Penobscot County
MEGenWeb
Transcribed by Fran Jones Libby, David Brann, Jennifer Godwin, and Grinnell MacLeod Wood II
The first marriage celebrated in the township
is believed to have been that of John Knight to Anges Grant in 1803. In
1804, Isaac Wheeler, Esq., was united in marriage with Betsey Murray of
Rutland,Mass., a daughter of Alexander Murray. In 1805, Josiah Bartlett,
afterwards known as Elder Bartlett, was married to Sarah Kimball,
daughter of Andrew Kimball of Belgrade, Maine.
In 1806, William
Godwin married Nancy Gordon of Lincolntown. The marriage of John Hayes
to Martha Fifield, both of Garland, occurred in 1806. Isaac Wheeler
Esq., commenced housekeeping soon after his marriage in a log-cabin that
occupied the site next to the Free Baptist Church. He soon afterwards
built a house on the site now occupied by the heirs of the late William
B. Foss.
It was in 1807 that Isaac Wheeler, Esq., and his wife
made their first visit to their old homes in Rutland, Mass. They took
their tow children with them on horseback to Bangor and thence to Boston
by Water. One of these children afterwards became the wife of Charles P.
Chandler of Foxcroft, Maine; a lawyer of much prominence in Piscataquis
County.
On their return to Lincolntown they were accompanied by
Elizabeth Murray, a sister of Mrs. Wheeler, who soon after became the
wife of John S. Haskell. From this marriage sprang a large family of
children who, in after years, became prominent citizens of Garland.
The marriage of William Sargent to Lucretia Kimball occurred in
1807. Mr. Sargent lived on the place now occupied by James Rideout.
But few events of importance to the township occurred in 1807. Men who had made beginnings at an earlier date were enlarging the area of their cleared lands, erecting buildings and making improvements. John S. Haskell, one of the most prominent of the early settlers, built a small house and barn this year, and was married and commenced housekeeping. Jeremiah Flanders from Hopkinton, N. H., whose visits to the township in 1804 and 1805 have been noted, purchased lot eleven, range six, this year and made a beginning on it He built a log camp close by the brook near where William Jones now lives and occupied it while preparing for a future home. William Dustin moved into the township this year and lived in the log house upon the lot he had purchased a year earlier of Philip Greeley.
Several of the most useful trades had representatives
in the township as early as 1805, but it was still destitute of a
blacksmith. The year 1807 contributed a representative of this useful
trade to the township in the person of Andrew Kimball of Belgrade,
Maine. Mr. Kimball had at this time three daughters here - Mrs. James
McCluer, Mrs. Josiah Bartlett and Mrs. William Sargent. These were the
attractions that lured him thither. The settlers of a township can get
along without gold and silver but not without IRON. The latter is, in
some form, a necessary factor of civilization, and the worker of iron is
esteemed as one of the most useful of citizens. The coming of Mr.
Kimball was, therefore, hailed with great satisfaction, but his
usefulness was greatly abridged by the want of tools and stock.
The scant supply of necessary materials, and the rude character of the
tools and fixtures used by the blacksmiths, at the opening of the
present century, were not unfrequently the occasion for merriment. A man
of this trade came into a neighboring township to set up in business. He
made a crib of the requisite size of logs and filled it with sand for a
forge, put his bellows in position, adjusted his anvil to the top of a
stump, and with no suggestion of a covering save the moving treetops,
announced himself ready for business.
Shortly after, a stranger
who was riding through the township on horseback, lost a shoe from his
horse.
Meeting a resident, he inquired for a blacksmith shop. The
instant reply was - "Why bless you, Sir, you are in a blacksmith shop
now, but it’s three miles to the anvil." Then, with the utmost gravity,
he directed the stranger to the distant anvil.
Mr. Kimball’s shop
was of smaller dimensions. It was a rude structure of slabs, located on
the brow of the village saw-mill. Here he shod horses and oxen, mended
plows and chains and did numerous jobs of making and repairing that came
within the range of his facilities for doing.
A little later, he
built a larger and more convenient shop on the little island just below
the site of the gristmill owned by Edward Washburn. Like others of his
trade, Mr. Kimball was often obliged to resort to makeshifts to meet the
wants of his patrons. Some of these would hardly accord with ideas of
the professional farrier of the present time. On one occasion he had
business in Bangor, and must go on foot or horseback. By dint of effort
he procured a shoeless horse, but a horse without shoes might prove a
dangerous horse to ride. Although Mr. Kimball had forged many a
horseshoe, successful work of this kind required iron, and of that he
had none. In a pile of rubbish in a corner he found a set of ox-shoes
that had been thrown aside as worthless. Shaping these to meet the
exigency, he nailed two to each foot of the horse. Thus equipped, he
made his trip to Bangor, accomplished his business and reached home in
due time without accident.
Previous to the coming of Mr. Kimball,
the inhabitants of Lincolntown were obliged to go to Simon Prescott’s
shop in New Ohio (Corinth) to get their iron work done. This involved
inconvenience, loss of time and increased expense. Mr. Prescott’s price
for shoeing a horse was two dollars.
In the year 1808, only one family so far as is now known, established a
residence in the township. This was the family of Abner Bond, who made a
beginning on lot seven, range eight.
Our well-remembered citizen,
Aaron Hill of Bangor, followed Mr. Bond, on the same lot where he built
and lived for many years. The farm is now owned by Davis and Walker
brothers. The date of the transfer of this place from mr. Bond to Mr.
Hill was 1823. The latter married and began housekeeping in 1826.
The year 1808 marks the date of the birth of several children who
afterwards became prominent citizens of the town of Garland. Among these
were the late Daniel M. Haskell and Horace Gordon.
Joseph
Treadwell, who had built the first framed house in the township for John
Tyler, and had occupied it with Mr. Tyler for several years, built a
house for himself on lot four, range seven, in 1808, where he lived for
many years. His twelve-years-old son, the late John Treadwell, carried
the heavy brown ash braces that were used in the frame, from the spot
where they were hewin, to the site of the house upon his shoulder. John
Treadwell succeeded to the ownership of the farm. It is now owned and
occupied by Joseph Treadwell, the grandson of the original resident. The
house in one of the oldest now standing. This is on of the few instances
where the original homestead remains in the line of the family descent.
The population of the township was
increasing in 1809 by the incoming of several families who settled in
different parts of it. Asa Burnham from Nottingham, N. H., settled on
lot one, range eight. It is not probable that he remained there long in
the township as his name does not appear on the first voting list
prepared three years later. He became well known in this section as a
devoted and esteemed minister of the Freewill Baptist denomination,
preaching at various places, including Exeter and Sebec.
