a HINCKLEY TOWNSHIP 0f GRAND LAKE STREAM PLANTATION r"^ The original of this book is in the Cornell University Library. There are no known copyright restrictions in the United States on the use of the text. http://www.archive.org/details/cu31924028810162 F 29 &1S A51 CORNELL UNIVERSITY LIBRARY FROM DATE DUE &Jr6d9gaJ! HAgtrist:**--. ■^iB"*'? SOOT PRINTED IN U S ; Cornell University Library F 29G75 A87 Hinckley Township: or Grand Lake Stream olin 3 1924 028 810 162 z < S 2 O w O <; > w X H H id that he would neither do harm nor be unduly exuberant so he was rubbed largejr. The squirrel ran up a tree so fierce- ly that he tore it down. He was ji'ubbed smaller. Thus KIooscup rubbed everything larger or smaller according to the nature which it displayed. The trees were next formed, and the ash tree made k|ing of them all. KIooscup stuck a great many bows and arrows into it, and present- ly out came men and women. There was an old witch, called Poochinquis, who used to go up and down the forests Icrjring; "I weint your babiesi I kill babiesi" KIooscup caught her, cut her up in pieces, and threw the pieces into the \water. Out of these pieces came the mosquitoes, the flies and all the bad insectst with the exception, of course, of the fleas. Thus the world was made ready for the needs and story of human life. HINCKLEY TOWNSHIP or Grand Lake Stream Plantation Chapter I Location of Township and some of its Early History Almost in the center of the old Passamaquoddy land lay a tangled chain of lakes and streams like trinkets of sil- ver on the deep green of the earth. Largest of all the lakes was Witteguergaugum, now called Grand lake and next largest was Genesagenagum, renamed Big lake. Between these two and projecting broadly to the east and north was the wilderness that became Hinckley Township. Into Grand lake the water of thirty-two other lakes and ponds flows.* Three streams empty it into Big lake, thence through Long and Lewey lakes and by way of the St. Croix river the water flows to Passamaquoddy bay. The largest and middle of these streams is Grand Icike stream. It has two water falls and is full of little rips. Nearly all of it is within the borders of Hinckley. It is three miles long, and runs almost diagon- ally across its southwestern corner. Bonney brook, the easterly stream of the three, is entirely therein. The third outlet. Little river, lies in the Township to the west which is Niimber 6, Range L The southern extremity and an east- ern cove of Grand lake, and the northwestern part of Big lake are in Hinckley. The chief settlement pf the ancient Passamaquoddy tribe (once called Sabbayk and by the French classed with the Penobscot and Micmack Indians as Etchemins) was near the bay, but members of the tribe made frequent migrations i *The lakes and ponds flowing into Grand lake are Pocumpas's, Warbash, Sistadobsis (Dobsis) Upper 3istadobsis, Junior, Scragley, Pleasant, Shaw, Horseshoe, Bottle, Keg, Norway, Pug (flowing into Junior bay of Grand lake) Pug (flowing in Dobsis) Duck, Mill Privi- lege, Pond, Lumbert, Lowell, Glaspy, Hasty Cove, Pickerel, Trout, McClellen Brook, Whitney Cove, 1st Ox Brook, 2nd Qx Brook, Dyer Cove, Killborn, Ist, 2nd and 3rd Chain lakes. 2 HINCKLEY TOWNSHIP up into this region. Sometimes as many as twenty feunilies would paddle up through the lakes, one family in a ceinoe, one canoe behind another — a long, silent, single line. When the travelers reached the head of Big lake — if they were going still further — they would carry the canoes, in- verted over the heads and resting on the shoulders of the men, along the east bank of Grand lake stream to Grand lake. An Indian carry, so much used that even the rocks are worn, was thus made across the corner of the Township. Favorite camping places were upon the west bank of 'the stream near Grand letke and upon the lower eastern shores of the laka In the former place many Indian reUcs have been found. Sometimes the Indiems pushed to the head waters of Grsind, or to the further lakes. In the Autumn and Winter these trips werei hunting expeditions. When deer were sought the hunters, epuipped with snow shoes, skinuned over the snow easily in the chase, but the deer sank through the snow, were speedily exhausted emd eeisily killed with clubs. Often wolves would come down from the north- ern forests, and drive away the deer for many seasons. At such times the tribe would suffer from hunger. The m.i- grations in the spring, in later times, were often for the pur- pose of making sugar. Sometimes Mohawks made incursions into the Pais- samiaquoddy Icind and attacked these peaceful camping parties. At the head of Grand lake is a narrows which connects it with Pocumpass lake. It is called "The Thor- oughfare." Fragments of a tradition tell of an attack by Mohawks upon a party of Passamaquoddies at this point. A number of Indian graves on the east shore are sziid to contain the bodies of warriors who fell in the battle. Many arrow heads and other weapons are still found about the spot. The story of the battle runs thus: When the terrifySng cry of the Mohawks rang through the woods the surprised Passamaquoddies defended them^ selves desperately. So fierce was the ensuing onset that a brook, trickling into the lake in the midst of it, rsui red and LOCATION AND EARLY HISTORY 3 thus received a baptism' of blood, and a christening for it has since been called Blood brook. With the coming of dark- ness the din and slaughter of battle halted. In the night the remaining remnants of Passamaquoddies fled in canoes down the lakes to a point on Big lake calldd Peter Dana's Point in honor of one of the more notable chiefs, or gover- nors of the tribe. The Mohawks had no canoes. The fugi- tives hoped they could not follow. Nevertheless lookouts were stationed on high land and in the tops of trees. A day of anxiety wore on. Late in the afternoon there was a cry of alarm. Above the tops of the trees on the west side of Grand lake a flurry of dead leaves rose in an om- inous and advancing cloud. Tlie sign was easiTy read. The Mohawks were coming and so rapidly that the wind of their passage drove the leaves upward. The Passama- quoddies took to their canoes and disappeared from the spot, hurtying to one of the remote recesses of this remark- able and intricate system of lakes and streams where the Mohawks could not find them.* Another and still more fragmentary tradition tells of the final combat in the WEirfare with Mohawks. This ver- sion of it was told some time ago by Nicholas Lola, a chief of the tribe, to one of his white friends. Indians of a for- mer generation were fond of telling these traditions and would become very excited in the recital. This fight began at Loon bay on the St. Croix river, and showed excellent generalship on the part of the Passama- quoddies — if the manoeuvre was not incited by some ad- venturous white man, probably! a Frenchman. A few fighters were placed in advance of the main body of Indians. Thelfr duty was to fall back and entice 'the Mohawks to fol- low them. The main body of Passamaquoddies also con- stantly fell back, the taunting savages in front* of them drawing the Mohawks on. "They go back and back," said Nicholas Lola. "They •In an article entitled "The Abanaki Indians", Frederick Kidder attributes the historical obscurity of this tribe partly to the water ways of their territory which afforded manV and safe hiding places. "Collections of Maine Historical Society", Vol. VI. 4 HINCKLEY TOWNSHIP all go back to narrow part of Grand lake and there we fight!" To stimulate the warriors to frantic enthusiasm just be- fore the final battle the Medicine Man of the tribe dressed himself in a bear skin. Going a little in advance of the army he told them to shoot arrows at him. If he turned and came back to them it would be a sign that they would be defeated in the battle, but if he went toward the, enemy they were to follow and they would wita. "That fellow," said Nicholas Lola, "he look just like a bear. We shoot arrows: he run forward and we lick 'em good!" Although no dates are attached to these stories, if the events are historical, they probably occured more than two hundred and fifty years ago when Mohawks terrorized so many white settlers and Indian tribes in eastern Canada and northern New England. After the discovery of America this north eastern part of the continent fell into the possession of the French. Jes- uit Missions were established in eastern Maine, Nova Scotia and Canada, and the Indian o'wners of Hinckley soon be- came converts to the Catholic faith. When the English obtained possession of the strip of land between the Pen- obscot and St. Croix rivers, in the early part of the seven'- teenth century, it, like the rest of Maine, was annexed to the Massachusetts Bay Colony. The Indians here helped some- what in the war made on settlers who early pushed as far east as the Kennebec river. They took an active part in the Revolutionary War on the American side. Washington was held in almost sacred esteem by them. He sent letters to each of three tribes of the vicinity — the Penobscot, the Passamaquoddy and the St. John — exorting them to faith- fulness in the American cause. The Passamaquoddy tribe still treasures Its letter.