Ea Bal Z z 3 = : . : Q = = a ans fre ot ah 4a H iis a #19 Mob CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY “‘gaqauuay 94} UO |J@MO}IEH Pl OLD HALLOWELL ON THE KENNEBEC OUTINNEY FHL NO TIEMOTIVET OLD HALLOWELL ON THE KENNEBEC BY EMMA HUNTINGTON _NASON AUTHOR OF “WHITE SAILS," “THE TOWER WITH LEGENDS AND LYRICS,” “OLD COLONIAL HOUSES IN MAINE,” ETC, Illustrated ‘ AUGUSTA, MAINE 1909 Kc ae 2S (a ee “& ; ee af 2 A ; Ng ast By itty A) ee a Copyright, 1909 By Emma Huntington Nason Press of Burleigh & Flynt Augusta, Me. pee TO MY SON ARTHUR HUNTINGTON NASON THIS STORY OF THE HOME OF HIS ANCESTORS IS AFFECTIONATELY DEDICATED PREFACE HE purpose of this volume is to tell the story of the old town of Hallowell from the time of its earliest settle- ment to its incorporation as a city in 1852, and to give a picture of the life of the people at that period when Hallowell was at the height of its commercial prosperity and famous as a social and literary center. The book contains biographical sketches of the eminent founders of the town, and of the notable men and women who maintained its moral, intel- lectual, and social status; and also presents a record of those institutions that contributed to the general upbuilding of the community. It has long been conceded, by recognized authorities, that the early annals of Hallowell are of remarkable interest and of unusual historic value. Therefore, with the hope that these veri- table yet romantic records may appeal to the sons and daughters of the Kennebec valley, wherever they may be, and also to the general reader who would enjoy for a season the characteristic atmosphere of an exceptionally favored old New England town, this story, as illumined by the traditions of the fathers, is now inscribed upon these pages. To those loyal friends of Old Hallowell, to whom I am indebted for the use of valuable family papers, manuscript letters, copies of rare old portraits, and for most cordial encour- agement in the making of the book, appreciative acknowledg- ments are here gratefully rendered. To Miss Annie F. Page and Miss Sophia B. Gilman, who have placed the resources of the Hubbard Free Library and their own invaluable collections of local historical matter at my disposal, and who have given me their constant personal assistance in my researches, an expres- sion of gratitude is here especially due. To all of those lovers and friends of the old town from whom messages of enthusiastic interest in my work have frequently been received, I this day send out, with the story of Old Hallowell, thanks—and greeting! E. H. N. Augusta, Maine. November 25, 1909. II. III. IV. VI. VII. VIII. IX. XI. XII. XIII. XV. XVI. XVII. XVIII. XIX. xX. XXI. TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE. ‘ ‘ - é ‘ r . é . TABLE OF CONTENTS . . . a : : : 7 List OF ILLUSTRATIONS. . r 5 ‘ ‘ ‘ HALLOWELL, Prelude . 3 : - ‘ ‘ ANCIENT KoussINnok ‘ s ; . : . THE First SETTLERS . : _ Z g MEN OF THE FORT AND HOOK . . : ‘ ‘ 5 EvERY-Day LIFE AND RELIGIOUS SERVICES OF THE PERIOD . i a . : ‘i : é THE DIVISION OF THE TOWN . x ‘ : s ‘6 SOURCES OF HALLOWELL’S PROSPERITY . ‘ - : THE VAUGHAN FAMILY . : ‘ 3 é ‘ ‘ JoHN MERRICK, Esq. . 3 2 5 F 3 . REPRESENTATIVE FAMILIES . 3 é , : ‘ THE LAWYERS OF HALLOWELL : 3 ‘ . J LATER REPRESENTATIVE FAMILIES . . : ‘ 3 THE OLD SouTH CHURCH . . 3 ‘ , s ‘ THE HALLOWELL ACADEMY AND OTHER SCHOOLS. 3 THE LIBRARIES OF HALLOWELL . ‘ a ‘ : OLD BooKS AND NEWSPAPERS . . . 7 : : THe HARMONIC SOCIETY, THE THEATER, AND THE LycEUM « ¥ * @ ‘ - & a “ Social LIFE OF OLD HALLOWELL . ‘ ‘ ROMANTIC, QUAINT, AND INTERESTING CHARACTERS HALLOWELL’S ‘‘ CHIEF CITIZENS” . 3 “ a ‘ SHIPPING AND SHIP-MASTERS OF HALLOWELL . THE PUBLIC INTERESTS OF HALLOWELL : é é INDEX. a a ‘ . ‘ * j ‘ é ‘ PAGE vii ix xi xiii 15 25 40 55 67 73 99 107 136 160 193 208 229 242 259 265 290 307 319 331 347 LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS PAGE HALLOWELL ON THE KENNEBEC * zi . - Frontispiece View From PowpER Housk Hinn . ; s ‘ 5 . » I5 THE OLD PowpER HovusE* . F ‘i ; é . - OLD ForT WESTERN . ¢ 3 3 : Q é : . 25 JUDGE DANIEL Cony . : . ‘ A é : . 7 - 28 Mrs. SUSANNA CuRTIS Cony . : ‘ ° < z - 30 THE VAUGHAN BROOK . - : . 5 : ; - 36 ANCIENT BOUNDARY LINE . : * 3 . F . » 55 THE PINES ON FERRY HILL 3 i 3 $ 2 : 3 - 67 SAMUEL VAUGHAN, EsQ., AND FAMILY . : ‘ : i 93 MRS. SARAH HALLOWELL VAUGHAN . 4 ‘ F é 5 - 74 DR. AND MRS. BENJAMIN VAUGHAN . s : ‘ é 5 - 7 Dr. BENJAMIN VAUGHAN . ‘ a A 3 3 2 ‘ - 80 Mrs. SARAH MANNING VAUGHAN . : . ‘ . 7 . 82 OcTAGON ROOM IN THE VAUGHAN MANSION* . is 3 ; - 84 CHARLES VAUGHAN, Esq. . r - 3 - 3 > : - 94 Mrs. FRANCES APTHORP VAUGHAN . . 3 ‘ é . - 96 THE VAUGHAN MEMORIAL BRIDGE* . : ‘ ‘ . . - 98 JOHN MERRICK, Esq. . ‘ 3 , 7 5 3 ‘ F . Ioo THE MERRICK CoTracE, NORTH AND SOUTH VIEW . ‘ 3 + Io4 From Drawings in Water-Color by John Vaughan Merrick HENRY GOODWIN VAUGHAN, Eso. . - ‘ : ‘ 5 - 106 From Portrait by Charles Hopkinson Mrs. Mary KILTON DUMMER AND JUDGE NATHANIEL DUMMER . 108 DR. AND MRS. BENJAMIN PAGE . ‘a . . . : : . 16 RESIDENCE OF RuFUS K. PAGE . . . . 6 5 : - 118 RESIDENCE OF PRECEPTOR SAMUEL Moopy* . . 7 6 - 128 CapTAIN JOHN AGRY . p 7 . . . : ‘ : - 130 Mrs. ELIZABETH REED AGRY . 5 ‘ c i ‘ A + 132 CapTaINn GEORGE AGRY 6 . 3 . : ‘ ‘ 5 . 134 THE PERLEY HOUSE AND THE AGRY HOUSE* . ‘ i 5 » 138 JupGE SAMUEL SUMNER WILDE . . ‘ 7 F 5 : - 140 THE GRANT-OTIS MANSION * * A . : : : ; - 150 JupGE HENRY KNOX BAKER, ‘ . % s 3 % 3 - 157 xil List of [llustrations— Continued Mrs. SARAH LORD BAKER . : : - z 7 ‘ 7 - 158 JUDGE SAMUEL K. GILMAN . . 5 i 3 é - ‘ . 160 Hon. SIMON PAGE zi s , 7 ‘ - 5 5 3 - 160 RESIDENCE OF SAMUEL K. GILMAN . ° - 5 : ‘ - 62 DEACON EBENEZER DOLE . c : 5 . ‘i 3 5 . 164 OLD HUNTINGTON HOUSE * 7 . ‘ 3 : . 168 Miss Mary THOMPSON WELCH, ise: JosEPH R Nason) . . 170 RESIDENCE OF JOSEPH Nason, Esq. . z ‘ 3 . 7 . 172 RESIDENCE OF Major THOMAS M. ANDREWS . : . ‘ . 84 THE DUMMER MaNSION* . x j 3 ‘ ‘ . ‘ - 186 Dr. M.C. RICHARDSON ‘ pi : . : < A : . 188 MRs. SIMON PAGE mi ‘ 7 A - ‘i . 5 é - 190 THE OLD SouTH CHURCH . 3 . - ‘ " ‘ é - 193 RESIDENCE OF REV. DR. GILLET* . 3 - s - 7 . 196 HALLOWELL ACADEMY : : 3 ‘ 3 : B : - 208 THE HUBBARD FREE LIBRARY . A : . 3 5 3 - 229 MR. AND MRS. CHARLES VAUGHAN . . s : ‘i Z - 236 GENERAL THOMAS H. HUBBARD. . «© «© + «© «+ « 238 RESIDENCE OF SAMUEL W. HUNTINGTON, Esq. , 3 ‘ . 265 “SUNSET FARM,” RESIDENCE OF CHARLES VAUGHAN, EsQ. . - 272 From Drawings in Water-Color by John Vaughan Merrick Miss ANNE WARREN’S BANQUET TABLE . ‘ 5 ‘ 7 - 275 Hon. REUEL WILLIAMS «wee 26 MRS. SARAH CONY WILLIAMS . : és ‘ - ; - . . 278 OcTAGON ROOM IN WILLIAMS MANSION . - . ‘ F - 280 GOVERNOR JOHN HUBBARD . . . . . . . . + 307 RESIDENCE OF GOVERNOR JOHN HUBBARD* . : . - 310 CapTaIN JOHN HUBBARD . ‘ 7 ‘ . F 7 - 312 GOVERNOR JOSEPH R. BODWELL. . . . ‘ . - + 315 RESIDENCE OF GOVERNOR BODWELL * ‘ i é ; 2 - 316 RESIDENCE OF CAPTAIN CHARLES WELES* . . . . « 328 BRIDGE ON THE VAUGHAN STREAM* , 5 5 ‘ 6 . + 334 THE VAUGHAN MANSION* . 3 : - ‘ z ‘ 3 - 342 * From photograph by F. Ernest Peacock. HALLOWELL Prelude The river with its ruffled blue Divides the mighty hills in two, Caresses many a dell. Under a height that tosses back The summer thunder from its track, Lie home and Hallowell. The sunrise sends its couriers down To wake the quaint, embowered town; A misty azure spell At early even creeps to bridge The depth beneath each rocky ridge That watches Hallowell. The world may smile—the world whose pain Is measured by its golden gain; Our pine-sweet breezes swell With something it hath never heard, A benediction fills the word, The name of Hallowell. Content to miss the flash and whirl We watch the breath of hearth-fires curl With every mellow bell. We note how fair the hours be, Life hath a touch of Arcadie In dreamy Hallowell. Hope guards her dearest treasures here The gate of heaven is always near Where faith and duty dwell. We learn to toil and look above, To spell God’s truth of light and love In hill-bound Hallowell. ' —Ellen Hamlin Butler I ANCIENT KOUSSINOK N’kanayoo /— Of the Olden Time! HE wise old Abenaki story-teller struck the keynote j of universal human interest when he began [his ancestral records with this expression: WV’ kanayoo! —Of the Olden Time! These words are fraught with significance. They appeal to the human heart in all lands and in all ages of the world. The love of the past and a desire to preserve the records of the past are inherent in the human race. To transfer the story of yesterday to some far-off to-morrow has ever been the mis- sion of poet and historian; and to begin at the beginning has an irresistible charm. Therefore, in recalling the history of Old Hallowell, our minds and hearts are lured back to the “Olden Time” of the Abenaki story-teller; and, with him, we may very fitly say: M’kanayoo! for our record must begin with the days when the Abenaki Indian dwelt upon the banks of the Kennebec. The river shores, where Hallowell now stands, were once the ancestral hunting grounds of the “gentle Abenakis.” According to their traditions, these Men of the Dawn held their patent directly from the hand of the Creator. The land had been theirs from the beginning of the world; and it is now pleasant to believe that, from time immemorial, hearth-fires have burned upon our shores; that here old songs have been sung, brave deeds recounted, and ancient traditions retold for innumerable generations. The banks of Bombahook were once a favorite camping- ground of the Abenaki Indians ; the picturesque plateau, at the southern end of the “ Plains,” was the place of many lodges; and on the eastern shore of the river, in the northern portion of the territory originally included in the town of Hallowell, 2 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec there was a large and permanent Abenaki village. With the early records of these Indian domains, the story of the first settlement of Old Hallowell is inextricably interwoven ; and if we would understand the history of our native town, we must go back to the days when the men of Plymouth dwelt here side by side with the Indians of Koussinok. As we endeavor to recall this half-forgotten period, its events unfold themselves before our eyes like the successive scenes of a dimly-lighted, old-time panorama. We see first a little white-sailed vessel appearing off the coast of Maine. It is the shallop of the Pilgrim Fathers, built at Plymouth, and commanded by Edward Winslow, who, with six of “ye old standards,”’ comes to trade with the Indians on the banks of the Kennebec. These unskilled mariners boldly dare the dangers of Seguin, cross the rippling bosom of Merrymeeting Bay, sail on, past the island home of the old chief Kennebis, past the Point of Bombahook, and follow the curving river shore until they see the smoke of the Abenaki camp-fires, and reach the Indian village. It was in the autumn of the year 1625 that these brave men of Plymouth set sail, with their shallop-load of corn, for this hitherto unknown haven on the Kennebec. Their little craft, built by the house carpenter of Plymouth, was not well fitted for such a voyage. ‘‘They had laid a litle deck over her mid- ships,” writes Governor Bradford, “to keepe y* corne drie, but y® men were faine to stand it out all weathers without shelter, and y' time of y® year begins to growe tempestius. But God preserved them and gave them good success, for they brought home 700 Ib. of beaver besids some other furrs, having litle or nothing els but this corne which themselves had raised out of y® earth.”’* In 1627, the Plymouth merchants, having procured a patent for the Kennebec, “erected a house up above in y® river in y* most convenientest place for trade, as they conceived, and furnished the same with comodities for yt end, both winter & somer, not only with corne, but also with such other commodities * Bradford’s History of Plymouth Plantation, p. 247. Ancient Koussinok 3 as y° fishermen had traded with them, as coats, shirts, ruggs, & blankets, biskett, pease, prunes, &c.; and what they could not have out of England, they bought of the fishing ships, and so carried on their bussines as well as they could.” ' This story of the Pilgrim Fathers is one of the most interesting and important in the early history of New England, and yet it has lapsed into an almost legendary form, and to-day many of the dwellers in the Kennebec valley are entirely unaware that the famous men of Plymouth were ever sojourners upon our shores. Nevertheless, it is true that more than a hundred years before the erection of Fort Western there was a flourishing trading-post in this locality, and here for nearly forty years the Plymouth merchants lived side by side with the Abenaki Indians and carried on a profitable trade with the aboriginal inhabitants of Maine. Considering the dependence of the Pilgrim Fathers upon the resources of Maine, and the fact that they were saved from financial ruin and enabled to pay their debt to the London Company only by the profits of the valuable shipments of furs from the Kennebec, it is surprising to learn how little the historians of Plymouth have to say of the trading-post at Koussinok and of the life and adventures of the men who occupied it for so many years. The writings of Edward Winslow, of Governor Bradford, and of other contemporary authors contain but the briefest references to this subject. It has even been intimated that the Pilgrim merchants were purposely reticent in regard to their trading-post since they did not wish to open to other colonists this very profitable source of their own supplies. For this reason, the materials for the story of the first English settlers within the borders of Old Hallowell are very meager ; and it is only in the records of the early French voyagers, in the Relations of the Jesuits, and in the works of other French authorities, that I have been able to find any satisfactory original data for the story of ancient Koussinok, and for the intercourse of the English with the Indians of this village. 1 Bradford’s History of Plymouth Plantation, p. 281. 4 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec The earliest mention that I find of the name Koussinok is in the writings of the French priest, Father Gabriel Druillettes, who, in 1652, states that the Abenakis have a village and burying-ground where they meet every spring and fall “in sight of the English who live at Koussinok.’”’* This, then, is the beautiful old Indian word that was afterwards corrupted into “ Cushnoc.” In regard to the meaning of the name Koussinok, authori- ties widely differ. One writer, learned in Indian nomenclature, states that it is acompound word meaning the place of the sacred rites beside the rippling waters. This signification seems very appropriate, for Koussinok was the place of the sacred rites of the tribe, and was located near the rapids in the river. But Maurault, in his Azstozre des Abenakis, states that the word Koussinok is equivalent to the French phrase, // y en a beaucoup, and that the village was called Koussinok because the English had greatly increased in numbers at this place. Who all of these English people were that dwelt for a whole generation upon our shores can not now be ascertained. No full and consecutive history of the Plymouth settlement on the Kennebec has ever been written; but we know that some of the ablest and best men in the colony were sent to take charge of the trading-post, and this fact shows the importance with which the place was at this time regarded. One of the early agents in command of the trading-houses was John Howland, who, with his “military turn’ and adven- turous spirit, was well fitted for the administration of the business of the colony in this important location. He was, moreover, one of the company responsible for the public debt and therefore especially interested in the success of the enterprise on the Kennebec. In 1634, while Howland was in command at Koussinok, John Alden came from Plymouth to bring supplies for the spring traffic with the Indians; and Myles Standish, although never in command, came frequently in the Plymouth shallop on its business trips to the Kennebec. Governor Bradford, + Relations of the Jesuits, Vol. 37, p. 254. Ancient Koussinok 5 who was desirous of strengthening the Plymouth title to this territory, is also said to have come in his official capacity to treat with the Indians at this period. One of Howland’s successors at the trading-post was Captain Thomas Willett, a young man who had been a member of the congregation at Leyden and who had followed the Pilgrims to Plymouth in 1632. He wasa very able and efficient agent, and by his just and tactful dealings with the Indians, he won their confidence and faithful service. Captain Willett afterwards established an extensive trade with the Manhattan Dutch; and later in life he was honored with the office of Governor of New York. Another notable commander of the Koussinok trading- post was John Winslow, a brother of Governor Edward Winslow. John Winslow came over in the Fortune, and was one of the most efficient and highly esteemed men of the colony. He was in command onthe Kennebec from 1647 to 1652, and was for many years identified with the Indian trade, through which he became one of the wealthiest men of Plymouth. In the year 1654, we find Captain Southworth occupying the post as agent of the Plymouth Company. Southworth was the son of Alice Southworth, the second wife of Governor Bradford. ‘He was a man eminent for the soundness of his mind and the purity of his heart.” He spent three years in this remote region and cheerfully bore the privations and discomforts of the wilderness for the good of the colony and the maintenance of the traffic with the Indians. And Governor Thomas Prence—that dignified, stately personage who had a countenance full of majesty and who is said to have been a terror to evil-doers—he also came to the Kennebec in 1654 and established some very wholesome laws for the conduct of the settlers and their intercourse with the native denizens of the forest. In the year 1648, Natahanada, a sagamore of the Kennebec, conveyed a large tract of land to William Bradford, Edward Winslow, Thomas Prence, Thomas Willett, and William 6 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec Paddy ; and a copy of the deed that was signed by Natahanada may still be seen in the Register’s Office of Lincoln County. It is interesting to be assured that the Indian chieftain received, in payment for this valuable tract of land, two hogs- heads of provisions, one of bread, one of pease, two cloth coats, two gallons of wine, and a bottle of strong waters. A hundred years later, the Indians had grown wiser and refused to acknowledge the claims of the English either by deed or by right of possession. In 1725, the Abenaki chieftains declared to the English: ‘We were in possession before you, for we have held the land from time immemorial. The lands we possess were given to us by the Great Master of Life. We acknowledge only from him.” Again in 1744, when Governor Shirley exhibited the deed signed by the Indians as a proof of his claim to the territory, the aged chieftain, Ongewasgane, replied, “I am an old man, yet I never heard my ancestors say that these lands were sold.” ' It is now well understood that by thus deeding their lands, these Indians had no idea of any legal transference of their territory, but were merely granting to the white men the right to hunt and fish in common with themselves. These occasional glimpses into the life and character of the Abenaki Indian stimulate our desire to know more of this remarkable tribe that the Plymouth men found in possession of the valley of the Kennebec ; and a study of the customs and traditions of this ancient people reveals much of interest and of ethnological value. At the time when the Plymouth merchants were stationed in this locality, there was at Koussinok a large Indian village of five hundred inhabitants, including the women and the children. This primitive people had a wonderful and musical language. They had a system of writing and of com- munication with other and distant tribes. They possessed an inherited store of legends and folk-tales that were truly remarkable. They lived by hunting, fishing, and tilling the soil. They were peaceful, hospitable, and generous ; and it is conceded by all authorities that “the sentiments of the 1 Abbott’s History of Maine, p. 352. Anctent Koussinok 7 Abenakis and their principles of justice had no parallel among other tribes.” These Indians, according to their own traditions and the common consent of the tribes around them, were an aboriginal people. They claimed that they were the first and only perfect creation of the Great Spirit, that after them, the Indian was of an inferior quality. They were destined from the primal order of the universe to be nature’s aristocracy ; and, in comparing them with other Indians, this claim seems to have been very well founded. One example of magnanimity and nobility of character was furnished by the Kennebec chieftain Assiminasqua. On several occasions when the Kennebec Indians had sent messen- gers to treat with the English on the coast, the latter had taken them prisoners and deprived them of their arms; but when the English came to make a treaty at Ticonic, and might easily have been captured by the Indians, Assiminasqua scorned to do so treacherous a deed. “It is not our custom,” he said, “when messengers come to treat of peace, to seize upon their persons and make them prisoners. Keep your arms! You are at liberty! With us it is a point of honor.” * An illustration of the loyalty of these Indians among themselves may be found in the very interesting custom of choosing the Nidoba. Every young brave, on arriving at the age when he began to hunt and fish for himself, chose a friend of his own age whom he called his “ Nidoba,”” —a name which signified a comrade faithful until death. These two young braves united themselves by a mutual bond to dare all dangers in order to assist each other as long as they both should live. Thus every Abenaki man had at least one true friend ever ready to give his life for him ; and these two faithful comrades believed that after death they would be reunited in the Happy Hunting Grounds.? The native characteristics of the Kennebec Indians were most apparent at the great councils which were held at 1 Abbott’s History of Maine, p. 185. 2 Maurault’s Histoire des Abenakis, p. 16. 8 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec Koussinok twice a year,—one in the autumn before going on the great hnt to the “ Lake of the Moose,” and the other in the spring when the braves returned laden with their trophies. Then the council fires were lighted around the great stone hearths, and here were performed all the sacred rites and ceremonies of the tribe. At these celebrations there was dancing and feasting ; and the young men, who were enthusiastic athletes, indulged in spirited contests of ball-playing, wrestling, running, and leaping. I recall one old Indian story of a running match in which the contestants were required to give their names on entering the lists. The first runner announced that he was “Northern Lights.” The second said that he was “Chain Lightning.” It is needless to add that “ Chain Lightning”’ won the race. The children also had many pretty games which had been played by their ancestors for many generations. One of these games consisted of hiding a large ring in the sand and attempt- ing to find it and draw it out on the end of a long pointed stick. Another game which the Indian girls played is very interesting because it so closely resembles the ancient English game of “Old Witch,” sometimes known as “Hawk and Chickens.’’ And curiously enough, this Indian game, like the old English play, was preceded by a counting-out jingle; only instead of saying, ‘“ Eny, meny, mony, mi,” as the children of Old Hallowell used to do, the little Abenaki girls said, “ Hony, keebe, laweis, agles, huntip!’’ and whoever was left, after all the rest were counted out, had to be the “old Swamp Woman.” The Abenaki women were comely and attractive in appear- ance. Their feminine taste found expression in a great variety of ornaments including rings, necklaces, and bracelets made of shells and wrought with great skill. Sometimes the Abenaki bride made for her lover chieftain a belt with a fringe of wampum a foot in depth and. containing many thousands of pieces. The Abenaki women also made many tasteful house- hold articles out of plaited rushes and birch bark. They had developed a rude art of pottery. They understood the secrets Ancient Koussinok 9 of coloring ; and artistic rugs and portiéres were not unknown to the primitive women of the Kennebec. But while indulging in these accomplishments, the Abenaki women were also expected to plant and hoe the corn, to dress the skins of the hunter’s trophies, and to do all the menial work of the settle- ment. They were, however, always treated with respect by the Abenaki men. Among the chief characteristics recorded of the Abenaki men and women were their intense affection for their children, their veneration for their ancestors, and their love for their native woods and waters. Every boy born te the Abenaki mother was taught the origin and traditions of his race, and was ready to die for the rights inherited from his fathers. These traditions were constantly repeated around the camp- fires and instilled into the minds of the children by the songs of the Indian mothers. It is difficult for us now to invest this ancient people with the ingenuous characteristics and the poetic imagination which their records and folk-lore prove that they once possessed ; and I cannot better describe the thought and feeling of the Indian mother and her belief in the birthright and the future of her baby chieftain than by a few verses entitled AN ABENAKI LULLABY Sleep in thy birchen cradle, sleep! For the planting time is here ; The little gray mice through the stubble creep ; And the leaves that down through the branches peep Are as big as the mouse’s ear. Sleep, where the pine its shadow throws, And the Koonabecki flows and flows. Sleep, sleep, for the crow is near! *Twas he who brought the grain From the far southwest, o’er the valleys drear, And the women must watch and work in fear, Lest he snatch it back again. Watch and work while the seedlet grows, And the Koonabecki flows and flows. 