A little
later, Robert Seward, afterwards known as Deacon Robert Seward,
purchased this lot and lived on it until the year 1860, when he sold it
and moved to Bangor. While living upon this lot he erected buildings,
added to, enlarged and improved them from time to time as convenience
required, and his means allowed. He was also diligent in the improvement
of his farm, which became at length one of the most productive in the
town. His choice of location has sometimes been criticized somewhat
sharply because it was a half mile away from any established road. Two
strangers appeared in town at a recent date, who were in pursuit of
farms. They were directed to the Seward farm. A little later they were
seen and asked how they liked the Seward farm. They replied that they
‘liked the farm well, but they did not care to live in a British
Providence.’ But when Deacon Seward made his selection, there seemed a
strong possibility that a country road from Bangor into Piscataquis
region would pass across his farm, and the location of his buildings was
determined by the expectation that this probability would become fact.
The Seward farm was purchased by Clark Richardson in 1860, where he
lived until his death in 1910.
Jeremiah Flanders, from,
Hopkinton, N. H., having purchased lot eleven, range six, in 1807, and
having subsequently cleared the land and built a house upon it. married
a wife (Betsy Straw, Hopkinton, N. H. ) March 14, 1809 and commenced
housekeeping. He occupied this house until about the year 1822, when he
built a two story house which was among the first two story buildings in
the town.
Mrs. Flanders was accustomed to repair to a log camp,
which her husband had built two years earlier, to do her weekly washing.
The camp occupied a site at the foot of the slope close by the brook
east of the house where Edwin Preble now lives. On one occasion a
downpour of rain through the capacious chimney of sticks and mortar put
out the fire. A neighbor’s boy, who was making a friendly call, was sent
a half mile to get fire to rekindle with. That was before the invention
of friction matches. It was no uncommon thing to send to a neighbor’s
house for coals of fire to kindle anew.
Samuel Mansfield
purchased a part of lot eight, in range six the same year, where he
lived until his death, which occurred July 3rd, 1856.
Hollis
Mansfield, a son of Samuel Mansfield, lived with his father several
years, but his death occurred before that of his father. He died in
1847.
The old homestead remains in the line of the family
descent, being owned by Henry Mansfield, a grandson of Samuel, who still
occupies it.
Andrew Griffin, the first tanner and shoemaker of
the township, became dissatisfied with his prospects and sold his
property rights and business ton Simeon Morgan of Elkinstown in 1809,
and moved to Levant. Mr. Morgan soon moved into the house vacated by Mr.
Griffin. Mr. griffin was the first resident to leave the township after
having established a home in it.
In the
year 1809 John Chandler built a barn on the site of his original
building, eighty feet long and forty four feet wide. This was only eight
years after the ring of the settler’s axe had first been heard in the
township, and seven years from the harvesting of the first crop. Up to
this time the inhabitants had as a rule provided themselves with some
cheap substitute for a barn.
This barn towering from an elevated
site in the Chandler opening, like the school boy’s exclamation point,
excited wonder and surprise in the minds of many. Others were filled
with admiration of the courage that carried its conception to a
successful result, and a faith that led to the expectation that the barn
would ever be filled with crops.
In the construction of the barn,
Seba French, afterwards known as Judge French of Dexter, was the master
carpenter. The nails used in its construction were wrought by the hand
of a common blacksmith. Some of them have been preserved as curious
relics of the morning of the present century.
John Chandler and Edward Fifield emigrated to the township in 1805 -
the former from Hopkinton, N. H., and the latter from Ware. They had
known each other in New Hampshire.
There appears to have been a
spirit of rivalry between the two men. It was generally known in the
township that each intended to build a barn of unusual size. Both were
uncommunicative about dimensions. When Mr. Fifield was questioned about
the size of his prospective barn, his uniform answer was - "I shall wait
until Chandler builds and then build a larger barn than his."
In
1809, Mr. Chandler took the initiative and built so large a barn that he
believed no sane man would attempt to outdo him, but he misjudged. Mr.
FiField was firm in his determination to surpass his neighbor in the
number and size of his buildings as well as in the extent of his fields
and crops. He was still uncommunicative about the size of his intended
barn, but assured inquirers that it would be larger than Chandler’s, and
that the frame would contain three hundred and sixty-five braces to
correspond to the number of days in the year.
Soon after, Mr.
FiField gratified the curiosity of his neighbors with the sight of a
veritable barn one hundred and twenty feet long by forty feet wide. Like
the Chandler barn it occupied an elevated site, and when, years later,
the surrounding forests were cleared away, it was seen for a long
distance. It was claimed to be the largest barn in the State at the date
of its construction. Seba French of Dexter was the master builder.
The raising of the building was an occasion long remembered. The
country for miles around was scoured for assistance. The flow of the
favorite New England beverage was commensurate with the greatness of the
building. There are vague traditionary rumors that the men did not get
home with whole suits. As an incident of the occasion no use was found
for the 365th brace, a discovery that was followed by a boisterous laugh
from the jubilant crowd and a demand for an extra treat.
Isaac Wheeler, Esq., and his
brother-in-law, John S. Haskell, planned a visit, with their wives, to
relatives in Rutland, Mass., in the autumn of 1809. Their company
included one little boy of tender age for each couple. There were at
that time neither roads nor carriages in the township or vicinity. The
only practical alternative was to make the journey partly on horseback.
The pioneers of eastern Maine did not allow trifling obstacles to deter
them from the execution of cherished plans. Each couple took its one
small boy onto the horse with them, making a company of six to be
carried on two horses. Thus mounted, they jogged leisurely along to
Winthrop. a few miles along beyond Augusta. Here they hired a two-seated
carriage to which they hitched the two horses, and performed the
remainder of their journey in luxuriant ease.
The return journey
was accomplished in the same manner. The two boys grew to the stature of
men. One of them, Reuben Wheeler, died in early manhood, esteemed by all
who were favored with his acquaintance. The other, Daniel Murray
Haskell. lived to a good old age, a citizen whose personal qualities
were worthy of imitation by the generations that followed him.
On the 20th day of November, 1809, the death of Mrs. Polly Fifield, wife of Edward Fifield, occurred. This being the first death among the little band of settlers, it was the occasion of peculiar sadness throughout the township. Mrs. Fifield had the faithful services of Dr. Peabody of Corinth. The funeral services were conducted by a clergyman from Corinth.
Sampson Silver came into the township first in 1804 in the
employment of Amos Gordon. In 1805, he came again and worked for John
Chandler. During this year he purchased of Amos Gordon a part of lot
ten, range five, felled two acres of trees and erected buildings. In
1810 he married and commenced housekeeping. Mr. Silver's old homestead
was later the home of Albert G. and Parker Gordon.
Isaac
Copeland, who had purchased the westerly part of lot eleven, range five,
of John S. Haskell, and had felled an opening on it in 1809, built a
house in 1810 and moved his family into it in the autumn of the latter
year. He had previously lived in Elkstown. His place was afterwards
owned and occupied for many years by the late Stephen D. Jennings, and
passed from him into the hands of his son, Mark C. Jennings.
Cutteon Flanders, a brother of Jeremiah Flanders. emigrated from
Hopkinton, N. H. in 1810 and settled on the lot afterwards owned by Asa
H. Sawtelle, and now owned by John Hayden.
Ezekiel Straw
emigrated to the township from New Hampshire in 1810, and purchased lot
seven, range seven. Two years later, having made a clearing and built a
house, he married (Abigail Kirkpatrick) and commenced housekeeping. Mr.
