Sumner High School - Spindrift Yearbook (East Sullivan, ME)

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THE HAPBOR BEACONI church He was one of the leadlng cltxzers of the town The flrst settler at Ash s Polnt IS Sald to have been a Mr Bxckford In the Pond D1StF1Ct John Leeson who came about 1820 was the first settler He bullt a log house and barn Samuel Tracy came m 1826 and erected a log house near the present Rolfe resldence At South Gouldsboro Isaac Bunker was an early settler He came to thls town about 1801 and dled here about 1825 or 1828 THE FIRST GOULDSBORO TOWN HOUSE The date of erectron of the first town house m5555C E5553 IS unknown For years thlss quare weather stamed bulldmg was the scene of publlc gather lngs The pews on elther slde were closed wlth a hlgh door as entrance and fortunate the ch1ld whose fathers pew h d a wlndow one of the mne 7 X 9 avenues of hght The center of the house contamed a double row of pme pews nature s tmt In front was the pulplt slx feet from the floor where the choxr leader stood w1th hls p1tch plpe and began the hymns Thls bulldxng not only served as church but as a place for busmess and soclal functlons as well It was burned September 23 1883 555555555555555555i 5555556 HISTORY OF HANCOCK 555555C 2555Bk55555Cm5553 l5555SE55C?5C55CXXXX The first permanent settlment ln the VlC11'1llZy of Skllllngs Rlver Cnamed after a rlver ln Swlt zerlandj was made by Captaln Agreen Crabtree Ph1l1p and Shlmuel Hodgkms Captam Crabtree bu1lt hls cabln on a polnt of land known as Crabtrees Polnt On the Phlhp Hodgkms Thls pomt IS known as Flsh Pomt whxle Shxmuel Hodgkxns settled on what IS now known as Pettmglll s Pomt The father of the latt r settled on a more southerly polnt These four f31 'lll19S were the first that came up Skllllngs rlver 1n the year 1764 The object of these settlers dld not seem to be to take up a locatlon for farmlng but for the purpose of securing the huge prne trees called Pumpkln Pme whlch grew along the coast These settlers came from the western part of the Dlstrlct of Malne The Crabtrees came from Portland whlle Hodgkms came from the Kennebec Valley The chlef lndustrles of the early settlers were lumberlng shrpbulldlnff Grand Bank fishlng and operatmg grlst and saw mxlls but today the chlef lndu try ISf2.I'I1'111'1g and lt IS sald that Hancock has a larger proportlon of arable land than any other town 1n Hancock county About thlrty five years ago a mlnmg company started to operate mmes for sllw er ore The productlon was small so the mmes were abandoned al they could be worked wnth a profit 'l he first settlers lxved close to the shores and dld not have any roads The river was thelr hwlcway Then houses were small and usually COl1t2.lI19d large famlhes The shlngles and clapboards were hand made and thelr weather mg qualltle exceed those of today The furnl ture was scarce and rudely made by an axe and saw For cookmg utensxls the first settlers used the rumpus pot and cooked out of doors but later the brxck oy ens came lnto use and may stlll be seen ln some old houses The early clothmff was all hand made the ladles cloth was called llnse woolsey whlle the men s cloth was knosm as sat1nette The boots were made of COWl1ld8 and possessed excellent wearlng quahtles possxblg, from the fact that the ch1l x Q . . . . A . h I . , - . . . . , . . . , 3 . 7 7 I , . . . . , 1 , . . ' Y 7 I ' r . , . E ,. . . . . . . S . . , . . . 7 . , Y . 1 r ' , ' l , . , , - point south of the above mentioned, settled though with the present methods of mining, 1 y s n , n a n s D . . .a 1 L - . O . . . . Y C ll - - 17 ' ' n I7 7 ' ! v . A . . - . i. , 7 5 7 K6 ' - 77 ' ! . . A . X . . . y . . . C, . . y , x . I 1 Y '

