The Somerset reporter. [volume] (Skowhegan, Me.) 1868-1909, 1898-08-18
skowhegan People In the Past.

Paper written by Alonzo Richardson. read
before the Skowhegan Historical and Genea-
logical Society, Aug q, 1881
NV father, Silas Richardson, in Feb
ruary, 1929, moved into this town, which
was then called Milburp, with family
of five children, from the town OF Bel
grade, Kennebec county. The house
father moved into had no shingles or
clapboards on the walls but was boarded
with matched pine boards which had
shrunk so that there were large cracks
in many places. The cook room, sitting
room, dining room and parlor were all
in one room. One bed room, stair way
for ND stairs and down cellar, one front
door and end door and not one inch Of
plastering outside or in. The barn was
boarded and roof shingled and boards
stood up for barn doors. The water
used for cooking and drinking was
brought from spring more than fifty
rods away.
A large portion of this part of the
town was then wilderness, none but
the high rocky portion was cleared and
that bore abundant crops. The farm
next south of my fathers was occupied
by Humphry Burrill, JosephiI. BurrilPs
father, deceased. Capt. John Pooler
lived on the next farm and had the best
house in the neighborhood, the rooms
below being plastered and the walls
clapboarded. The next farm was owned
and occupied by Dea. Joseph Pooler.
His brother, Ebenezer Goodridge bought
the next farm in 1886, and purchased
the old Capt Pooler house and moved
/ it onto his place, and his son still lives
in 1t. Governor Rowe lived in the next
and last house till the river road was
reached.
Father, in the spring of 1880 bought
the Humphrey Burrill farm and paid him
$40 for the improvements he had made
on it and Mr.. Burrill took up the second
lot east from the road and cleared a
good farm and died there and his son,
John L. Burrill, still lives on it. Capt
George Pooler in 1882 bought the farm
east of the road and opposite the Burrill
farm, built good buildings and made a
good farm and about 1910 sold to Atemas
Bigelow and In few years he sold to
Hiram Parkman and in 1859, Parkman
sold to Silas Richardson and went west
s. Richardson, Jr., sold to his son Her
bert, March, 1897, who still lives on the
farm.
The farm where Virgil G. Holt now
lives was first occupied by George Rich
ardson, Esq, of Belgrade, who took
this piece of wild land in part payment
for building meeting house on Bel
grade Hill In the spring of 1886, he
sold his farm with good buildings he
had erected to Isaac F. Ames, who
moved from Whitman's hill, so called,
with family of six boys and four girls.
Joseph H. Sanford bought the Caster
farm next west in 1916 and his son
Almon and daughter still live on it.
Hiram Richardson took up the next
farm north and moved there in the
winter of 1878, when 1T was wilder
ness, cleared and built good buildings
and died in Dec, 1895. His wife died
twelve years before. He conveyed his
farm to H. H. Richardson one year be-
fore he died, and was we'll cared for in
his last sickness and at his death his
remains were taken to Olamon, Penob-
scot county and inferred by the side OF
his wife by his request.
The next farm north of my father
homestead farm was purchased by John
Penny, who moved from Dearbon, Ken