Straw’s old homestead is now owned and occupied by Lionel Lincoln.
The Rev. John Sawyer made a beginning on lot six, range ten, in
1810, and resided there for several years. The old Sawyer homestead was
subsequently owned and occupied by Edward Fifield and I. A. Palmer. It
is now owned and occupied by D. F. Patten.
Mr. Sawyer’s first
visit to the township was in 1809, when he bore with him a commission
from the Maine Missionary Society for a few weeks’ service.
This
society had been organized only a single year at that time. Mr. Sawyer
was among its earliest missionaries. His labors have created a deep
religious interest and resulted in the organization of a Congregational
church, the third organized within the present limits of Penobscot
County - the church at Dixmont being the first, that of Brewer the
second and Garland the third. The early history of garland
Congregational church and a biographical sketch of Mr. Sawyer, will
appear in another connection.
In the
year 1810, a deeply sorrowful event occurred in the township. Joseph
Saunders and his brother Oliver were felling some trees for timber on
the center road running east, about a half mile east of the center of
the township. A tall spruce tree which they were chopping was arrested
by a smaller tree as it began to move slowly towards the ground. Joseph
stepped forward to weaken the smaller tree by a few blows of the axe, so
that it might yield to the pressure of the larger tree and let it fall
to the ground, but the larger tree unexpectedly became detached from the
smaller and fell rapidly. Oliver, seeing his brother’s peril, warned him
of his danger, but it was too late. The tree in its downward movement
crushed one of his legs. Becoming very faint, he begged for water. His
brother replied "There is nothing to bring it in;" when he instantly
exclaimed, "Bring it in your shoe!" As soon as assistance could be
procured he was removed to his home. His neighbors believed that his
life could be saved by amputation of his limb, but his family had a
superstitious dread of the dismemberment of the human body by knife and
saw, and he soon passed away.
He was a young man, and his death
having been the first that had occurred by accident, was a severe shock
to the in habitants of the township. At the time of his death, he had
recently made a profession of religion under the ministrations of the
Rev. John Sawyer. Mr. Saunders was a brother of Mrs. Robert Seward, and
an uncle of Mrs. Charles E. Merriam.
A saw-mill had been built in the township in 1802, the year form which
the settlement dates. The prompt action of the proprietors in providing
a saw-mill encouraged emigrants to the township. A few years later a set
of stones had been placed in the basement of the saw-mill for grinding
corn and rye, bu the patrons of this very imperfect machinery complained
of an undue percentage of sawdust in the meal thus obtained, and the
inhabitants of the township were anxious for a mill that would give them
the material for purer food.
The Grant family, who had owned and
run the was mill from the beginning, had become involved in debt, and
were in no condition to confer upon the township the boon of a
grist-mill. In 1810, the ownership of the mill property was transferred
to Mr. Sanger, one of the proprietors of the township, to satisfy a
claim he had on it. Mr. Sanger soon sold it to Isaac Wheeler, Esq., who
in turn sold it to Mr. Church of Clinton, Maine. Mr. Church was an
enterprising man and a skilled mechanic. The following year he built a
small but convenient house on the mill brow, west of the site of the
present village saw-mill, and moved his family into it. A depression on
the surface of the ground still reveals the site of the house.
Having provided a shelter for his family, he built a grist-mill upon the
site of the present grist-mill. From a block of granite found near the
mill he fitted a run of stones with his own hands, and performed nearly
all of the labor involved in the construction of the mill. It was
accounted a good mill for the times, and was patronized by the
inhabitants of this and neighboring townships.
The house built by
Mr. Church was occupied by his own family as long as he remained in
town. It was afterwards occupied by Reuben Bartlett, who emigrated to
Garland from Nottingham, N. H., about the year 1819, and purchased the
mill property. About the year 1826 he built the more commodious house
now owned by Fred Osgood, and sold the house built by Mr. Church to
Samuel Johnson, who moved it to the site now occupied by the Eugene
French house. In 1829, Benjamin H. Oak of Exeter purchased this house,
and the forty acres of land connected with it and moved into it in the
spring of 1830, where he lived until his death in 1842. About the year
1844, it had passed into the hands of Rev. Leonard Hathaway, who took it
down to give place to a larger and better house, where he passed the
remaining years of his earthly life.
In March, 1810, Dr. Joseph Pratt, the first physician of the
township, died at the house of Joseph Garland, where he had boarded.
Dr. Pratt’s faithful performance of his professional duties, and his
ever ready sympathy with the sick and suffering, gave him a warm place
in the hearts of the people. The intelligence of his death spread
rapidly through the township, carrying grief to every household.
Doctors Peabody of Corinth and Skinner of Brewer were his attending
physicians. The funeral services were conducted by the Rev. John Sawyer
at the home of Joseph Garland.
His disease was typhoid fever. He
was buried near the present residence of David W. Dearborn. After the
Greeley Cemetery was established, he was disinterred and buried there.
neither stone nor other monument marks his present resting place. His
immediate successor was Dr. James Parker, who commenced practice here in
the summer of 1810, and was the second physician of the township.
Why did our fathers emigrate to this barren
region where frost and snow hold uninterrupted sway for one half of the
year, and the reluctant soil yields its inhabitants scanty support as
the reward of resolute and unremitting toil? Why did they not seek a
more productive soil under summer skies? These questions are often asked
by the dwellers of eastern Maine.
The early settlers of Lincoln
township were mainly from New Hampshire, Massachusetts, and the western
section of the Province of Maine. These settlers had been settled many
years and the best lands had been appropriated. As a rule the farmers
were large in those days, and the old homes had become like overstocked
hives. The grown-up children must seek new homes as their fathers and
mothers had done in years gone by. The industrial occupations outside of
agriculture were limited in range.
The manufacturing industries
that now allure young men and women in large numbers from agriculture
pursuits, had no existence then. The Lewistons, Lowells and Manchesters,
and the hundreds of villages where factories line the borders of their
streams and rivers, and the hum of whose machinery is as incessant as
the roar of their waterfalls, are creations of a later date. Commercial
employments, house carpenters, ship building and other mechanical
industries, all on a limited scale, with the addition of navigation and
fishing, gave employment to a limited number of people, but the great
mass of New England laborers were obliged to draw their subsistence from
the heart of Mother Earth. It was therefore natural for young men to
choose the employment that had given their fathers the means of support,
and not infrequently, had made them independent. To this class of men,
lands that were cheap, productive and accessible were the desideratum.
All these conditions could be found in the easterly sections of the
Province of Maine.
Land could be purchased at low prices, and of
its productiveness, there was abundant evidence. The appearance of the
surface indicated fertility. One enthusiastic prospector from New
Hampshire filled his tobacco box with dark rich earth looking loam
which, on his return home, he exhibited to his friends, declaring that
it would make good pudding. What disposition he made of his tobacco in
the meantime tradition does not inform us. The character of the forest
growth indicated strength of soil. More conclusive evidence was found in
the large crops of wheat, rye and corn that had been raised in near at
hand townships which had been raised in near at hand townships which had
been settled at an earlier date.