* Delegates of these three tribes went to Watertown to meet the Massachusetts Council. Through their spokesman, Ambrose St. Aubin, chief of the 'This letter is in possession of the Pleasant Point brancK of the tribe. LOCATION AND EARLY HISTORY 5 St. Johns, they promised to adhere to the American cause, but asked in return a favor. **'We want," said St. Aubin, "a black gown, or French priest. Jesus we pray to: and we will not hear any pray ers from Old England." So carefully had Massachusetts put up barriers agalinst Catholics that it was sometime before a priest was procured for them. **Col. John Allan was "Superintendent of Indian affairs in the Eastern Department and Commander of the Port of Machias." The Indians were greatly attached to him. An account of their activities during this war belongs to the his- tory of Machias, but it is pertinent to say that if they had not been zealous assistants in the defence of that place all of the territory east of the Penobscot river would have been lost to Maine. Notwithstanding the "artful guiles of the enemy" to win their help they did, with very few exceptions, remain faithful to the American cause. The old Indian routes — one starting at the Passama- quoddy bay and following the western branch of the St. Croix river, the other starting from Machias and following the Machids river and short portage to Big lake — over these lakes and carries to the Passadumkeag river were the inland routes to the Penobscot river. They were constantly used during the war. Col. Allan sometimes sent his despatches this way and thus westward to Massachusetts. Once very important ones were captured on the Penobscot river by British agents. Col. Allem himself was nearly captured on one of these lakes. He was traveling on skates when "he was set upon by a party of Indians in the service of the British, also mounted on skates. They gave chase and closely pressed him for a mile or two, when coming to an open place, a channel of water, he gave a tremendous jump and landed safely on the other side." '"Historical Magazine," July 1869. "This information pertaining to Col. John Allan and the Indians is nearly all taken from a book compiled from the Journals and let- ters of Col Allan by Frederick Kidder, called: "Military Operations in Eastern Maine and Nova Scotia during the Revolution." Publish, ed 1867. 6 HINCKLEY TOWNSHIP On a spot near the Grand lake stream carry there is a lonely grave where a soldier, possibly of this war, was bur- ied. Whether he was American or British iis not known.* From Eastport upweird along the west bank of the Passama- quoddy bay are many graves of Indians who fell defending this eastern territory. In 1 793 Col. Allan writes in his report on the Indian tribes: "On the lakes you wjll find numbers of Indians from Canada, St. Johns, Penobscot and the Mickmack Country, pesuing their several employments agreeable to the seasons. Some constant residents, and many of them for years not seen on the sea coast, being perpetually on the move." The Indian owners of Hinckley also took part in the War of 1812. There are traditions that some of the command of John Brewer, Brigadier General of Militia in Washington County, came up through the Township over the old carry. A few years ago, near this carry, a copper coin was found which was dated I 776. On one side was a likeness of George the third, on the other an effigy of an Indian on a prancing horse. The Indian's right arm was upraised, and in his hand a long spear was poised. Near the feet of the, horse was a coiled rattlesnake with its head uplifted. The coin was about the size of a Canadian penny, and had a hole in it. It had evidently lain in the ground a long time'. It may have been dropped by ^ soldier ;of one of these two wars, or, it is surmised, it may have been struck as a medal for the Indians, and been dropped by one of them. When in the last months of the War of 1812 the Eng- lish troops held all the land east of the Penobscot river and administered the civil government from Bangor, the Indians did, for a short time, (once more fall under the sway of the disliked England. England proposed to make of this con- guest a separate province of the Canadian government, and to call it New Ireland. When the Peace of Ghent was signed, however, Hinckley and the rest of eastern Maine were once more saved to the United States. *It was probably an Englishman buried here since an American would almost certainly have been carried to Machias for burial. See verses in the Appendix. . f UNDER JURISDICTION OF MASS., LOGGING 7 CHAPTER II Under the Juriisdiction of Massachusetts and Logging The Massachusetts Bay Colony seems to have given little attention to her lands beyond the Penobscot river. They were inhabited by hostile Indians and "renegade Frenchmen." Of the latter there were but few, and in an act, passed in 1 72 1 , to prohibit trade or commerce of any sort with the Indians the Bay Colony makes no mention of them. The following section of the act shows how deter- mined she was to stamp out all intercourse. "That whoever shall, after the first day of October next, directly or indirect- ly have any trade or commerce by way of gift, barter or ex- change, or any way whatsoever, with any of the aforesaid Indians, or shall supply them with any provisions, clothing, guns, powder, shot, bullets or any goods, wares or mer- chandise whatsoever shall forfeit and pay the sum of five hundred pounds, and suffer twelve months imprisonment Without bail or main prize, upon the first conviction; the said forfeiture to be recovered by bill, plaint or information in any of his majesty's courts of record — one half to him, or them, who shall inform and sue for same." Upon a second conviction an offender against this law was to be "deemed a felon and suffer the pangs of death." A few settlements were made in the interior of eastern Maine pifior to the Revolutionary war, but there are no ob- tainable records to show whether or not there were any with- in the limits of the tract later to be called Hinckley. It seems as if somebody must have migrated into these forests very early for in the deed which Massachusetts later gave of the Township she makes provision for the rights of settlers who were here before I 784. This Township, though near, was not Sncluded in the million acres of land set aside for lottery prizes by means of which, shortly after the Revolutionary war, Massachusetts undertook to raise revenue for her exhausted trea«!iiry. 8 HINCKLEY TOWNSHIP When the lottery lands practically all passed to William Bingham of Philadelphia a rather curious thing happened. According to a paper found among those of Mr. John Gardner, for fifty years a surveyor in this region, the lottery land, as originally surveyed, fell a little short of the million acres. In order to give Mr. Bingham the full amount of his purchase an additional