12 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec line a league above the Wesserunsett river, with the exclusive rights of trade within these limits, and with an open passage- way to the sea. For nearly forty years the Plymouth Colony maintained its trading-post on the Kennebec; but when the business declined and profits no longer flowed into their treas- ury, they sold the patent, for four hundred pounds, to John Winslow, Thomas Brattle, Atipas Boies, and Edward Tyng. This transfer of the patent was made in 1661 ; and a few years later the trading-post was abandoned by its owners. This, it must be remembered, was some years before the outbreak of King Philip’s war of 1675, in which the Kennebec Indians were the last to become involved. Then followed the long century of cruel and devastating warfare ; and at its close, the few Indians that remained of the once flourishing tribe on the Kennebec migrated by way of the old Chaudiére trail to Canada where they joined the St. Francis tribe of Indians. The Plymouth trading-post, long forgotten, fell into decay. The picturesque Abenaki village and the little chapel of the Assumption soon disappeared from the shore of the Kennebec; and a luxuriant forest growth obliterated all traces of ancient Koussinok. Nevertheless, the men of Plymouth had builded more wisely and laid their foundations within our borders more deeply than they ever knew. They opened the forest to civili- zation. They established their title to the Kennebec patent and bequeathed their rights to their successors. The land lay dormant for almost a hundred years ; but the seed of a city had been planted and was destined to spring up and bring forth fruit after many days. The descendants of the men who pur- chased the property in 1661 did not forget their valuable inheritance; and, on the 21st of September, 1749, the heirs of the Kennebec proprietors met to devise means of opening the land to settlers. An organization was formed under the name of the Kennebec or Plymouth Company; and from these Kennebec proprietors the settlers of Old Hallowell received the title to their estates. Their rights inalienable have come down to the present day. Ancient Koussinok 13 The Pilgrim Fathers may thus be regarded as the pioneer openers of this portion of the Kennebec valley ; and the people of Old Hallowell, in tracing the origin of their ancestral homes, must go back, through the mists of the past, to the romantic yet veritable records of ancient Koussinok. The original name of this early settlement should always be preserved, for the word is replete with historic associations and alive with local light and color. It brings before our minds a series of pictures, in which the elements of adventure, hardship, bravery, valor, and romance are mingled. We see the hospitable Abenaki lodges, where a mat for the stranger is always laid. We see the smouldering fires, and the vaguely flitting forms of women and little children. Somewhat apart from the village, in its consecrated space, stands the chapel of the Assumption, with its walls of white birch bark, and its altar lighted by tall candles made from the wax of the bay- berries gathered on the coast. Great pine knots blaze on the round stone hearths where the chieftains meet in council; and in the fitful glare of the firelight sits the tribal story-teller re- peating the traditions of long ago when the Abenaki men lived in ‘‘the early red morning before the sunrise.” Perchance his story is a poetic nature-myth of the wooing of the summer, or an amusing tale of the tricksy mischief-maker who ran about among the wigwams stirring up all sorts of trouble; or the pretty bit of folk-lore telling of the little “Burnt-Faced Girl,” who, like a veritable Cinderella, crept out from the ashes of her chimney-corner to become the bride of the tallest, handsomest young chieftain in the village; or, most wonderful of all, the legend of the terrible monster, whose “heart of ice’’ was melted by a woman’s tender touch, and whose ferocious nature was trans- formed by the ministrations of human sympathy,— a legend which seems to indicate that even these “Men of the Dawn” had some conception of the old, continual strife between good and evil in the human soul. Near by, upon the river-shore, stand the Jog-cabins of the Pilgrim trading-post, rude, but commodious and substantial. A great fire roars in the huge stone chimney-place. The walls 14 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec are hung with scarlet blankets, shining trinkets, and the sharp- bladed knives coveted by the Indian men and boys; and the great bins are laden with supplies for traffic with the Indian hunters. Here, to and fro, with stately tread, move the Plymouth merchants, insistent, stern, and realistic. Koussinok! The word may be, at times, picturesque, severe, unreal, vivid, pathetic, or grimly tragic, but it is always suggestively historic; and, to-day, although the ancient trading-post and the Abenaki village have disappeared, al- though Pilgrim Fathers come no more, and only the wraiths of Indian chieftains, in the ghosts of white canoes, glide up and down the river, their story is still recalled by this old Abenaki name; and, with the name, the memories of ancient Koussinok will long abide upon the borders of the Kennebec. THY asnoH waMog Woay MaLA II THE FIRST SETTLERS “The lines are fallen unto me in pleasant places.’—Psalms xvi : 6. HERE is no more beautiful view on the shores of the j Kennebec river than that from the top of Powder House hill in Hallowell. Standing where its gray granite ledges creep out amidst the grasses which are fringed, in early summer, with tilting scarlet columbine, or, later in the season, with graceful tufts of golden-rod, one looks upon a picture of unusual charm and beauty. To the north, like a giant sentinel, rises the bold wooded crest of Howard hill. To.the south lies the Cascade pond, glistening in the sunlight, and sending its waters eastward, over the cascades and rapids of the Vaughan stream, to meet the blue waves of the Kennebec. Before us rise the church spires amidst tall elms and maples; and, below, at the feet of the ancient town, the river—the ‘“Long-Land-Water ” —as the Indians fittingly named it, flows majestically on past its old moss-grown wharves and grassy islands, and then sweeps around in a picturesque curve and follows its course to the sea. Close behind us, founded on the immovable rocks, is that time-honored landmark, the old brick powder house, with its one mysterious door barred with iron and carved with the monograms, initials, and cabalistic signs that register the visitors of a century. ‘“ Over the river,” as we always said in our childhood, the banks of Chelsea Heights rise steeply from the water’s edge. Away at the north, the chimneys and turrets of the gray stone hospital emerge above the trees suggestive of some old English castle; and thence the undulating hills sweep on until lost in the mists of the horizon. Every son and daughter of Hallowell knows this picture of the “fair olden city on the river’s shore.’’ We see it in our 16 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec dreams, and with closed eyelids in our waking hours; and to-day, as we turn our thoughts backward to the founding of Hallowell a century and a half ago, it is difficult to shut out the familiar scene and recall the time when these shores of the Kennebec were an unbroken forest. Even at this early period, however, the place must have seemed to the “ first comers ” an ideal location for a town; and its natural advantages were at once apparent to the early settlers onthe Kennebec. The shores of the river valley from the time of the Pilgrim traders had been known for their fertility and natural productiveness ; the waters of the river were filled with salmon and other delicious fish; the water- power of the stream that here dashed wildly down through the forest was a guarantee for future sawmills and other necessary manufactories. Here was the head of the tide and of a broad waterway for the ships from the sea. Moreover, at this period, the Kennebec was regarded as the natural outlet of Canada, and visions of the time when there should be a grand inland route of traffic and travel from Montreal and Quebec, via the Kennebec, to the sea, had always had a prominent part in the plans of the promoters of the river settlements. For these reasons, a town well located in this vicinity might confidently look forward to a permanent and ever increas- ing prosperity. Accordingly, at the close of the French and Indian wars, when peace and security became assured, the Plymouth proprietors on the Kennebec offered their lands for sale on the most liberal terms in order to induce settlers to come to this region. In the year 1754, Fort Western was erected on the east bank of the Kennebec, and garrisoned with twenty men under the command of Captain James Howard. Around the fort a few small log houses were soon built, but until the year 1762, which must ever stand prominent in our local history, no dwelling of any sort existed within what are now the limits of Hallowell. It was on the third of May of this momentous year, 1762, that Deacon Pease Clark and his wife, with their son, Peter The First Settlers 17 Clark, and his wife and one little child, landed upon the shore of the Kennebec and made a path for themselves to the spot where the old cotton factory now stands in Hallowell. No hearth fire burned for their welcome; no door opened at their coming; no home stood ready to receive them. And so the intrepid Pease Clark and his son Peter took the one rude cart which they had brought with them and turned it bottom up- wards. Then, with their brave wives and the one little child, they crept under it and passed the night. In the morning they arose and began the settlement of Hallowell. The Clarks had evidently not come to this new country entirely ignorant of its location and requirements. According to family tradition, Peter Clark, the son of Pease Clark, had been a lieutenant in charge of a company of sixty soldiers, probably a part of Gen. Shirley’s force, sent to guard the workmen who built Fort Western in 1754. Peter Clark, being pleased with the country and the terms offered to settlers, first induced his father to make a prospecting trip to the Kennebec valley, after which, they both decided to establish a home here for themselves and their families. Pease Clark secured a grant of land of one hundred acres, fifty rods wide and one mile long extending through what is now the central part of Hallowell. His son Peter was granted an adjoining lot at the south. The first efforts of the Clarks were devoted to making a small clearing and to the erection of a temporary dwelling. They then planted corn and rye upon the burnt land. Before the snows of the following winter fell, these energetic first settlers had hewn timber, procured boards and planks from the mill at Cobbossee, and built a comfortable frame house of two stories in front and one at the rear, according to the fashion of the times; and ever after that, the hospitable doors of the Clark house stood open to welcome all newcomers to this locality. Probably no thought of founding a city, small or great, entered into the heads of the Clarks at the time of their coming to the Kennebec; but they unconsciously carried out the first great fundamental principle of civic history, namely, that the 18 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec establishment of the individual home is the true foundation of the commonwealth. Pease Clark now rightfully bears the dis- tinction of having been the father of the present city of Hallowell; while to James Howard, the first settler at Fort Western, is accorded the honor of having been the founder of Augusta. As we look back to the arrival of Pease Clark and his family in this newly-opened country, we can easily imagine the intense interest with which they regarded the other newcomers who were destined to be their neighbors and fellow-townsmen; and our own interest is warmly excited in these first families of old Hallowell. An old chart, made from Winslow’s plan of Cushnoc in 1761, gives us an excellent idea of the division of the territory and the location of the new settlers. Fort Western, occupied by Captain James Howard and his family, stood two miles above the Clarks’ clearing and on the opposite side of the river. Three sons of Pease Clark, who soon followed their father to the Kennebec, settled above the fort. A fourth brother, David Clark, received lot 15 on the west side of the river, and a sister, the widow of Asa Fiske of Providence, afterwards married to David Hancock, settled on lot 29 on the west side. A nearer neighbor of the Clarks at the north was Josiah French who kept an inn where is now the intersection of Green and Grove streets in Augusta; Ephraim Cowan lived on the lot where the State House now stands, and Samuel Howard, whose estate included Howard Hill, located a little farther to the south; but these lots were not within the present limits of Hallowell. Here the land was divided into two large sections of 32,000 acres each, extending from the river to Cobbossee Great Pond. Lot 23 was owned by Dr. Sylvester Gardiner and lot 22, by Benjamin Hallowell. Out of these large sections, Pease Clark and Peter Clark had received adjoining corner lots bordering on the river. Their nearest and only neighbors on the south were Jonathan and Job Philbrook two miles below in the present town of Farming- dale. With the exception of the Philbrooks, there were no Tur Otp Powprer HousE The First Settlers 19 other settlers on the west side of the Kennebec between the Clarks and the Cobbossee stream in Gardiner. On the east side of the river, near the southern boundary line, was the lot of Samuel Bullen, who was prominent in the records as town constable. Lot 7, on what is now the beautiful “intervale,” was granted to James Cocks (or Cox), of Boston. Next, on the chart, we find the lots of Benjamin, Nathan, and Daniel Davis. Jonathan Davenport, who is well remembered as the first town clerk of Hallowell, settled on the adjoining grant. Ezekiel Page and his son Ezekiel Junior received lots Ig and 21. Moses and Seth Greeley settled on what has in recent years been known as the Arsenal lot. Daniel Hilton, a young soldier, who enlisted under Captain Howard for service at Fort Western, obtained lot 30. He afterwards sold this land to Daniel Thomas, who kept the first tavern on the east side of the river. Daniel and Edward Savage, two of the most enterprising settlers of this period, received grants in 1768 and 1769; but they had been for some years previous at the Fort. One of the most remarkable of these early settlers whose name should also be preserved, was John Gilley, an Irishman from Cork. He came to this country in 1755 and enlisted as a soldier at Fort Western. He was at that time believed to be seven or eight years older than Captain James Howard. He attained an extraordinary longevity, and at his death, according to the estimate of his contemporaries, he was one hundred and twenty-four years of age. He enjoyed perfect health and was active in mind and body long after his one hundredth birthday. Judge Weston states that “the late Dr. Benjamin Vaughan of Hallowell, was interested to make an examination of John Gilley, from which he became satisfied that his age was not overstated.” Gilley married Dorcas Brown and had a large family of children. His name was given to Gilley’s Point a locality famous as an ancient Indian burying-ground. All of the above-mentioned men were located on the Kennebec, in 1763, or earlier. They may be regarded as the pioneer settlers of Hallowell. They were the brave souls who 1 North's History of Augusta, Pp. 93- 20 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec ventured their all in a new and almost unknown country. They cleared the forests, planted the cornfields, and literally blazed the trail for future generations. The every-day life of these pioneer settlers was marked, even in the most prosperous families, by hardship, privation, and self-sacrifice. The first sawmill within the limits of ancient Hallowell, was built by James Howard on the Ellis or Riggs brook, at some distance above Fort Western, about 1769. In1772, William and Samuel Howard built another mill on the same stream; and very soon afterwards, in 1773, a third mill was erected by the Savage brothers. The nearest grist- mill was at Gardinerstown, on the Cobbossee stream; and all the “grist” was carried on the shoulders of the men over a foot-path through the forest, or in boats down the Kennebec. Even the inhabitants of Norridgewock and Canaan at this time, brought all their corn down the river in canoes to the mill at Cobbossee. The settlers worked energetically and perseveringly, and the land was soon cleared and cultivated to the distance of half amile from the river. In the adjoining forests, the bear still ranged, and frequently made destructive raids on the cornfields of the farmers. Terrifying rumors, and sometimes a glimpse of wolves and the dread Joup-cervier, often alarmed the men as well as the women and children. The houses of the period, with a few notable exceptions, were built of logs. Huge fire- places, scantily supplied with cooking utensils, tested the housewife’s art, and doubtless at times sorely tried her patience. As there were no roads, the social intercourse of the people must have been very limited; and our sympathies con- stantly revert to the women and children who naturally suffered most from their isolated location, and restricted circumstances. There was, moreover, for the first decade after the coming of Pease Clark and his immediate followers, no opportunity for religious service on the Sabbath. The people, consequently, lacked both the social and religious uplift that comes from laying aside the work-a-day cares of life and going in clean attire and goodly company to the house of God. The Clarks The First Settlers 21 especially must have missed the privileges of the sanctuary, for they had been prominent members of the first Congregational church at Attleboro, Mass., where they worshiped under the ministrations of Rev. Habijah Weld, a pastor “distinguished for his usefulness and highly respected both at home and abroad.” That they thus felt the deprivation of the Sabbath services is shown by the efforts made by Pease Clark to establish religious worship at the new settlement on the Kennebec. From the earliest town records, kept by Jonathan Davenport, we learn that “at a meeting of the inhabitants of Kennebec river, Cobbiseconte and upwards, held at the house of Mr. Pease Clark, Feb. ist, 1763, articles of agreement were entered into to procure preaching. A committee was appointed to raise money for the purpose. The minister to divide his time between Cobbiseconte and Fort Western, or upwards as is most convenient.” The committee evidently made an effort to perform the duties assigned to them, for in April, 1763, the first public religious services were held at Fort Western. They were con- ducted by an Episcopal minister, the Rev. Jacob Bailey, from Pownalborough. With this exception, the efforts of the people to secure preaching seem to have been without effect for we learn of no more public religious services at Hallowell until 1773. But notwithstanding all these disadvantages, the early settlers were so inspired with hope, courage, and public spirit that, in 1771, they appealed to the legislature for incorpo- ration asa town. The act was passed April 26, 1771. The new town contained ninety square miles of territory and included what is now Hallowell, Augusta, Chelsea, and the greater part of Manchester and Farmingdale. At the time of its incorporation it was represented by ninety-nine taxable polls. The town was named Hallowell in honor of Mr. Benjamin Hallowell, a wealthy Boston merchant, and one of the Plymouth proprietors. A town meeting, called by James Howard, was held at 1 History of Attleboro. 22 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec Fort Western, May 22, 1771, of which the following record was duly made: At a meeting of the Freeholders and other inhabitants of this town att Fort western being the first Town Meeting after we ware Incor- porated and the town made choice of Deacon peas Clark for the Moderator and the following officers to serve the town for the year Ensuing Viz. Jonathan Davenport Town Clerk Constable Samuel Bullen Selectmen peas Clark James Howard Esq & Jonathan Davenport Town Treasurer James Howard Esq—Wardens Samuel Howard & Samuel Babcock—tythingmen Daniel Savage peter Hopkins—Deer Reeves Jonathan Davenport & moses Greley—Fence Viewers—adam Carson Benjamin White—Hog Reeves abijah Read Ebenezer Davenport & Emerson Smith—surveyers of High ways Ezekiel page Peter Clark peter Hopkins abisha Cowing & Daniel Cobb—surveyors of Boards shingles and timber James Cocks Edward Savage—James Howard Esq is appointed to provide a town Book at the town charge In order to keep the town Records. The above extract is copied from the Records of Hallowell, No.1. p. 1. It bears the date of May 22, 1771, and is the first entry made after the incorporation of the town. The record is inscribed in the hand writing of the first town clerk of Hallowell, Mr. Jonathan Davenport. The writer is guiltless of punctuation marks, save a few dashes, and is not always consistent in his use of capitals; but his handwriting is excel- lent, his spelling generally correct,—‘“peas” Clark being a most delectable exception. At the annual meeting in 1772, Captain James Cocks was chosen moderator and Jonathan Davenport, clerk. The first acts of the town provided for roads on each side of the river from one end of the town to the other. Thirty-six pounds were raised towards clearing the roads, and fifteen pounds for school- ing and preaching. The selectmen were instructed to petition the Plymouth proprietors for “a ministerial lot, also a lot fora meeting-house and a training-field.” From this first list of town officers, we learn who were the principal men of the settlement at the time of the incorporation of the town in 1771. The names of these brave “first settlers” should have an honored place in the history of “Old Hallowell.” Their story is necessarily fragmentary, and can be gathered The First Settlers 23 only bit by bit from the old records. Nevertheless, they were very real characters, keenly alive in their day and generation; and could we now call together that first town-meeting of 1771, we should all, I think, without difficulty, recognize Pease Clark, Moderator, Jonathan Davenport, Town Clerk, James Howard, Esq., Treasurer, and all the other old-time dignitaries who, having endured the perils and hardships of “planting” the town in the primeval wilderness, were now rewarded by public recognition and the emoluments of office. The life-story of Pease Clark remains especially identified with that part of Old Hallowell of which he was the first settler; and his name will long be remembered and honored in the community which he founded. The early records show that he was a man of ability, integrity, and public spirit. He had a prominent part in public affairs at the time of the incorporation of the town, and was zealous in his efforts for the public welfare. Deacon Pease Clark has been characterized as “a pious man, just and honorable in his dealings.” He erected his altar in the wilderness and there dwelt, with his sons and daughters around him, like a veritable patriarch of old. He lived to see his home surrounded by other pleasant dwellings, with fruitful gardens and orchards on the sloping hillsides; and his own fertile fields became the inheritance of his descendants. He was a worthy representative of that sturdy, indomitable class of pioneers who, with faith in God and their fellow-men, cleared the forests for the dwelling place of succeeding generations. Pease Clark died in January, 1782. His life-work was fittingly commemorated in a funeral sermon preached by the Rev. Mr. Eaton of Winthrop, from the not inappropriate text: Instead of the thorn shall come up the fir-tree: and it shall be to the Lord for a name that shall not be cut off. In the old burying-ground in Hallowell, there is a large table-shaped tomb, covered with moss and lichens, and yellowed by the rain and sunshine of more than a hundred years. It stands in a picturesque spot overlooking the blue water-course 24 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec of the Kennebec and the curving river shore shut in and sheltered by the point of Bombahook. This was the fair domain chosen by Hallowell’s first settler for his home; and it is fitting that Deacon Pease Clark, whose name is carven on this ancient tomb, should here rest beside the Kennebec. Another most worthy monument to the memory of Deacon Pease Clark is the Hallowell City Building. This noble memorial edifice was erected by Mrs. Eliza Clark Lowell, in honor of her revered ancestor, and presented to the city of Hallowell in 1899. A marble tablet in its entrance hall bears this inscription: Tuts Buitpine Is THE Girt OF Exviza CLARK LOWELL A LingEAL DESCENDANT OF DEAcON PEASE CLARK Tue First SETTLER OF HALLOWELL 1762 PSZI ‘NYALSAM IO CIO III MEN OF THE FORT AND HOOK “They lived, loved, wrought, and died; and left a legacy cherished by their children.” —Reminiscences of Hallowell. HE town of Hallowell, from the