Inducements of another character
were presented to allure settlers. The best statesmanship of
Massachusetts had been employed to promote the settlement of the eastern
lands of that state by the adoption of a liberal policy. Reservations of
land had been made in each township by the general court of
Massachusetts to aid in the support of the institutions, so dear to New
England people - the school and the church; a policy which attracted a
good class of emigrants. Other influences attracted other classes of
emigrants.
Then, as now, there were men who, being repelled by
the conventionalities and restraints of society, were carried on the
current of emigration to the outer limits of civilization. There were
also men who sought border life to gratify their propensity for hunting
and fishing.
Such has been the
remarkable growth of the western states in population and wealth within
the last seventy-five years, that many a worthy citizen of Maine has
regarded it as a misfortune that our fathers did not emigrate to the
West instead of to Maine. At the date of the earliest settlements of
this section of Maine, very little was known of the "great west." Ohio,
the nearest western state, was then an almost unbroken wilderness, at a
great distance away. The difficulties and hardships involved in
emigrating to Ohio were an effectual bar to emigration to that state,
where, in after years, so many residents of Maine emigrated to their
sorrow. Sensible people of the next generation had but little reason to
regret that they had been born in Maine. If the question of choice had
related to the relative capacity of contributing to the food supply of
the world, Maine could have been a factor in that case. If, on the other
hand, the question had related to the type of men and women, who could
boast of Maine nativity, its citizens would not shun the comparison. The
best types of men and women are not found in the most productive
section.
"In marches of a mighty age.
Our place is on the
van."
-Mrs. Mace
The pure breezes from the hilltops, mountains
and sea contribute to the physical, mental and moral fibre of her
citizens. The late Honorable James G. Blaine, who for breadth of
statesmanship and grasp of detail, had had no equal in the United
States, was an adopted son of Maine, where he lived through the whole of
his political life. The Honorable Thomas B. Reed, formally Speaker of
the National House of Representatives, a position of importance next to
that of President of the United States, was a native of Maine. William
P. Frye, President pro tem of the Senate of the United States, who, with
his colleague, Honorable Eugene Hale, hold the chairmanship of some of
the most important committees of that august body, are native to Maine.
Honorable Nelson Dingley, the able leader of the national House of
Representatives, was a native of Maine. The late Honorable Charles A.
Boutelle, the Representative from the fourth representative district of
Maine, held the chairmanship of the Naval Committee. The late Honorable
Melville W. Fuller, also a native of Maine, received the appointment as
Chief Justice of the United Sates Supreme Court. The Honorable Bartlett
Tripp, minister to Austria under President Cleveland, was born in Maine.
The late Honorable Alfred E. Buck, at one time minister to Japan, was a
Maine man.
The distinction of serving as governor of
Massachusetts, has been accorded to several Maine men. Daniel Webster
has been credited with saying that, "New Hampshire is a good state to
emigrate from." It may truthfully be said that Maine is a good state to
be born and reared in.
Maine is comparatively free from many
physical evils that affect the West - evils that result from adverse
atmospheric conditions. Among these are flood, which sometimes submerge
large areas of territory, phenomenal storms of wind, hurricane, and
blizzards, also cyclones that sweep through tiers of states, destroying
crops, houses and sometimes whole villages and attended by great loss of
life. The population of the West is largely more heterogeneous than that
of Maine.
The most important event of 1810 was the petition for an Act of Incorporation, The township had been settled nearly eight years and had steadily grown in numbers, and there were now (1810) forty ot more families within its limits. It had been favored with an encouraging degree of prosperity, and the prospects indicated continued growth. But its most urgent needs could not be provided for until its inhabitants, in an organized capacity, were invested with the power of levying taxes upon the property of the township. Among their immediate wants of public character, were roads and schools. A meeting of the inhabitants of the township was called early in 1810 to consider the question of the propriety of petitioning the General Court of Massachusetts for an Act of Incorporation. At the appointed time, the legal voters assembled at the house of Joseph Garland, and organized by choosing a chairman and clerk. It was decided to petition for an Act of Incorporation. This important point having been decided in the affirmative, the question - What shall be the name of the prospective town? now confronted the citizens. Standing upon the stone step, which had been fashioned by Nature’s hand, and placed in front of Joseph Garland’s house, Deacon John S. Haskell moved that the word ‘Garland’ should be inserted in the petition as indicating the choice of the inhabitants of the township in regard to name. The motion was heard with great satisfaction and carried without opposition.
The citizens of Garland ought to hold their fathers in grateful remembrance
for giving to the town so sensible, so convenient and appropriate a name as
that by which it is known. A name may be desirable for what it lacks as well
as what it contains. Many towns are burdened with names through whose
accentual windings, changing inflections, harsh sounding and
unpronounceable syllables drag their slow length. What bottles of ink,
boxes of pens, reams of paper, stores of vocal power, and crimes against
the rules of orthography and pronuncciation are saved in a single decade
by the use of the simple name given to this township when it took on a
corporate existence. It is a model of convenience and simplicity. It is
easily spoken and easily written. Its distinct utterances indicates its
orthography and pronunciation. It is scarcely susceptible of being
misspelled or mispronounced.
It is not so inconveniently long nor
short as to suggest scantiness of material, nor does it deceive the
traveller, who is dreamily passing through it, with the idea that he is
travelling in Greece, France or Italy. It has a poetic and musical ring
that is suggestive of pleasant things. It is also of importance because
it is invested with historical significance. It perpetuates the memory
of the heroic family, that of Joseph Garland, which left a snug little
home in New Hampshire to encounter the hardships, privations and perils
of pioneer life though a long cold winter, while yet there was not
another family within the township.
The following incident will
show that there was something of advantage in the name by which this
town is known, on at least one occasion. In the year 1823, there was
living in England a family of laborers, including the father, mother and
two sons. They were hardworking and respectable people but could see no
prospect of rising above the conditions which had been teh lot of their
parents and of themselves thus far.
They had heard of America, of
the people who lived in their own comfortable homes, of its cheap lands
and its opportunities. A home of their own filled their thoughts by day
and dreams by night until they reached the decision to emigrate to
America. They had been compelled to practice a rigid economy in their
previous lives, but to secure the funds to pay their passage to the
country they sought, they must turn the screws still harder. By reducing
their daily expense to the lowest possible figure, they saved money
enough to emigrate to Belfast, Maine. One of the sons aptly, if not
elegantly, characterized the money thus saved as "pinch-gut-money"
because it was an abridgement of their daily food.
At Belfast,
the father supported his family by work as a day laborer two years, but
the purpose of their coming to America was to make a home of their own.
Destitute of money, they sought land where it could be purchased cheap
on credit.
The attention of the father had been called to the
township afterwards known as Bowerbank in Piscataquis County.
Accompanied by his eldest son, he started on a trip for that township.