strip, two miles wide and thirtj'^ six miles long, was surveyed and conveyed to him. Such a strip is marked on a very old map preserved in the Massa- chusetts archives, but it stretches across the tops of six Townships west of Hinckley. They are in the same line, however, and doubtless when in 1 794 Samuel Titcomb sur- veyed and marked off the Townships of Waishington Coun- ty he made those of Range One, in which Hinckley is Num- ber Three, the unusual distance of eight miles from the north ern to the southern limits in order to conform with this line. At all events the Townships of this range are eight miles in extent north and south and six miles east and west. In the same year that Washington County was surveyed, and its gloomy forests niarked by invisible lines into named tracts, Massachusetts made a treaty with the Indians. Town ship Two, just east of Hinckley, was set aside for them, and much other land in this vicinity. In Township Three one hundred acres of land on the end of a point that extends linto Big lake, and also Pine island, the northern part oF which is in the Township, were reserved for them. The point is, on some old records preserved in the State House in Boston, called Nemcass. It is now usually called Gover- nor's point because several Indian chiefs, or, as they are now called. Governors, have resided there. The treaty with the Indians established for them the "privilege of fishing on both branches of the River Schood- ic" (the St. Croix river)" without Hinderance or Molesta- tion, and the privilege of passing the said river over the dif- ferent Carrying Places thereon." The Commonwealth of Massachusetts was now ready to dispose of her Townships in this part of the District of Maine, and anxious to have them settled. Township Three, UNDER JURISDICTION OF MASS., LOGGING 9 Range One, was contracted for by Titus Goodman and Seth Wright in 1 794. There seems to be no further record of Mr. Wright's connection with the contract. It was Titus Goodman who promised to pay the Commonwealth 2905 pounds, 1 8 shillings and 9 pence for these many acres of woodland. According to the crumbling "Report of the Commissioners for the Sale of Eastern Lands on June 1 6th, 1795," Goodman paid 207 pounds of this sum, and gave his note for 2698 pounds, 18 shillings and 9 pence. He was a son of Captain Noah Goodman, a political leader of South Hadley. Close by in Northampton lived Samuel Hinckley, a judge of the Probate Court and an owner of var- ious townships, one of them being what is now Rochester, N. Y. When, either because of financial embarrassment, or for other reasons, Goodman did not pay this note Judge Hinckley as his assignee, paid into the treasury of the Com- monwealth the money due on the purchase, by that time computed in dollars and cents, and became the proprietor of the Township. If the amount of Goodman's note equall- ed the $90 1 9.80 which Judge Hinckley paid then a pound in those days must have equalled in our money about $3.34. Thus the price originally paid for the Township approximat- ed $9 7 1 1 . 1 8. It became known as Hinckley. The follow- ing is a copy of the deed as preserved in the State House of Massachusetts. "Know all Men by these Presents: "That we, whose names are undersigned, and such of- ficers appointed agents by the General Court of the Com- monwealth of Massachusetts to make and to execute con- veyances agreeably to a resolve as passed the fifteenth day of March 1805, and by virtue of other powers vested in us by the same resolve: For and in consideration of $90 1 9.80 paid into the treasury of the Commonwealth have given, granted, sold and conveyed, by these same presents in be- half of the Conmionwealth do give, grant, sell and convey unto Samuel Hinckley esquire of Northampton, in the Coun- ty of Hampshire and Commonwealth aforesaid, assignee of Titus Goodman and Seth Wright, a township of lanr! lyins: 10 HINCKLEY TOWNSHIP in the coupty of Washington and Commonwealth aforesaid containing thirty thousand, seven hundred and seventy acres to the same, more or less, the said township being numbered three in the first range of Townships lying west of the F'as- samaquoddy river as the same was surveyed by Samuel. Titcomb in the year 1 794 — said township was originally contracted for by said Goodman on the second day of March 1 795, bounded as follows., viz: northerly by number three in second range, easterly by number two In same range, southerly by township owned by William Bingham and westerly by the line run by Maynard and Holland, ex- cepting and reserving, however, about three thousand acres in the easterly corner of thei township first mentioned, and in the southerly corner thereof, bounded as follows, viz: Beginning on the southerly side of the township first men- tioned and on the westerly side of the lake therein, thence •rtmnipg northeasterly to the northwesternmost part of Pine Island (so called) then southeasterly in- cluding said island to the northwesterly corner, of the one hundred acres of land conveyed to the Indians, then north- easterly by the land last mentioned to the east line of the township first mentioned then south to the southeast corner thereof, then west to the westerly side of said lake the place of beginning, and also reserving in said town- ship four lots bf three hundred and twenty acres each for public uses viz., one lot for the first settled minister his heirs and assigns, one lot for the use of the ministry, one lot for the use of schools, and one lot for the future appropriation of the General Court, the said lots to average in situation and quality with the other lands in said township. To have and to hold the aforesaid premises to him, the said Samuel Hinckley his heirs and assigns forever on condition that the said Samuel Hinckley his heirs and assigns shall grant and convey unto each settler in said township who settled there- in before the first day of January 1 784 or in case of assign- ment then to the assigns. One hundred acres of land to be laid out as will best include the improvements of the settler and be least injurious to the adjoining lands so that the set- UNDER JURISDICTION OF MASS.. LOGGING 1 1 tier, his heirs or assilgns may hold the same in fee simple provided that the settler his heirs or assigns shall within one year after notice and request pay to the said Samuel Hinck- ley his heirs or assigns, five dollars and on this further con- dition that the conditions of settlement contedned in said contract shall have been complied with which were as fol- lows, viz., "that the said Titus Goodman shall settle in said township number three twenty fcimilies within foin: years, and twenty families more within eight years from the date hereof," and the said agents covenant with the said Samuel Hinckley that the said Commonwealth shall wairrant and defend the aforementioned premises on the conditions and saving the reservations aforementioned to him, his heirs and assigns forever. In witness thereof we have hereunto set our hands and seals this seventh day of February, 1811. Signed, sealed and delivered in presence of: George W. Coffin John Reed Charles Davis William Smith Suffolk, Boston, February 7th, 1 8 1 1 Acknowledged before Charles Davis Justice of the Peace." It is not known what efforts the first proprietor of Hinck- ley made to induce forty families to settle in the Township, but there is no doubt about the failure of such an accom- plishment. Massachusetts made a similiar provision for the settlement of the new townships in many of the deeds which she gave of them. *Very generally in eastern Maine these contracts were not fulfilled — partly because a suflBcient number of emigrants could not be found, eind partly be- cause in some casses the land was inaccessable. Hinckley, or at least the southeastern corner of >*. was very accessable by way of the lakes, or west branch of the St. Croix riyer'. In 1820, or thereabout, David Cass brought his family and settled in this corner, (and possibly at about the same time *"A Statistical View of the Di/strict of Maine", by Moses Green- leaf, Esq. 1816. 