Daily Kennebec journal., 1897-06-09

anu WHICH ndU Deeu WlpeO OUT OF eX-
istence by the Indians in 1922. This
romantic name which the town and
city have now borne just a century,
was preferred to Harrington because
it was free from the ridicule of the
satirical neighboring humOrists.
The little frontier town suffered
much during the war of the Revolu-
ton. It's growth was retarded and
well nigh suspended. The Tory prOpri-
etors abandoned their estates and
many fled from the country. Most of
the leaders of the Plymouth Company
were Tories, and their influence was
bad. The great land proprietor, Ben
jamin Hallowell, for whom the town
was named, suffered the confiscation of
his abandoned estate within it for his
hostility to the patriot cause. The same
treatment befell Sylvester Gardiner
and William Vassal. whose names
were given respectively to the south
ern and northern adjoining towns.
Nearly all the settlers, however, re-
mained steadily loyal and made the sit
uation very uncomfortable for their
few Tory neighbOrs. The most obnOx-
iOus local Tory was John Jones, who
had built a mill on Bond brook and
who was surveyor. Several times he
was imprisoned and driven from town,
and il the story of his unique and SEN
sational career were told in full 1t
would make one of the most stirring
romances in the annals of early Au-
gusta. After the war he lived a quiet
and peaceful life. which ended in 1882.
His grave is unmarked and forgotten
in Mt. Vernon cemetery.
In 1775 the town formed a military
company, with William Howard. son OF
Augustus first settler, as captain.
Later it sent a number Of men into the
Continental army. furnished its quota
of provisions and struggled as best it
could to pay the enormous taxes OF the
time. The town furnished 16 men for
the Inflated expedition against Cas-
tine in 1779, which attempted to wrest
that town from the British.
The most memorable war incident
connected with the early history of the
town was the passage through 1t OF
General Benedict Arnold and his 1,1OO
troops in September 1775. on their way
to Quebec This expedition came in IL
transports from Newburyport to Pitts
ton, September II is, 1775. Here the troops
and stores were transferred to ba-
teaux and the ascent of the river be-
gun. The army remained encamped at
Fort Western nine days, making the
final preparations for it's long march
through the wilderness. General Am
old and some of his chief officers were
entertained at the sO-called Great
House" of Captain James Howard,
mile above the fort. Among the OIL
GERS of this famous expedition. were q
.rr-rr.rrsr -r-tD-e rarIrs became norsrfH-
miliar to the world in later years.
Cadet Aaron Burr. afterwards vice.
president; Captain Henry Dearborn
afterwards secretary of war ana the
commander of the national forces In
the second war with Great Britain;
Captain Daniel Morgan, the famous
rifleman leader; and others.
During the stay of the army here
tragedy occurred-as if foreshadoWing
the great tragedy which the expedition
itself was to become. One night. as the
outcome Of quarrel among the soldiers,
John Mccormick shot and killed Reu-
ben Bishop. A court martial sentenced
Mccormick to be hung at once Dut
General Arnold stayed the execution
and sent the man back to Massachu-
setts with recommendation for mercy
to General Washington. In later years
Willow street was laid out over the un-
needed grave of the murdered sololer'
Bishops
The first Augusta lawyer was Generai
William LithgOw, Jr, who had served
through the Revolutionary War with
distinction and who came here in 1ISS.
He opened an office in the southwest
room of the old Fort, and practiced
with much success till his death in
1886. President Washington appointed
him district attorney for Maine. and he
twice represented Lincoln county, OF
which Kennebec was then part, in
the Massachusetts General Court.
James Bridge was the second lawyer
to practice here. following Lithgow in
an office in the Fort and having the
field to himself for several years.
Few towns ale so fortunate as Au-
gusta in the matter of the preservation
of their oldest and most historic
buildings. The main building OF the
old Fort. built in 1854, the first building
built here is in good preservation ana
still occupied as dwelling. and the
large building on Winthrop scourt. oc-
cupied for various purposes in recent
years and known as the old Waveriy
hall or the Friends chapel, is. after
number of enlargements and changes,
the first meeting house of the town.
erected in 1882 on Market square, then
an intervale by the river.
The ancient Augusta, from wnlcn
our city nQsdQubt received it's name.
was settledsass 6shing village at the
head of the tiaesat Small Point har-
Dor, by DE-. oliSef Noyes of the Pejep-
scot Company. Thie was about 1716'
and Dr. Moves erected a.stone fort,
said to havebeen the best fertilization
in the eastern country. The settlement
became a thriving town with goodly
number of inhabitants. but a few years
later it was wiped out Of existence by
the Indians.
Paul Revere, the rider bold. once tar
ried in Augusta, though the circum-
stances of his visit were not such as to
add many laurels to his brow. He was
a member of the Inflated Castine expe-
dition of 1779. which fed back through