Reaching the town of Sebec, and finding that the road running north
terminated at that place, he decided not to travel any farther in that
direction. Having heard the town of Dexter favorably mentioned, he
turned his steps towards that place. He had but just passed within the
limits of Dexter when the name Garland upon a guide-board struck the
fancy of the son. Pronouncing the name several times, and being enamored
with it, he persuaded his father to visit the town with the attractive
name before purchasing elsewhere.
As a result of the visit, he
purchased a part of lot six, range six, felled a piece of trees, built a
log cabin, into which he moved his family in 1825. The site of the cabin
was at the center of the town on the south side of the center road
running east and west, and nearly opposite the present residence of
James M. Stone, formerly the home of Joseph True.
By virtue of
the industry and economy to which they had been accustomed to the old
country, they improved their condition from year to year. A few years
later they were living in a comfortable house with such out buildings
attached as characterize the home of a well-to-do farmer.
Allured
by the thrift of this family, other English families emigrated to
Garland from time to time, whose descendants have taken rank with our
most industrious and prosperous citizens may be traced to the attractive
name given the town by our fathers.
The family that emigrated to
Belfast in 1823, and to Garland in 1825, was the family of Deacon James
March. Deacon March often related to his new neighbors that, in England,
after a hastily prepared breakfast, cooked over a fire of straw, he and
his wife hastened to the harvest field, taking with them a small barley
loaf, which served as food until darkness compelled a cessation from labor.
A copy of the petition for an act of incorporation, and of the names of the
signers, taken from Massachusetts records, was kindly furnished to the
writer by Dr. John F. Pratt of Chelsea, Mass. The petition, dated March
10, 1810, was placed in the hands of Honorable James Carr,
representative to the General Court of Massachusetts from Bangor, who
was requested to take charge of it. The petition read as follows:
To the Honourable the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Court Assembled, at Boston, June Session, 1810.
Humbly Sheweth:
The subscribers, inhabitants of Township No. Three in the Fifth Range of
Townships North of the Waldo Patent in the County of Hancock, that at
Present there are between two hundred and two hundred and fifty souls
resident in said Town and near fifty persons liable to pay taxes. That
from the first settlement of said Township which is nearly eight years
since, we have been deprived of the benefit and privilege of an
incorporation. Wherefore your Petitioners pray the Legislature of this
Commonwealth to incorporate them into a Town by the name of Garland,
with all the rights and privileges that other towns in the Commonwealth
by the Constitution, - Bounded as follows: East by Township No. Two, in
the same Range, on the north by Township No. Three, in the Sixth Range;
bounded on the West by Township No. Four in the aforesaid Fifth Range;
bounded on the South by Township No. Three in the Fourth Range of
Townships North of the Waldo Patent aforesaid, comformable to the
original lines and corners as run and set up by Government. Surveyors in
the year of our LORD 1792, originally intended to include a Tract six
miles square be the same more or less. Your Petitioners as in duty bound
will ever pray.
Township Number three, March 1810
Signed
Edward Fifield
Isaac Hopkins
John Stevens
John Hayes
Nathaniel Fifield
John Trefetheren
Dudley L. Fogg
Thom's
Gillpatrick Jr.
John Pratt
Benj. Gillpatrick
Thomas S. Tyler
Silas Libbee
William Blasdell
Jeremiah Flanders
Phillip Greley
Justus Hariman
Simeon Morgan
John Knight
John S. Haskell
Edward Pratt
Joseph Garland
Theophilus B. Morgan
Thomas
Gillpatrick
Moses Gordon
Josiah Bartlett
John Jackman
Oliver
Woodard
Enoch Jackman
Cutteon Flanders
Enoch Clough
John E.
Gordon
Jacob Garland
William Dustin
Ezekiel Straw
Amos
Gordon
John Chandler
William Godwin
Abraham Bond
Samson
Silver
Isaac Wheeler
William Sargent
James McClure
John
Stevens
Andrew Kimball
Eleazer Woodard
Something of the
history of each person whose name appears on the petition has been given
in preceding pages, except in cases of Isaac Hopkins, John Stevens,
Dudley L. Fogg, John and Edward Pratt, Silas Libbee and Oliver and
Eleazer Woodard. The name of Isaac Hopkins appears on the voting list
only in 1812. It may be inferred that he was only a temporary resident.
John Stevens bargained for a small piece of land on John Chandler’s
lot, where he lived only for a short time. He was a single man. Of
Dudley L. Fogg tradition makes no mention. John and Edward Pratt were
residents here but a short time. They early took up their residence in
Piscataquis County.
Silas Libbee bought a piece of land on the
old Harriman place, which he soon abandoned. He afterwards bought a part
of the lot known as the Joseph M. Gerry place. He was not long a
resident of Garland. Oliver Woodward made a beginning on lot four, range
six, where George W. Adams formerly lived.
The petition for an
act of incorporation was probably copied from the form which other
townships had used. In response to the petition, the following act was
passed by the General Court of Massachusetts:
Act of
Incorporation
Commonwealth of Massachusetts
In the year of
our Lord one thousand eight hundred and eleven.
An act to
incorporate township number three in the fifth range of townships north
of the Waldo Patent into a town by the name of Garland.
Section
1st. Be in enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General
Court assembled and by authority of the same: That township number three
in the fifth range of townships north of the Waldo Patent in the county
of Hancock, bounded as follows: Northwardly by township number three in
the sixth range; westwardly by township number four in the fifth range;
southwardly by township number three in the fourth range; and eastwardly
by township number two in the fifth range, together with the inhabitants
thereof be, and hereby are incorporated into a town by the name of
Garland vested with all the powers, privileges and immunities which
other towns do, and may enjoy by the constitution and laws of this
Commonwealth.
Section 2. Be it further enacted, that any justice
of the peace in said county of Hancock be, and hereby is empowered to
issue his warrant directed to some suitable inhabitant of said town of
Garland requiring him to notify and warn the inhabitants thereof
qualified to vote in town affairs, to meet at such time and place as
shall be expressed in said warrant, to choose all such officers as towns
are by law required to choose in the month of March or April annually.
In the House of Representatives, February 14, 1811.
This bill
having had then several readings was passed to be enacted.
Joseph
Story, Speaker
In Senate, February 14, 1811
This bill
having had two several readings was passed to be enacted.
H. G.
Otis, President.
Council Chamber:
16th of February, 1811
Approved E. Gerry
Secretary's Office,
February 11, 1811
A true copy,
Attest Benj. Hamans
Secretary of the Commonwealth
of Mass.
The act of incorporation was copied into the first
volume of town records, and the correctness of the copy attested by
Joseph Treadwell, Garland's first town clerk. An inspection of the
geographical description of the township will show that county and State
lines have been changed since the incorporation of the town.
The
act of incorporation had the effect of converting and unorganized, into
an organized community, and of investing it with all the powers,
privileges and immunities that a town may exercise and enjoy. Through
the agency of the courts it could now enforce legal claims against
individuals or communities, and defend itself against claims of an
opposite character. It could now assess taxes to make roads, to build
schoolhouses, support schools and for other public purposes and enforce
their payment.