12 HINCKLEY TOWNSHIP Baxter Smith and his family made a stay of a very few years. Both of these settlements were upon the three thousand acres reserved by Massachusetts. This reservation was sold to William Vance of Baring in 1827. On November 1st. 1832, Mr. Vance sold it to Charles Peavy, and it has since been called Peavy Gore. In 1827 Massachusetts sold the lot of three hundred an<5 twenty acres, reserved for the use of the General Court, to Judge Hinckley. In 1835 Mr. Hinckley sold the Township to Colonel Nehemiah Marks of St. Stephen. Marks was the son of a loyalist of Revolutionary days. Prior to that War the family lived in Darby, Connecticut, but it went to New Brunswick in the general exodus of loyalists. Neither Colonel Marks nor Judge Hinckley actively engaged in lum- bering in this Township. It is doubtful if the latter ,eVer even visited it. The Township eventually passed to Colonel Marks' heirs and from them to the following gentlemen: Thomas J. Copeland, William Duren, Henry C. Copeland, Enos D. Sawyer, John G. Murchie, James Murchie, George A. Board- man and Charles F. Todd. These in turn became granters of it to F. Shaw and Brothers on August 4th, 1 870. ' Pioneering languished, but the business of log cutting prospered. In 1810a dam was built across the stream by Alden Trott of Baring. It was placed about ten rods be- low the present dam. Since that time great quantities of logs have been driven through it each spring. Many of them have been cut from the forests about Hinckley, but the trees here have not been spared. On Bonney brook many logs were floated. Ninety years ago, says a tradition, "Natty" Lamb, lumber contractor engaged by the Todd Lumber Company of Calais, drove thousands of feet of lumber through it. The Musquash river and its branches. East Branch, West Branch and Amazon, were also used al- though they have little current. Thus there were compara- tively few places in the Township from which logs, with reasonable convenience, could not be removed. They pas- sed down through the lakes, or west branch of the St. Croix UNDER JURISDICTION OF MASS.. LOGGING 1 3 river, to Milltown, and thence, as lumber, to many markets both in America and Europe. These early lumber cemips were built of logs. The roof was of cedar splits and slanted somewhat, usually toward the south, to shed the rain Euid snow. In the middle of it was a hole about four feet square which was funnelled up for four or five feet with small logs or branch wood, and cov- ered on the inside with clay. Under it, on the ground, the fire was built. In the evenings after supper the crew sat or sprawled around the fire to enjoy its leisure. Somebody was always the butt of a joke that was not allowed to lan- guish until a new one arose. Nearly every happening in the few pioneer families withih a dozen miles was of interest and in some magic way known. Many strange things oc- curred in the woods. Despite a robust commbn sense pulses were quickened, eyes distended by a recited of them. There were accounts of experiences with beeurs, wolves, moose, bobcats, muskrats, beavers, skunks and many other animals for unfailing interest. There was also, unfortunately, plen- ty of whiskey. Dominos was a favorite game; cairds was a prime favorite but little indulged in because it too often led to quarrelling. Each camp was in charge of a cook who endeavored to maintain order. If he did not succeed he quickly gave way to a successor. The crews were for the most peurt composed of men from families of early settlers in eastern Maine. Sometimes there were a few Indians among I them, and white strangers sdmetimes joined them for longer or shorter periods whose antecedents were only surmised. A Frenchman with a violin was often one of the camp inmates. Jigs and reels then sent their cheerful strains out through chinks and broad funnel to the somber! lonesomeness of the frozen forests while inside the camp the music spirited away the fatigue of the day so that men rose an nimble feet and in the narrow spaces around the fire danced clogs and jigs and double shufHes and every sort of clever step that native genius could devise. Against the bunks and log walls distorted shadows kept pace with the revel. 14 HINCKLEY TOWNSHIP When the early bed time came the men lay with their feet to the blaze. Those who were wakeful could look up through the log funnel to the stars. In bad weather the fire sputtered with rain or snow, that fell into it Sometimes there were no clocks in the camps. The men arose when the cook called them. The usual rising time was four o'clock, but it occasionally happened that a mistake was made and the men were Eiroused an hour or two earlier. Such an incident was too unpopular to happen often. Breakfast consisted of pork, fish and hot bread. The latter was made of wheat flour, sour yeast and warm water, and was a delicacy that old wood choppers still speak of with deep appreciation. Dunderfunk w^s a favorite dinner dish. It was made of bread and pork cut in small pfece9„ mixed with molasses and baked in a bake kettle in the ground. Studjo was also liked. That was made of rabbit, venison or any fresh meat procurable and potatoes, and cooked like a stew. The early camps had no onions to fla- vor such dishes. The camps were hospitable places. Any man traveling about ,the woods on any business whatso- ever — lumber prospector, wood chopper looking for work, a chance fugitive from justice, a mere restless ne'erdowell — eJ- ways expected to be entertained and was almost never disa- pointed. No matter at what time a traveler appeared he was invited by the cook to at least share the next meal. It was not good manners to decline. If by any chance the in- vitation was not given the traveler hastened to the next camp and there related of the inhospitable cook: "He never saw I had a mouth!" The camps were often poorly supplied with dishes. Sometimes several men would eat from one frying pan; sometimes wooden dishes were fashioned and used. *Hazing was practiced upon new members of the crew. One of the favorite frolics was to prepare a bucket of soap *Joel Thornton, a driver of an ox team in the earliest dayb oP lumbering on the stream told his grandson, Stephen Sprague, then a small boy, of the hazing practices and also lof the splendid piner trees at Little falls. UNDER JURISDICTION OF MASS., LOGGING 1 5 suds and lather the face of the victim with it, using a camp broom, a crude affair of small branches tied together, as the brush. The unfortunate man was then shaved with a huge, wooden razor. The Rev. Charles Whittier, a relative of the poet, was a missionary visitor to early camps. He began to make his rounds of this section of the Maine woods about sixty years ago. Almost yearly since then he has visited Hinckley, and has witnessed the coming of memy changes in the wood cut- ters' camps. , ., ■, 4||j^ The first lumbering on Grand lake stream was done near Little falls. Here was a fine, first growth of pine trees, giants in size and unintermingled with other trees. Lumbering firms operating here werej J. B. Hall and Company, John and George Porter, Peter Avery, Peasely and Whitney, Burnham and Heustis, Stephen and David Prince, Gates and Wentworth, James Murchie , Daniel Mor- rison, Claudis M. Huff, Daniel Tyler. Some of the contract- ors were Nathaniel Lamb, Stinchfield and Waldron, Silby and Stinchfield, Samuel Yates, Asa Crockett, Moses Brown, James Coffin, Edward Cass, William Cass, David Cass, Mathew Sprague, Joe. Sprague, Ezra Sprague, Eli Thornton and Joe. Pollis. For shelter for the men who in the spring drove the logs through Grand lake stream there were three camps. One was placed near the dam, anothier at Big falls and the third near the mouth of the stream in Township 27. The dam was rebuilt from time to time. About fifty five years ago it was placed in its present position. In 1 873 it was al- most swept away by a spring freshet. In 1 863 a dispute arose regarding the boundary between Hinckley and Indian Township. The line between the two was resurveyed for the state of Maine by W. D. Danna. He established the line as it now isL All of the boundary lines have been remarked from time to time, but with this ex- ception none have been altered from the lines established by Samuel Titcomb Sn 1 794. 