time of its incorporation in 1771 to its division in 1797, had the unusual experience of developing into two distinct villages. The settlement at Fort Western dated from 1754; that at Bombahook, from the coming of Pease Clark in 1762. The upper village was commonly called the Fort; the lower village, the Hook. The formation of two villages, each around its own center, was the natural result of certain local advantages, but it was quite unpremeditated by the early settlers; and for the first quarter of a century there was a warm community of interests between the Hook and Fort. All the settlers shared alike in the same hardships, struggles, aspirations, and achievements. Their interests were mutual, and all measures adopted were for the common good. There- fore, in recalling the early history of the town, we must bear in mind that the present sister cities of Hallowell and Augusta were, for a quarter of a century, one and the same town, bear- ing the incorporated name of Hallowell. During the years of the Revolutionary war, the progress and development of the town was somewhat checked, but, with the return of peace, renewed prosperity came to the valley of the Kennebec, and a number of new settlers arrived at Hallowell who will always be remembered among the early promoters and benefactors of the town. Some of the most active and influential of these new settlers located around the Fort. The upper village therefore first felt the stimulating effects of the business energy and capital thus introduced into the community; and, although this volume is to be especially 26 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec devoted to the story of the famous old town that grew up around the Hook, we must now pause to pay a brief tribute to the leading men of the Fort, since these men were prominent among the makers of Hallowell before the division of the Mother-Town, and also influential in the shaping of its destiny at the critical period of its existence in 1797. After the division of the town, the settlers around Fort Western loyally devoted all their energies to the upbuilding of the locality which they had chosen for their home; but before the aspirations of Fort and Hook diverged, the men of the Fort shared in the common interests of both sections which together made the town of Hallowell. The individual characters of these men are so strongly im- pressed upon our local history that it would be an easy task for the artist of to-day to draw their pictures for posterity. Even a few brief strokes of the pen will render them recognizable upon these pages. The name of James Howard, the first and only commander of Fort Western, stands at the head of the list of early settlers. Captain Howard came with his family to the Fort in 1754, and was for many years the most influential and promi- nent man in the community. It is stated, in the History of Augusta (page 86), that James Howard was “a highly respectable gentleman who came from the north of Ireland,” and that he was “of Scotch descent.” This assertion has been frequently repeated by local historians, but it is evidently incorrect; for family records and traditions supported by historic evidence, which are still in the possession of the descendants of James Howard, show that he was of English ancestry and descended from a cadet of the house of Howard now represented in England by the Duke of Norfolk. The statements of the author of the History of Augusta, in regard to the origin of James Howard were apparently based on a superficial impression derived from the fact that in 1735, this “highly respectable gentleman” appears on the Waldo Patent at St. George’s in company with a Scotch-Irish colony. But Eaton, in his Annals of Warren (page 49), states that Men of the Fort and Hook 27 James Howard was one of seven men who “had been previously deputed by their associates in Boston and vicinity to select a place for settlement;” and it is claimed by an exact and experi- enced genealogist of the Howard family, ' that at the time of the settlement of the Waldo Patent, James Howard was an English gentleman living in Boston, that he went to St. George’s river in an official capacity, and that, although he settled there with the colony of Scotch-Irish, he was not of their nationality. James Howard certainly proved himself to be a man of parts and well qualified for the position of a leader; and his descendants possessed those qualities of mind and character: that we are accustomed to ascribe to good English birth and breeding. In 1770, after Fort Western was no longer used as a house of defense, James Howard built for himself, about a mile farther north, on Governor Shirley’s “cut road,” the fine and spacious mansion long known as the “Great House.” Here a most generous hospitality was dispensed. It was said that the fire was never allowed to go out on the hearth of the Howard house ; and in 1775, Dr. Senter writes of the Howards. as “an exceeding polite and opulent family.” The most notable company ever assembled around the “opulent”? board of the Howards, was entertained by the master and mistress of the Great House in September, 1775. This was when Colonel Benedict Arnold and his officers made: a brief sojourn at Fort Western on their fateful journey to Quebec. In this remarkable assemblage there were a number of men whose names will ever live in the history of our country. Two of the most brilliant of these guests have, unfortunately, left the saddest records. Benedict Arnold and Aaron Burr- were then brave and patriotic young soldiers with an apparently splendid future before them, but died with a shadow upon their fame. With them, came Captain Henry Dearborn, afterwards. famous in the Revolutionary war and in the service of the country; also Major Meigs, Captain John Joseph Henry, Adjutant Febiger, known in the army as “Old Denmark,’” Major Ward, Lieutenant Colonel Green, Chaplain Spring of. 1 Mrs. Martha Gordon Banks of New York. 28 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec Newburyport, and Dr. Senter, the surgeon of the regiment. Other officers were entertained at the fort by Colonel William Howard. The army of over a thousand men was quartered upon the grounds of the fort or stationed in tents upon the river shores. This was a momentous day at Fort Western and many tales and traditions of the festivities on this occasion have come down to us. * The mistress of the Great House, Mrs. Mary Howard, died August 22, 1778. On January 1, 1781, Captain James Howard married Susanna Cony, widow of Lieutenant Samuel Cony. James Howard died May 14, 1787. The children of Captain James and Mary Howard were: John, b. 1733; Samuel, b. 1735; Margaret, b. October 25, 1738; William, b. 1740. The children of Captain James and Susanna Howard were: Isabella, b. 1781; James, b. 1783. Captain Samuel Howard, a son of Captain James, was a master mariner. He married Sarah Lithgow, a daughter of Colonel William Lithgow, who was “famed for her beauty from Fort Halifax to Boston town.” Colonel William Howard married his cousin Martha, daughter of Lieutenant Samuel Howard, and resided all his life in the old Fort. These two brothers were largely engaged in the lumber business and built up a prosperous trade between the Kennebec and Boston. They both became wealthy and influential men. Colonel Samuel Howard, son of Colonel William, was also an eminent man in his day. He married Elizabeth Prince of Boston, whose aristocratic but prudent-minded mother was very much opposed to the union of her daughter “with one of those extravagant Howards.” The children of Colonel Samuel and Elizabeth Prince Howard were Alexander Hamilton Howard, for many years cashier of the American Bank in Hallowell; Elizabeth Prince, who married Thomas Little; Mary Gardiner, who married Thomas G. Jewett of Gardiner; and Sarah Colburn who married Samuel A. Gordon. Margaret Howard, daughter of Captain James and Mary 1 Old Colonial Houses in Maine, pp. 78-88. Juvcr DanieL Cony Men of the Fort and Hook 29 Howard, married Captain James Patterson. The wedding took place February 8, 1763, in the great living-room of Fort Western, and the marriage ceremony was performed by the bride’s father, Captain Howard, who, in his office of Justice of the Peace, was the only person in the settlement qualified to officiate at the nuptials of his daughter. Old Fort Western, the home of the Howards, is still standing on the banks of the Kennebec, in the heart of the city of Augusta. Its gray and weather-beaten walls are suggestive of much that is romantic and interesting in the lives of the early settlers of old Hallowell; and this time-honored land- mark should be perpetually preserved as a monument of the ancient town, and in memory of its brave and worthy com- mander, Captain James Howard. At the close of the Revolution, many new settlers were attracted to Hallowell by the advantageous location of the town; and among the most notable of those who settled at the Fort was Deacon Samuel Cony of Shutesbury, Massachusetts. Deacon Cony was born in Boston in 1718, and was therefore quite advanced in years when he came, in 1777, to Hallowell, He stands on record as “a remarkably mild man” and a zealous Christian. He was the founder of a family long promi- nent in the annals of Hallowell and Augusta. Lieutenant Samuel Cony, the oldest son of Deacon Samuel, was one of the most enterprising and successful men of the town. He settled on the Seth Greeley lot on the east side of the river and soon added to his estate so that at the time of his death, in 1779, he possesed five hundred acres of land in Hallowell. Samuel Cony was an enthusiastic patriot during the Revolu- tion; and afterwards served as Lieutenant in the military organization at Hallowell. His name was inherited by his son General Samuel Cony, and by his grandson, Governor Samuel Cony. Judge Daniel Cony, the second son of Deacon Samuel, has left a notable record. Before coming to Hallowell, he served in the Revolutionary army, and was present at the surrender of Burgoyne. He married Susanna Curtis and came to Hallowell 30 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec in 1778. Here he became eminent in his profession and also prominent in political affairs. He represented Hallowell in the General Court of Massachusetts and was a member of the Executive Council. For a number of years he was Judge of the Court of Common Pleas and afterwards Judge of Probate for Kennebec County. He was also deeply interested in all educa- tional movements and was one of the trustees of Hallowell Academy, an overseer of Bowdoin College, and the founder and endower of Cony Female Academy. “Judge Cony,” writes North, “was a man of vigorous intel- lect, sound judgment, quick perception, and ready resource. He was uniformly successful in whatever he resolutely under- took, was a strong ally, a safe and vigorous leader, and he attained to an influence with his fellow-men which few acquire. Decision and firmness were conspicuous traits in his character, while he was cool, calculating, sagacious. “In his latter days, the Judge had an eccentricity of manner which was dignified and harmless, and rather added to than detracted from the interest of personal intercourse. We recollect when a boy attending a meeting in the South parish meeting-house and seeing the Judge walk up the broad aisle with slow and measured tread, clad in a tartan plaid coat much like the morning dressing-gown of gentlemen of the present day. A red cap of fine worsted covered his head, from beneath which escaped locks frosted to a snowy whiteness by age. In his left hand he held a cane by its center so that its ivory head appeared above his shoulder. His form was erect and his appearance venerable, as with sedate aspect he assumed his seat and became an attentive worshiper.” ' Judge Cony lived to the venerable age of ninety years and died January 21, 1842. Another family name long and honorably known in the annals of Old Hallowell was that borne by Captain Seth Williams, who came to the Fort village in 1779. Captain Williams was a descendant of Richard Williams of Taunton, and belonged to a branch of the English family that traces its 1 North's History of Augusta, p. 172. Mrs. Susanna Curtis Cony Men of the Fort and Hook 31 _ ancestry back to Howell Williams, Lord of Ribour, who lived in the year 1400. The dominant qualities of the English Williams family descended to their American representatives who settled at Fort Western. Seth Williams was a man of forceful character, strength of mind, and resolute principles. At the age of nineteen he entered the Revolutionary army as a minute-man, and was promoted for valorous conduct to the office of lieuten- ant of his company. At the close of his term of service, he came to Hallowell where he married Zilpha Ingraham, the daughter of Jeremiah Ingraham. Captain Williams became an influential man in the community and occupied prominent offices in the military and civic organizations of the town. He was also Representative to the General Court of Massachu- setts in 1813. He died, honored and respected, March 18, 1817, at the age of sixty-one. The sons of Seth and Zilpha Williams were all men of ability who bore an honorable part in the upbuilding of their native town. Hon. Reuel Williams was educated at the Hallowell Academy, and admitted to the bar in 1802. He married, November 19, 1807, Sarah Lowell Cony, daughter of Hon. Daniel Cony. A few years later he purchased for his home the large and elegant residence, built by Arthur Lithgow, and since known as the Williams mansion. As lawyer, states- man, and United States Senator, Mr. Williams had a long and honorable career. He was a generous and _ public-spirited citizen, interested in the promotion of large enterprises, and to him the material development and permanent prosperity of the city of Augusta is in a great measure due. Judge Daniel Williams, the fourth son of Seth and Zilpha Williams, studied law with his older brother Reuel, and, like him, held numerous offices of trust and honor in town and state. He was one of the promoters of the enterprise for the construction of the Kennebec dam, and expended a large por- tion of his fortune in this public-spirited work. Judge Williams married, for his first wife, Mary Sawtelle of Norridgewock. 32 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec His second wife was Hannah Bridge, the daughter of Hon. James Bridge. Eliza Williams, born October 30, 1799, daughter of Seth and Zilpha Ingraham Williams, married Eben Fuller, December 21, 1821, and founded a home typical of the true New England ideals. She was a woman whose beautiful and beneficent life will long be remembered. Joseph North was the son of Captain John North and was born on the St. George’s river in 1739. He removed first to Gardinerstown, and thence to Fort Western in 1780. He married Hannah, daughter of Gershom Flagg, one of the wealthy Plymouth proprietors on the Kennebec; and, through his wife’s inheritance, acquired an extensive lot of land reach- ing from Market Square to Bridge Street. There was, in 1780, no road along the river shore. Joseph North made a clearing in the forest and built his house on a site near the corner of Oak and Water Streets. Here he laid out an extensive garden where he cultivated all varieties of flowers that would grow in this locality. Joseph North succeeded James Howard as Judge of the Court of Common Pleas, and remained on the bench of Lincoln and Kennebec counties for twenty-two years. He was the grandfather of Hon. James W. North, the author of the Azs- tory of Augusta. Captain Nathan Weston settled first at the Hook in 1778, and removed to the Fort in 1781. He engaged actively in trade, built a wharf, and sent out a vessel which for many years plied back and forth between Hallowell and Boston. Like other successful business men of the day, he entered upon a political career, held offices of local trust, was representative to the General Court in 1799, and member of the State Executive Council. His son, Judge Nathan Weston, fitted for college at the old Hallowell Academy, under Preceptor Samuel Moody, graduated at Dartmouth, and became one of Augusta’s most honored sons. Judge Nathan Weston married Paulina B. Cony, daughter of Judge Daniel Cony. Their daughter Catherine married Frederick A. Fuller and became the mother Men of the Fort and Hook 33 of Judge Melville W. Fuller, the eminent Chief Justice of the United States. Thomas and Henry Sewall were born in York, Maine. They came from one of the oldest and most highly respectable families in Massachusetts, and were descended from one Henry Sewall of England, ‘“‘a linen draper, who acquired great estate, and who was more than once chosen Mayor of Coventry.” It is claimed that the mayor of Coventry traced his descent from another even more illustrious Henry Sewall who was none other than the Archbishop of York in the year of our Lord 1250. Thomas Sewall came to the Fort Western settlement in Hallowell in 1775. He was a tanner and made the first leather that was manufactured in the valley of the Kennebec. He married Priscilla Cony, daughter of Deacon Samuel Cony, and built for his home the house afterwards owned and occupied by Mr. Allen Lambard. General Henry Sewall followed his brother to Fort Western in 1783, and became a prosperous merchant. He served as town clerk in Hallowell and Augusta for thirty-two years, as clerk of the District Court of Maine for twenty-nine years, and as register of deeds for seventeen years. General Sewall had also a most honorable military record. He entered the Revolutionary army with the rank of corporal and rose to the rank of major. After coming to Hallowell, he was commissioned Division Inspector and Major General of the militia. General Sewall always assumed a prominent part in all church affairs and constituted himself the censor of the pulpit. He was a critical listener, very decided in his opinions, and orthodox to the last degree. His own diary and the church records plainly show that he made things extremely lively and not always comfortable for the ministerial candidates with whose doctrines he disagreed. He finally united with the South Parish church at the Hook. He was appointed deacon in this church and “continued a member therein—an advocate of the doctrine of free and sovereign grace.” 34 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec During many years of his life, General Sewall kept a diary from which North draws very freely in his Azstory of Augusta. The extracts from this diary throw a very clear light on the life and times in Old Hallowell, at the period of which he writes. His remarks upon himself and his own doings are no less frankly illuminating than those upon his neighbors. General Sewall may very fittingly be called the Samuel Pepys of Hallowell. The Lithgow family, first represented in Hallowell by William Lithgow, Jr., came of ancient and honorable ancestry. Their genealogy has been traced to “the probable branch in Scotland of which Robert the emigrant was a scion;’”’ and this Scotch family “shows an uninterrupted line through Robert de Bruce (1274-1329) to Egbert (775-836).” * William Lithgow, Jr. was the son of Captain William and Sarah Noble Lithgow of Fort Halifax, and grandson of Robert Lithgow the emigrant who came to this country with the Temple colony in 1719. William Lithgow, Jr. received a good education and studied law with James Sullivan of Biddeford. On the outbreak of the Revolution he entered the army and served with honor during the war. He was present at the surrender of Burgoyne; and his portrait may be seen in Trumbull’s painting of that historical event. In 1788, William Lithgow came to the village at the Fort and was the first resident lawyer on the Kennebec north of Pownalborough. Mr. Lithgow was learned and eloquent in his profession He was also remarkable for his “noble figure, manly beauty, and accomplished manners.” He was prominent in political life and held numerous offices of public trust. He was district attorney for five years, and was twice senator from Lincoln county to the General Court of Massachusetts. He was com- missioned Major General of the militia in 1787. It was while General Lithgow and Judge Cony were so prominently before the public that one of their political opponents petulantly remarked: “There are certain men in society who seem to ! The Lithgow Library and Reading-Room, p. 18. Men of the Fort and Hook 35 have hereditary claim to every office in the power of the people to bestow.” Colonel Arthur Lithgow, a brother of General William Lithgow, was appointed the first Sheriff of Kennebec County, in 1799. He married Martha Bridge of Pownalborough and built the elegant mansion now known as the Ruel Williams house, where he resided until his removal from town about 180g. Colonel Lithgow maintained the family reputation for official ability, generous hospitality, and genial companionship. He was described by his friend, Mr. John H. Sheppard, as “one of nature’s noblemen.” A third brother, James Noble Lithgow, married Ann Gardiner, daughter of John Gardiner, the celebrated lawyer of Dresden, and son of Dr. Sylvester Gardiner. Their son Llewellyn W. Lithgow, married first: Mary Bowman, daughter of Thomas Bowman of Augusta; second: Paulina P. Child, daughter of Elisha Child of Augusta. The “Lithgow Library” at Augusta, owes its existence to Llewellyn Lith- gow, and is a worthy monument to the name and to the generosity and public spirit of its founder. Another able and eminent man, without whom this notable group of settlers at the Fort would be incomplete, was Hon. James Bridge. In 1790, while the village was rapidly growing under the leadership of the men already mentioned, James Bridge, a Harvard graduate, who had read law with Theophilus Parsons of Newburyport, came to Hallowell and opened a law office in a room of old Fort Western. As General William Lithgow had then retired from practice, James Bridge was the only lawyer in Hallowell until the arrival of Hon. Amos Stoddard, at the Hook, in 1794. Mr. Bridge soon attained distinction in his profession, and was appointed Judge of Probate at the time of the organization of Kennebec county. Other public honors were conferred upon him by his fellow-citizens. He was a member of the Executive Council of Massachusetts, a delegate to the Constitutional Convention of Maine in 1820, and one of the commissioners that served under the act of separation. 36 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec In private, as in public life, Judge Bridge was highly esteemed. He married Hannah North, daughter of Hon. Joseph North, and was the father of an interesting and notable family. Other well-known and highly respected men settled at the Fort prior to the year 1797. Amos Pollard, the inn-keeper, came in 1777; Beriah Ingraham, in 1778; Benjamin Pet- tengill and Elias Craig, in 1779; Jeremiah Ingraham, in 1780; Samuel Titcomb and James Hewins, in 1783; William Brooks, in 1784; James Child, in 1786; Samuel Church, in 1787; George Crosby, in 1789; James Burton, prior to 1794; Barnabas Lambard, father of Allen and Thomas Lambard, in 1794; Theophilus Hamlen and his sons, Lewis, Perez, and Lot, in 1795. In the meantime, while the settlement at the Fort was thus increasing in size and prosperity, the large and valuable estates of Mr. Benjamin Hallowell and Dr. Sylvester Gardiner were opened to settlers, and the Hook soon received such a remarkable impetus, through the coming of a large number of men of wealth, culture, and enterprise that, during the next generation, it quite outdistanced its rival village at the Fort. Sketches of the families that were most prominently identified with the history of this part of the town will appear later in our story; but the names of the earlier settlers, with the dates of their coming, should here be inscribed in advance, like the names of the characters in a play, for they represent the actors who first took a recognized part in the drama of every-day life at the Hook. Preéminent among these early residents were Charles and Benjamin Vaughan, two English gentlemen of wealth, education, and high social position whose arrival at Hallowell at once conferred distinction upon the place. To the public spirit and indefatigable efforts of these two brothers, the early development and upbuilding of the village at the Hook were in a great measure due. Mr. Charles Vaughan came to Hallowell about 1791, and Tue VAUGHAN STREAM Men of the Fort and Hook 37 settled on the estate of his maternal grandfather, Benjamin Hallowell. Mr. Vaughan saw at once the great possibilities of this location and entered upon extensive business enterprises with the utmost ‘courage and enthusiasm. He built and equipped a large flour-mill on the banks of the Bombahook stream in 1793. He constructed a fine wharf at Bombahook point and erected stores and warehouses in that vicinity. He cleared a large farm and imported stock from the best herds in England. He was also extensively interested in horticulture and introduced from England a great variety of fruit trees, small fruits, and vegetables all of which he distributed with a liberal hand to the farmers of the surrounding country. Dr. Benjamin Vaughan, who came to Hallowell in 1797, was no less influential in promoting the public welfare. Dr. Vaughan was a graduate of Edinburgh University, an eminent physician, a remarkable scholar, and a gentleman of the highest culture and refinement. Like his brother, Dr. Vaughan was interested in agricultural pursuits, and his gardens and orchards were filled with rare flowers and fruits. Under his supervision, apples, cherries, plums, and peaches flourished wonderfully in this new soil and climate; and scions from the Vaughan gardens were eagerly sought by the neighboring farmers. In their business operations, the Vaughans gave employ- ment to many of the village people. They built comfortable homes for the employees; and through their agricultural and manufacturing enterprises, they induced numerous families of an exceptionally good class to settle at the Hook. The homes of Charles and Benjamin Vaughan were social and intellectual centers from which radiated an influence for all that is good and uplifting. This influence permeated the whole community and has not ceased to be felt to the present day. The coming of the Vaughans to Hallowell was an event of incalculable importance at a critical period of the town’s history ; and the impetus which it gave to the growth and prosperity of the place, materially, socially, morally, and intellectually, can not be over estimated. 