It was brought into political relations with state
and national governments. The ballot of its humblest voter would weigh
as much in determining who should be governor or president as that of
the wealthiest or most aristocratic citizen of the State.
The
transformation of township to town had been made under auspicious
conditions. The act of incorporation, the bill of rights of the
inhabitants, had been granted by the State of Massachusetts which had
been the home of the Pilgrim and the Puritan, the state that had given
to New England the school, the church and the town meeting, and to the
country the best type of civilization the world had ever known, the
state whose soil was the first stained by patriot blood in the War of
the Revolution.
The renowned jurist, Joseph Story, signed the act
as Speaker of the House. The cultured and polished Harrison Gray Otis
signed it as President of the Senate, and Elbridge Gerry, afterwards
Vice President of the United States, approved it as Governor.
The crowning act of the township in 1811 was its assumption of the
powers, privileges and immunities of a corporate existence. The inhabitants of
the new town had now only to await the coming of that characteristic New England
institution, the town meeting, to enter upon the exercise of their new powers.
The inhabitants of the new town now impatiently awaited the act of incorporation
which seemed very slow in coming. The nearest post-office was at Bangor,
twenty-five miles away, and to the post-office in Bangor the document was sent.
A messenger, who was awaiting its arrival, took it immediately to Garland. In
this year of grace, 1897, a document mailed in Boston late in the afternoon of a
specified day, would reach the post-office in Garland on the forenoon of the
next day. The document which the inhabitants of Garland were impatiently
awaiting in that memorable March of 1811, was a little more than two weeks in
coming to the Bangor post-office. On its arrival at Garland, it was placed in
the hands of Isaac Wheeler, who held a commission of justice of the peace
bearing the seal of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
Squire Wheeler
forthwith issued the following warrant, dated March 16, 1811:
L. S.
Hancock js: To Amos Gordon, one of the inhabitants of Garland in said county of
Hancock, Greeting:
L. S. You are hereby required in the name of the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts to notify and warn the Freeholders and other
inhabitants of said town qualified by law to vote in town affairs, to assemble
at the dwelling house of Isaac Wheeler, Esq., on Monday the first day of April
next at nine o'clock in the forenoon for the following purposes: (viz.)
1st. To choose a moderator to govern said Meeting.
2d. To choose a Town
Clerk.
3d. To choose three Select Men.
4th. To choose three Assessors.
5th. To choose a Constable.
6th. To see what the town will do with
respect to a collector.
7th. To choose all other officers that the law
requires.
8th. To see how much money the town will raise to repair highways.
9th. To see how much money the town will raise for the support of schools.
10th. To see what the town will do with respect to building schoolhouses.
11th. To see how much money the town will raise to defray the expenses of the
town.
12th. To do all other business that the town shall think proper when
assembled.
Given under my hand and seal this 16th day of March, 1811.
Isaac Wheeler,
Justice of the Peace.
Upon the above warrant Mr. Gordon
made the following return:
In pursuance of the above warrant to me
directed, I do hereby notify and warn the freeholders and other inhabitants of
the town of Garland qualified to vote in town affairs, to meet at the time and
place mentioned in the foregoing warrant and for the purpose therein expressed:
This 18th day of March, 1811.
Amos Gordon.
A true copy —
Attest, Joseph Treadwell, Town Clerk.
The matters of business presented
in this warrant were couched in forms that had been transmitted to the
inhabitants of Garland through successive generations, and are still in general
use. The items of business were presented in these preliminary proceedings with
a clearness and propriety of expression that would not be discreditable to any
board of town officers that have had the affairs of the town in charge from that
day to this.
Two classes of voters were mentioned in the warrant -
freeholders and other inhabitants qualified to vote in town affairs. The
freeholder was an inhabitant who held an estate of a prescribed value in his own
right. This gave him the right to vote in State and National affairs as well as
in town affairs. The other inhabitants mentioned were those whose estate did not
reach the prescribed value. These could vote only in town affairs.
The first town meeting was held on the first day of April 1811, at the house
of Isaac Wheeler, Esq., which stood upon the site of the residence of
the late William B. Foss, now the home of F.D. Wood and family, a few
rods north of the Free Baptist Church.
The advent of the town
meeting was the beginning of a new era to the inhabitants of Garland.
They had lived together for eight years with no semblance of
organization. No inhabitant could be compelled to perform the slightest
service equally with other inhabitants. The citizens had been groping
along circuitous paths in the wilderness, carrying their burdens upon
horseback or conveyances of the rudest character. Their children were
living without schools, save here and there at uncertain intervals of
time, supported by voluntary subscriptions.
Other matters
relating to the public convenience and welfare had been neglected, but
the town meeting, the most democratic of American institutions, had
come, bringing with it the elements of prosperity and progress. It could
not, indeed, create wealth, but it could levy taxes upon existing
resources and establish schools. That potent factor of representative
government, the voice of the majority, could compel the citizen, willing
or not, to bear his share of the public burdens.
The coming of
the first town meeting was an occasion of great importance to the
inhabitants for reasons other than those which have been noticed. It
created places of trust, responsibility and honor that must be filled.
It created emoluments which although at the present time would be
regarded of trifling importance, were not matters of entire indifference
then. It would not be uncharitable to suppose that some of the more
prominent citizens, ambitious for office, had been modestly awaiting
honors which they believed would be thrust upon them. There were others
who were glad of an opportunity to express in some tangible form their
good-will towards an esteemed neighbor or friend. There were still
others who cherished favorite plans in respect to the location of roads
and schoolhouses, and if these could be realized, they cared but little
who bore away the honors and emoluments of office.
Punctually at
the hour, the inhabitants assembles at the appointed place, and
organized the first town meeting by the choice of Thomas Gilpatrick for
moderator, and Joseph Treadwell for clerk. Josiah Bartlett, Isaac
Wheeler and Thomas Gilpatrick were chosen selectmen and assessors.
Edward Fifield was chosen constable and collector, and was voted a
compensation of ten dollars for collecting all taxes for the year 1811.
Isaac Wheeler, Esq., was chosen treasurer. John Chandler, Amos Gordon,
Josiah Bartlett, John Hayes, Joseph Saunders, Thomas S. Tyler and
Ezekiel Straw were chosen highway surveyors. The choosing of highway
surveyors at this meeting seems a little premature as no highways had
been established. They were instructed to allow twelve and one half
cents per hour for work on the highways, a precedent that has been
followed to the present time. William Godwin, Andrew Kimball and James
McClure were chosen surveyors of boards. Joseph Treadwell and Amos
Gordon were chosen surveyors of split lumber. William Sargent, Benjamin
Gilpatrick, William Palmer, P. Greeley, Cutteon Flanders and O. Woodward
were chosen hog reeves. William Blaisdell, Justus Harriman and Moses
Gordon were chosen fence-viewers. Isaac Wheeler was chosen sealer of
weights and measures. John S. Haskell and William Sargent were chosen
field-drivers. Enoch Jackman was chosen sealer of leather.
The
record of Garland's first town meeting closes with the following entry:
Voted to dissolve the meeting. Accordingly it was dissolved.
