The Republican journal. [volume] (Belfast, Me.) 1829-current, 1874-11-12
ANNALS on BELFAST YOI HALP A CENTURY.
BY AN OLD SETTLER.
CHAPTER XXXYH. (1S43.)

ulpS VI olOW WHlCu lCll. i lie -'OlloSG III
habitant" spoke of it as the coolest winter
we had experienced and the one in which
more snow had fallen than for thirty years
previous. According to memorandum
kept by a gentleman in this vicinity there
were forty snow-falls between the oath of
November and the 9TH Of April; the depth
OF the snow which fell being twelve feet
and seven inches. The snow in the woods
was three feet deep on level on the first
day of April Quite a number of deer
were seen in the immediate vicinity Of our
village, driven from the forests in search
Of food by the depth of snow or by the
wolves, who were reported as being plenty
in the forests of Penobscot and Washing
ton counties One of them-a deer, not
wolf-was captured in March while swim
ming from the eastern side of the river in
the direction Of the steamboat wharf
There was quite an excitement in our
village early in January occasioned by the
arrest of one of our business men on
charge Of passing counterfeit bank-bills
and the sudden departure between two
days of two others who We're suspected of
being his accomplces, or, rather, of being
wholesale dealers in the commodity which
he disposed OF only at retail. He was
taken to Boston, tried convicted and sent
to the House of Correction. The parties
in whose hands he was a mere tool escaped
we'll merltcd punishment; but both found
before they passed beyond the reach of
earthly tribunals that the way Of the trans
gressor is lard The business had been
carried on in this county to considerable
extent, and very successfully, as the coun-
terfeits were SO we'll executed rs not to be
distinguishablc from the genuine, except
by the practiscd and skilitul eye. The
crime was regarded, and very properly,
as one Of the deepest dye, the counterfeits
being of the smallest denominations, such
as We're most in circulation among the
poorer classes, who We're the least quail
fled to distinguish between the genuine
and the counterfeit
In the same month and the month fol-
lowing there was an extensive religious
revival prevailing here, 1t commenced in
the Methodist Society. then under the
charge of Rev Theodore Hill, a very earn
est and effective preacher, and extended
to all the religious societies in the place
Prayer and Conference meetings were
held in all of them, and a universal solem-
nifty peryaded all classes in the community
No one. not even the most faithless or OBJ
durate, manifested the slightest disposition
to ridcule or cast any obstruction in the
path of the movement. The boisterous
and riDald songs with which our streets
had resounded nightly gave place to the
equally enlivening but more spiritual ones
of 1--WE shall see light appear" and
'.When the Lord of Glory cometh." Large
additions Of membership to the several
churches We're made as the fruit Of the
seed sown during the revival On the first
Sunday in May, fifty-one united with the
North Church, then under the pastoral
care of Rev. Mr.. Cutler; more in number
than during the whole six years next pre-
ceding.
In the afternoon of February 18th oc-
cured the first fire OF the season, A house
owned by Mr.. Benjamin Brown, at the
corner of Market and Pleasant street. oc-
cupied by three families, was discovered
to be on fire. The fire was eXtinguished
but not until after considerable damage
had been done to the building and its con-
tents. A one story house on Miller street,
beyond what was then called "Jail Hill,
occupied by Abiathar Smith, was burned
in the night Of the twelfth Of July. On
the night Of July 18th an extensive tam
merry at the Head of the Tide, conducted
by Mr. Amos Peaslee, owned by Mr.. South
wick of Danvers. Mass, was entirely de-
stroyed by fire with a large quantity of
hides and leather; the estimated loss was
about eight thousand dollars. The fire
was supposed to have originated from
friction Of the machinery in grinding bark.
A barn owned by Col Watson Berry. father
Of our feliow-citizen Mr.. Franklin w Ber-
ry, at the Upper Bridge settlement, with
its contents, about sixteen tons of hay.
was burned ON the evening of the second
Of December. His dwelling house was
barely saved by tearing away u shed which
nearly connected it with the barn. The
zeal OF our people so fur outstrpped their
discretion in s0jfng the furniture in the
house that it might have been about as
well for the Colonel had the whole been
left to the tender mercies OF the flames.
While on the subject of fires it will not
be amiss to mention that at y town meet
ing held on the eleventh of December a
vote was passed to raise two thousand dol
lars for the purchase Of an engine, fire
apparatus &c, and our now venerable fell
low-citizen, Major Chase, was appointed
sole agent to make the purchase
Washngton's birthday, the 22d day of
February, was celebrated throughout the
country by the Washingtonian Temper
ance Associations, The celebration in this
place was at the Unitarian Church the
ground floor and galleries We're crowded.
The house was beautifully decorated with
flags and floral ornaments The exercises
of the evening We're introduced with
prayer by Rev. Mr. Hill of the Methodist
Church, followed by music from a Sc
l.nta1 cbpir opI nIIrnc- hp Hon I
fred johnson worthy the occasion. 1t
was listened to with the most intense III
terest and was replete with classic wit
and sound argument. 1t was subsequent
" published in pamphlet form and had a
very wide circulation in this and other
States. A republication Of it at this time,
although its doctrines might not be i'll ac
cordance with the popular sentiment of
the day, would be productive of benefit
| to the cause of temperance.
The afternoon of the 2Sth was devoted
by a large portion of our population to
gazing at a luminous body in the sky,
! apparently in close proximity to the sun,
which was subsequently ascertained to be
a comet. 1t was visible to the naked eye
until about sunset; and for some minutes
after the sun sunk below the horizon a
luminous strip was visible, apparently i'll
its track The advent of this wanderer of
the sky had not been predicted by the
astronomers and its unexpected and I'M
announced appearance furnished occasion
for many fearful torebodings.
In the month of March, Bradford s.
Foster became landlord Of the public
house at the foot Of Main street on the
site of the store now occupied by l.. A.
Knowlton and Co. 1t had been occupied
previously by Hiram Littleiield profess
eddy as a Temperance House. 1t was after
wards occupied by John Hussey and by
Josiah N. White, now Of the Phoenix
House, and was long known as the Farm
ers Inn.
A new and in this locality unheard of
method of contributing to the support of
ministers Of the gospel was naugurated
this spring under the name of Donation
Parties. Since that time they have be
come of frequent occurrences; but the
question then raised. whether the money
L + (.,x1 4