38 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec Two other English gentlemen whose names have a prominent place in the annals of Old Hallowell were Mr. John Sheppard and Mr. John Merrick. Mr. Sheppard appears upon the scene of our story about 1790. He settled near the place afterwards known as Sheppard’s wharf, and there carried on a large mercantile business. He was also concerned with the Vaughans in build- ing a brewery and in other important enterprises. Mr. Sheppard was a man of education and culture, and his family occupied a high social position in the town. Mr. John Merrick came from England with the family of Dr. Benjamin Vaughan in 1797. He married Miss Rebecca Vaughan, daughter of Samuel Vaughan, and settled on the fine old estate long known as the Merrick place. Mr. Merrick lived to the advanced age of ninety-five years, and during his whole life he kept in close touch with public affairs, and was a prominent factor in the development of the town. The names of other early residents who enacted an influ- ential and useful part in the affairs of the Hook are given in the following record : Briggs Hallowell, son of Benjamin Hallowell, Esq., repre- sented his father’s estate at the Hook as early as 1768. John Couch took up land in 1772. Shubael and Thomas Hinckley settled on the Plains in 1773. William Matthews was at the Hook in 1779. Nathaniel Cheever, bookseller and printer, and Elisha Nye, ship captain, came in 1781 ; Benjamin Prescott, in 1783; David Sewall, merchant and Justice of the Peace, in 1784; John Hains, Obediah Harris, and Eliphalet Gilman, in 1785; Moses and John Sewall, in 1787; Alfred Martin, Thomas Metcalf, and William Dorr, in 1788; Hon. Nathaniel Dummer, post-master, magistrate, and legislator, in 1789; Jason Liver- more, John Beeman, and Samuel Dutton, prior to 1790. Dr. Benjamin Page, Hon. John O. Page, Aaron Page, James Norris, and Hon. Chandler Robbins were men of consequence in the community in 1791. Hon. Amos Stoddard, the first lawyer at the Hook, was established here early in 1794. Ebenezer Mayo, Deacon James Gow, William Morse. Jr., and Men of the Fort and Hook 39 Daniel Evans, came in 1793; Thomas Lakeman, Nathaniel Colcord, and Hon. Nathaniel Perley, in 1794 ; James Partridge, Philip Lord, Abner Lowell, and William Drew in 1797. The influence of these important accessions was at once felt at the Hook. Life in this growing community soon broad- ened in its local interests and in its outlook upon state and national affairs. The frequent contact of the leading inhab- itants of the village with men and matters of the outside world resulted in the establishment of new enterprises at home. Public spirit was stimulated; and the foundation for the remarkable subsequent prosperity of this section of the town was laid before the people of Fort and Hook came to the parting of the ways. IV EVERY-DAY LIFE AND RELIGIOUS SERVICES OF THE PERIOD “ Oh, tell me true what they used to do!” My child, it was long ago. Professor Charles F. Richardson S THE period from 1771 to 1797 marked a distinct era, not only in the civic but also in the social and religious development of the town, it will now be interesting to briefly consider the every-day life of the people of this time and the efforts that were made to establish a church and provide for the spiritual welfare of its congregation. During the few years following the incorporation of Hallowell, in 1771, the town began to increase in population and prosperity. The farmers, the fishermen, the lumbermen, and the traders prospered in their business, and many of the comforts and some of the luxuries of life were brought into the homes of the people. The Howards, who were very enterpris- ing business men, carried on a large coasting trade between the Kennebec and Boston, and also sent their vessels to Newfound- land and the West Indies. In 1773, they owned three sloops, the Phenix, the Industry, and the Two Brothers. In these trading vessels, the Howards sent out moose-skins, beaver, sable, lumber, shingles, etc., and brought back rum, molasses, tea, coffee, spices, hats, shoes, blankets, nails, ribbons, laces, and other salable commodities. Domestic manufactures at this time were encouraged and extensively carried on, for the people were unwilling to buy British goods. Calico was then six shillings a yard and not in general use. The women spun and wove their own flax into cloth from which they made their bed and table linen, and much of their own wearing apparel. “Tow” cloth was worn by the men and boys for shirts and loose trousers in the summer Every-day Life of the Period 41 season. In winter, small-clothes of moose or deer skin, with a jacket and cap of fur, constituted a most comfortable costume. The young girls took an important part in all the house- hold tasks. They assisted in spinning and weaving, and in their spare hours they scoured the pewter, made the soap, and dipped the candles. For fancy work they knit mittens and socks, often introducing elaborate stitches, like “ herring-bone,” “‘fox and geese,”’ or “open-work.”” Pegging and netting were considered accomplishments; and some very beautiful bead bags and purses, and some very astonishing “samplers,” handed down from those old days, bear witness to the art instincts of our great grandmothers. The upper and more prosperous classes dressed more elegantly, in accordance with the conventional fashions of the day. Some of our grand old dames of yore had chintzes, silks, and brocades, with ornaments and laces brought from Boston or from some foreign port. They wore high-heeled shoes, hooped petticoats, and tight-laced stays. Elaborately wrought kerchiefs, ornamental combs, jeweled belt-buckles, rings, and pins which were the personal possessions of our foremothers are still cherished as heirlooms in many of the families of old Hallowell. The men were even more conspicuous than the women by the elegance of their dress. A very excellent description of the costume of a gentleman of the Revolutionary period is given by Eaton in his Annals of Warren. This is a pen- picture worthy of preservation. “(On the head was placed a fine, napless, beaver hat, with a brim two feet broad turned up on three sides... . One side of extra width was placed squarely behind, while the angle formed by the other two, directly over the nose, gave the countenance an imposing appearance and formed « convenient handle by which, on meeting persons of dignity, it was raised with all the gravity of ceremony.... Under the hat the head was still farther defended by a wig, which varied at different times and with different persons, from the full-bottomed curls on the shoulders, to the club, or tie wig, which had about a natural share of hair tied behind, with two or three very formal curls over each ear. “The coat was made with a stiff, upright collar reaching from ear 42 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec to ear, and descended perpendicularly in front, with a broad back, and skirts thickly padded over the theighs and ornamented with gold and silver lace. The waistcoat was single-breasted, without a collar, and skirts rounded off, descending over the hips. Small clothes were buttoned and buckled at the knee. Stockings covered the rest of the leg; and the foot was defended with a shoe, cured, at first, with a moderate sized silver or other metallic buckle, which continued to increase in size and vary in shape till it covered a great part of the foot.... The shirt was furnished with mffles at the bosom and wrists. Sleeve buttons of brass, silver, or gold, often set with stones, were a necessary addition to this costume.” * Here we have a picture, from top to toe, of the gentleman of quality at the time of the Revolution. Such was the costume of the dignitaries of old Hallowell who bore the titles of Captain, Judge, Esquire, and Deacon, and also of many of the humbler inhabitants of the town. After the war, some changes were made in the fashions. The style of “French Pantaloons” was introduced by the French officers during the Revolution; the wig was succeeded by the long cue and club of natural hair, which, however, was often eked out with a false strand; and the scarlet gold-laced coat gave way to garments of more sombre hue. It was at this time that the poet, who bewailed the spirit of his age, was constrained to write: ‘‘ And what has become of your old-fashioned cloathes, Your long-sided doublet and your trunk hose, They’ ve turned to new fashioned but what the Lord knows, And is not old England grown new ! “« New trickings, new goings, new measures, new paces, New heads for your men, for women new faces, And twenty new tricks to mend their bad cases, And is not old England grown new!” * “At the present day, such a village as old Hallowell,” writes Judge Weston, “would be without attraction, promising nothing to stir the pulse of life. Such an inference would create an erroneous impression of the actual conditions here at this period. The place was full of life and animation. It was the central point of a great part of Kennebec county. The 3 Eaton's Annals of Warren, p. 141. + Bain: about New England. Every-day Life of the Period 43 river was the thoroughfare of travel; by its waters in summer, and on the ice in winter. The Fort . . . was resorted to for supplies, for exchanges, and for information in regard to pass- ing events. All classes of people from various settlements came here, not only on business, but to seek exhilaration from association with others.” These numerous guests of high and low degree all found shelter and entertainment in the public inns or taverns of the town. These hostelries of Fort and Hook, like those of all New England towns, were centers of social and political life. Here the people congregated and discussed the exciting ques- tions of the day. Local politics, the election of a representa- tive to General Court, or the measures of the Federal Government were alike subjects of absorbing interest. Pollard’s tavern was a typical hostelry of the period. Here, we are told, ‘the men of the town often poured into their cup of enjoyment too large an infusion of artificial stimulants, and the gambols of exuberant spirits were often more exciting than commendable ;” but this was in the days before the temper- ance movement had banished the wine cup, and all the dignitaries of the town and even the divines of the church sanctioned by their example the common custom of drinking, both at home and on public occasions. What then could be expected of the common people ? The social life of the women at this period was necessarily very restricted. As there were no carriages in Hallowell, at this time, the matrons and maidens rode on horseback, often mounted on pillions behind the good-men of the town, and paid their neighborly visits in this manner. An illustration of the unconventional visiting and of the spirit of hospitality that prevailed in old Hallowell in these days is given by North from Mrs. Ballard’s diary. “(On the oth of Feb. 1786, Ephraim and Mrs. Ballard with Amos and Mrs. Pollard who lived on the west side of the river, went to Samuel Bullen’s on the east side and dined; from thence, with the accession of Mr. and Mrs. Bullen, Baker Town, Mr. Shaw, and Mr. Davis, they proceeded to Samuel Dutton’s on the west side where they met Dr. Cony and Lady, and spent the evening very agreeably, arriving at home at midnight.” 44 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec This seems to have been a sort of a progressive and cumulative house-party. As the roads began to widen, carriages were gradually introduced among the more prosperous townspeople, but not without some opposition from the conservative folk who thought the wheeled vehicles would cause havoc by frightening the horses. Much traveling for business and pleasure was also done by sailing or canoeing up and down the river. In 1784, Henry and Thomas Sewall and Elias Craig built a great canoe in which family parties frequently made visits to Pittston, Georgetown, and other places down the river. The first recorded trip of this “great canoe” was made on a certain Sunday when “her owners and others went to a meet- ing in Pittston where they heard the Rev. Mr. McLean preach.” During this same year General Henry Sewall made an eventful journey to Boston on horseback for the purpose of purchasing goods. He rode down the eastern side of the river to Pownalborough, swam his horse across the Eastern river, lodged at the house of his uncle, Henry Sewall, at Bath. From there he rode to Falmouth ; and at the end of the fourth day, he reached the home of his father at York, where he spent eight or nine days. Continuing his journey, he visited friends at Newburyport and at Cambridge. where he “stopped” at Stephen Sewall’s. The return journey was alleviated by a succession of visits, and after an absence of thirty-five days, fifteen of which had been spent on horseback, General Sewall reached his own home at Fort Western. Here he found that his goods, which had been shipped in Howard’s sloop, had already arrived from Boston. This incident furnishes a typical illustration of a journey into the great world before the establishment of the famous line of Hallowell packets, and of the enterprise of the business men in these primitive times. During the next decade the facilities for traveling greatly increased; and at the close of the eighteenth century there was a marked advancement in the general conditions of every-day life in Hallowell. Religious Services of the Period 45 While some progress was thus being made in civic and social affairs at old Hallowell, the religious and spiritual life of the people was not entirely neglected. Our early settlers were from the first a law-abiding, God-fearing community; they accordingly made an effort to establish religious services and to support a minister as soon as they were able to doso. The records of the early church in Hallowell therefore constitute an essential part in the life-story of the people. In considering these ancient records, we cannot fail to be deeply impressed, by the very remarkable character and the unusual talents of the numerous candidates for the pulpit in Hallowell prior to the ordination of the Rev. Mr. Stone at the Fort and of Rev. Mr. Gillet at the Hook. The mere mention of the names of these candidates gives to the present genera- tion no adequate idea of the remarkable qualifications of the men ; but a brief study of their life and subsequent work in the ministry reveals, in each instance, a most interesting and note- worthy story. In the first place, these candidates for the pulpit were all college graduates. Our forefathers demanded and always secured educated men for their pastors ; and it is with difficulty that we now realize how profoundly learned these ministerial graduates of Harvard, Yale, and Dartmouth were in these early days. I doubt whether any of the candidates for our pulpits, in the present generation, have come to us so thoroughly versed in the classic tongues and so familiar with Latin, Greek, and Hebrew literature as were these eighteenth century ministers. Even the entrance requirements at Harvard at this period would have excluded from that institution many, young men who are considered “fitted for college’ at the present time. Take, for instance, this condition: ‘‘ When any scholar is able to understand Tully or such like classical author extempore, and make and speak true Latin in verse and prose; . . . and decline perfectly the paradigms of nouns and verbs in the Greek tongue, let him then and not before be capable of admis- sion into college.” * 1 Pierce. History of Harvard University, Appendix 4-5. 46 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec After entering the college, the student was obliged to drop the English language and use Latin as the medium of conversation... Moreover, the course of study at Harvard included grammar, rhetoric, logic, arithmetic, geometry, physics, astronomy, ethics, politics, divinity; exercises in style, composition, epitome both in prose and verse; Greek, Latin, Hebrew, Syriac, and Chaldee. No one was deemed “fit to be dignified with his first degree until he was found able to read the originals of the Old and New Testaments into the Latin tongue and to resolve them logically.” “This extraordinary training in the ancient languages,” writes Profes- sor Tyler, “led to forms of proficiency that have no parallel now in American colleges.” It was no wonder that one of the presidents of this ancient university was accustomed to close his chapel prayers by asking the Lord to bless Harvard College and all inferior institutions.* It will be seen from this brief reference to the college curriculum, why the minister, in olden times, was looked up to not only as the spiritual but as the intellectual leader of his flock. He was the equal and often the superior of any man in his congregation. Therefore, when we read of the early candi- dates for the pulpit in Hallowell, let us not forget that they were all men of profound learning who literally possessed the gift of tongues. The very first minister who preached to our early settlers was the Rev. Jacob Bailey, of Pownalborough. Our town records contain but one brief entry in regard to this ancient divine and that is from his own journal of April 8th, 1763, “I preached however at Captain Howard’s and had a considerable congregation of the upper settlers.’ And yet who was this ancient divine who came to this obscure little hamlet on the Kennebec, and to whom the Howards, the Clarks, the Coxes, the Davenports, and other settlers had the honor of listening at that early date? He was a Harvard graduate of the famous class of 1755,—a class that counted among its members John Adams, President of the United States; John Wentworth, 1 Quincy’s History of Harvard University, Vol.I, p. $75. 2 Tyler’s American Literature During the Colonial Time, Vol. I, p. 308. Religious Services of the Period 47 Royal Governor of New Hampshire; William Brown, Royal Governor of Bermuda; David Sewall, Judge of the Supreme Court of Massachusetts; Samuel Locke, President of Harvard in 1770; Charles Cushing and Jonathan Bowman of Pownal- borough; and other eminent men of whom Jacob Bailey was in his college days the intellectual peer. He had not only enjoyed social advantages at home as the guest of Sir William Pepperell and of Governor Wentworth of New Hampshire, but he had traveled abroad and dined with his illustrious country- man, Benjamin Franklin, in London. More than this, he had been received by the Bishop of London, entertained by the Archbishop of Canterbury, in the famous palace of Lambeth, and had dined with his lordship, the Bishop of Rochester, and the Bishop of London’s lady in a vast marble hall, “at a table attended by ten servants, and covered with silver dishes and drinking cups either of glass or solid gold, and on which twenty- four different dishes were served all dressed in such an elegant manner that many of the guests could scarce eat a mouthful.” * While in London, Mr. Bailey took holy orders in the Church of England. He was then sent, by the Society for Propagating the Gospel in Foreign Parts, as a frontier mission- ary, to the wilds of the Kennebec. The after-story of the life of this learned and able minister, and of his zealous efforts for the salvation of souls in this hitherto entirely neglected region, is one of absorbing interest. His heroic and successful labors on the Kennebec ended, unfortunately, at the outbreak of the Revolution when, as a Tory minister, loyal to his church and his king, he was driven from his home and obliged to take refuge in Halifax. He was afterwards settled over a parish at Annapolis, Nova Scotia, where he was honored rector of St. Luke’s for twenty-four years. The next minister who dispensed the bread of life to the needy congregation at Old Hallowell was the Rev. John Murray. This celebrated clergyman was a graduate of the University of Edinburgh where he completed his course “with high honor.” Upon his arrival in this country in 1763, he went to visit his sister, Mrs. Jean Murray Reed, at Boothbay, and while 1 Bartlett’s Frontier Missionary, p. 63. 48 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec there promised the people that if they were ever able to support a minister, he would come again and settle with them. He then went to Philadelphia where his genius and powers of oratory were at once recognized; and, in 1765, he was called to the Second Presbyterian Church of that city. The following year the people of Boothbay built a meeting-house and requested Mr. Murray to redeem his promise. It was only after great persuasion, and with great regret, that the Philadelphia church released their new and highly esteemed pastor. This remarkable man was considered by many as the peer of Whitefield in the pulpit. He was a man of strong intellect, unwavering purpose, and magnetic personality; and these characteristics were accompanied by rare graces of heart. Wherever he preached, the churches were filled to overflowing. He was the most popular and distinguished minister of his time in Maine. His sermons were often two and three hours. long, but the attention of his audiences never wavered. His. fame extended throughout New Hampshire and Massachusetts, and he received frequent calls to settle in those states. Mr. Murray was a handsome man of fine personal appearance. He wore, in the pulpit, a white wig, gown, and bands, and was remarkable for his dignified and imposing presence. In the year 1773, the selectmen of Hallowell were authorized to procure preaching for two months and as much longer as they found “money in the treasurer’s hands for that use.” Accordingly the Rev. Mr. Murray was invited to preach at Fort Western. The passage of the reverend gentleman up. the river was made in a large canoe rowed by hired oarsmen. It is stated that the style and state in which he came would be quite equal to that of a coach and span of horses at the present day. What impression this remarkable preacher made upon the people of Hallowell is not a matter of record; but it is evident that they could offer him no inducement to settle with them. Mr. Murray remained the devoted pastor of the church at Boothbay for fourteen years. He married Susanna Lithgow, one of the beautiful and accomplished daughters of Colonel Religious Services of the Period 49 William Lithgow, and resided upon a delightfully located eminence overlooking Boothbay Harbor. The parsonage, which was called “ Pisgah,” was avery handsome house sur- rounded by shrubbery and pleasant gardens. In 1781, Mr. Murray yielded to the urgent and oft-repeated request of the church at Newburyport to become its pastor. There he preached with unabated fervor and success until his death in 1793. A second ministerial candidate at Hallowell during the year 1773 was the Rev. John Allen whom the town “voted to hire.’ Of this first resident minister of Hallowell, Miss Annie F. Page, in her valuable and interesting monograph on “The Old South Church at Hallowell,” writes as follows: “Mr. Allen seems to have been a preacher of righteousness, for in one of his discourses, he said he ‘would be glad to see morality and good works in their highest latitude. He stayed a few months — as long as the funds held out, indeed longer, for he left the town very much in his debt, which indebtedness was not canceled until after his death.” Other able candidates came and went. In 1775, Rev. Thurston Whiting preached a few Sabbaths. He is described as ‘a young man of prepossessing appearance, agreeable man- ners, cultivated mind, and of the orthodox faith.t He after- wards became the pastor of the church at Warren. In 1777, a call was given to the Rev. Caleb Jewett of Newburyport, a Dartmouth graduate, at a salary of eighty pounds a year, “corn to be taken for part payment at four shillings a bushel.” This call was declined. Mr. Jewett was followed by the Rev. John Prince, a Harvard graduate, who was also permitted to depart to other fields. In 1782, the long-talked of meeting-house was erected at the Fort village. It was while the building of this edifice was going on that the famous rencontre between Deacon Cony and Edward Savage took place. The story as quoted by North, from Judge Weston’s Reminiscences, is as follows: “On one occasion when the opposing parties became warm, it was necessary to take the sense of the meeting by 1 Annals of Warren, p. 175. 50 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec polling the house, ... when Deacon Cony, ‘a remarkably mild man,’ led the movement in favor of the measure by calling out as he went to one side of the room, ‘All who are on the Lord’s side follow me,’ while Edward Savage, a sturdy, strong man of rough manners, who was in the opposition and not to be put down by the Deacon’s appeal, called out, ‘All who are on the Devil’s side, follow me.’ The Deacon had the best company and the most followers, and carried the question.” After the erection of the meeting-house, there was another long-protracted period of candidacy. The Rev. Nathaniel Merrill, a Harvard graduate, and the Rev. Seth Noble, after- wards settled at Bangor, preached on trial. General Sewall was not pleased with either of these candidates. Then came the Rev. William Hazlitt, a notable English divine who preached at the new meeting-house fourteen Sabbaths. It seems very strange that this eminent English clergyman should have been passed over in the records with such scant notice. There is nothing to indicate who he was nor whence he came; but, of course, the town clerk could not at this time have known that Mr. Hazlitt was the father of a son destined to become a famous English critic and essayist, or that he was himself a man of exceptional gifts and graces. Mr. Hazlitt came to Hallowell with a letter of introduction from Mr. Samuel Vaughan of Boston; and was engaged to preach for two months. General Sewall, who was present at his first service, declared him an Arminian, and believed him an Arian. ‘ From such doctrines,” writes Sewall in his diary, “T turned away and met with a few brethren at Pettingill’s corner in the afternoon.” As Mr. Hazlitt was an avowed Unitarian, it could hardly be expected that his theological views would be supported by Mr. Sewall, or by a majority of the church members. We are therefore not surprised to learn that at the close of his three months candidacy he returned to Massachusetts, and was known no more in Hallowell. An interesting account of Mr. Hazlitt’s experiences in Hallowell is given by his daughter Margaret who in her diary wrote as follows : Religious Services of the Period 51 “In the autumn of this year (1785) Mr. Sam. Vaughan persuaded him to go to a new settlement on the Kennebec, called Hallowell, in the province of Maine, where Mr. Vaughan had a large tract of land and much interest in settling the township. This was in the midst of woods, with a few acres cleared round each farm, as usual in all their new places, which by degrees are changed from solitary woods to a fruitful land. At this time the wolves were near neighbors, and sometimes at night would come prowling about the place, making a dismal noise with their hideous barking; and as the doors were with- out locks, and my father slept on the ground floor, he used to fasten his door by putting his knife over the latch to prevent a visit from these wild beasts. “In this remote place he found a very respectable society, many of them genteel people. Here he preached a Thanks- giving sermon, which was afterwards printed in Boston. It was the custom in New England to preach one every year after harvest. He would have had no great objection to settl- ing with these people, but it would not have been eligible for his sons. John’s profession [miniature painting] was not wanted in the woods, where good hunters and husbandmen were more needed. He therefore, after spending the winter there, returned to us in the spring.” ! Mr. Hazlitt during his sojourn in this country, preached in Maine, Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Maryland. His influence in this country was not without some effect. In 1789, Rev. James Freeman wrote: “Before Mr. Hazlitt came to Boston, the Trinitarian doxology was almost universally used. That honest good man prevailed upon several respectable ministers to omit it. Since his departure, the number of those who repeat only scriptural doxologies has greatly increased, so that there are many churches in which the worship is strictly Unitarian.” ? Mr. Hazlitt returned to England with his family and died there in 1820. His son William became the famous English critic and essayist. If this boy had been brought up at 1 The Hazhitts in America a Century Since, Antiquary, 10; 139. 2 Note in Belsham’s Unitarianism,. 52 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec Hallowell, on the shores of the Kennebec, instead of in Old England, he would not have been entirely deprived of a literary atmosphere, but it is doubtful whether his talents would have developed in the same line as in his English home, and in association with Lamb, Shelley, Coleridge, and other congenial and gifted contemporaries. But although Mr. Hazlitt, accord- ing to his daughter’s journal, “had no great objections to settling with these people,” at Hallowell, the town voted to pay him seventy dollars for fourteen days’ preaching, including Thanksgiving, and permitted him to depart without a call.7 In 1786, another very remarkable man, the Rev. Isaac Forster, a Yale graduate, preached on probation and was invited to settle by a vote of “ fifty-seven for and four against.” General Sewall, as might have been expected, was one of the “four against; for, according to his views, Mr. Forster preached “poor doctrine.’ The strictly orthodox soul of the General was so stirred by the result of the church vote that he observed a private fast at Brother Daniel Pettingill’s and then entered a vigorous protest against the ordination of Mr. Forster. The protest was in vain and Mr. Forster was ordained. He remained for two years during which there was a constant conflict between the discordant parties in the church. We cannot wonder at this dissension when we consider the “rank discourses’? preached by Mr. Forster. From General Sewall’s protest we learn that Mr. Forster denied that Adam was created holy; he denied the total depravity of human nature in its unregenerate state, holding it only in extent and not in degree ; he did not believe in the doctrine of absolute, unconditional election; . . . and finally Mr. Forster held that the heathen who are destitute of the gospel really do their duty in their worship, even though they should hold to a plurality of deities. Mr. Forster was evidently imbued with the spirit of higher criticism in advance of his times; but notwithstanding this disqualification, he was duly ordained as pastor of the church in 1786. " North’s History of Augusta, p. 208. Religious Services of the Period 53 A very suggestive reference to this ordination was made by Judge Weston in an address delivered July 4th, 1854. “Among the resident citizens,” said Judge Weston, “there was a strong desire to enjoy the advantages of moral and religious instruction from the pulpit. This was given from time to time by occasional preachers, until the ordination of Rev. Isaac Forster, in 1786. I remember that event. I saw the assembled multitude in the meeting-house and on the contiguous grounds. It was the spectacle which interested me. I have no recollection of the services. There followed the feasting and hilarity at that time usual on such occasions. Pollard’s house resounded with music and dancing, kept up by relays of participants, quite beyond the endurance of a single set.” This vivid picture of the hilarity attending the ordination of a minister in these old days is not peculiar to the locality of old Hallowell, but is characteristic of the times. I find another illustration of the manner of celebrating this solemn function in the journal of good old Parson Smith of Falmouth, who, after attending the ordination of Mr. Foxcroft at New Gloucester, made this brief but significant entry in his diary: “A jolly ordination ; we lost sight of decorum.” The story of Mr. Forster’s pastorate discloses a constant conflict between the discordant parties of his church. At the end of two years Mr. Forster was forced to resign and the church was again left without a pastor. Other great and good men like Rev. Eliphalet Smith and Rev. Ezekiel Emerson occupied the pulpit from time to time, as candidates or supplies, and the statement has also been made, and frequently repeated, that the Rev. Adoniram Judson, the famous missionary to Burmah, preached at Hallowell in 1791. But Adoniram Judson, the missionary, was not born until 1788; and although he was a precocious youth and early devoted to the ministry, it hardly seems probable that he was candidating for the pulpit at the immature age of three years. It was doubtless the Rev. Adoniram Judson, Senior, the father of the missionary, who was Officiating as candidate in Hallowell in 1791. It must thus be admitted that the church of Hallowell, in 54 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec its embryonic days, had a very remarkable succession of able and distinguished candidates for its pulpit. Nevertheless, the community suffered from the disadvantages of this intermittent course of preaching, and from the lack of regularity and unanimity in its public worship. It was therefore a matter of rejoicing when the Rev. Mr. Stone was ordained over the church of the Middle Parish in 1794, and the Rev. Mr. Gillet, over the church of the South Parish in 1795. Such was the life of the people of Hook and Fort in Old Hallowell. It was a life made up, like that of which Emerson tells us, “ out of love and hatred; out of sickness and pain ; out of earnings, and borrowings, and lendings, and losses; out of wooing and worshipping; out of traveling, and voting, and watching, and caring.” It was a gradual development from the primitive conditions of the wilderness to the comforts, the refinements, and higher ideals of the nineteenth century. Through this experience, our forefathers attained their concep- tion of the ‘‘more serene and beautiful laws’’ of existence. Ancient Bounpary LINE Vv THE DIVISION OF THE TOWN “The rift was now fatally widening.”? — Captain Charles E. Nash. HE last decade of the eighteenth century was a most j eventful period in the history of Hallowell. From a small and scattered settlement of fifty families in the year 1775, the town had grown, in 1790, into two prosperous villages with a combined population of over eleven hundred inhabitants. During the next ten years, this double community made remarkable progress. Business flourished, important institutions were founded, great public enterprises were undertaken, and then, as a supreme climax to the inevitable rivalry of interests between the Fort and Hook, Hallowell was divided into two towns, in 1797. The years of this decade may very fittingly be called the eventful nineties. The first notable event of public interest during the memorable period between 1790 and 1800 was—after the development of the business interests of the town —the building of the court-house at the upper village in 1790. The next was the incorporation of the Hallowell Academy at the lower village in 1791. The establishment of this time-honored institution gave to the Hook great educational advantages, and was a potent factor not only in the intellectual but in the material advancement of the town. In 1794, the sessions of the Supreme Judicial Court of - + Massachusetts were established at Hallowell. As the court- house had been located at the Fort, the sittings of the Supreme Court were held in this part of the town; but the honor and glory of these occasions were so great that the Hook also shared in their radiated splendor. The first session convened July 8, 1794. This was a very grand and spectacular event. The judges present were Paine, Sumner and Dawes. They were accompanied by the most famous lawyers of the day, 56 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec among whom were Attorney General Sullivan, Theophilus Parsons, and Nathan Dane. The three sheriffs, each with his cocked hat, his glittering sword, and his long, white staff of office, were most imposing figures as they marshalled the grand procession of judges and jurists to the beating of the drum, and led them to the meeting-house,— since the court room proved too small to hold the vast assembly. The session of the Supreme Court was the occasion not only for the adjustment of all local claims but for choosing the representatives to the General Court and electors to the Federal Congress. It brought together prominent men well informed in state and national affairs, and also the gentry of the whole surrounding country, who, as Judge Weston tells us, “came to see and be seen and to enjoy the novelty and excite- ment of the occasion.” The sittings of the Supreme Court were therefore always attended by many social functions. The convivial feasting that began at all the small inns and the taverns of the town was repeated on a larger and more elegant scale in the homes of the prominent people. As the valley of the Kennebec, even at this early day, was famous for its able lawyers, the visiting barristers and judges were entertained in the homes of many brilliant men of their own profession. The coming of the members of the court therefore gave an added distinction to society in Hallowell, and both Fort and Hook shared in the prestige of the occasion. The year 1794 was also memorable for the establishment of a weekly mail from Portland, via Monmouth and Winthrop, to Hallowell ; for the division of the town into three parishes ; and for the ordination of Rev. Mr. Stone over the church of the Middle Parish. Another event of signal importance in 1794 was the found- ing of the first newspaper of Hallowell. This was the Eastern Star which for one short year shed its illuminating beams upon the shores of the Kennebec. In 1775, the Eastern Star was succeeded by a new paper with the somewhat alarming name of the Zocsim. Both of these papers were published at the Hook. A little later, in the year 1775, the Intelligencer was issued at the Fort. These papers The Division of the Town 57 were of great importance in bringing the people of the Kenne- bec in touch with the outside world, in elevating public senti- ment, and especially in moulding the political opinions of their readers at a critical time of our state and national history. In 1796, the famous Old South meeting-house was erected at the Hook, and the Rev. Eliphalet Gillet was duly installed as pastor. In this year also occurred the most exciting event that had thus far taken place in the history of the town. This was the granting of a charter for the building of the Kennebec Bridge at Fort Western. Finally, as a supreme climax to the story of the Hook and Fort, came the division of Hallowell into two towns, in the year 1797. This year is therefore a most memorable one in the history of both places. The causes that led to the division of the town of Hal- lowell are neither obscure nor difficult to understand, but are such as the impartial historian might readily anticipate. For the first few years after the incorporation of the town, both Fort and Hook were absorbed in the struggles and difficulties of all pioneer settlers, and the common needs of the people resulted in common measures for the good of the whole com- munity. In course of time, however, each of the two villages began to assume local importance; and the inhabitants of each neighborhood naturally desired to build up the center nearest their own homes. At the Fort, the lumber business was a source of marked prosperity ; but the Hook, on account of its very superior facilities for navigation, built up its agricultural, mercantile, and shipping interests, and soon surpassed its sister village in size and commercial prosperity. A strong spirit of rivalry thus grew up between the two sections of the town. The church privileges were also, from the first, coveted by both villages, but the early religious services were always held at the Fort. The first meeting-house was built at the Fort village, and the inhabitants of the Hook found it inconvenient to attend divine worship every Sunday. This was one of the earliest causes of dissatisfaction and dissension. 58 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec But the sharpest conflict between the two villages was in the administration of town affairs. Local politics ran high at both Fort and Hook. As long as the Fort held the leadership and was accorded the control of affairs, all went well; but when the Hook began to increase in size and prosperity and to have able men to represent its interests, it demanded its share in the public emoluments. A strong sectional feeling became apparent in all public transactions. This feeling grew with the growth of the town, and soon began to manifest itself in out- spoken rivalry. This spirit of rivalry was especially manifest at the town meetings where there were numerous minor questions at issue. Some of these questions were: Who were qualified to be voters, how many selectmen should be appointed, and where the town meetings should be held. North states that, at the annual meeting in 1793, “a violent attempt was made by the people at the Hook to remove the office of town clerk to that neighborhood, in which they were defeated by the election of Henry Sewall to that office by a majority of 18 votes.” The town records add that a protest was entered against the moder- ator of this meeting by which it was claimed that twenty-four persons eligible to vote were prevented from doing so by the action of the moderator. The last coup d’etat in this struggle was made in 1795, when ‘the Hook surprised the town meeting, assembled at the meeting-house, into an adjournment to meet, for the first and only time, at the Academy at the Hook. The Fort rallied its strength and adjourned back.’ The constable, at this time, was Jeremy Black, a popular young Scotchman, who was quite equal to the occasion. He was tall and straight, with an imposing figure. Dressed in his official costume, with shining buckles at the knees and upon his shoes, and with powdered hair tied in a cue, he majestically waved his wand of office, headed the victorious voters and marched them back to the village at the Fort. The foregoing statements represent the more serious aspect of the situation just before the division of the town. A few quotations from the columns of the /nte/ligencer, published The Division of the Town 59 at the Fort, and the Zocséz published at the Hook, will in their spirited but good-natured thrusts quite as plainly disclose the trend of public sentiment. In April of this year, 1796, there were lying at anchor at Fort Western, the surprisingly large number of fifteen sloops and schooners, among which were the Phebe and the J7wo Brothers belonging to the Howards. The Jutelligencer proudly published a list of the vessels with their tonnage and the names of their commanders. In response to this, the 7ocszz made a few pithy remarks in its next issue. I copy from the ancient files of this paper now preserved in the Hubbard Free Library, the following ‘editorial’ which appeared under date of May 3, 1796: ““We see in the /ntelligencer, a paper printed at a village, two miles and a half above this place, a pompous account of the arrival of shipping at Fort Western.’”’ [This, as the Tocsin states in a foot-note, is a village which derives its name from a block house that is still standing and makes a respectable part of the settlement.] ‘Had it been a thing uncommon or worthy of public notice we might have given our readers earlier information that these vessels named and many others all safely arrived at this port from sea; and this week we might have added, that being favored with a freshet which brought the waters 6 feet above high-water mark, part of the fleet seized the opportunity of a strong southerly wind and run their hazard to Fort Western. “ Considering that many gentlemen abroad may have their interest concerned in such desperate navigation, we think it our duty to inform them that the larger vessels have prudently fallen down without their lading to this port, and although they got aground, we are happy to add no material damage occurred — doubtless the rest will take into consideration the propriety of hastening their departure to the Hook. ‘“*N.B. Those who have concern for the ships of 17 tons there mentioned may feel easy, for if the freshet should fall the navigation will be as usual— the men may get out & push such vessels over the shoals.” 60 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec The editor of the /ztelligencer, “hearing a few discordant notes from the Alarm Bell, alias the Tocszn,” makes a witty reply. He admits that “the ship Betsey of three hundred and seventeen tons and drawing about nine feet of water which was launched at this place a few days since, unfortunately struck on the shoalest ground between Fort Western and the entrance of the Kennebec,” but is happy to add, that “through the friend- ly exertions of the editors of the Zocszx, she was fortunately pushed over the shoals and received no material injury.” The Intelligencer adds: ‘‘We hope they will render the same friendly assistance should the Montezuma of three hundred tons which will be launched on Wednesday next by Messrs. Howard, meet the like accident. We however congratulate the public on the fair prospect of this bar — which is an obstruction to the navigation of large vessels to Fort Western,— the head of navigation, being shortly removed, as we understand a sub- scription for that purpose is on foot and will be doubtless accomplished next summer ; as also the Kennebec bridge will in all probability be erected at that time.” Here are two very pointed thrusts at the Hook: the appar- ently casual mention of Fort Western as the head of navigation, and the triumphant announcement of the coveted Kennebec bridge. The Jntelligencer then adds: “These important objects when accomplished must at once decide on the decline of the increasing importance of the Hook village below.” The question of building the bridge and of the place of its location now proved to be the supreme issue between the Fort and the Hook. The necessity of a bridge across the Kennebec, for purposes of travel and trade, was most obvious to all con- cerned ; but the people of the two villages could not agree as to its location. North tells us that the Fort claimed the location on the ground that the bridge would be at the head of the tide and not obstruct navigation. The people of the Hook declared they were at the head of navigation and their village was the only suitable place for the erection of the bridge. Each village had its able and loyal advocates. A petition signed by Samuel Howard and others for an act authorizing 1 North’s History of Augusta, p. 276. The Division of the Town 61 them to build a bridge at Fort Western, was presented to the legislature. Daniel Cony, Senator, and James Bridge, Repre- sentative, used all their influence in behalf of the Fort. The Hook was represented by Mr. Charles Vaughan, a most able advocate who had strong personal and political influence both at home and in Massachusetts. The petition was referred by the Legislature to a commit- tee of which Captain Choate was chairman. It appears from the records that Captain Choate had once visited the Kenne- bec while in the coasting trade; and that he expressed to Dr. Cony the opinion that Fort Western was the only suitable place for the bridge. We cannot now tell how far the members of the committee were influenced by the opinion of the chair- man, but they decided in favor of Fort Western; and an act incorporating a company, with authority to build the bridge at this place, was passed on February 8th, 1796. This was a great and bitter disappointment to the people of the Hook who had long, in their imagination, seen the Kennebec spanned by a noble bridge connecting their yillage with the opposite shores. It was vehemently protested that this was the best place for the bridge, both on account of the natural advantages of the location and the requirements of the public ; but this protest was without avail. This heated contest resulted in the culmination of sectional feeling between the two villages, and was soon followed by the division of Hallowell into two separate towns. By an act of the Legislature on February 2oth, 1797, the town of Hallowell was divided and nearly two-thirds of its territory and about one-half of its taxable property were set off for a new town. The dividing line passed just south of Howard’s Hill on the west side of the river and north of the Davenport grant on the east side. The new town, at the suggestion of Hon. Amos Stoddard, was named Harrington, in honor of Lord Harrington, an eminent English statesman. This name was soon corrupted into “Herringtown,’’ and became a term of derision. Bo Q4 Old Hallowell on the Kennzbe oe ow “| 4 94 oe 5 minently fitted to become the mistress of in Cambridge where, for sO many years, she dispensed a mosi sracious haspit2 Most STsac r itality. The children of Wiliam Manning and Anne Warren Vaughan are Benjamin and William Warren Vaughan. Mr. Benjamin Vaughan marmied Anna Goodwin, daughter of Daniel Raynes Goodwin, D. D., of Philadelphia. They have two children, Bertha Hallowell Vaughan and Henry Goodwin Mr. William Warren Vaughan marmied Ellen Parkman, daughter of Dr. Samuel and Mary arkman of Boston. The children of this marmage Eliot Vaughan and Samuel Vaughan. a ws , ps ty ry > typical English gentleman, of courteous reading, benevolent disposition, and com- pint. But while Dr. Benjamin Vaughan may be especially characterized as a student and philosopher, Charlies Vaughan was preéminently a man of action with indomitable energy and large capacity for business affairs. He came to Hallowell as early as 1701, and “formed magnifi- cent plans to make that town, then only a small village, the ead of navigation and commerce for the Kennebec.” No one who has traced the early growth and prosperity of Hallowell can fail to discern the direct influence of Charles Vaughan, and the results of his energetic and enthusiastic usiness efforts. The very fact of his coming to Hallowell gave a quick and healthy stimulus to the town. It is stated by Mr. Wilham Allen, the Normdgewock historian, that “when it became known that the Vaughans were to settle here, high expectations were excited throughout the country even to the extreme settlements on the Sandy river. ... Men of influence from the best towns, far and near, ship-builders, merchants, and traders, men of all professions, | mechanics, and industrious workmen, came in thrones ‘he place, some to erect buildings and engage in trade and Cuaruis VaucHan, Esa. The Vaughan Family 95 navigation and some to find employment. The place increased rapidly in wealth and numbers.” “Mr. Vaughan,” writes Mr. Allen, “built the wharf at the Hook, and a store and warehouses, and a brewery, with -the hope that beer might be used instead of ardent spirits, and improve the habits of the intemperate, but he failed to accom- plish his object. He employed a great number of men, built work shops and dwelling houses for the accommodation of his workmen, built a house and barn and put in order a farm for his homestead, a pleasant situation half a mile back, cleared up a large farm two miles back from the river, stocked it with the best breeds of animals, importing some from England which were highly recommended in English publications, . . . pro- cured a skilful English farmer to take the oversight of his farm, Samuel Stantial, who planted an orchard of choice fruit, made a fine garden, and kept everything in the neatest order, exceeding anything I had ever seen before, when I visited him in 1807. His English cherry trees were just beginning to bear and look beautifully. We saw a large box of scions which the day before had been received after a two month’s passage from Liverpool. ... Mr. Vaughan spared no expense to promote the agricultural interests of the country; did more than any other individual, before any agricultural society was formed in the state, to improve the breed of stock and swine and to furnish scions to improve our orchards. The farmers not only in Hallowell, Winthrop, and Readfield, were greatly benefitted by his efforts but some at a distance of fifty miles where I have seen the best stock and swine and the best apples to be found in the state, as a result of his efforts.” ' Mr. Vaughan was also actively and keenly interested in all the educational and religious movements of the town. He was one of the founders and trustees of the Hallowell Academy and did much to establish and promote the success of that institu- tion. He was a generous supporter of the Old South church and a constant attendant at its services. It has been fittingly said that “it was his greatest desire to do good, and never was he more happy than when he conferred happiness upon others.” t Col, Me. Hist. Soc. Vol. VII, p. 278. 