A true
copy of proceedings,
Attest, Joseph Treadwell, Clerk.
The
handwriting and general neatness of Mr. Treadwell's record is very
creditable. An inspection of the records will show a disposition to make
the honors of office go to as many of the inhabitants as possible. Seven
highway surveyors were appointed when, as yet, not a single highway had
been established. Several other offices were filled for which there was
no apparent use.
This first town meeting was without doubt a
meeting of the genuine New England type. The inhabitants had come
together to exercise the rights and enjoy the privileges with which they
had so recently been invested.
In the town meeting, each
inhabitant was the equal of every other, and each could represent his
own views upon every question by voice and vote. It may be assumed that
the proceedings were not strictly parliamentary. In the typical New
England town meeting, the sharp personal thrust and instant retort,
whether in order or not, can no more be anticipated than lightening from
a cloudless sky. The roar of laughter that follows is the safety-valve
for the escape of dangerous elements.
The year 1811 was fruitful of town meetings. The second town meeting
was held at the residence of Isaac Wheeler, Esq., on April 22, 1811.
Edward Fifield was chosen moderator. The main purpose of this meeting
was to consider and act on the question of roads.
To the
inhabitants of the new town this was a question of serious difficulty on
account of the long stretch of road demanded for the public convenience.
If the forty-five families of the town had been located on contigous
lots in some particular section, the burden of making roads would have
been greatly diminished, but they were scattered over a large part of
its surface. There were families on the eastern border of the town and
on the western. There were families in the extreme northwest corner, and
in the southwest corner, as well as in the central part of the town. All
of theses families must be accommodated.
There was one favorable
condition. There could be no dispute about routes. These had been
predetermined by the original proprietors of the township, who had
caused it to be surveyed into squares whose sides were one mile long, by
range ways running through it from north to south and from east to west.
These range ways constituted the routes for roads. Nothing remained to
be done but determine distances, and to indicate here and there a
deviation from the direct route to avoid natural obstacles.
At
this meeting the selectmen submitted their report on the subject of
roads. The first route described in the report, extended from the west
line of the town through its center, to its east line, and the road is
now known as the east and west center road. Within one and one half
miles of the east line of the town, some deviations from the range line
were indicated desirable, but some years later, the route was restored
to the range line. And still later a curve to the north was made near
the old Bartlett place to avoid the steep part of the hill at that
point.
The second route described in the report of the selectmen
and accepted by the town, followed the range line between the eighth and
ninth ranges, from the west line of the town to the southeast corner of
lot four in the ninth range lots. This route was a mile north of the
east and west center route and parallel to it. The width of this road
was fixed at three rods. A section of road upon this route, reaching
from the west line if the town to the Sangerville county road, was
built; also a shorter section, reaching from the recent site of the
schoolhouse in district number five, one half mile east, and passing the
Horace Davis and Emerson places. The part of the route between these
town sections of road was discontinued by the vote of the town. The
families, now residing on the westerly section are those of George
Arnold, Charles Carr, and Robert McComb.
The third route
described in the report, extended from the west line of the town at a
point near the present residence of Mark Jennings, easterly between the
fourth and fifth ranges of lots, to the corner a few rods east of the
site of the Congregational church.
The fourth was a short route
in the southwest part of the town.
The fifth route began on the
range way at the top of the hill, a few rods north of the residence then
of the Rev. John Sawyer, but now owned by D. F. Patten, and ran
southerly over the site of the present village to Exeter line. The
larger part of this route became, a few years later, a section of the
road leading into Piscataquis County. It was to be four rods wide.
The sixth route described in the report, extended northerly from the
southeast corner of land now owned and occupied by Alfred Patterson, to
the point of intersection with the county road now leading to
Sangerville. One mile of the southern section of this route had never
been built, the starting point having been changed to a point near the
Maple Grove Cemetery, running thence in a northwesterly direction and
intersecting the original route near the site of the present residence
of Charles Greeley.
The town voted to accept the report of
selectmen relating to routes, and to establish roads in accordance
therewith. It voted also to establish roads in accordance therewith. It
voted also to establish a road from the northwest corner of J.
Bartlett’s land to the southwest corner of J. McClure’s land, thence to
the will. This vote embraced the existing road, leading from the
northwest corner of the farm now owned by Calvin Campbell, to the
southwest corner of the cemetery near the schoolhouse in district number
seven.
From the cemetery the line of the road ran westerly to a
point near the site of the present residence of James Rideout, where it
bore to the south and intersected the route of the road running to the
south, where it is now intersected by the road from Holt’s Mills. A few
years later the route from the present Rideout place was changed so as
to run in a pretty direct course to the crest of the hill, a few rods
north of the present gristmill. In 1855, the road was again changed to
avoid the dangerous turn at the point of intersection with the north and
south road. This change was from the Preble Brook to L. Oak’s store.
At this second meeting the town had voted to make twenty miles of
road. This was a necessity of the time, but it proved a troublesome
necessity. Eighteen mile of road embraced in this action of the town are
now in use. Many years passed before any of these roads became passable
for the modern carriage.
At this meeting the town voted to raise
five hundred dollars to make and repair highways. Although the second
town meeting was devoted mainly to the consideration of roads, the
question of schools received some attention. So closely connected in the
New England mind of those early days were roads and schools that an
appropriation for one was immediately followed by an appropriation for
the other.
At the meeting the town voted to raise one hundred
dollars for the support of schools, and that the school money should be
paid in corn at five shillings, rye at seven shillings and wheat at
eight shillings per bushel. This, with similar votes from year to year
in the earlier days of the town’s history, shows that corn, rye, and
wheat were an important element in the currency of the inhabitants,
which, with all its disadvantages, had the merit of an intrinsic value
in harmony with that by which it had been invested by the legislature of
the town, a merit of which some of the modern schemes relating to
currency are lamentably destitute. The present generation may well
regard the robust honesty of their fathers with pride.
Another
vote at the meeting of 1811 was that each district should build its own
schoolhouse. This vote seems a little premature, inasmuch as not a
single district had been established, but it disclosed an interest in
schools which was an ever-abiding element in the hearts of the early
inhabitants.
The proceedings of the second town meeting of 1811
were closed by a vote to raise fifty dollars to defray town charges.
This meeting assembled at the
house of Isaac Wheeler, Esq., on the 31st day of August, 1811. Its main
purpose was to consider the question of schools.
Thomas
Gilpatrick was chosen moderator, and Dr. James Parker, clerk. A
committee of three, embracing Joseph Garland, Justus H. Harriman and
William Blaisdell, was chosen to divide the town into school districts
with instructions to report at the next town meeting of the town.
It was voted that the method of warning town meetings should be
written notification, and that said notification be set up at some place
at least seven days previous to said meeting, except in some
extraordinary case of emergency. In such case the method should be left
to the discretion of the selectmen. The last provision of this vote is
significant as showing that ominous shadows of an impending national
conflict were hanging over those homes in the forest, and that the
purpose of the inhabitants was to hold themselves in readiness to
respond to the call of their country with patriotic promptitude, come
when it might.