16 HINCKLEY TOWNSHIP CHAPTER III Squatters, Sportsmen and First Road It was about the year 1820 that David Cass came to Hinckley. He was born in 1 7 74 in Exeter, New Hampshire, and said he was a son of Jonathan Cass and a half brother of the famous Lewis Cass. *It seems to be impossible now to prove this claim, and equally impossible to disprove it. The Exeter records of those early days do not mention the birth of David, but they are not complete. There is no reason to doubt his word, since with all his faults he was not untruthful. Jonathan Cass, his father, was a blacksmith strong, restless, energetic. He won distinction in the Rev- olutionary war, entering it as a private and retiring a Major. **"He was of coal black eye and very commanding pre- sence." He was sent to Ohio to take command of Fort Hamilton in defence of the western frontier from the attacks of Indians. It is probable that the young David went there with him, and there acquired at least a part of the distaste for Indians which he displayed here. A story survives that he had been guilty of some lawless act in the west and had fled from that wilderness to the more forbidding one of the extreme east to escape punishment. However that may have been, he had much courage, some consequence of man- ner and he knew how to pioneer. It is believed that he first landed in Maine at Oeik Bay where he stayed for a year or more making bricks. It is said too that for a time he was lin the Miramichi country of New Brunswick. In St. Stephen he met and married Ellen Marsh, then a sixteen yeairs old school girl living in the fam- ily of Colonel Nehemiah Marks. At that time he must have been forty three or forty four years old. 'McLaughlin, in his "Life of Lewis Cass", says that Jonathan Cass was in his twentythird year at ;the outbreak of the Revolution. In that age of early marriages it is not at aU unlikely that he had al- ready contracted a marriage, and was, perhaps, a widower when the war brokel out, or soon became one. His marriage to Mary Gilman, mother of Lewis Cass, took place in 1778. **"New England Historical and Genealogical Register." SQUATTERS. SPORTSMEN AND FIRST ROAD 1 7 When these two paddled up through the river and laikes to Hinckley they had an infant son, Edward, and a daughter, Mary Ann, one and a half years old. They reached the northern side of Big lake and settled upon a bluff overlook- ing the water. Their first home was a log cabin. Land was cleared and produce and domestic animals raised. The cabin in time became overfull of children. William, David, Jane, Stephen, Lewis and Sarah were born here, and were the first white natives of Hinckley. A frame house was eventually built near the cabin. It was a small shingled structure, and two or three small rooms were added to it at later times. There was a big stone fireplace in the main room where the cooking was done. This also furnish- ed the only warmth in winter. After the family moved in- to this new house the old cabin was used for a pig pen. If stray travelers happened into the vicinity they stopped with the Casses. These would almost without exception be lumbermen. The situation of the family was lonely in the extreme. Mrs Cass seems to have had little save work, brawls and children to relieve the solitude. Their near neighbors were a few Indians on Governor's point and wild animails. At one time, probably early in the pioneering days, Baxter Smith, his former place of residence now unknown, had a barn near them where he stored hay cut from the natural meadows around the Musquash river, and he may also have had a house where he and his family lived for a year or so. Traditions are vague about him. Despite this interval when they may have had white neighbors Mrs. Cass said in her later days that there were many years when she did not see the face of a white woman. After coming to Hinckley she never left the wilderness even for a day. It is said that David Cass had some slight education as a doctor, and not only prescribed for the ailments of his own large family, but was in demand when sickness assailed any of the settlers who at length began to grapple with the un- tamed lands of nearby Townships. It is probable that whatever skill he possessed was acquired in the rough and by places in which most of his life was spent. 18 HINCKLEY TOWNSHIP In 1817 the first white settler, Moses Bonney, came to Princeton. He therefore became a neighbor only about eight miles from the Casses, but not very accessable to them. Samuel Yates came to the south side of Big lake in Town- ship 21 in 1833. Two or three other families soon followed him to the vicinity and became neighbors, the nearest not more than a mile distance and all of them easily reached by a paddle across the lake. It must have been at about this time that Cass became known as "the General" and his wife as "Aunt Nellie." The latter was well liked by the neighbors, woodsmen and Indians, but the former was often cross grained and everybody in the region, save Samuel Yates, was afraid of him. Strangely enough "the GenereJ" stood in awe of Samuel Yates.* David Cass weighed, say those who remember him, over three hundred and eighty pounds. He was very tall and of a large, powerful frame. Mrs. Cass was very small. She never weighed more than one hundred and five pounds. Calais was thirty miles from Hinckley. It had in 1810 two hundred and fifty inhabitants. Across the river St. Stephen was a little larger and a little older. Milltown was close by. These places made a sort of metropolis, bustling and growing, which was a constant lure to the backwoods pioneer. Cass made many trips there, leaving his wife alone with her children and unprotected from any dangers that might arise. Lumbermen often stored camp supplies upon the Cass premises. The smell of them attracted bears. Upon one occasion when he was enjosdng metropolitan al- lurements little "Aunt Nellie" walked the floor all night brandishing an ax to frighten off an enraged bear that was 'According to the "Yates Book" Samuel Yates was "a robust!, man, of povrer'ful physique." He was a son of William Yates, an English pioneer who settled in Oxford county, Maine, and who was a hard working farmer on six long days of every week, and an equal- ly hard working and vigorous preacher of the Methodist ^faith oi) Sundays. Moses Smith, Asa Crockett and Moses Brown, who fol- lowed Samuel Yates to the western side of Sand cove, Big lake, were related by marriage to him. The first was from England, the second from Deer Isle while the former place of residence of the latter ift now unknown. SQUATTERS. SPORTSMEN AND FIRST ROAD 1 9 trying to break through the frail barriers of the cabin. Many stories are told of "the General. He was so strong that he could lift a heavy bateau to his shoulders as easily as an Indian could lift a canoe. He had a special enmity for Indians, and successfully terriorized them. On White's island in Big lake cranberries used to grow abund- antly. One day, says the story, the Indians had gathered a lot of them when he happened to visit the place. He at once demanded the berries. Upon the Indians' refusal to give them up he set fire to the island, and burned the berries and much other property belonging to them. Indians used to come to his cabin when he was away and freighten Mrs. Cass. They would steal provisions and whiskey. One day when they thought he was not at home he lay hidden. When two Indians came to the cabin he suddenly appeared, seized them, one in each hand, and dragged them to the lake shore. He waded into the water to his waist and ducked them repeatedly until they begged for mercy and promised better behavior. A yoke of oxen were unable to start a heavy log to which they were chained. He unyoked them and with his hands twisted and worked at the log until he moved it. In a dead fall trap he once caught an ox that belonged to Mr. Lamb, the lumber contractor. He dressed it and cut it up for the domestic food supply. Mr. Lamb thought that at least a part of the animal should belong to him. So he went to see Cass about it. The giant looked him over and then drawled through his nose: "When I hunts I always hunts fer fur," an answer that was taken to assert his claim to not only the fur, but to all hat nature had put inside it. Mr. Lamb allowed his claim. He was clever as well as strong. Once he was im- prisoned at St. Stephen for debt.