Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1889-05-23
For the Ellsworth Americanl
Waltham and its Inhabitants in the Past
and the Present.


have, for several years, frequentl,
spent several days in each year in this towr
ana had some very pleasant and interesting
conversations with some of the descendants
oil the first settlers. They gave me many
historical events and incidents Of their an
cestors. Some of these events | will en-
deavor to narrate as nearly as can in
their own words.
lhe hrst settlement in Wal,ham was in
lSof. AT that time 1t was wild wilder.
ness on every side. 1t was set off from
the plantation of Mariavlle in 1922, incor.
porated in 1898. All the travel was in ca.
noes on the river which then went oy the
Indian name, Tau-ce-wan-nicty.
Those hardy pioneers left their families
| a. Ellsworth, went up the river in small
boats. located their lots. fellcd several
acres OF the forest trees on each lot, built
small log houses and in the spring follow
ing moved their families into this wild re-
/ gion. The following are the names of
+ most OF the first settlers George Has
}
4 Lcbbcus kingman. Ebcn Kingman. Caleb
I kingman, Richard Cook, Ebenezer Jordan
/ Samuel Ingalls, Joshua Moore and Moses
/ ingalls,. The settlement was increased
every year by other families moving there
John Fox. Charles Jones aud Hugh TWIN
ham who came later were from the old
country.
| The mode of farming in those dav> was
to cut down the forest trees in the sum
mcr season. burn them in tile spring every
thing except the logs would burn These
they piled in heaps ;nd burned on the
ground, which was then ready for the seed.
and required neither blowing nor harrow
Ing and but little care after planting The
crops were centrally good on what they
called burnt land. ana they raised larger
crops and rsith les labor than they did af-
ter they had 70 u>c the plow aud barrow
\ good quality Of meadow gras, was
plentiful and could 10 obtained with little
trouble and they soon stocked their farms
with cattle The river and meadows
swarmcd with ducks and geese. small fi>h
such as trout and perch We're plentiful in
all the ponds and streams ana moose and
deer were also very plentiful The deer
became very troublesome for they would
enter their gram fields in the night, feed
upon Their grain and destroy Il before il
was ready for harvesting
Il i,,
making shingles ana clapboar,l> The
best Of pine rift was easily obtained in the
spring they raatcd their lumber "a rafts
To Ellsworth, from there It was shipped to
Boston, and other places. The first saw
mll! in Waltham was built in 1882 by Capt
stephen g. Woodward. Hugh TwynhAm
and lncrrI~, Jordan Their cluthn. wa-
most all hnmc~puu aud made in their fam
ilie~. In every house YOU would see
loom. wooicu cards, and a spinning wheel.
The hum Of the spinning wheel wa> the
only music made by the daughters of the
olt pioneers. but thi~ Nh household arti.
Gle i now seldom seen ami the piano i, in
A. common u>c among the chidren'~ chill
uI'h "i 'hoNe early settlers a> was the
spinning wheel in the years that are NUN
hcrcd w,lh tie past,
Iho>" early settlers hid many hardshipS
I" encounter They were men "f iron
nerves and well ti'tcd for pioneer life.
They were Of the SANE stock a. the sol
"'efN Oh the revolution Danger al 1t peru
had n" terror i"r thcm. lhey never
"""-e" '"''I ""lS ana 'AtE LOON the Dl'tF
"f 'I' sweet WIN the same serenity.
ne" we 4""h oa'A "P'h 'he decades ol
H'A' : ~" i"P'" S''"i> ''ie t'a'lNitioh pi
'"' .'N'N t"At hhN' roI''" away az" We
can '"' f'>e- e anu r'si''e' 'i'' memory OF
'io@o h'cii "i '"t paNt WIG hFc iast Ia"ih-
'''' "'1''' ION
ne changes IN thi~ prosperous town
seem IKE the rplrt oi dream Many
S'o' farms ana handsome buildings meet
N"ur we" eN'Is"h'fe- MANY ~ 'hr Nnild-
lh2> are TWO stories hi@h ana all punt III
modern >tSle ana everything about them
LOOKS neat ana IN good order which Is GER
taihiy sure evidence 81 comfort and pros
pcrity,
You VIII see IN ihl> town as line looking
oxen an'l cows aS can pc produced IN any
part "i haheock county. At one farn the
o"tcr showed me tWo Aohc ol oxen anu
YOKE OF three years oId steers that were
exceedingly handsome Many splendid
carriage horses are raised III TINS town ti'at
merit praise; ana You VIII see many
good looking pairs ol horses intended Tor
team work, which VIII bear credltaole com
parison with any such teams III any other
part OF our State.
The citizens Q Waltham were loyal and
ardent in the support OF the national gov
ernmcnt in the late civil war and among
the first to I'LL their quota, and many of
their young men were volunteers.
Waltham is free from debt and perhaps
there is not a town in Hancock county
where less Intoxicating liquor is sold;
the traffic in this town is completely
squelched. They have p city meeting
house and although it was built many
years ago it has been kept in excellent con
dtion. 1t is owned and occupied most of
the time by Baptist society, but frequent
ly clergymen of other denominations