The fourth and last town meeting of 1811 was held at the house of Isaac
Wheeler, Esq., September 22d. Thomas Gilpatrick was chosen moderator, and Dr.
James Parker, clerk pro tem. Its purpose was to hear the report of the
committee on the division of the town into school districts, and to take
such action with reference thereto as well as to the general question of
schools, as the majority school determine.
The action of the town
with reference to this matter seems to have been in harmony with the
recommendations of the committee on divisions.
It was voted that
all the settlement east of the center road running north and south be
one district. It also voted that the center road running east and west,
together with the road north of this (and parallel to it) be one
district with privilege of two schoolhouses. It voted that the
settlement by E. Fifield’s should be one district. This was in the
southwest part of the town.
Josiah Bartlett was appointed school
agent for the district east of the north and south center road.
Joseph Garland was appointed agent for the second district, and Edward
Fifield for the third district. It was voted that each district should
build its own schoolhouse.
The Rev. John Sawyer, Dr. J. Parker
and Isaac Wheeler were chosen superintending school committee. This was
the first school committee of the town.
The vote of the previous
meeting that each district should build its own schoolhouse, was
reaffirmed.
The attempts of the inhabitants of the town to
partition it into school districts, and to locate and build
schoolhouses, gave rise to a long and persistent if not bitter struggle
between opposing factions. The theater of the struggle was sometimes the
town meeting, and sometimes the school district meeting. The history and
results of the struggle will be given in another connection.
The year 1812 like that of 1811 was fruitful of
town meetings. Business had been accumulating during the eight years of
the unorganized condition of the township. Now, having been invested
with municipal powers, business that had been neglected, much of it
important, confronted its inhabitants.
The town had exceptional
difficulties to encounter in providing for the welfare of its people on
account of their being so much scattered over its surface.
At a
meeting in 1811 it had voted to make twenty-two miles of road. This was
a task that would require many years in the performance. But this long
stretch of road failed to reach all the families. There was an urgent
demand for more road. But the division of the town into school
districts, and the location and building of schoolhouses, presented
questions of a much more perplexing character.
The annual meeting
of 1812 was held at the home of Isaac Wheeler, Esq., on April 6th. Amos
Gordon was chosen moderator, Jacob Garland town clerk, Isaac Wheeler,
Josiah Bartlett and John Trefethen were chosen selectmen and assessors.
The town voted that twenty dollars in cash should be raised to
defray town charges, and that every man should deliver his tax money
into the hands of the town treasurer. John Hayes was chosen collector,
and was voted a compensation of four dollars for his services in this
capacity. Amos Gordon was chosen town treasurer.
The town voted
to raise seven hundred dollars to make and repair highways, two hundred
dollars for the support of schools, and one hundred and thirty dollars
to defray town charges.
Twelve and one half cents per hour was
voted for labor on the roads. It was voted to allow six shillings for
corn, seven shillings for rye and eight shillings for wheat in payment
for taxes.
At an adjourned meeting, held April 7th, the town
instructed the selectmen to provide powder at their own discretion,
which indicated a prudent regard for the time-honored maxim, "In time of
peace prepare for war."
On the same day of the annual town meeting of 1812, such inhabitants of Garland as were qualified to vote for governor, having been duly warned in the name of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, gave in their votes for governor, lieutenant governor and three senators.
Name of the inhabitants of Garland legally
qualified to vote for governor, lieutenant governor, senators and county
treasurer:
Josiah Bartlett
Abram Bond
William Blaisdell
Isaac Copeland
John Chandler
John M. Chase
James McCluer
William Dustin
Edward Fifield
Cutteon Flanders
Jeremiah
Flanders
Joseph Garland
Amos Gordon
John Gordon
Jacob
Garland
Benj. Gilpatrick Jr.
Thomas Gilpatrick
Phillip Greeley
Moses Gordon
Isaac Hopkins
John S. Haskell
John Hayes
Manoah
Harriman
William Church
John Saunders
Nathaniel Fifield
John
Grant
Thos. Gilpatrick, Jr.
Justus Harriman
Enoch Jackman
James Hutchinson
John Jackman
John Knight
Silas Libbee
Simeon Morgan
James Parker
Rev. John Sawyer
Ezekiel Straw
Moses Saunders
Joseph Saunders
Oliver Saunders
John Stephens
William Sargeant
Sampson Silver
Thomas Tyler
John Tefethen
Joseph Treadwell
Sullivan Tyler
Isaac Wheeler
Oliver Woodward
William Godwin
Enoch Clough
Landeras Grant
Simon French
James Jackman
James Godwin
Selectmen.
Isaac Wheeler
Thomas Gilpatrick
Josiah Bartlett
For Governor.
Hon.
Elbridge Gerry had thirty-five votes. Hon. Caleb Strong had thirteen
votes. Scattering, four votes.
For Lieutenant Governor.
Hon. William King had thirty-seven votes. Hon. William Philips had
fourteen votes.
Although war with Great Britain had not yet been
declared, active preparations for the anticipated event were in
progress. The preponderance of sentiment in the old Commonwealth was
adverse to the war. But in less than three months war was formally
proclaimed by President Madison, whose term of office would expire in
the following March. The political forces which would determine whether
or no Mr. Madison should be his own successor, were being marshalled in
every town however new, small or remote, within the limits of the
Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
The voters of Garland gave their
approval to the war policy of President Madison by a majority of almost
three to one.
History repeated itself when, in 1864, the War of
the Rebellion was nearing its close, and Abraham Lincoln was a candidate
for reelection, the opposition declared the war a failure and went into
the campaign with that as its main issue.
The second meeting of
the town in 1812 was held at Church's Mills on the 25th of July.
The purpose of this meeting was mainly to consider the matter of roads,
an account of which will appar in another place. The only other business
transacted was to instruct the selectmen to buy forty pounds of powder
and balls and flints in proportion, at the expense of the town.
A
third town meetings was held at the house of Joseph Garland on the 24th
day of September, 1812, to consider a school district question, without
result.
A fourth town meeting was held on the second day of
November, 1812, at the house of Isaac Wheeler, Esq., to consider the
question of school districts.
On the second day of November, 1812, the voters of Garland assembled at the house of Isaac Wheeler, Esq., to give in their votes for a member of Congress to represent the Kennebec District, when Hon. James Carr received seventeen votes; Hon. John Wilson received seventeen votes.
On the 12th day of November, 1812, the
inhabitants of Garland qualified to vote for presidential electors,
assembled at the house of John Grant to give in their votes for that
office. Hon. William Crosby received four-teen votes.
A town
meeting was held at the house of Isaac Wheeler, Esq., on 17thof
November, 1812. This meeting was devoted exclusively to the
consideration of the school question. The articles of business named in
the warrant calling the meeting were all "passed over."
The year
1812 closed the first decade of the history of Garland as a township. It
had now invested with corporate powers.
Transcribed by Fran Jones Libby, David Brann, Jennifer Godwin, and Grinnell MacLeod Wood II
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This page was last updated
04/28/2025