* The next morning he was found comfortably seated on a bench out side the jail. It could not be found out how he had liberated himself. He was again locked up,but the next morning he was again free. •According to tlie story St. Stephen was the place of his arrest. It probably was Milltown, Maine, or Calais. 20 HINCKLEY TOWNSHIP / Since no locks could hold him he was allowed to go home. Once, says tradition, he indulged as usual in much strong drink when he was in St. Stephen, and a lawless celebration followed. A few days later the sheriff and his assistant came up into the woods after him. He submitted to arrest, and got into the canoe of his captors. When they had pad- dled a little way into the lake he said suddenly in his usual twang: "Gentlemen, can you swim?" One could swim a little; the other not at all. "It's too bad," said he. "I has fits — I feels one coming on. I might upset the boat so you'd better paddle to shore" They paddled to the shore as quickly as possible. After landing instead of falling in a fit Cass took his captors, one in each hand, by the coat collars and forced them to a fence. He thrust their heads through the top rail, and jammed it down hard enough upon their necks to hold them. He then walked to his house a free man. There is some doubt a- bout the authenticity of this interesting incident, but it serves as an illustration of the reputation left behind him. He would go off on hunting trips in the woods, and take nothing with him but his gun, powder and a bag of salt. He would live upon game and berries and sleep at night with- out other covering than leaves. Sometimes he would col- lect as many as three hundred dollars worth of furs, a fairly large amount at that time. *These would be taken down *The sort of pleasures to be had down the river, and likely to attract David Cass are thus describeid by John S. Springer, in "Forest Life and Forest Trees — Winter Camp Life Among the Loggers, and Wild Wood Adventurers" Harper and Brothers, 1851. "It vyould be difficult to give an exaggerated sketch of the drunken practices among loggers twrenty-five years ago. I recollect that matters were carried so far at Milltown that the loggers would arrest passersby, take them by force, bring them into the toll house grog shop, and baptise them by pouring a quart of rum over their heads. Distinc- tions of grade were lost sight of, and the office of deacon or priest constituted no exemption pass against the ordeal, rather the rite profaned. This process of ablution was practiced with such zeal upon their own craft, and transient passers-by, that a hogshead of rum was drawn in a Ishort time, running in brooks over the floor. The affair was conducted amid the most boisterous and immoderate merriment — the more distinguished the candidate the more hearty the fun." SQUATTERS. SPORTSMEN AND FIRST ROAD 2 1 the lakes and river to Calais or St. Stephen to market. He would take a list of the necessities for the family and house carefully written out by "Aunt Nellie." If, after he had disposed of the furs, he resisted the temptation to conviv- iality he would return with every etrticle upon the list. If he did not resist temptation he would come home empty hand- ed and the family would resign itself to the consequent dis- tresses. There was often riotous merriment around the Cass home. Gangs of lumbermen coming up into the woods were always well supplied with whiskey. This was a reg- ular stopping place where they often consumed a fair por- tion of it. When drunk they would dance and sing and perform many clownish antics. A favorite one was to catch the dog and dip it into a barrel of tar that was kept standing in the yeu^d for the smearing of seams of boats. After a good coating of tar the animal was rolled in the abundant chips that littered the yard. After this treatment it ran wildly around to the great amusement of the men. It is only by means of such stories that glimpses are caught of those early days in the Township. A certain measure of prosperity came to David Cass. He cleared about one hundred acres of woodland, and collected stump- age upon three hundred acres more. He raised pigs and found it a profitable business although at that time they sold for seventy five cents each. He kept six or seven cows, and two or three yokes of oxen. When he was sev- enty three years old his pecularities, which had been increas- ing with the years, developed into actual insanity, and it was necessary to take him to the state hospital at Augusta, The journey was begun by a paddle down the well known way over the lakes to Princeton — ^by that time a settle- ment struggling into village size. He was fastened into a stall in a barn for safe keeping over night. The next morning he was outside the barn although it had been carefully and, it was thought, securely fastened. Fortunately he had lingered in the vicinity. It was August 1 4th, 1 847, when he was admitted to the state asylum, and on January 22 HINCKLEY TOWNSHIP 6th, 1850, he died there suddenly of apoplexy at the age of seventy-six years. The care of the Cass homestead fell to the eldest son, Edward. He was unmarried, and, say those who remem- ber him, was a melancholy man, conscious of his lack of ed- ucation and his uncouth environments. He more nearly resembled his father in size than any of the other sons. Stephen also never married. He spent his life upon this homestead. Mary Ann married Joseph Hold, whose name became corrupted to Holes, and who came from Amity. They chose a spot on the south slide of Big lake, in Township 21, neau: the narrows that connects it with Long lake and there lived lives of pioneering hardship. Jane:, early married Richard Brown and left this Township to live in southern New Brunswick where her husband owned a saw mill. Sarah, usually called Sally, died at about the age of forty unmarried. She was a large woman, although not tall. She was timid, and often hid during the visits of hil- arious woodsmen. Every member of the family seems to have been carefully weighed and for nnany years a record of the respective avoirdupois was mentally kept. This record is partly forgotten now, but Sarah is said to have weighed three hundred and fifty pounds. Lewis died in infancy. That only one of these wilderness born and reared children did not live to reach maturity is a tribute to "Aunt Nellie's" care and skill. William married Mary Todd, a reputed school teacher of Milltown. He settled west of his father's home, taking one hundred acres of the wild land. He was thriftless and his wife not competent for the duties that con- fronted her. In later years the family were in want. The last of William's life was spent in the house his father built. His own place was sold for taxes. David married Mary Yates, a daughter of Samuel Yates. He settled about four miles west of the original home and took one hundred and fifty acres of the wild land. It was in this very comfortable home that "Aunt Nellie" spent her last years. Her mind, like her husband's, eventually lost its balance. The hard- ships, loneliness and deprivations of this rough life might SQUATTERS. SPORTSMEN AND FIRST ROAD 2 3 Well have been its ruin. It is said that during the last years of her life she would take an ax to bed. Probably pertur- bed ideas of dangers long passed still haunted her — the bear she had warded off through a whole lonely night, the constant menace of bears and wolves*, visits of drunken Indians when her husband was away, drunken woodcutters and