
at an expenditure, including apparatus, of $958,65. En- 
couraged by the indications thus far observed and a dona- 
tion of 8100 from Mr. Bussey, the company renewed the 



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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON'. 871 

work in 1834, bat found the perforation filled up to the 
height of sixty feet, principally wilh clay ; which, from its 
constant working in, it was found almost impossible to remove. 
But, erecting a building forty feet in diameter as protection 
against the rain, they continued the operation with a one- 
horse power, and a succession of smaller and smaller tubes 
and augers, for nearly two months, when it was thought best 
to desist, probably irom want of funds ; after having expended 
$258,88. The last meeting of the company was held, as 
usual, at the house of Col. Dwight, July 25th; at which, the 
means of prosecuting the furthef search for coal were con- 
sidered. Mr. Loring was authorized to sell the remaining 
shares of the company at $20 per share, and here the pro- 
ceedings of the company, so far as the records show, came 
to an end. Expectations of finding coal have been subse- 
quently excited, especially in 1836, when, in consequence of 
specimens fished up in George's River, boring operations 
were tried on land of Capt. D. Lermond, in Warren, in 
which A. Rice and others of this town p