Ellsworth American. [volume] (Ellsworth, Me.) 1855-current, 1901-07-17
HANcocK-suLLIvAN BRIDGE,
A Big Enterprise That Sullivan Men
Carried Through.
[Ambrose Simpson in Bar Harbor Record

pLOkIc56 anu improvements tuht hHo nOW
enjoyed by the people Of this country,
and taking glimpse at them as they
have come along the past $50 years, lead
me to notice some of the characteristics
that seem to have inspired the early set
tiers in this vicinity, and pushed them for
ward to the settlement of the vast great
wilderness spread before them. The
migratory propensity seemed to be
principal characteristic. 1t would seem
to an observer the rowing spirit got the
better of their judgment, for in several
instances they passed away from the sea-
shore and through tracts of forest and
good agricultural land, to some far away
island hill or place completely secluded,
where all the necessaries OF life had to be
transported upon their shoulders, and
afterward on horseback, until a road
could be made.
Such was not the case In the first set
Ting OF the town of Sullivan, OF which l
am about to write, as 1t largely bordered
on Frenchman's bay, and was mostly
settled at or near the seashore.
A large number of the first settlers OF
Sullivan came from the town OF York,
York county, Maine, and some from
Saco and adjacent towns. The names of
the first settlers who came here from
York were Bragdon, Beane, PEBBLE, Sui
Ivan, Simpson, Gordon, johnson, Urann,
Donnell, WEIGH, Wooster, Ingalls,, Cat
comb, West and Grant. One family by
the name OF Miller came from Saco, one
Of whom was my maternal ancestor.
There may have been few more FAM
| lilies besides these, the names and history
OF W HON am not familiar with. The names
OF the families that came from Marble
head were Salter, Moon and Thayer.
There was peculiar way of talk with
head, by which the place Of their nativity
was recognized. They substituted the let
ter for and Uice persa, and also W for
I, similar to the Hingiish orse for horse.
For an example: "On a voyage they par
took OF wish, veal and vinegar, and it
was very good wittals." This way OF
talk was common by people of Marble
head in former days, but probably not
often heard now, as old customs pass
away.
About 1870 Paul d. Sargent, with his
family, moved here from Salem and
bought the place of Benjamin johnson,
who moved to Flanders, now East Sulli-
van, and located there. The farm bought
by Col. Sargent extended from the Salter
farm on the east to public or meeting
house lot on the west, and from. the tide
water northerly to include 100 acres, on
which there are now four hotels, a large
livery stable, a commodious store, tele-
phone Office and quite village.
The settlers of Sullivan had their hobby,
its principal aim and motive being to
carry on numbering. They seized upon
the salt water coves wherever found, and
built dams at great cost Of labor, the
principal capital at that time, and mills
which could be operated only one half Of
| the time, or when the tide was at a low
point, though there were numerous fresh
| water streams and privileges where mills
| could have been built and operated at
much better advantage, entirely ignored.
| The largest of these enterprises was
the building OF the long dam across Long
Cove, though there we're several others in
the limits of what was afterwards the
town OF Sullivan. The Long Cove mill
was built and completed very few years
before the breaking out of the American
Revolutionary war, by a syndicate OF York
people, who intended to move here but in
consequence OF the war never came.
The property was abandoned for seven
or eight years during the war, as there
was no sale for lumber. During that peri
cd the property nearly went to decay, the
dam was undermined, and considerable
| part Of 1t went down, making the repair
almost as much work as the building.
The mill was badly eaten by worms.
Some of those interested in the property
had returned TO York, thinking to come
back when the war was over, but gave it
up and sold out for what they could get.
A new set of enterprising young men
had then developed, OF whom my father,
James Simpson, was one. He, with his
brother-in-law, Richard Downing, BEN
jamin and Solomon York, and others,
bought the property and put it in opera
ton, and did successful business during
the time the mill lasted. There being a
demand for lumber, it was sold at the
mill at a fairly good price as soon as
manu- factured, vessels waiting their turn
| for the cargoes.
| The enthusiasm for tide mills had then
subsidized and fresh water streams and
privileges were sought to take their
places. My father then built saw mill
and afterward a grist mill on his home
farm, which is now owned and operated
by Geo. G. Lyman. My father had pre-
viously moved from what was called the
Long Cove neighborhood to what has since
been termed by some as the aristocratic
Falls neighborhood, but IL l understand
the tenor of the expression and sentiment
of the people here, it is giving the name
without the game.
Assuming to call to notice some of the
old leading business matters that took
place in town previous to and since my