river drivers and the ugly moods of David himself. Bits of the past must have constantly passed through her mind like a jumbled nightmare of horrors. One day at noon she disappeared. She was never seen again although four hun- dred men, hastily assembled from far and near, searched the woods for her This happened in 1870, and to this day not the least clue to her fate has been found. A rather strange incident happened about three years after her dis- appearance, however, which may possibly lay open a subse- quent bit of her life. At that time Mr. Jackson Brown, one of the early settlers of the village, then recently cind suddenly sprung into exis- tence, lived temporarily tin 'an old log camp long used by lumbermen. It stood on a knoll on the west side of the stream just above the dam, and perhaps six hundred yards from the clustered buildings in the village center. One evening in the winter when it was cold and clear a light crust hiad formed over the new snow that covered the ground. Mrs. Brown and several of the children were in the camp, it was very quiet around it. The windows were uncurtained. The family suddenly saw an old woman standing outside a window and looking in upon them. She was very small, not larger than a ten years old girl, says Mrs. Brown in de- scribing her, and her face was deeply furrowed. She was so outlandish looking that a panic seized most of the fam- ily. They retreated to the further side of the room. She said nothing, but held up her hand upon which a white rag was tied. She stood for some time looking into the room, *Once when William Cass, then a young man, was driving an ox team across the ice of Big lake with a sledge of supplies he was set upon by wolves. They jumped upon the load, and to save himself from their attack he rode crouched down on the pole between the oxen. This story is told by Mis. Ellen Hawkins. 24 HINCKLEY TOWNSHIP an unknown, disheveled woman. At length she went away. When Mr. Brown came home the ground under the window was looked at carefully by the light of a lantern, but there were no tracks discovered upon it. That the thin crust over the snow was not broken seemed to confirm the family's belief that their visitor was supernatural. It cer- tainly proved that she was very small and slight. To suggest that this woman was Mrs. Cass raises a multi- tude of obvious questions and doubts, and leaves the mys- tery of her disappearance still unsolved. it is thought by some that after she left her son's house she wandered back toward her old home, fell into the in- tervening swamp and sank beneath its surface. She had often been known to attempt to wander back to the old place. It is more generally believed, however, that she was drowned in Big lake and so again found in the waters over which she traveled to come here the way to another unknown land, it must be it seems, of happier event. Many times she must have gazed at the sunlit, open lake for relief from the interminable shade of the forest; again and again in curiosity and longing her thoughts must have reached over this pathway to the wide world beyond her knowledge. Dimly her sick mind might perceive it to be the way of rest. "She was very kind, a very dear woman," says one who remembers her. Nathanial Scribner, his wife and three children of Jack- son's Brook, now Brookton, made a settlement near the Casses in Hinckley. They remained there four or five years. This was probably shortly after settlers began to move into the Townships south and southeast of Hinckley — in the lat- ter part of the third or the first part of the fourth decade of the nineteenth century. The traditions are too vague to accurately determine the time of the Scribner residence here. In about 1862-3, Edward Cass rented the homestead to John Robinson of Number 2 1 , a pioneer near the Yates settle- ment. The Robinsons lived here five years, paying as rent part of the produce raised. In 1870 Edward sold to Delue Simpson of St. Stephen three hundred acres of his father's SQUATTERS. SPORTSMEN AND FIRST ROAD 25 estate. Mr. Simpson raised here cattle, horses and sheep. The last years of Edward Cass were passed in Township 2 1 at the home of Moses Brown.* When the wild land of this neighboring Township began to show a few openings for the homes of settlers the sons and daughters of David Cass for the first time in their lives experienced a few social amenities. At the homes of Samuel Yates, of Moses Brown and others dances were occasionally held. All the settlers would attend and even the Indians would come. The hair of the squaws would shine with grease, and their best clothes, so far as they had any best would be worn. They often sat back against the wall, or stood in the background while the dancing was going on. Sometimes the music for these dances would be the singing of the company, and a clapping of hands to mark the time. Sometimes a fiddler and his fiddle would be in attendance. Sometimes the settlers would gather at on«e home to push through a special work too great, or too pressing for the usual family workers. These occasions had a spice of fes- tivity about them. It was at a school held in a room of Samuel Yate's house that David and William Cass, both fully grown men, struggled to attain the art of reading and writ- ing. A few of the descendants of "the General" and "Aunt Nellie" still live in Hinckley, but none of them bear the name of Cass. Ananijah Munson is another of the dim figures of the past. A few former river drivers, now old men, remember him first as the owner of a small farm near Princeton where *Moses BroTvn and John Robinson were pioneers of Big lake who chose sites in the untouched forest a little to the south of the Yates, Smith and Crockett homes. The former probably came from Bailey- ville; the latter! came from Portland, Maine. Wolves, which in- fested Big lake for several years prior to 1852, often prowled about these isolated cabins. To keep thetn out of the Robinson home a heavy timber was each night wedged between the chimney jamb and the front door. TTiese twro homes -were abandoned after a few years. They were inaccessible by land on account of the surround- insr woods and sv\ramps, and the water approach Was often impas- sable, especially for weeks in the spring and fall when the ice was breaking up or forming. The forest has now almost reclaimed the land that they cleared with great effort. 26 HINCKLEY TOWNSHIP he used to drive a yoke of cows instead of oxen. For some reason he gave up this farm, and went to Stone's island on Big lake. Here he cut down every tree and bush. His plans for farming miscarried, however, for the Indians soon claimed the island and drove him off it. That he worked hard, although in ill health, is proved for afterward seven or eight tons of hay a year were cut from the island. One autumn he taught school, gathering his dozen or more pupils from the families of settlers around Big lake. One of his former pupils, now over eighty years of age, remembers be- ing sent out to cut a withe for his own punishment. He got a good, capable one, but into the under side of it he cut deeply every few inches'. By careful handling tt was made to appear intact. The master took it, drew back his arm for an effective blow when the withe fell to pieces. The culprit was standing conveniently stooped before Tiim. The latter was seen to conceeJ a smile. He threw the withe away, then sternly sent the boy to his seat. He apparently forgave him for the punishment was never received. All of this happened before Mr. Munson came to Hinckley. He seems then to have been an unfortunate old man. He had two young sons, George and David. Joseph Pollis, at that time a lumber contractor, encouraged him and probably helped him to establish himself near the dam on the west side of the stream. This was five or six miles from the Cass clearing. He was given the task of seeing that the dam was always in repair. This seems to have been a kind hearted ef- fort to assist him for it is the only instance of the dam receiv- ing such attention until recent years. River