96 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec Mr. Charles Vaughan married, in 1774, Frances Western Apthorp, daughter of John Apthorp of Boston. Mrs, Vaughan was a very beautiful woman with rare qualities of mind and character. In her girlhood she had enjoyed unusual educational and social advantages in her home-life and in travel with other members of the Apthorp family. She was the sister of Hannah Apthorp, wife of Charles Bulfinch, the eminent architect, and mother of Thomas Bulfinch, author of Zhe Age of Fable. A charming description of the early life of Frances and Hannah Apthorp in their Boston home, and of their journey to Phila- delphia to witness the inauguration of Washington is given by Miss Ellen Susan Bulfinch in her Life and Letters of Charles Bulfinch, Architect. Mr. and Mrs. Charles Vaughan resided for a while in the old mill house near the Vaughan stream. It was there that they entertained Talleyrand and the young Frenchman who was supposed to be Louis Philippe, afterwards King of Irance. A few years later Mr. Vaughan erected the house on the Vaughan road, now the home of the French family. This house, as originally built by Mr. Vaughan, was an attractive story and a half cottage, of ample dimensions and very spacious on the ground floor. Although the house bas been remodeled, it still retains its broad stone hearths, its old- time mantle-pieces, quaint cup-boards, and other features of its original design. This house was always the abode of good cheer and genuine hospitality. The influence of the refined, simple, and idyllic home life that went on for many years within its walls, was felt throughout a large circle of friends and neighbors. In simplicity, in courtesy, in kindly cheer, and in the unaffected enjoyment of music, art, and literature as daily clements of life, the inmates of the Vaughan home set an example that gave an ideal tone to society in Hallowell. The children of Charles and Frances Apthorp Vaughan were: 1. John Apthorp, b. October 13, 1795; m. August 22, 1826, Harriet Merrick; d. June 5, 1865. \Irs. Frances APTHORP VAUGHAN The Vaughan Family 97 2. Harriet, b. April 15, 1802; m. May 18, 1828, Rev. Jacob Abbott; d. September 11, 1843. 3. Charles, b. November I, 1804; m. July 19, 1832, Mary Susan Abbot; d. February 6, 1878. 4. Hannah Frances, b. January 20, 1812; m. 1836, Rev. Seth Sweetser; d. May 10, 1855. The Rev. John Apthorp Vaughan, son of Charles and Frances Apthorp Vaughan, was a worthy representative of this eminent family. He graduated at Bowdoin College in 1815, and later in life received the degree of Doctor of Divinity from Columbia College. In his early manhood he was the beloved and revered teacher of the Female Academy in Hallowell. He subsequently took orders in the Episcopal Church. On his death in Philadelphia in 1865, The Episcopal Recorder closed a tribute to his memory in these words: ‘To this holy man the Church of the Mediator owes a large debt of gratitude. He was the friend, father, and benefactor of it. He was a generous, self-denying soldier of the Cross, the first rector of that church, and much lamented at his death.” Mr. Charles Vaughan, the second son of Charles and Frances Apthorp Vaughan, perpetuated the traditions and customs of his father’s family, and cherished through life a warm regard for the home of his childhood. He was one of the earliest and most liberal benefactors of the Social Library, and was interested in all that promoted the welfare of his native town. Pleasant and grateful memories of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Vaughan will long be preserved in Hallowell. The Vaughan family is now represented in Hallowell by the two brothers, Benjamin and William Warren Vaughan, who are the lineal descendants of Dr. Benjamin Vaughan and the present owners of the Vaughan estate. During the summer season the families of Benjamin and William Vaughan occupy the old mansion house upon the Vaughan estate, and maintain an ideal hospitality in the same spirit in which it was established by their ancestors a hundred years ago. 98 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec Of the devoted attachment of the Vaughan family to the old town and of their continued interest in its welfare, it is not necessary to speak. There are visible evidences of this in their numerous and generous public benefactions. The library has many generous bequests from their hands. The granite drinking fountains at the northern and southern ends of the business street are the expression of their thoughtful benefi- cence; and the massive granite bridge upon the Vaughan road, which was presented to the city of Hallowell, in 1905, by Benjamin and William Warren Vaughan in remembrance of their father, William Manning Vaughan, will remain for untold generations a monument, in enduring stone, to the loyalty and munificence of the House of Vaughan. Tue VaucHAn Memortar Brince VIII JOHN MERRICK, ESQ. “‘His was a noble mind, a noble heart, anda noble life. His faults were few; his enemies none.”—D. R. Goodwin, D. D. HE name of John Merrick is closely associated with j that of Dr. Benjamin Vaughan and of Charles Vaughan, Esq. These first representatives of the Merrick and Vaughan families in Hallowell came from England at about the same time and settled side by side on the banks of the Kennebec. Their families were intimately connected by intermarriage and personal associations. They had many important characteristics in common. Their essential prin- ciples, their views of life, and their manner of living were very similar; yet each of the founders of these families had a marked individuality, and in the character of no one of them does this individuality stand out with more prominence than in that of John Merrick. Mr. Merrick’s contemporaries all agree in the assertion that he was a remarkable man. He came to Hallowell in his early manhood, and went in and out among our people, living an open, blameless life, until he reached the extreme and honored age of ninety-five years. Gifted in an unusual and varied degree, and imbued with the most lofty ideals, he was nevertheless very sane and practical in the administration of affairs, and presents to us the type of an honest, judicial, and useful citizen whose influence constantly made for the up- lifting of the community in which he dwelt. A Memoir of John Merrick, Esq. written by D. R. Goodwin, D. D., Provost of the University of Pennsylvania, most worthily portrays the life and character of this eminent early resident of Hallowell; and to this Memoir, I am indebted for much of the material included in this sketch. The Merrick family was of Welch origin and can be traced 100 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec back to the days of King John. The name has been spelled in various ways from the Meuric, Meyric, Meric, or Merick of the earlier generations to the Merrick of the present day. One of the members of this family, named Meuric, was “esquire to the body of Henry VII, and captain of the guard to Henry VIII.” A grandson of this Meuric, and an ancestor of John Merrick of Hallowell, was Sir Gelly Meyric, or Meric, of Pembroke, Knight of the Shire in the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Mr. John Merrick was born in London, August 27, 1766. He was the son of Samuel Merrick who died in 1767, leaving his young wife with two children, Samuel and John. Mrs. Mary Merrick, the widow of Samuel Merrick, married Mr. William Roberts of Kidderminster, who became a faithful father to these two boys. The elder brother, Samuel, being strong and active, was educated for a merchant; but the younger brother, John, having a more delicate constitution, was designed for the ministry. He received a thorough classical training during his course of eight years in the Grammar School at Kidderminster, and afterwards studied divinity under the celebrated Dr. Belsham by whose liberal theological views John Merrick was strongly influenced in his earlier years. Having completed his divinity course, Mr. Merrick preached as a /zcentzate for two years at Stamford, but was never ordained to the ministry. From 1794 to 1797, he resided with the family of Dr. Benjamin, Vaughan, in the capacity of tutor; and in 1795 he accompanied Mrs. Vaughan and her children to New England and spent fifteen months with them in Little Cambridge before coming with the family to Hallowell. In 1797, Mr. Merrick returned to England where, in April, 1798, he married Rebecca Vaughan, daughter of Samuel Vaughan, and sister of Dr. Benjamin and Charles Vaughan, and brought his bride at once to Hallowell. Here he built and occupied‘the spacious cottage which stands upon one of the most beautiful sites in the town, and which is still known as the Merrick Cottage. At the time of his coming to Joun Merrick, Esq. John Merrick, Esq. 101 Hallowell, the village was rapidly increasing in population; and Mr. Merrick entered most heartily into the spirit of the place and devoted all his energies to the promotion of the public welfare. He was especially interested in the cause of education. In 1802, he was appointed one of the trustees of the Hallowell Academy; and for the remainder of his long life, he devoted himself to the interests of this school. “He exerted himself in enlarging and husbanding the resources of the institution, in securing the best instruction, in aiding and encouraging the preceptors, in attending examinations, and in stimulating the intellectual energies, and the manlier and finer feelings of the students by his instructive, exciting, and genial exhortations.” He was made president of the board of trustees in 1829, and continued in this post until his death. Mr. Merrick was also a member of the board of overseers of Bowdoin College from 1805 to 1851. In the affairs of the town, with which he had cast his lot, Mr. Merrick showed himself a truly loyal and public-spirited citizen. He served ably and conscientiously as selectman, as surveyor of highways, and as overseer of the poor. He was also for some years cashier of the Hallowell Bank. He was exact and honorable in all of his business dealings and com- manded the highest esteem and confidence of his fellow townsmen. In 1810, a project was started for the opening of a road from the Kennebec to the Chaudiére and thence to Quebec, which, it was thought, would greatly increase the business of this region and open an avenue from the Atlantic to Canada. This was the dream that allured the minds of all of our early settlers; the vision that dazzled their imagination, aroused their ambition, and led them to look forward to a most success- ful future for the little town on the Kennebec. The plan seemed at the time most feasible and practicable. On March 8, 1810, a board of commissioners was appointed by Governor Gore to examine this route and report upon its condition and the probable success of the undertaking. Mr. John Merrick was appointed a member of this commission. Mr. Merrick entered upon this work with the energy and 102 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec enthusiasm that characterized all of his efforts, whether in public or private life; and the story of his journey to Quebec over the old trail of the Abenaki Indians, is one of peril, hard- ship, adventure, and exciting interest. The party consisted of the three commissioners, a sur- veyor, an Indian guide, and several men to carry the luggage and provisions. Mr. Merrick also took with him a young man from Hallowell, named David Morgan, as a personal attendant. “When they reached the Canada line, the two other commissioners, alleging that they had completed the work assigned them by the General Court, took the surveyor, the assistants, and the provisions with them, and returned ; leaving Mr. Merrick, with Morgan and the Indian guide, to go on to Quebec, assuring him that he need take no food with him for his return through the wilderness, as they would deposit an abundant supply on the way. Arrived at Quebec, the Governor invited him to dine, and ride with the ladies to Montmorenci. For a catastrophe so unexpected he was quite unprepared, being only in his rough camping dress, fresh from the wood. So he called on a French house to put him in trim, suggesting a white shirt, at which Monsieur shrugged,—a collar and bosom were all the case required.”’ * “After a week in Quebec, business being in train, the three again took to the bush. But, on reaching the place of the promised deposit, they found to their consternation that no provisions had been left for them. «\s it was, a few cakes of portable soup and a few beans were all their store for a tramp of several days through the wilderness. The Indian left soon after, refusing to touch a particle of their scanty supply. ‘No, no; give me the fish-hook; me Indian.’ So in consideration of his own superior resources in difficult circumstances, he had pity for the poor white man.”’ * The results of this expedition were not such as were desired and ardently hoped for by the inhabitants of the Kennebec valley. The reasons for this are explained in the 1 Memoir of John Merrick, Esq., pp. 16-17. 2 Memotr of John Merrick, Esg., p. 18 John Merrick, Esq. 103 following extract from a document furnished by Mr. Robert H. Gardiner to Professor Goodwin: “My father gave Mr. Merrick a letter of introduction to Sir James Craig, Governor of Canada, with whom he had been formerly acquainted. The Governor received him courteously, and highly approved the object; and, through his influence, that portion of the road lying in Canada was completed; and the State of Massachusetts had the road made from the forks of the Kennebec River to the Canada line. A mail was established on the route, and a custom house on the boundary. The advantages expected from the opening of this route were not realized. The road for along distance passed through a barren country. There was a distance of forty miles with only a single house, and no soil sufficiently good to tempt any one to build a second. Few persons, either for pleasure or traffic, would go over the road where, in case of accident, aid could not be obtained. And the railroads which have since been constructed through Vermont and Maine to Canada, have given to the Canadians much greater facilities to the ports on the Atlantic than could be obtained by a road through the wilderness.” ? In his personal characteristics, tastes, and accomplishments, Mr. Merrick was a most remarkable and versatile man. He possessed a rare combination of genuine, practical, scientific ability with the more esthetic qualities of a connoisseur in all matters literary and artistic. In the development of his scien- tific impulses Mr. Merrick acquired a thorough knowledge of many branches of study. He was an accurate mathematician, surveyor, and navigator. He devoted much time to the study of astronomy, and invented a new practical method for mapping out the heavens. He was one of the first in this country who detected the planet Uranus with the naked eye. His interest in geology amounted toa passion. He prepared two lectures on this subject which he gave before the members of the famous old Hallowell Lyceum. He had also a thorough knowl- 1 Memoir of John Merrick, Esg., pp. 15-16. 104 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec edge of anatomy, and in cases of necessity proved himself an excellent surgeon.'. With all this, Mr. Merrick possessed the most highly cultivated literary and musical tastes. His talent for music had been developed from his childhood; and his musical gifts proved a great source of pleasure to his friends as well as to himself. He “played the violincello with extra- ordinary neatness, accuracy, and depth of tone, and until quite late in life, he sang with great sweetness. His knowledge of music was sczentific; and for many years he was President of the Handel society of Maine. In 1817, in connection with the late Chief Justice Mellen, who was Vice-President of the Society, he compiled a book of sacred music, which was published under the title of the ‘Hallowell Collection of Sacred Music,’ arranged for use in churches and families and well adapted for that purpose. It was due mainly to his strenuous efforts and intelligent guidance that the choir of the Old South Church in Hallowell became one of the most effective choirs in the country.” * Mr. Merrick was also master of the art of elocution in a day when good reading was a rare accomplishment; and he did much to encourage the cultivation of this art among the young people within his large circle of influence. It was a characteristic of Mr. Merrick that whatever he did, he did well. This applied to his physical as well as his mental accomplishments. He was ‘an inimitable skater and swimmer, an admirable horseman, and an expert driver. If he paddled a birch canoe, no Indian could do it better. If he danced, no Frenchman could excel him.” Professor Goodwin pays to Mr. Merrick this personal tribute: “His notions of honesty were almost romantic, and his sense of honor intensely delicate. His kindness and liberality were bounded only by his means. . . . His wasa singularly pure life. . . . He was a strikingly humble and earnest, a devout and growing Christian. . . . None ever saw him to forget him; none ever became intimately acquainted with him without respecting and loving him.” * Memoir of John Merrick, Esq., p. 25. Saige to Ms vg “9 7° sig a m * N ah ‘ety. if aig av Bey TS Ri 8 1 a om Tim Merrick Cortacr. NortH AND SoutH VIEW John Merrick, Esq. 105 There are not a few people still living, among the old residents of Hallowell, who remember Mr. Merrick; and they will all recognize this description of this remarkable man as perfectly true in letter and in spirit. I well remember him myself, as he appeared in our midst in the days of my own childhood. His erect, impressive figure, his long, gray hair, his genial smile, his kindly twinkling eyes, and his pleasant word for every child remain vividly impressed upon my mind. Wherever he appeared upon the street he never failed to attract attention through his strong personality and distinguished bearing. The portrait of Mr. Merrick painted by C. L. Elliott, in 1856, a copy of which accompanies this sketch, will always remain a true representation of serene, revered, and beautiful old age. Mr. John Merrick was born August 27, 1766, and died October 22, 1862. His wife, Rebecca Vaughan Merrick was born April 26, 1766, and died July 9, 1851. Their children were: 1. Harriet Sarah, b. June 19, 1799; m. August 22, 1826, John A. Vaughan; d. January 26, 1872. 2. Samuel Vaughan, b. May 4, 1801; m. December 25, 1823, Sarah Thomas; d. August 18, 1870. 3. John, b. January 22, 1804; d. November 3, 1832. 4. Mary, b. December 16, 1805; m. October 23, 1843, John P, Flagg; d. 1880. 5. George, b. November 1, 1809; d. May 7, 1862. 6. Thomas Belsham, b. April 24, 1813; m. November 7, 1839, Elizabeth M. White; d. January 13, 1902. The children of Samuel Vaughan and Sarah Thomas Merrick were: Helen Taylor, m. John Edmund Cope; John Vaughan, m. Mary S. Wagner; William Henry, m. Sarah Maria Otis; Emily Houghton; Lucy Whitwell; Hartley; Laura Town. - The children of Thomas Belsham and Elizabeth White Merrick were: John; William Gordon, m. Annie Dwight Brown; Isabella, m. George Sampson; Elizabeth, m. Charles E. Morgan; Hallowell V.; Bertha V.; Lleulla, m. Walter Clark. 106 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec The ancestral residence of the Merrick family, erected by John Merrick in 1799, still stands beneath its majestic elms in a beautiful location at the southern end of the town. It isa spacious cottage built on the model of the best English farm- houses. The front door of the house opens into a long hall which is also used as a library. Its walls are lined with book-shelves protected by wooden doors. Upon these shelves may still be found valuable volumes that once belonged to that scholarly book-lover, Mr. John Merrick. Here also is the ancestral Bible of the Merrick family, bearing the date 1732, and con- taining a bookplate engraved with the Merrick coat of arms. A unique feature of the house is the curious, narrow, winding stairway leading to its quaint, low-roofed chambers. The greatest attraction of the house, however, is the octagon room. This delightful, odd-shaped apartment is rendered most inviting by its old-fashioned fireplace and ancient furnishings. From its windows there are glimpses of the river, and of Augusta, its church towers, the State House dome, and the hills beyond. This room, which is of especial interest from the rareness and symmetry of its architectural style, was, at the time it was built, the only room of its kind in this locality; but a beautiful, finely proportioned room of a similar design has, in recent years, been added to the Vaughan mansion in Hallowell. The Merrick house passed at one time out of the posses- sion of the Merrick family, and was owned by Captain Swanton and afterwards by Governor Bodwell. It has now, happily, been purchased by Henry Vaughan, Esq., the son of Benjamin Vaughan, and a lineal descendant through his maternal line, from Samuel Merrick, the brother of Mr. John Merrick. Mr. Vaughan has restored the house as nearly as possible to its original condition, the long piazza on the east side being now the only modern innovation. Such a house, with its many hallowed associations, is a rare and valuable possession, not only to its owner, but to the town that claims it among the oldest and most interesting of its ancient dwellings. Henry Goopwin VaucHan, Esa. IX REPRESENTATIVE FAMILIES “No town in Maine could boast a more select and charming circle.’