Daily Kennebec journal. [microfilm reel] (Augusta, Me.) 1870-1975, 1904-01-29
A CENTURY OLD.
Ten Maine Towns Pass the
: Mark, This Year.
Some Will Celebrate the Event and
All Ought to.
They Are in kennebee, Somerset, Ok
ford and Waldo Counties.

ndrldnS IN 1914, ana In the most, III IoI
in all of these, there will be appropriate
celebrations.
On March :, Athens and ROme-an
odd coincidcnce-will be 100 years old,
also Madison.
June % is the Tooth birthday OF Enb-
den, Unity and Mercer. and the next
day that Of Gilead. Andover, Hope and
Palermo. 1t is quite proba Bile that in
the most OF the towns the custom
which has obtained in a number of
Maine towns which have already
passed the century mark, OF combining
the anniversary exercises with the old
home week festivities, will be adopted.
In the land OF the Norridgewocks
four Of these towns form a group al
most, and In some cases quite. adjoin-
ing in the fertile valley OF the kenne-
bee in the lower portion OF Somerset
county. These Madison, Athens, Emb-
den and Mercer, are all within an area
included in the history Of ancient Nor
ridgewock which is in the midst Of the
group.
Over all this territory once ranged
the famous Indian tribe Of the Nor
ridgeWocks, with their famous camping
ground in the bend Of the kennebec
river, a short distance up the river
from Skowhegan and about so miles
above Augusta.
When the Norcidgewocks hunted to
the westward they traversed to terri
tory which is now Mercer. Going up
the river three or four miles brought
them to what is now Madison. on the
cast side and Enbden. on the west.
Going still father north and to the
east was the land now the town Of
Athens. These places were settled at
about the same time, from IT'S to 1884,
and so it happens that their birthdays
come in the same year.
There was much of early Maine his
tory enacted along the banks of the
kcnnebec in the land of the Norridge-
wOcks before the white settlers really
settled. Thus the anniversary hiStori-
ans will have much material for town
history.
AS early as 1910 the French sent
Roman Catholic missionary UP the
kennebcc In 1851 Sebastian Edsle.
Jesuit missionary. settled with the
Norridge and labored until he
was massacred in 1I24 in an attack
upon the village by the English. who
Were angered at the allegiance of the
tribe and the priest with the French.
Fr. Rasie was u great power among
the Indians. They became devout Wor-
shippers in little chapel which was
built on the point formed by the bend
Of the river The French wishing to
secure the Indians as allies against the
English, were very friendly. An
Indian dictionary and other effects Of
Fr. Rasie are now preserved in the
Harvard College library, and the bell
OF the chapel is now in the Bowdoin
College museum. Whittier's MogS Me-
gone is an epic Of the days of the Nor
ridgewocks Bishop Fenwick of Bos-
ton caused to be erected to the memory
OF FIR. Rasle q monument which still
stands on the spot where the chapel
was burned. Ii is a plain granite ODE
lisk about IL feet high. and is inscribed
with the history Of the massacre.
By n town division the monument is
not now within the limits OF the town
Of NorridGe wock, but in Madison.
which town can share the ancient his
tory with NorridgewOck.
Madison. which adjoins Norridse-
wock on the north. was named Tor
Madison. the President. Here the
Carrebassett stream enters the Ken
nehec. making 4 superb Mater power.
which is now utilized by the immense
plant of the Great Northern Paper
company. The coming of this immense
enterprise has brought in other in
dustries until Madison is one OF the
livcliest villages of its size in the state.
Just above Madison and on the other
side of the river Is Emblem. The iirst
settlements of this town were made in
1873 by Amos Partridge. George Mitch
Ell and William Hamlin. In 1872 sew
eral settlers located in Seven-Milc
brook in the lower portion of the town,
and in 1920 Capt. John Gray came from
Wiscasset and John Chamberlain and
his sons. famous Indian fighters and
hunters. Embden had Il show place. Il
relic of the Norridgewocks in Indian
Ledge. where the surface Of the ledge
is deeply carved with Indian figures
and signs said to have significance
IN Indian lore but now altogether lost.
as no one has been able to decipher the
Inscriptions. although many scientists
have endcavored to do so. Embden is
farming and numbering community
and has Il large pulp mill.
Some settlers pushed farther north
and off to the east among the ponds.
streams and curicusly elevated plat
eaus and settled what is now the
town of Athens. n beautiful village. an
ideal odd home place. with fine
residences and shaded streets. Athens
is farming community.
Down the river and back to the west
ward from old Norridgewock some of
the early settlers were attracted by the
fertile meadows. and Nathaniel Emery.
a.Rexolutionary soldier. felled the first
trees and( built the first log cabin in
what is now the town of Mercer. Ma
thaniel appeared to be an enterprising
individual. for he sold his cabin re-
peatedly 10 newcomers and built
another. To Mercer came Nahum
Baldwin from New Hampshire. Samuel
! Hinckley from the mouth of the river.
Nathaniel Davis from Cape Ann.
Ambrose Arnold and Joshua Greenleaf,
Revolutionary soldiers. also came and
built log cabins. The original town OF
Mercer has been carved frequently and
half Il dozen neighboring towns have
something OF the original territory
Mercer WAS one of the most heavily