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20 THE HARBOR BEACON? worth and IS on the Shore stage llne The area IS about 30 000 acres Forbes and Jones ponds are the chlef b0dl9S of water and Mt Cromer the prlnclpal mountaln The surface of the town IS much broken cllffs of granlte penetrated by VGIHS of galena zlnc and copper abound At Grlndstore Polnt lmmense deposlts of metanlorphlc slate hate been found Lumberlng and fishlng are the prlnclpal lndustrles although farming lS grow lng to be an lmportant lndustry Shlpbulldlng was at one tlme an lmportant lndustry EARLY SETTLERS The Oflglnal grant of Townshlp 3 CGoulds boroj was made by the General Court of Massa chusetts to Messrs Nathan Jones Francis Shaw and Robert Gould ln 1764 It IS stated that John Lane Esq a London merchant furnlshed money to Robert Gould who was surveyor The latter s earnest effort to pro cure settlers for the town caused the townshlp to be named for hlm prletors was a Boston merchant He was born March 29 1721 marrled lwov 3 1744 L5 dla D1CkIHaH of Boston who dled Dec 26 1746 He marrled Sept 22 1747 Sarah Burt All h1S chlldren were born ln Boston Nathan Jones one of the orlglnal proprletors of Gouldsborough was born ln Weston Mass Sept 29 1734 He marrled October 12 1756 Sarah Stevens who was born ln Weston May 5 1734 Colonel Nathan Jones was one of the first settlers ln Gouldsboro comlng from Vies ton Mass about 1765 He owned the north western quarter SQCLIOH of the townshlp a mlll and wharves IH the Morancy sectlon of Sulllvan Jones Lake and Cove were named for hlm He dled ln Gouldsboro May 7 1806 Sarah hls wlfe dled March 27 1804 They were burled on the hlllslde above thelr house the S116 of whlch IS near the VS llllam VS ood resldence General Dax ld Cobb one of the early T951 dents of Gouldsboro and for years one of the most promlnent and lnfluentlal men ln Maine was the son of Thomas and Lydla Cobb of Attleboro Mass He was born Sept 14 1448 He prepared for college ln Joseph Marsh Jr s prlvate school at Bralntree graduatlng ln 1166 from Harx ard and studled mGd1C1H9 wlth Dr Perklns He was engaged actlx ely ln practlce at the outbreak of the Revolutlonary war havlng marrled Eleanor Bradlsh of Cambridge Mass and havlng settlf d at 'l aunton He was a representatlve to the General Court ln 1774 as acolleague of hls brother ln law Robert Treat Palne one of the SIPHGFS of the Declaration of Independence In 1777 Dr Cobb entered the Amerlcan Army as lleutenant colonel of the Slxteenth Mass Reglment General Cobb hoped to found a clty at Gouldsboro He con structed roads bullt wharves storehouses saw mllls and ShlpS and shipped large quantltles of lumber to the VK est Indles He was elected to offices ln Malne servlng as Chlef Justlce of the Court of Common Pleas for Hancock County and was an executlve councllor for many years among them that of Master of Arts from Brown Unlverslty ln 1790 He founded Taunton Academy and w s ore of the founders of the Mass General Hospltal ln 1820 the manage ment of the Blngham estate was given to h1S son ln law Col Black of Ellsworth Gen Cobb having returned ln feeble health to Taunton Jan 8 1808 Gen Cobb dled Aprll 17 1830 at the Mass Hospltal General and Mrs Cobb had eleven chlldren one of whom Mrs Betsey Smlth llved ln Gouldsboro as her father s house keeper Thomas Hlll was an early settler at West Gouldsboro He was a native of NN eston Mass where he marrled Rebecca daughter of Samuel Traln 'lhe Hllls came first to Sl llllngs rlver lt IS b9l16X0d and afterwards to Viest Goulds boro Mr Hlll bullt the first tannery run by horse power ln the town He bullt shlps was a Justlce of the peace first postmaster m Gouldsboro and was a deacon of the Baptlst A ' - 9 7 ' . - - , 1 r' , 1 . . , - . . . , . . . . . p ,N ' , 7 7 . . . g. . ,. 9 ! . , 7 f . . . . V . ' v ' C Y , 4 ., . . ' 1 . V 'c , 7 3 . , . A , . . 1 - ' Y Y I 9 'v ' u J . I . , . , . . . . . . ' A , ' 1 Francis Shaw, one of these original pro- He was the recipient of honorary degrees, . , D 7 7 Y ' I 7 7 ' ' , . , . a l a , I s , - , . . . -. - , . 7 I l 7 ' '7 7 Y 7 ' Y ' 7 ! 7 ' 7 ' ' Y ! 1 7 1 ' ' ' . , , . r ' ' r ' , my 0 - 1 7 . - J , ., ' Q , A 1 1 ' 1 ' X 9 7 7 ' Y , . . ' . y . . . . Y Y. Y .- . . . 7 , 7 7 D I

