Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1879-09-16

| Durham, BOWuOin ana the section east OF
the Kennebec TO the Damariscotta, thence
sOutherly 10 the ocean. Our own town OF
Paris, whose oblong square is indicated
| by dotted lines, is not only nameleSs, but
Is not even numbered on the map. A
winding line, showing the course OF the
Little AndroScoggin, is all that appears
upon its blank face. Directly at the north
was "No. 3" lying next east of which was
''Butterfield Slip" while the names of the
two sections or townships adjoining what
/ is now Paris on the northeast, were But
| terrified, now Sumner, | think, and Buck
town, now Buckfleld. Hebron, Otished and
/ Bridgetown had been respectively so
named but there was no Norway nor Wat
erford Like Paris, whose name is believ-
| ed to have been borrowed from the capital
city of France, the territory Of Norway
stood waiting 10 be chriStened, while that
| OF Waterford was known only a. "old No.
s."
So much for the map However, we
know that Paris, which has been called
! Plantation No. 4, was Incorporated on the
| 2Oth of June, 1898, and that white settlers
made their appearance here rs early rs 1913,
when, according to WilliamSon'S History
of Maine. the first trees were fellcd in town,
and crops were taken from the land the
ensuing wear He states that the town
was granted by the government, in lI1l,
10 Joshua Fuller and his associates. In
his "Short History of the Town OF Paris, -
published in my newspaper, the JcftrSOR-
ian, December lth 1890, Elder James Hoop
or. who was the first minister settled in
this town, and who was ordained in 1898,
states that this grant of June nth, l'1,
To Joshua Fuller, of WatertOwn, Massa-
chuSettS, and his company, was ''for Serv-
ices in the old French war.
ON reference 10 the records of the origi-
nal proprietors of the town, however, |
have discovered that this date OF June IL,
III. Is not strictly correct. While that Is
the date at which the grant OF a township
was made ''to Capt. Joshua Fuller and his
associates" the grant To them of the act
uAl territory of Paris bears date February
IL. 1913. and il expressly annul> the former
grant. which, through miSConccpuon of
the pilot and committee sent 10 lay out the
township, did not embrace the desired sec
ton. II also appears that, yet much fur-
Their back, in February, l.3J, the grant IN
the first instance was made 90 Capt. sam
uel Jackson and others, and that, owing
10 the fact that the township thus granted
fell within the line OF New Hampshire, II
became necessary 10 change that grant for
another 10 Capt Joshua Fuller and others,
who acted either In their own right or as
the representatives OF the original gran
tees. Where Elder Hooper found his au-
thority for saying the grant 10 them was
for services in the old French war. have
not been able 20 ascertain. Nothing or the
kind appears in the grant, TO which are
attached the following conditions, viz -
The grantees shall within seven years
settle Sixty Families in said Township,
Build House for the Publick Worship OF
God. and settle a Learned Protestant Min
lister. and Lay out one Sixty Fourth part
OF said Township for the first settled Min
lister. one siNty-fourth part for the use OF
the Ministry, one SiXty-fourth part for the
use OF a School, and one SiXty-fourth part
for the use OF Harvard College forever
Provided il doth not exceed the Quantity
aforementioned nor interfere with any for
mer Grant
Elder Hooper says the first trees that
were felled In town, were cut by Mr.. John
Daniels, who was still living st the date Of
his history. and that the lot on which the
first clearing was commenced included
nearly all the village OF Paris Hill, and was
sold for an iron kettle. He says that the
first corn raised in town was by Isaac Jack
son and Lcmuel Jackson, jr., and that soon
AFTER this, the elder Lemuel Jackson came
, with his son Levi and his Son-in-law, dca-
con John Willis, bringing what was then
considered handsome little fortune, about
fourteen hundred dollars, which greatly
helped the settlement OF the town
Now. there is great doubt in respect TO
nearly every one OF these statements. /
have asceriained, l think, beyond question,
that Lemuel Jackson was the first settler
and made the first clearing in this town.
| The spot thus cleared lies just westerly Of
the old burying ground, few rods south
OF which he built 4 log house, which was
the first house built in town. IL Is very
probable that Mr.. Daniels assisted in max
ing this clearing; and in respect to the Sto-
~ OF the iron kettle, il is suggested that
Mr. Daniels was in modern phrase u squat
ter" ON some lot here-that he was obliged
to relinquish IL, and that he received and
accepted an iron kettle for the labor he had
! bestowed on the lot. Patience Willis, wife
of deacon John Willis, was the first woman
who came into this town, and Joseph Dan
iels was the first child born here. The
first framed house erected In town was
built in 1859 by Lemuel Jackson, and 1t IS
the same now occupied by Mrs. /. j. Car
ter In this house three generations OF the
same family have been born; and what Is
most remarkable in all this period Of nine
" wears, there never has been but one
death in the house, and that was OF hired
woman, who came there out Of health and
died i've days only after her arrival. Equal
IN remarkable is it, perhaps, that only one
couple have been married in that house,
and they both came there 10 have the cere-
mony performed.
In his history, Elder Hooper gives a list
Of those whom he considered the first in
habitants of this town, as follows:
John Daniels and his son John, Asa
BarrowS, Abner Shaw, Thomas Stevens,
BENJAMIN Hammond, Josiah Smith, Joseph
Hammond Nicholas Chesley, John Bessc
and his son John, Asa Dean, Joseph Perry,
Asa Perry, Uriah Ripley, Seth Morse,
james Morse, Isaac Bolster and his son Is
aac, Jonathan Hall, Abijah Hall, Jonathan
Shurtleff and his son Jonathan, Peter Du-
rell. Reuben Hubbard, Levi Hubbard, Will
liam Stowel, Daniel Stowell, Elias Stow
ell, Elijah Robinson, Stephen Robinson,
Joel Robinson, John Robinson, Daniel
Staples, Seth Carpenter, Elias Partridge,
Eben Nelson, AbDer Rawson, Ebenezer
Rawson, Caleb Cushman, Aaron Fuller,
Simeon Pond, Jonathan Bemis, William
StearnS, AbUah Warren, Silvanus Rob
bins, Barnabas, Faunce, John Tuel, David
Andrews, Edward Andrews, Abiezer An
drews, John Gray, Edmund Dean, Nathan
Nelson, Solomon Jordan, Merodock Smith,
Timothy Smith, Joseph Swift, Calab Swift,
William c. Whitney made beginning with
the first settlers, but soon after removed
Holmes, lie Broke, Josiah
Disco, Jairus Shaw, Samuel King, George
S.to,,o, Dryaps Llao1ar Cola