Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1890-04-21
Absolutely the Best.
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81 and 81 saxon 81. Mes York.
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numbering on the upper ST. John river.
After long ard tedious journey through
ne woods and scross river and Lakes they
came To the ST.. John river. and ascended
in birch cano@s TO the mouth of what 10
nov called Baker brock. on the north side
u the st. John. sone sig mills belos Fort
Kent There they built their humble
feelings ard established themselves -
/, aceful citizens on What they considered
ras q part Of the State Of Maine.
Ns'hsn B,ksr died sometime after their
trr,vsl. and in due time bis brother, John.
nsrrsei the widow. john Baker was .
man Of much force Of character and they
ros oered in their new home.
When the boundary dispute arose there
ras cons derahle excitement in the vicinity
I'D the position of the BAkers was ex-
,smaly uncomfortable, ~ they were
rue Yankees and intensely patriotic. They
nele we'd they we're hSing on United
States territory and, as Independence DAy
~ts drawing near. Mrs. Baker determined
to di.play the stars and striles Of ner conn
try. She had no flag end the only way to
ib;ain oac was to procure the material and
make il. The nearest store was some dis.
tance down the river. but she went in her
canoe aad purchased the necessary material
and returning to her home. made an Amer
lean fl.g. and on the morning Of the 4th of
Jply flung it proudly TO the breeze in splte
If The threats ard remonstrances Of her
nei. hbors y no were all loyal to the British
crown. The next day . squad OF Pro.
vincisi soldiers came and arrested Mr.
B.ker and hen they returned to the house.
-iiher for the purpose Of arrestine Mrs.
b ,ker or securi the flag, the heroic
oman seized the broom and dove them
from the premises. Mr.. Baker vas tak-n
t. Fredericton jail where he vas kept unit
the boundary dispute was settled by the
Ashburton treaty. After having bee u there
.on,-tim- h. WAS allowed much liberty and
might easi y have escaped, ou, refused TO
10 so un,iI liberated by his gO-ern
NJ. mt. After bis release he returned
to his home At Baker brook where he re.
manned until his death, which occurred
many years after~a-ds. His widow then
csme 10 live with her daughter, Mrs.. Slo-
cum of Fort FAIRFIELD. ard died. ~ We
have stated, few years ago at the age Of
%. The old lady often related
the story of the flag raising 10 her later
wears and even then her eyes would fash
with patriotic ardor. She has been called
The barbara Frietchie of Aronstook and
soon after her death. Ell Governor Joho ID
Long. who vas At the time visiting u brother
IN Fort Fairfield, wrote some verses upon
her patriotic exploit, xhich were after
~sr'. pl.bli.hel in the loo Il psp-rs.
The Maine posse remained at Fort Fair
f~ld nn'il relieved by United States troops
IN ls4i, Capt. Towle having been i, the
M an rire succeeded in the command by
Cap. J I'm B. Wing. In 1871, a campany
IF United States infantry came up from
Harcock barracks a; HOulton, under com,
mand of Cap. Van Ne.a. the second in
con mand beipg Lieut. Ricketts,. who after
ssrd. as Msj1r Cen. X cketts. won fame
N the War # the Rebellion. Genera
ricketts, row lies in an hOnored grave in
The National c, metery at Arlington Hell hts.
These troops bull stO kade around the
dick house on Fort Hill. within VIII Oh
they erect i quarters for the soldiers. and
OF side thu enclosure they built spacious
and .uh.t4u,isl building fr offi .er. quar-
t-rs and several other buildings for the
Commns. ary and q iartermdsrers ID part
mert sl-o blacksmith shop. suti,r's store,
etc Mr. W. Holman Cary was su,ler Of
the post. The stocksde was built by sand
i 2 iimbers twelve or fifteen fe+t long on
end in the ground aud, on the inside square
rimbers were laid horiz )ntslly one upo the
her to tie height of four or five feet
Agsin.t these tin bers, on the inside,
thicx emf ankment of earth was thrown
up. All remains Of the block house and
also of the Il ckade have since b en- re-
moved With the exception of the embank-
ment or parapet, which still remains. II
is six sided and is something more than one
hund-ed feet in length on each side. The
building erected for officers quarters is ,.ili
stsndicg in a good state of preservation. II
il owned by DR. Decker ard occupied by
himself and Other families a. dwellings.
and contains three tenements. The com
pany Of regulars remained It'll lS43 when
they returned % Hancock barracks IN H,ui-
TN. The attention of the people Of Maine
was thus called TO this fertile region. and
some OF the original posse ned and
to k up Land and made themselves homes
Mr.. Jose phi Fisher. an { | / and well-kDown
city n of Fort Fairfield. who died on April
10Th 1890 came with the company of reg
ulsrs in the capacity of waiter for the off
GERS mess When the troops left Mr.. Fisher
remsined, ard lived at Fort Fairfield until
his death. The clearings made immediate
" after the Aroostook War were all on
Township u. which 10 now the south half of
the town. In the mean time the road from
pre.que Isle. or from Fairbanks a. 1t was
then called. to Fort Fair Geld had bee n cut
through by the State and settlers COM
ria IL
road J. Tucker came from Orono and
rork up lot near where the
Union Meeting house now stands at the
junction Of the Pressure Isle and Houlton
roads, then called 1.-The two mile tree" it
being tu miles from the river II Fort Fair
field. George A. Nourse from Hslowell.
now a lawyer in California, took up the lot
which is no- the Rollins farm. William
Whitney and his two sons from Corinth,
made q clearing on what is now called
Whit ey hill, about three miles from the
village, tsking up several lots. Levi Hoyt
commenced a clearing about the same time
on the vest eide Of the hill. B ID. East
man aud his brother OTIS settled on the lot,
next beyond, toward Pfe'que Isle, and one
BrsGion from Corinth settled on the farm
now occupied by Sterhen Conant. d G.
Palmer and Jonathan Hopkinson from Ken
nebec County took lots mex. to
to the P7esque Isle line and
Henry Currier commenced . clear. !
ing back In the WOO IL nor'h Of the
Presque Lie road THESE men ali came
soon sitter e settlement Of the boundary
dispute ami we're the drst Maine settlers on
the town. the earliest SETTLERS having ~ re
have sa all come up the river from New
B un.wick At about the same time q
-erlement was commenced At what 10 now
csl'el Maple Grove in the south part of the
town on what is now the road from Fort
F.uh Ito Bans 4,
Ssnfo Il J ,hasoa se't'ed on what i. now
the Juis CUmmjrg. farm, f z Wh;Iey
nn III. jams j ,hnso, farm, ard Hiram
Stevens. w1D came in wIh the Pee.
cleared up ~nst i. row tn. rBurlough farm
Wings,e Hsines came from ken7eb
cou & and took mp th- fne large tract n,~
inclui.' in the splendid farm occupied by /
his % \ l. H.i,es, the present ms mber
Of the Boari of Agriculture from Aroos.
took D-a E'.ard s Fowler, Addison
Po~ers. I.aac Z lie, Leonard Spooner~ ard
FRI emsr Ellis. all from Pi.cat.qui. county,
took lo'ssionR south of Mr. Ham s.s-ay,o
the sOath line Of the tovn. Gen. Mark Trait
on of Bangor WAS se1t In by the Z 8
. 'vernmsnt in 1913 and established q
i m,: the s.u.. .r sss kssres, .,s Of 6
- 30 OOD 600 Tone of - Iron and ii eel {