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22 THE HARBOR BEACOIN dren carrled then' boots and stocklngs ln then' hands whlle on thelr way to meetlng unt1l they were near the church and then put them on The chlef amusements were husklng bees and frollcs The Frst church was built at South Hancock on the slte of the present church the denomma tlon belng Baptlst lt was bullt bv the old settlers and used untll 1867 when lt was re placed by a new bulldlng Wh1Ch IS stlll ln good condltlon The people of Hancock Corner and North Hancock wantmg a nearer church bullt the one that IS at Hancock Corner Thls IS a Unlon church There IS also a Free Baptlst church on the ea tern sxde of H ncock Neck Before any church was erected the meetlngs were often held IH barns many of the S9I'V1C6S lastlng all day the congregation often brmglng lunches especlally those who hved a great way from the place of worshlp There were no muslcal lnstruments the muslc belng wholly vocal and led by the cholr master who used a tunlng fork from whlch he got the pltch of the song to be sung The town charter of lncorporatlon was re cexved February 21 1828 The contents are as follows Sectlon 1 Be lt enacted by the Senate and House of Representatlves ln Leglslature as sembled That such parts of the towns of Sulh van and Trenton and Plantatlon numbered elght as l1e w1th1n the followlng l1nes vlz Beglnnmg at the present northwest corner of the town of Trenton thence north by the east llne of the town of Ellsworth to the north llne of the French grant or grant to De Gregolre and wlfe thence on the saxd l1ne of the French grant to the west llne of the town of Franklm thence south by sald lme to the southeast comer of the town of Franklm thence east on Sald hne and southerly through the mlddle of Thornton Bay to Frenchmans Bay thence westerly up French mans Bay to the southeast corner of the town of Trenton thence northerly on the east lme of Trenton to a polnt one mlle south of the present northwest corner of the town of Sulh Ran thence from sald polnt west and parallel to the present north llne of Trenton to the easterly hne of the town of Ellsworth thence by the hne of the town of Ellsworth north twenty five degrees east to the place of beglnnlng wlth the lnhabxtants thereon be and hereby are ln corporated 1nto a town by the name of Han cock and vested wlth all the powers and prlvlleges and subject to the dutles of other towns Provlded all the Inhabitants thus ln corporated shall be holden to pay all assess ments due and remalnlng unpald prlor to the passlng of thls act Sectlon 2 Be It further enacted That one thlrd of the State valuatlon of the town of Sulllvan one n1nth of Sald valuatlon of the town of Trenton and three fifths of the valua tlon of Plantatlon numbered elght be taken from the valuatlon of sald towns and planta tlons and set to the town of Hancock Sectlon 3 Be It further enacted That the lnhabltants of that part of the town of Trenton hereby set off shall be holden to pay thelr proportxon for the support of the paupers now chargeable to the town of Trenton so long as they shall be supported by sald town Sectlon 4 Be It further enacted That the lnhabltants of that part of the town of Trenton Sulllvan and Plantatlon numbered elght thus set off shall be and contlnue a part of the towns and plantatlons to whlch they now respectlvely belong for the purpose of votlng for Governor Senators Representatxves Reglster of Deeds and County Treasurer untll the State shall be dlstrlcted anew for the cholce of Representa tives Approved by the Governor Feb 21 1828 Skxllmgs Neck whlch IS now Hancock Corner South Hancock and Hancock Pomt were sur veyed mto one hundred acre lots each by order of the General Court of Massachusetts ln 1803 These lots were glven to those who were actually on them before the explratlon of a certam date Y , .. Y . . . 1 - 1 u ' 11 ' , - 1 A.. ' . . . - f . . D . 1 1 ' , 1 1 1 ' 1 - 1 1 . A , , - - 1 . 1 ., . - S4 21 . . , 1 1 1 1 ' ' 1 1 . - . . . . . , . ' 1 , . . . . . . . , 1 ' 1 1 ' 1 1 1 1 ' 1 1 . . . 1 1 1 1 , - , . . . . 1 1 - 1 ' 1 1 1 1 ' 1 S ' A - Q .