— Hon. John H. Sheppard. MONG the men who were prominent and influential in Hallowell in the early part of the nineteenth century, was Hon. Nathaniel Dummer. At the age of thirty- four, in the prime of his young manhood, he came from Newburyport, with his wife and family, to make his home on the shores of the Kennebec. It is at once apparent that Nathaniel Dummer possessed those mental and moral qualities which enabled him to take a dominant part in all the affairs of the town and state. We find his name associated with all the early movements for the public good. He appears in office as the first postmaster of the Hook, as moderator of the town meetings, and as one of the most efficient trustees of the Hallowell Academy. The part which he took in the broader field of legislative and judicial life is told in a tribute to his memory penned by one of the ablest of his contemporaries, Mr. Nathaniel Cheever, who -writes as follows: “Judge Dummer was born in Byfield, March 9, 1755. He was educated at Dummer Academy. At an early age he engaged in the Revolutionary war, and having been appointed a commissioner of prisoners, he was stationed at Providence, R. I, where he married Mary Kilton, a widow, with one daughter, Sarah, now Mrs. John O. Page, of this town. In 1789, he came to Hallowell and contributed with others to raise it from its infancy to its present flourishing condition. Endowed by nature with strong mental powers, they were displayed in a variety of public offices which he sustained with honor to himself and to the general advantage and satisfaction. He was for a number of years a member of the legislature, as a 108 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec Representative of the town and Senator for the county, and always took an active and conspicuous part in the concerns of the State, particularly of this district. No one was more sincerely and disinterestedly engaged in the interests of his constituents, and in no instance was their confidence misplaced. In 1809, he was elected by the legislature into the Executive Council of the Commonwealth, of which he was an active and efficient member. In 1799, when the county was divided from Lincoln, he was appointed one of the justices of the Court of Common Pleas, which office he filled until its abolition in 1811. “As a legislator, active magistrate, and judge, he was distinguished by an acuteness, penetration, and comprehensive- ness of mind; an intuitive sagacity which procured him a reputation and position which few with a long life of labor and study have obtained, and none without the most spotless integrity; and above all he possessed a practical good sense. On commercial and political subjects his information was extensive and his views enlarged. He was ever a firm and undeviating supporter of the Washington Policy. Engaged as he had been in political affairs, and zealous in what he believed the cause of truth, his warmest political opponents never doubted his honesty and purity of intentions. Many sought his advice and direction in difficultics, and never sought in vain; for they had the utmost confidence in his judgment and not less in his rectitude. His activity of mind, his public spirit, and industrious habits, were con- spicuous traits of his character.” Nathaniel Dummer was the son of Richard and Judith Dummer of Newbury, and a lineal descendant of Richard Dummer, Esq., who emigrated from England to this country in 1633. Nathaniel Dummer married August 1, 1799, Mrs. Mary (Owen) Kilton (or Kelton), of Providence, Rhode Island. Their children were: Joseph Owen, b. March 5, 1780; m. Judith G. Dummer, daughter of Richard Dummer; Judith Greenleaf, b. March 5, 1780, d. March 19, 1783; Gorham, b. September 27, 1782, m. Sarah Abbott of Concord; Maria, b. Mrs. Mary Kiiron DUMMER Jupce NATHANIEL DUMMER Dummer 109 February 15, 1787, m. September 3, 1811, Jeremiah Perley of Hallowell. The marriage of Judge Dummer and Mrs. Mary Kilton was preceded by a romantic courtship, the glamour of which still lingers about the story of their lives. During the war of the Revolution, Nathaniel Dummer, then a young lieutenant in the Continental army, was stationed at Providence, Rhode Island. One day a pretty little seven-year old girl, attracted by the fascinating pomp and circumstance of military life, strayed into the soldiers’ camp. The child had a delectable half-eaten doughnut in her hand. The young officer was hungry. Visions of his childhood’s home in old Newbury, and of the crisp, brown dainties from his mother’s frying-pan flitted through his brain. “Come here, little girl,” said he. ‘Where did you get that doughnut?” “My mother made it,” replied the child. “Take me to her!” exclaimed the young officer in a dramatic tone. ‘Mayhap she will make me a doughnut also!”’ When the pretty young widow, Mistress Mary Kilton, looked out from her cottage window a few minutes later, she saw a handsome young soldier coming to the house leading her little daughter Sally by the hand. The negotiations for the doughnuts were successful; and the young widow earned many sixpences during the next few weeks by the results of her culinary art. This new source of income proved, for the time, very acceptable to Mrs. Kilton, who, by the death of her patriotic young husband at the beginning of the war, had been left without adequate means of support. Four years of widowhood had passed; but Mary Kilton was still young and beautiful, with a tenderer grace than that of girlhood. The lieutenant’s heart was deeply touched. The quest of the doughnut soon changed to the wooing of a bride; and Lieutenant Nathaniel Dummer and Mary Kilton were married, in Providence, August 1, 1779. The young patriot remained in his country’s sérvice until the close of the war. In 1789, he removed to Hallowell with his wife and five children, including the little Sally whom he loved as his own 110 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec daughter. We have learned of the success and honor that here crowned his life. We also know of the charm and happiness of the Dummer home, and of its refining and helpful influence in the social life of the rapidly growing village at the Hook. In this home little Sally Kilton grew into beautiful young womanhood and married one of the wealthiest and most distin- guished residents of old Hallowell, Mr. John Odlin Page. Judge Dummer died in Hallowell, September 15, 1815; and ‘“‘seldom,” as the old records tell us, “has a death in this part of the country produced a more general sympathy.’ His widow, who survived him for a number of years, was much beloved and respected in the community. A great-granddaughter of Mrs. Mary Kilton Dummer, Miss Sophia B. Gilman, still has in her possession a beautiful ring which was once worn upon the hand of her revered ancestress a century ago. This ring is not only a treasured souvenir of olden days, but a visible sign of the verity of this old romance of the Revolution. Captain John Sheppard, an English gentleman of good birth and breeding, was born at Cirencester, an ancient walled town in Gloucestershire, England, where his ancestors had lived for many generations. Having received an excellent education, he entered the counting-room of a London merchant and prepared himself for mercantile pursuits. In his early manhood, he married Sarah Collier of London, a beautiful young English girl who had been educated in a French convent and who was especially remarkable for her musical talent. This interesting couple, allured by the favorable commercial prospects of the time in this new country, emigrated with their two children to Philadelphia, in 1791, and thence to Hallowell on the Kennebec. One of the two children of Mr. and Mrs. Sheppard was the bright and gifted boy, born March 17, 1789, afterwards well and widely known as the Hon. John H. Sheppard. To his writings we are indebted for many interesting reminiscences of Hallowell and especially for accurate information in regard to Sheppard III the members of the Sheppard family and their home life in Hallowell. “For several years,” writes Hon. John H. Sheppard, “my father was engaged in trade at the ‘Hook,’ so called from a peculiar bend in the river about half a mile below the chief settlement where our old red house stood on a high bank, facing a long stretch of water. . . This old red house— where the margin of the parlor fire-place was once adorned with Dutch porcelain tiles, covered with scripture paintings, and some of whose apartments were said to be haunted—has all disappeared; and the romance ofa habitation, once gladdened by so many genial visitors, has vanished away.” In this old home presided over by a mother who has been described by one who knew her as “a woman of elegant symmetry and beauty,” and who had a “voice of music,” the children of the Sheppard family were reared. The two oldest children, John Hannibal, and Harriet Helen, were born in England; the five younger children, George Albert, Frances, Ann Augusta, Louisa, and William, were born in Hallowell. The father, as well as the mother, took great pains with the education of these children. He purchased for his eldest son a library containing Goldsmith’s histories of Greece, Rome, and England, besides many other books, including an edition of Plutarch’s lives in seven volumes illustrated with fine plates. This library in itself must have been of inestimable advantage to all the children of the Sheppard family. “My father,” writes this elder son, “also taught me to commit to memory by making me learn every day as a task a number of lines of Goldsmith’s Deserted Village, his Traveller, and other simple but beautiful pieces of poetry. He was himself an uncommonly fine reader; and it seems to me that even now I can see his noble form as he paced the parlor floor,—his eye which was dark, kindling with animation beneath a high, white forehead, —holding a book in his hand, and reciting to me some of the exquisite lines of Goldsmith, while I held his hand, following with timid steps and repeating after him.” Other kindly and elevating influences entered into the home life of the Sheppard family. The Sheppards had many 112 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec warm friends in the cultured social circle of Kennebec valley. “Among them,” writes Mr. John H. Sheppard, “was that finished, classic scholar and man of genius, the late Rev. John S.C. Gardiner, D. D., rector of Trinity Church, under whose care I was at college, and to whom I am indebted for a love of choice reading and literature which have a perennial consolation and support in all changes of fortune. The Hon. Benjamin Vaughan, LL. D., who settled in Hallowell soon after my father, was another friend; and the friendship of such a man to him and his family, and particularly to myself, is among the halcyon recollections of my life.” After living for some years in Hallowell, Mr. John Sheppard met with financial reverses, and closing his business, went out as supercargo on a ship to the East Indies. During this adventurous voyage, of four years, Mr. Sheppard acquired a knowledge of ‘navigation and linear calculation” that enabled him to take command of a vessel himself. On his return from a second voyage to the East Indies, he spent one winter with his family in Hallowell, and then assumed command of a brig belonging to William O. Vaughan, which was loaded with lumber for the Barbadoes. He reached the destined port in safety; but the homeward voyage proved most disastrous. The vessel was driven on the reefs between the Islands of Demerara and Guadaloupe, and afterwards encountered a terrible gale, but finally made Point Petre in safety. Here, Captain Sheppard was taken with yellow fever and died after an illness of twelve days. Captain Sheppard was buried at Point Petre with masonic honors, “every respect being paid to his memory by strangers;”’ but it is sad to record that this gallant old-time gentleman who was “always hopeful” and whom “no misfortune could break down,” should die in a foreign land, far from his home and friends, at the early age of forty years. The death of Captain Sheppard was a severe blow to his family. His oldest son, a brilliant and promising young man who had fitted for college at the Hallowell Academy, and entered upon his course of study at Harvard, was obliged to leave college and aid in the support of the family. He Sheppard 113 entered the law office of Wilde and Bond in Hallowell, and in course of time was appointed Register of Probate for Lincoln County. His beautiful and accomplished mother taught school and gave music lessons in Hallowell and afterwards in Portland under the patronage of Judge Mellen. Her own daughters received under her supervision a most excellent education. She died in 1818, just as the son, as he sadly records, “had the means to make her more happy.’ Her memory is honored “for the noble spirit with which she bore her sorrows and brought up her large family.” The death of Mrs. Sheppard had been preceded by that of two of her daughters, Frances and Helen. The second son, George Albert, became a merchant of Calcutta and married the daughter of a director of the East India company. Ann Augusta married Dr. Philip E. Theobald of Wiscasset. Louisa, born 1806, married Major Samuel Page of Wiscasset, and died October 3, 1833. William W., the youngest child, died of cholera on the Mississippi, in 1834. Hon. John Hannibal Sheppard, married first: Helen, daughter of Abiel Wood of Wiscasset; second: Mrs. Orissa B. Forster, daughter of Rev. Ezra Wilmarth, of Georgetown, Massachusetts. The children of the first marriage were one daughter, Helen Wood, who married Dr. Stephen B. Sewall, and two sons, John Hannibal and Abiel Wood, both of whom died unmarried. The memory of the life and work of Hon. John H. Sheppard is preserved in the record of his professional career and in his numerous literary works. Mr. Sheppard received the degree of A. M. from Bowdoin in 1820; and was one of the overseers of that college from 1831 to 1852. In 1867, Harvard College gave him the degree of Bachelor of Arts, thus restoring to him his place in his class; and, in 1871, he was honored by the degree of Master of Arts from Harvard. Personally, Mr. Sheppard “was of medium size, with a full chest and erect carriage. His hair was dark brown streaked with gray, and he had keen sparkling browneyes. .. His presence was that of a gentleman of the old school, and this idea was fully expressed in his conversation and manner. He 114 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec was one of the last specimens of that courtliness which was characteristic of the educated class in our colonial days.” ' But although the name of Sheppard has become extinct in our local records, the family has been represented during the last quarter of a century in Hallowell by the descendants of John Sheppard. For twenty years, Mrs. Helen Page Stinson, the grand- daughter of John Sheppard resided in Hallowell. She wasa woman of rare charms of mind and character, and a worthy descendant of her fair and gifted ancestress, Sarah Collier Sheppard. The family is now represented by Miss Clara Stinson, and Mr. Harry Stinson, children of David G. and Helen Page Stinson, and great-grandchildren of John Sheppard, the founder of the Sheppard family in Hallowell. The oldest although not the earliest representative of the Page family in Hallowell was Dr. Benjamin Page who was born in Kensington, New Hampshire, in 1746. In his native state, Dr. Page was eminent in his profession, and was also well known as a patriotic citizen. He was a member of the New Hampshire legislature, and served as surgeon in the Revolutionary army from 1777 to 1781. In 1800, he removed to Hallowell where his sons Dr. Benjamin Page, Jr., and John Odlin Page had previously located. Dr. Benjamin Page, Sr., was a typical representative of the old school of physicians. His manners were courtly; his mind was active and intelligent; and he commanded the respect and esteem of his fellow- townsmen for his usefulness as a physician and his excellence as a man. He died in Hallowell, October 28, 1824, “with a firm belief in the Christian religion and hope of future happiness.” Dr. Benjamin Page, Sr., married Abigail Odlin who was born May 28,1748. She was the daughter of Deacon John Odlin of Exeter, New Hampshire, and a lineal descendant of John Odlin, an early settler of Boston and one of the original ' New-England Historical and Genealogical Register. KXXVII: 344. Page 115 owners of part of the land now included in Boston Common. Abigail Odlin was also descended, through her maternal grand- mother, Elizabeth Woodbridge, from Rev. John Woodbridge of Stanton, England, and his wife, a daughter of Rev. Robert Parker, the eminent English non-conformist author and divine. The Pages also trace their ancestry through one of their maternal lines to Mercy, daughter of Governor Dudley, an adventurous gentlemen descended from the Barons of Dudley of Staffordshire, England, and at one time a captain in the army of Queen Elizabeth.t Dr. Benjamin Page himself, according to family tradition, was fourth in descent from Sir Francis Page of Great Britain. The records thus show that some of the best blood in the colonies flowed in the veins of the children of Dr. Benjamin and Abigail Odlin Page. These children were Benjamin, b. April 12, 1769, d. January 25, 1824; John Odlin, b. March 26, 1771, d. in London, 1811; Alice, b. 1774, d. 1863; Abigail, b. June 17, 1776, d. 1778; William Henry, b. July 9, 1779; Samuel, b. September 11, 1781; Dudley Woodbridge, b. October 4, 1783; Lucretia Flagg, b. February 12, 1785; Rufus King, b. March 13, 1787; and Caroline, b. December 12, 1789. Dr. Benjamin Page, Jr., b. April 12, 1769, came to Hallowell in 1791, among the earliest of our eminent settlers, and so endeared himself to the hearts of the people that he was always called “the beloved Physician.” Dr. Page was educated at the old and still famous academy at Exeter, New Hampshire, and studied medicine with Dr. Kittridge, a distinguished gentleman of extensive practice in Andover, Massachusetts. His professional career, which began in Hallowell in 1791, continued with ever increasing success for more than half a century. He was “a man of large stature, good form, and of a mild and benignant countenance. He possessed the qualities of a true gentleman, suavity and benevolence of disposition, a nice perception of the proprieties of social life, and a spirit of deference to the feelings and rights of others.” It has been said of him that “his advantages of professional education were 1 New-England Genealogical and Historical Register, x: 134. 116 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec not equal to those of the present day, but the benefit he derived from a free access to the medical library of the late Mr. Benjamin Vaughan, and an intimate intercourse with this gentleman who kept abreast with all the discoveries and improvements in the science of medicine, more than counter- balanced the defect in Dr. Page’s early education. Possessing naturally a strong mind, whose powers were happily adjusted, Dr. Page was able to make all the sources of knowledge and means of improvement which lay in his path, subservient to his use. The distinguishing trait of his mind was judgment, which conduces more than any other to distinction in the medical profession.” In 1814, when the “spotted fever’’ raged so fatally in New England, Dr. Page discovered and put in practice a course of treatment which rendered the disease comparatively harmless in Hallowell. One of the ministers of that day testifies that he attended funerals almost daily in adjoining towns, while Dr. Page’s patients almost all survived. By this success, Dr. Page justly attained much celebrity; and Bowdoin College was proud to confer upon him the honorary title of Doctor of Medicine. To the end of his life, Dr. Page continued to be “not only the sick man’s doctor, but the sick man’s friend.” He died January 25, 1824, leaving behind him an enviable reputation as physician, friend, and Christian citizen. The wife and devoted companion of Dr. Benjamin Page was Abigail Cutler, born in Newburyport, Massachusetts. Miss Cutler in her youth was considered a great belle and beauty in the town of her birth, and had in her train of admirers such gifted and gallant youths as John Quincy Adams and Rufus King; but she bestowed her hand upon Benjamin Page and came to make a home with him in the little hamlet at Hallowell Hook just as the village was beginning to emerge from its obscurity. Mrs. Page possessed the qualities of an ideal wife and helpmate for such a man as Dr. Benjamin Page; and their long life together was one of great happiness and usefulness. At the time of the death of Mrs. Page, the following tribute was paid to her memory: “Mrs. Page retained her youthful beauty and elasticity at Fy Dr. anp Mrs. BENJAMIN Pac Page 117 the age of fourscore, and through her long and happy life was a model mother, sister, wife, and daughter. Uncommonly graceful and winning in her manners, with a natural combination of sweetness of temper and goodness of heart, she was beloved and respected by all who knew her, and was the ornament of every circle in which she moved. She was the idol of her chil- dren, upon whom this stroke of Providence will fall most heavily ; while her numerous friends and acquaintances will long revere her memory and lament her loss. From the same earthly mansion in which she dwelt, in the bosom of her family, for more than half a century, her gentle spirit took its flight, and now reposes, we trust, a spirit of goodness in the bosom of its God, in those happy mansions above, not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.” The children of Dr. Benjamin and Mrs. Abigail Cutler Page were: Frederick Benjamin, b. July 5, 1798; Julia Ann, b. April 6, 1800; Harriet, b. September 20, 1802; Fraziette, b. October 8, 1804; William Cutler, b. November 16, 1806. Major John Odlin Page, son of Benjamin and Abigail Odlin Page, was born at Exeter, New Hampshire, March 22, 1772. He came to Hallowell in 1790, and married Sarah Kelton, daughter of John and Mary Kelton. Their children were: Emeline, born December 12, 1802; John Odlin, born February 11, 1806; Louisa, born April 16, 1809. Major Page was distinguished for his elegance of person, urbanity of manner, decision of character, ardent philanthropy, and love of liberty. He was engaged in the importation of drugs, medicines, and other merchandise from England, and amassed a large fortune for the times in which he lived. In 1810, he went to Europe and was the bearer of American despatches from Paris to London in 1811. He died in London in that year, and was buried in the Parish Church of Saint Michael’s. Rufus King Page, son of Benjamin and Abigail Odlin Page, was born in Exeter, New Hampshire, March 13, 1787. 118 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec He married Caroline, daughter of General Hull of Revolutionary fame. Their children were: Rufus King, John Odlin, and Sarah. Mrs. Caroline Page died August 22, 1824. Mr. Rufus K. Page married, March 1, 1827, Martha, daughter of Colonel Samuel Howard. Their children were: Lucretia, Frank, and Henry. Mr. Rufus K. Page possessed the unusual business ability and executive force that was characteristic of his family. He engaged largely in ship-building on the Kennebec, and did much to develop this profitable industry in Hallowell. When steamboats were introduced, Rufus K. Page and Cornelius Vanderbilt were joint owners of the first line of steamers between Boston and the Kennebec. Mr. Page afterwards established a line of steamers running to San Francisco and other distant ports. He was also the owner of the Bangor, the first United States steamer to enter the Black Sea. The New York Journal of Commerce (1855) states that the steamer Bangor of Hallowell, Maine, sailed from this country under command of Captain Dunn, with the intention of being engaged in towing near Constantinople, but was purchased by the Turkish government, in 1812, and used as a hospital ship on the Black Sea. One of the passengers on this steamer on its first voyage to Constantinople, was Mr. Rufus K. Page, Jr., who was, for a number of years, Consul at Jerusalem and afterwards at Port Said. Mr. Rufus K. Page, Sr., remained throughout his life closely and actively identified with the interests of Hallowell; and he had the honor of being elected its first mayor when the town became a city in 1852. He died February 6, 1870, aged eighty-three years. Nathaniel Cheever was one of the early publishers and book-sellers of Hallowell, and the first editor of the American Advocate. -He married Sarah Barrell of York. Their children were: Nathaniel, b. 1805; George Barrell, b. 1807; Sarah Barrell, b. 1809; Elizabeth Bancroft, b. 1812; Henry Theodore, b. 1814; Nathaniel, b. 1816; Charlotte Barrell, b. 1818. LO NACISAYT Yo wo a wovg “M saan Cheever 119 Nathaniel Cheever died at Augusta, Georgia, March 5, 18109, in the prime of his manhood, at the age of forty-one years. His widow, “a lady of culture and a woman of unusual strength of mind and active piety,” is said to have been “fully equal to the task of bringing up her family of seven children.” Two of these children, George B. and Henry T. Cheever, attained unusual celebrity. George Cheever doubtless inherited from his parents a superior intellect which was nourished by most careful culture. In his childhood, his love for reading was encouraged by his friends, and especially by Mrs. Benjamin Vaughan, who loaned him books from the Vaughan library and directed his literary tastes. He took his college preparatory course at the Hallowell Academy, and entered Bowdoin with the famous class of 1825. At Bowdoin, he was a most intense and thorough student, and an omniverous reader. Calvin E. Stowe, a student in the class above Cheever, once said: “It is fifty dollars damage to the college library to have a theme assigned to Cheever to write upon. He examines every shelf to see if by any possibility he can find a sentence which throws light upon his subject.” George Cheever was not only a thorough student but an original thinker and a fearless expounder of what he believed to be the truth. He began life in the Christian ministry with the resolve that he would never see wrong-doing without rebuking it. Mr. Abbott asserts that Cheever was influenced all his life by the spirit of the man who prayed: “O Lord, I thank thee that I have none of that sneaking virtue called prudence!” Mr. Cheever was ordained pastor of the Howard Street Congregational Church at Salem, in 1832. While there he contributed many literary and theological articles to the North American Review, the Biblical Repository, and other maga- zines. He was one of the most voluminous and famous of the Hallowell writers; and on the shelves of the Hubbard Free Library may be found his works in forty volumes. These books cover a period from 1828 to 1860. Notable among them are: Studies in Poetry, Lectures on the Pilgrim’s Progress, 120 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec Wanderings of a Pilgrim, Voices of Nature,and God Against Slavery. But the most famous work of Dr. Cheever was a temper- ance pamphlet called Deacon Giles’ Distillery. The contents of this pamphlet were originally published in the Salem Landmark, in February, 1835, at the time when the tem- perance agitation was beginning to excite the public mind. The scathing utterances of this tract upon the great evil of this period were like tongues of flame burning into the hearts of the New England people. The effect of the article as it first appeared in the columns of the Landmark was unprecedented; and its subsequent influence upon the temperance reform was comparable to that of Uncle Tom’s Cabin in the antislavery movement. A copy of this rare and curious old pamphlet lies before me. It is entitled: Deacon Giles’ Distillery; and it is certainly a lurid and awful story. Deacon Giles was a highly respectable gentleman who made a great deal of money by the products of his distillery. Although a pious man anda church member, Deacon Giles never allowed the fires in his distillery to go out on Sunday; and, on one occasion, when his men refused to work, he hired a company of devils to take their place. These wicked devils conspired to play a joke upon the Deacon, and marked all of his barrels with invisible inscriptions which, whenever a glass of liquor was drawn, burst into these flaming lines: “Insanity and Murder,” “Convulsions and Epilepsies,”’ “Delirium Tremens,” “Distilled Death and Damnation,” and other things too terrible to mention. The tale is relieved here and there by a touch of keen satire or of grim humor. For example, in payment for their labors, the Deacon offered the demons “as much rum every day as they could drink;” but they “told him they had enough of hot things where they came from without drinking damna- tion in the distillery.”’ Finally the deacon said he would give them half of what they asked, if they would take two-thirds of that in Bibles,—a stock of which the good deacon always kept in one corner of his distillery. The devils “winked and made signs to each other,’’ and agreed to work over Sunday on Cheever 121 these terms; but, when their task was finished, they told the deacon that it was against their principles to take any wages for work done on the Sabbath, and refused to touch the Bibles. The wood cuts that illustrate the text of the pam- phlet are as weird and demoniacal as the scenes which they portray. One of the pictures represents the devils dancing around the boiling caldron. This was no mild Shakespearean “Double, double, toil and trouble” performance, but a fiendish revel in which the devils “leaped and grinned and jibbered and swore, . . . and danced to music as infernal as the rhymes they chanted were malignant,” while “they threw their poison- ous and nauseous drugs into the agitated mixture .. amidst the foaming mass of materials, which they stirred and tasted, scalding hot as it was, with a ferocious, exulting delight.” One of the most curious effects of the publication of Deacon Giles’ Distillery was that a certain distiller of Salem took it as a personal affront; and he, a deacon in a Christian church, prosecuted the Rev. Mr. Cheever for libel. Mr. Cheever was convicted, and imprisoned for thirty days in the Salem jail. ‘But the whole procedure gave wings to the pro- duction of his genius, and caused it to become one of the great instruments of opening the eyes of the suffering community to the true character of distillation.” The influence of Mr. Cheever’s writings was felt to a degree forgotten or unrecognized at the present day. But when we recall the spirit of the times in which he lived, the vital interest which the subjects of intemperance and slavery had for the people, and the irresistible power with which Cheever put forth his arguments and appeals, we can under- stand the statement of the Rev. John S. C. Abbott that ‘there is perhaps no one of the Bowdoin class of 1825 who has produced a deeper impression on the American community than George B. Cheever.” Henry Theodore Cheever, was born in Hallowell in 1814. He graduated from Bowdoin College in 1834, and followed very closely in his brother’s footsteps as clergyman, traveler, and author. After preaching for some years in New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut, he finally settled in Worcester, 122 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec Massachusetts, in 1864. He was deeply interested in the anti- slavery cause, and was secretary of the church antislavery society. In addition to numerous biographical and theological works, he wrote a book entitled Life ix the Sandwich Islands, and numerous volumes of travel and adventure among the islands of the Pacific, for young people. The old dwelling-house which was the home of the Cheever family is still standing on Water Street in Hallowell. It should be preserved in memory of the two eminent clergymen and reformers who passed their boyhood and youth within its walls. The name of Abbott holds a prominent place in the social and literary annals of Hallowell. This is due not only to the fame of the well-known authors, Jacob and John S. C. Abbott, but to the eminent position of their parents in the community and to the many interesting associations connected with their family record. Jacob Abbot, Esq., the first of the name in Hallowell, was the son of Jacob and Lydia Abbot * of Wilton, New Hampshire. He was born October 20, 1776, married his cousin, Betsey, daughter of Joshua and Elizabeth Chandler Abbot, April 8, 1798, and removed to Hallowell in November, 1800. Jacob Abbot, Esq., possessed all the excellent traits of his eminent Puritan ancestors, and was much beloved and respected in the town. He was a fine singer and very fond of music. Before coming to Hallowell, he had been one of the founders of the Concord Musical Society and chorister at the Old North Meeting-house. At Hallowell, he occupied for many years a prominent position in the famous Old South choir. In all of his business relations he was noted for his sincerity, justice, and probity. Dr. Gillet once said, “Squire Abbot has a remarkable faculty for being happy;” and this was doubtless true, for, as we are told by one who knew him, there was never ' It should be here noted that the father and grandfather of Jacob Abbott, the author, spelled their name Abbot. Jacob the third, for the sake of distinction, added a second ¢ to his name; and his younger brothers adopted the same form. One of the brothers Gorham D. Abbot, afterwards returned to the original spelling of the name. Abbott 123 a man who lived more constantly for others, or who was more unmindful of self. The children of Jacob and Betsey Abbot were: Sallucia, b. August 7, 1801; Jacob, b. November 14, 1803; John Stevens Cabot, b. September 18, 1805; Gorham Dummer, b. September 3, 1807; Clara Ann, b. October 28, 1809; Charles Edward, b. December 8, 1815; Samuel Phillips, d. 1849. John S. C. Abbott and Gorham Dummer Abbott were born in Brunswick during the temporary residence of their parents in that town, but their boyhood was passed in Hallowell. Mr. John S. C. Abbott, in his Remdniscences of Childhood thus speaks of his early home: “My parents and my grandparents belonged to the strictest class of Christians. My father never omitted morning and evening prayers, or to ask a blessing and return thanks at each meal. We knew that our mother had a season each day in which she retired to her ‘closet and shut the door’ that she might ‘in secret’ pray for each child by name. “The Sabbath was sacredly observed. Asa rule through summer and winter, through heat and cold, we all went to church. Sabbath schools were not then held. Both of my parents were sweet singers. In our Sabbath, Thanksgiving, and Fast Day devotions, we alway sang hymns. Sabbath evening mother gathered us seven children around her knee. We then recited to her the Catechism, and each one repeated a. hymn from Watts or some other poet, which she had selected for us in the morning. . . . We children all knew that both father and mother would rather we would struggle all our days with adversity, and de Christians, than to have all the honors of genius, and all the wealth of millionaires lavished upon us, without piety. . . . We loved those Puritan parents with a fervor that could hardly be surpassed. Edward Abbott, in his Memorial Sketch of Jacob Abbott, gives another pleasant picture of child-life in Hallowell, written for him by “one who had a joyous part in it:” “This Hallowell life was very pleasant. Sam Merrick (as he was called then) used in winter to get out the old-fashioned. white double sleigh, which he called ‘the Ark,’ and take us all 124 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec for a ride about the streets in a light snow storm. Then there was the coasting down the hills, and all the winter amusements which we had health and strength for in those early days. The winter evening visits, too, were very pleasant. Children went more with their parents then than they do now. I remember one such occasion at Mr. Mernck’s in the octagon parlor: the large white marble fireplace on one of the eight sides of the room, a big fire in it, a party of elderly gentlemen and ladies seated in semi-circles on each side, a large tea-table on the side of the room opposite, covered with the tea-equipage and around which we children, Vaughans, Merricks, and Abbots, all sat with Mrs. Merrick, who sent the tea, etc, to the party around the fre on a small tea-tray, and gave us children our supper meanwhile. After tea, the things were removed: and books, pictures, riddles, etc., were brought for our amusement, while the elders chatted pleasantly before the fire. Our visits at Mr. Benjamin Vaughan’s and at your Grandfather’s, ‘Squire Abbot’s,” were of the same character. The feast for the appetite was very simple; but the intellectual and zsthetical feast was of the first order.” The unusual social and educational advantages of Hallowell, in connection with the excellent home training received by the five Abbott boys, laid the foundation for their subsequent useful and successful careers,—careers which in the retrospect seem remarkable for their similarity. All five of these boys attended the Hallowell Academy; all graduated from Bowdoin’ College; all studied theology at Andover; all became teachers and ministers; all, except the youngest, who died in r849, became eminent as authors. But notwithstanding this unity of life-work, each of the Abbott brothers was distinguished by marked individuality of character. A discerning friend in comparing three of them once said: “Jacob for advice; John for a speech; Gorham for a praver.” Jacob Abbott, the eldest son, entered Bowdoin when he was not quite fourteen years of age. He graduated in 1820; and, in 1824, was appointed professor of mathematics and natural philosphy at Amherst. In 1828, he was married to Miss Harriet Vaughan, daughter of Charles Vaughan, Esq., of Abbott 125 Hallowell, a young lady much admired for her beauty and loveliness of character. In 1833, Jacob Abbott became principal of the Mt. Vernon School for young ladies in Boston. His work there was very effective in elevating and broadening the standard of education of young women. Ten years later, he was associated with his four brothers in Abbott’s Institute, a school for young ladies in New York. The methods pursued by Jacob Abbott as an instructor in these schools are, in many instances, traceable to his own experience and early training. His books for children also disclose many bits of life and character suggestive of his own home; and the author himself asserts that the influences that moulded his life were in a marked degree traceable to his youthful associations and surroundings in old Hallowell. The fame of Jacob Abbott as the author of one hundred and eighty volumes is well known to every reader of these pages; but we who were brought up on the Rollo Books, the Jonas Books, the Lucy Books, the Harper's Story Books, and the Red Historzes, have a peculiar feeling of gratitude and affection for the author that the younger generation of to-day can never understand. To us there was never any hero so wise as “Mr. George,’’ or so resourceful as “Jonas,” or so fascinating as “Beechnut;” and there certainly were never any “red histories,’ dyed with the blood of dethroned tyrants and beheaded queens, that touched so poignantly yet impressed so lightly, the susceptible but volatile heart of childhood. Four children were born to Jacob and Harriet Vaughan Abbott, who became eminent in the professional and literary world. They were Benjamin Vaughan Abbott, Austin Abbott, Lyman Abbott, and Edward Abbott. The life of these brothers presents a curious unity of purpose and results comparable to that of their father and his brothers. These four sons of Jacob Abbott all graduated from New York University; three of them studied law; the fourth, the late Rev. Edward Abbott, entered the ministry and became rector of St. James Church at Cambridge. All have been engaged in literary and editorial work. They were also all accomplished musicians, having perhaps inherited, together with their father 126 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec and grandfather, their love and talent for music from that more remote ancestor, George Abbot, known as “a man of great simplicity and piety who tuned a psalm.” The Rev. John S.C. Abbott has a ministerial record of forty years. He was also a prolific author with more than fifty volumes to his credit, including the famous Life of .Vapoleon and such of the Red Historfes as pertain to France. His historical works were translated into many languages and gave their author an international reputation. Mr. Abbott graduated from Bowdoin College, with Long- fellow, Hawthorne, Cheever, Packard, and other celebrated men, in the famous class of 1825. He was one of the members of this class who were present at the fiftieth anniversary of their graduation when Longfellow delivered the poem, -Wortturt Salutamus. The opening invocation was by Mr. Abbott, and was most impressive. There are those who were present on this memorable day,—and I count myself happy to have been one of the number,—who still remember the fine, spiritual face and the sympathetic presence of this man who after fifty years of wide experience and many honors had brought back to his Alma Mater the unsullied and enthusiastic heart of the boy. In our ears, his thrilling tones still linger as, standing beside his gray-haired class-mate, he uttered this petition: “‘Lord, teach us to remember that ‘Not enjoyment and not sorrow Is our destined end or way, But to act that each to-morrow Find us farther than to-day.’”’ These lines disclose the motif of the harmonious and effective lite-work of the Abbott family. Just one hundred years ago, in the year 1809, made memorable by the birth of so many illustrious men, there was born, in Portland, Maine, a child destined to have the exceptional experience of being one of the most widely read and yet speedily forgotten authors in the realm of American Ingraham 127 letters. This child was Joseph Holt Ingraham. He was the son of James M. Ingraham, and, according to family tradition, a direct descendant of Sir Arthur Ingraham, a valiant knight of the days of King James I. of England. When the little Joseph was four years old, his parents re- moved from Portland to Hallowell, Maine. His father is described by one of his contemporaries as ‘“‘a very polite, gentlemanly sort of man who always wore black broadcloth.” Mr. Ingraham entered into business in the store on Water Street that after- wards became a well-known landmark on Ingraham’s corner; and the family resided in a house that stood for many years in the locality of the present City Building. There were nine children in the Ingraham family, six of whom were born after the parents came to reside in Hallowell. Here the youthful Joseph grew up, taking an active part in the young life of the town. He attended school at the Hallowell Academy; and has left on record some very inter- esting reminiscenses of this period of his life. During these years of his boyhood, his young heart was many times stirred by the marvelous stories told by the old sea-captains who daily sat to spin their yarns and sip their tall glasses of flip in the old store on Ingraham’s Corner; and when he was about seventeen years of age the love of adventure began to assert itself. Every white sail that vanished down the Kennebec beckoned to him to follow; and so, one day, the lad put on his tarpaulin and set sail upon a sloop bound for South America. Returning from this voyage, apparently quite satisfied with his perilous experiences by land and sea,—including a lively part in a South American rebellion,—the brave and adven- turous descendant of Sir Arthur Ingraham once more settled down to his studies, and entered Bawdoin college after the manner of the other well-regulated youths of Hallowell. He graduated at twenty-four years of age. In 1832, he was Professor of Languages in Jefferson College, Mississippi. In 1836, he was editor of The South-west by a Yankee. The literary ability of Joseph Holt Ingraham began to develop while he was in college; and his remarkable powers of description and his riotous imagination, fed perhaps by some of 128 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec his own experiences, soon found expression in a series of marvelous and exciting tales whose heroes were pirates, corsairs, freebooters, and Indians. The first and most popular of these stories were Lafitte, or The Pirate of the Gulf, Captain Kydd, and The Dancing Feather, which sold in editions of tens of thousands. Another very interesting story was Scarlet Feather, a tale of the Abenaki Indians of the Kennebec. After a few years, the wild spirit of the youthful author seems to have expended itself upon these stories, and a more worthy ambition stirred his heart. His mind took a more serious turn, and his life-work became fixed upon a more exalted plane. He traveled much, studied profoundly, prepared him- self for the Protestant Episcopal ministry, became Dean of St. Thomas’ School for boys, and took orders in Christ Church, at Holly Springs, Mississippi. In 1855, a book appeared from the pen of Rev. J. H. Ingraham which took the American reading public by storm. This was Vhe Prince of the House of David. The success of the book was immediate and unprecedented. Hundreds of thousands of copies were sold, and the book is still listed by prominent American and English publishers. The Prince of the House of David was followed by The Pillar of Fire and The Throne of David, all of which are credited with historical accuracy, a picturesque setting, and a dramatic charm. They were not only the first novels founded upon Biblical subjects, but the first novels that were cordially received into the homes of Christian families in America. Even the Sunday school libraries on whose shelves no work of fiction had ever appeared, warmly welcomed the Prznce of the House of David and the two succeeding volumes of Ingraham’s trilogy of religous novels. But although the sale of Ingraham’s books ran into the millions, and although they are still annually issued by standard publishers, the author himself seems to be almost forgotten by the literary world. The encyclopedias give him but brief mention, and the histories of American literature consistently ignore him. This experience presents a curious phase of authorship. If it be conceded that The Prince of the House of Reswence of Peecuvton SAmMuUrL Moovy Moody 129 David is not literature in the highest sense of the word, there still remains the interesting question, to what elements in the book 1S its great and lasting popularity due? This question is quite worthy of the consideration of the student who is tracing the development of the American novel. Mr. Ingraham married, in 1837, Miss Mary E. Brookes, the daughter of a wealthy Mississippi planter. Their son, Prentiss Ingraham, born in 1843, was a colonel in the Confed- erate army. Like his father he was a writer of dramatic and picturesque fiction, and, at the time of his death, was the author of a thousand novels. The Rev. Joseph H. Ingraham died in 1860. He cher- ished until his last years most vivid and delightful recollections of the home of his boyhood; and his Lights and Shadows of the Past are a treasure-store of reminiscences that are of especial value to us to-day, for they were written for the sons and daughters of Old Hallowell. Samuel, Nathan, and Enoch Moody were the sons of Paul and Mary Moody of Byfield Parish in Newbury. They all settled in Hallowell and became prominent and much respected citizens. Samuel Moody was born February 3, 1765. He was a graduate of Dartmouth college, and, for three years, was preceptor of Berwick Academy. In July, 1797, Mr. Moody was appointed preceptor of the academy at Hallowell, where he taught with great success for eight years. His salary at first was three hundred dollars a year and ten cents a week from each pupil. At the close of his term of service, he was receiving five hundred dollars a year, and had an assistant who received an annual salary of three hundred dollars. Preceptor Moody is mentioned in the ee records as “a portly gentleman who always wore a queue. When he first came to Hallowell, he was a brilliant young man of thirty-two, whose marriage to Miss Sarah Sawyer, daughter of Enoch and Hannah Sawyer, had just taken place at Newbury. Mr. and Mrs. Samuel Moody resided in the large, square house on the 130 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec corner of Middle and Winthrop streets, still notable for its handsome colonial doorway, and now designated as the Moses Gilman house. Here their daughter Sarah grew into beautiful young womanhood, and was married, beneath the roof of this hospitable old mansion, to Joseph C. Lovejoy, October 6, 1830. Samuel Moody, after resigning his preceptorship, went into trade with his brother Nathan at Hallowell. He was successful in business and occupied positions of public trust in the town. He was also one of three delegates sent from Kennebec County to the convention held in Portland in October, 1819, for the purpose of forming a constitution for the State of Maine. He died April 6, 1832, aged sixty-seven, meriting the inscription placed upon his gravestone: “I will hold fast my integrity.” Nathan Moody was born September 11, 1768, at Newbury, Massachusetts, and came to Hallowell in 1796. He was a graduate of Dartmouth College, and a remarkable mathema- ticlan. He married Judith Wingate, daughter of Joseph and Judith Wingate. Their children were: Mary Elizabeth, born July 25, 1806; died, September 1, 1822; and Caroline Judith, born April 22, 1809; married October 21, 1828, William Stickney of Hallowell. Nathan Moody married second, Susan Clark of Plaistow, New Hampshire. Their daughter, Miss Mary Moody, was for many years a resident in the old Moody House, now known as the Macomber house, on Second Street. The Wingate family has an ancient and interesting lineage. Joshua and Joseph Wingate, who were settled in Hallowell at the opening of the nineteenth century, were sons of the Rev. Paine Wingate, “for sixty years the godly and faithful pastor of the church at Amesbury, Massachusetts,” and descendants of “John Wingate, Planter, of Dover, in 1658.” The mother of Joshua and Joseph Wingate was Mary Balch, “a lady noted for considerable literary acquirements and personal beauty.” Joshua Wingate married Hannah Carr, daughter of Deacon James Carr, and came to Hallowell in 1794. At this time, the CapTaIn JOHN AGRY Wingate 131 passage was usually made ina sailing vessel; but Mrs. Wingate, not liking the sea voyage, undertook the journey in a chaise. Her husband, finding the roads extremely rough, was obliged to employ a servant on each side of the vehicle to keep it upright and pry it out of the mud-holes. But they at last arrived safely at their destination, and cast in their fortunes with the new and rapidly growing town on the Kennebec. Mr. Wingate entered into trade, and became one of the most prosperous merchants of Hallowell. He also served as postmaster for a number of years, and was prominent in the public affairs of the town. Joshua Wingate with his family resided in a large, fine house on the corner of Second and Union streets, now known as the Niles house. He lived to the remarkable age of ninety-seven years. He was always a conspicuous figure upon the street, as, up to the time of his death in 1844, he maintained the fashion of his early manhood, and wore small clothes and knee buckles. He was “universally respected for his industry, integrity, and a faithful discharge of all the social and Christian duties.” ' Joseph Wingate, brother of Joshua, born July 17, 1751, married Judith Carr, and came to Hallowell about 1800. He owned and successfully cultivated a large farm, and was famil- iarly known as “Farmer Wingate.’ He was a friend of Dr. Benjamin Vaughan, with whom he “frequently went home for a neighborly visit on Sunday after meeting.” Joseph and Judith Wingate had ten children, all born before their parents removed from Amesbury to Hallowell. Their second son, Francis (born January 5, 1789; d. May 14, 1848) married, January 24, 1823, Martha Savary of Bradford, and settled on his father’s estate in Hallowell. Their children were Mary Savary who married Dr. M. C. Richardson, and George Francis who married, August 6, 1861, Emma A. Myers of Manchester, Maine. Mr. George Francis Wingate was for many years one of the prominent business men of the town. Through his children the name of Wingate has been perpetu- ated in Hallowell. 1 History of the Wingate Family, p. 166. 132 Old Hallowell on the Kennebec Hon. Chandler Robbins will long be remembered as one of the notabilities of Hallowell. Hewasthe son of Rev. Chandler and Jane Prence Robbins of Plymouth. In 1791, he came to Hallowell and established himself asa merchant. He wasa man of native talent, a graduate of Harvard College, and well fitted by birth and education to take a prominent place in the community. We soon find him on record as Register of Pro- bate and Judge of the Court of Common Pleas. Judge Robbins married Harriet, daughter of Thomas Lorthrop, and had two sons: William Henry, born October 22, 1795, and Chandler, born August 21, 1797. He resided on the corner of Second and Lincoln streets, in one of the old-fashioned, square, two-story houses which abound in Hallowell, and enter- tained many distinguished guests in his hospitable home. The founders of the Agry family were notable as ship- builders and sea-captains, and stand as typical representatives of a class of men that constituted an important element in the early life on the Kennebec. Captain Thomas