The Somerset reporter., 1897-04-01

Il
children, the youngest only II months
old, and the two oldest (twins), not
quite Is years.
Peter Haywood came In l772 with his
wife aud four children. In the autumn
of the same year came John Cakes with
several sons. Seth Wyman came In
1913, accompanied by his neither and
sister, and 10 l774, came Dea. John White,
descendant OF Peregrine White of the
| Plymouth Colony, To settle with his
family The same year, Jonas Parlin
settled near Skowhegan village. Daniel
Steward took up one of the back farms
in Bloomfield in IT'S, and in l777-S
Joseph Cleveland came To live in Bloom
ti-ld village. Dea. SolomAn Clarke also
came about this time aud John Emery
was here in l779. From this time on the
Sc ttlement steadily increased.
When Joseph Weston came he brought
with him "A small stock of goods some of
" hch he sold while at Fort Halifax in
the winter, giving credit on the accounts
for beaver skins at shillings pound.
He continued 10 trade after he arrived
IN Canaan but the goods must have been
sold out soon, As no mention Is made OF
them In the inventory Of his estate in
l775. Clearing band aud raising crops
sufficient for the family to live on, no
doubt occupied the greater part Of his
time.
In the fall of l77j. Arnold's forces Of
about 1900 men passed up the river in
hatteaux on the expedition against
Quebec, and Joseph Weston volunteered
to aid them in polling their boats from
his place to whegan island and
around the falls. They landed on n
little sandy beach at the foot of the
island, aud coming up natural path
way where the ledge was cleft, camped,
for a day or two probably, in small
clearing made by the Indians, while
their batteaux were safely carried by
the falls and landed in the smooth water
above. Here occurred the incident
which the old settlers were fond of tell
ing-uow Derby threw the Niger. AS
the army rested on the island the officers
and men amused themselves by wrestling.
An athletic negro who had lived short
time ia Canaan, succeeded in throwing
them all, until Lieut.. Dearborn, after
wards General Dearborn OF the L. S.
army, took hold Of him and succeeded
in flooring him. From Skowhegan
island till they reached Norridgewock
Falls, in Madison their way was com
pararively easy. Here they camped five
or six days, while road was cut around
the falls on tho Arson side and their
boats hauled by. This road has never
been allowed to grow up with bushes to
this day, but is still used to get to the
bank of the river.
Joseph Weston probably went as far
as Norridgewock Falls. From hardship
and exposure he took cold, went home
sick and died Oct. 16, aged 43 yrs. The
future must have looked dark to the
widow, left with nine children to care tor
10 new country where only the barest
necessities of life could be had. The
largest part Of the estate was 633 acres
Of land, which of course required great
amount of hard work to clear, aud get in
condition to raise the corn and rye which
were their principal crops. The nearest
mill for grinding -four was at Hallowell
and long, hard journey must be made in
a boat to take the grain down and bring
back the -four; so part of the time the
corn was dried hard and then pounded
till it was fine enough to make mush
A little later there were mills on the
Sebasticook at Clinton, but it was some
time before mills were built at Skowhe
gan Falls. That part of Mass. from
which the settlers came was not suited
to raising wheat, and it took them more
than twenty years to find out that it
could be successfully raised here.
The women were not troubled by hav-
ing wool to spin, as bears aud wolves
were too plenty to allow sheep to be
kept. Tow and linen were woven into
oIa nd . hn ha I,,
wore leather breeches which saved much
from the spinning and weaving, As a
witness to the fact that dairying was
carried on, we have the story that Peter
Heywood's descendants are fond of tell
ing about him. 1t seems that he was
accustomed to do the churning, and one
morning as usual his wife put the cream
in the churn ready for him to set to
work. But Peter Haywood had liking
for conversation with his neighbors,
even greater than his liking for churn-
ing, so he quietly took his departure and
did not return for two or three hours
In the meantime his wife becoming i'm
patient at his long absence, churned the
cream herself, removing the butter but
leaving the buttermik still In the churn.
Peter Heywood's conscience evidently
pricked him as he at length slipped back
into the kitchen, for he Immediately be-
gan TO churn vigorously. He churned
and churned, but there was no sign of
the butter coming. At last he demand
ed to know why that butter did not
come. "Oh,' answered his wife, "the
butter came two hours ago while you
were away, that is only the buttermilk :"
AS was to be expected 10 community
so isolated, the children of the different
families soon intermarried 80 that In
comparatively few years time, it would
have taken a person with an active mind
to trace all the relationships. 1t has
been noted as singular fact in connect
ion with the two oldest settlers, that
while the family of Joseph Weston
throve and multiplied, it has been many
long day since any descendant of Peter
Haywood bearing the Haywood name
has lived in the town.
Like all settlements by New England
people, the church and school came hand
in hand, with the town meeting follow
ing closely after. Mrs. White, wife of
Dea. John White, opened the first school
in town in 1777 and met with good sue.
cess. The next year Mr. Robert Hood
was the teacher, followed some time
later by Polly Emerson and William
Whitaker, children of the early minis
tiers. In 1850 Samuel Weston had a
school for the married men. Isaiah
Wood began to teach in 1896 and made