drivers made tem porary repairs during the spring drives. There were even times when it disappeared altogether for Samuel Yates told hisi son that he used to drive logs through the stream when there was no dam. Howeve?: in about 1845 Munson be- gan to give it special attention, and probably continued the work for several years. His first home was a little dug out in the sand bank just above the dam, or beloW' the present site of it. Later he built a shack on a spot between ■ the present residence of Mr. Truman Brown and the summer SQUATTERS. SPORTSMEN AND FIRST ROAD 2 7 camp of Mr. F. L. Atkinson. It is said that his two sons rein away from him while he was here. River drivers, it was suspected, inspired them. Taking a skiff or canoe they pad- dled down Big leike bound on far adventures. They are not to be greatly blamed for this. Attractive tales of the great outside world must have often reached their ears. Their travels were cut short for their father, greatly angered, went after them and brought them home. Mr. Munson himself seems to have had some taint of the desire to rove for he eventually went to a small island on Grand IcJce. Just how long he stayed there is uncertain. It was not long, however. He was teJcen ill and a relative from Princeton took him back to that village where he died before 1 85 3. The island received his name. The next settler to come to Hinckley was James Dibble of Woodstock, New Brunswick. In 1 870, just a few months before the Shaw brothers purchased the Township and be- gan work for a tannery, he built a house, pyramid shaped, at Big falls, a pretty spot midway the stream. Here his son was born. He was the first white child to see the light with- in the limits of the Township's new village which was soon to come into existence euxd was to be called Grand LaJcei Stream. The child was named for two sportsmen, John Simpson and John Babcock, both of Portland, Maine, who used to camp near the spot. He was thus John Babcock Dibble. Joseph Henry Hawkins, born in Lubec, Maine, and his wife, Ellen, (daughter of Mary Ann Cass Hold) made a small clcEiring on the north shore of Big lake just west of the William Cass place. They were married in June, 1871, and immediately began pioneering. William Gould came to the northern edge of Township 27 where it borders on Hinckley in 1854 or 1855;. Here, almost at the outlet of Grand lake stream, he built a land- ing which at once became the point of entry Into the Town- ship for sportsmen. For by that time the fame of the sal- mon in the stream was known to many zeJalous fishermen. Many distinguished men were among those who came here 28 HINCKLEY TOWNSHIP from all parts of New England, New Brunswick, New York and even from Pennsylvania and North Carolina. Some- times as many as fifty tents would dot the woods along the sides of the stream during the spring season. A favorite site for them was on the east side of the stream. Beginning at the dam they would stretch a quarter of a mile or more) along the bank. West of the stream the line was shorter, extending not more than a hundred yards, or from a spot near the present dam to another opposite the house built later by Thomas Calligein. Besides these clusters there would be tents scattered about in other places. Two sportsmen from Massachusetts camped upon the stream at Little falls in September 1870 for about eight days. They were paddled up over Big lake to the spot by their Indian guides, Peter Sepris and his son Joa, It was a twelve mjiles trip. *One of them writes that they "took sixty-two of those beautiful fish averaging two pounds or better each." They made two or three visits to the dam where they found four gentlemen encamped — solitary in- habitants of the wilderness. In those days tents and all camp outfits were brought in over the old Indian carry — at first on the shoulders of Indian guides. A sort of road was gradually worn over this route. Mr. Charles A. Rolfe of Princeton, who re- members those times well, says that it was the "worst old tote road" he ever traveled. "Mr. Gould built a heavy truck wagon with long axles for the wheels to play back and forth on so that when one of them struck a big granite boulder it would slip in or out eight or ten inches and pass by the rock instead of over it," says Mr. Rolfe in a letter. "With that wagon he managed to tote baggage over the road to the dam, but no one ever dared to let him tote a canoe. **The Indians preferred to carry theirs on their shoulders. The guides were all Indians in those days — and were good guides too. Fishing was done on the stream only, and just above the dam. Lake *Mr. J. Augustine Wade of Cambridge. **Mr. Wade calls Mr. Gould's wagon a juniper wagon. SQUATTERS, SPORTSMEN AND FIRST ROAD 29 trolling did not come into vogue until well into the severi- ties." In all this time the "old tote road" of which Mr. Rolfe writes had been the only one in the Township — unless there were still rougher logging roads that led to forests fastnes- ses. In 1 867 a company was formed, the members of which were Joseph Granger, William Duren, A. Halligan, L. L. Wadsworth and others of Calais and Putnam Rolfe of Prince ton whose object was to build a road which should begin on the Houlton road, two miles north of Princeton, and pass through a number of Townships, among them Hinckley, to Milford on the Penobscot river, thence to Bangor.* Ac- cording to a book written by Major Frederick Wood, "The Turnpikes of New England," published in 1919, the cheurter was given in 1 863 and this "Granger Turnpike Company" was the only one chartered by the Maine Legislature to built turnpikes despite the fact that after the seraration from Massachusetts, Maine "adopted a comprehensive code of general laws," to form road building corporations. In his book Major Wood says that "the Legislature resolved that thirty thousand dollars should be appropriated from the sale of public lands and timber, and that as fast as the corporations had expended thirteen thousand dollars of its own money, the state should contribute ten thousand dollars of the appropriation to continue the work."** The name was afterward changed to "Princeton and Milford Turnpike Company." The road was surveyed and work was begun in 1 869. It was in a very rough state from the Houlton road to the stream when the Shaw Brothers began work on a tannery close to the stream in Hinckley. Obstacles, both financial and physical, had paralyzed the turnpike company's efforts. Its difficulties were brought before the Legislature, and in 1876 all public money set aside for its assistance was turned back into the state treasury. West of the stream r 'Information given by Mr. Rolfe. **According to Mr. Rolfe $2,000 was to be spenf: by the state on the road for every $2,000 which the turnpike comparty spent. This seems to have been a later arrangement. 30 HINCKLEY TOWNSHIP three or four miles o^ road had been "gru,bbed out" when the project was abandoned. If the road had been com- pleted it would have opened a lot of new farming and tim- ber land, and shortened the distance to Bangor, as it was and still is necessary to travel, by forty miles. A few yards west of the border of Indian Township this road crosses the Musquash river, the waterway into the middle of the Hinckley Township. Swamps sttetch on either side of it, and have been, and are, a trisil to road mak- ers. Many wagons have been mired here. The bridge over it is the subject of a poem by a loccd poet which will be found in the appendix. The spot is wild, strange and gloomy. Early settlers of Big l^atke came here when the Icind was frozen, and cut meadow hay, sometimes with the knowledge that wolves were lurking near. *Once two men who came over the ice o. Big Lake with an ox team to carry home a load of thisi hay were caught in a heavy snow storm and lost their way. They remained all night in a perilous, white, whirling wilder- ness, suffering with cold and hunger. In the morning, fortunately, they were able to find the way home. *Jack8on Brown and Milford Crosby of Township 21. 4i.-> 3 3 XI