Manchester Democrat. [volume] (Manchester, Iowa) 1875-1930, 1907-05-22
A Unique Village.

" WY SAeiACAo cNcI polO o poAAy AO1
taxation, where not one Of its men
ever paid a poll tax, which is one of
the most cosmopolitan villages in the
country, with population embrac-
\ ing Russians, Poles, Swedes, Firms,
Germans, Danes. French, Irish and
English, and with public school,
electric lights, railway, bank
and the only wood alcohol mill in
New England. Hastings is all that
| Lying under the frowning peak
! OF the mountains, SO exposed to the
gales that sweep periodically down
from above that the houses have to
be chained to the ground, this
village is as wild as half century
ago, when Negro Tom, fugitive
slave, fled from Massachusetts, in
fear Of recapture to hack out a home
for himself in the wilds of Maine
and opened up the tract that after
ward became Hastings.
Its houses are all painted Venetian
red. All are 4Ox4O feet, like huge
dry goods boxes, and all are chained
to the ground with huge cables as
protection from the gales that rage
over the White mountains. So
prosperous are its inhabitants that
the town never considered it neces.
sary to make any public provision
for the support of the poor. 1t is a
simple life they lead-work and do
mestic happiness and then the end.
Many children have been born in
this queer little town. The justice
of the peace ties the matrimonial
knot and the priest is called at time
of death.
j. The territory where Hastings
nestles in the shadow of the noun
tains was granted to Richard Batch
elder by the state more than 100
years ago. A few years later they
abandoned the place and G. o. and
D. r. Hastings of Fryeburg became
the purchasers.
j In one respect, too, Hastings is a
"one-man town." D. R. Hastings,
at enc time mayor of the city of
Auburn, Me-, is proprietor of the
town of Hastings and owner of all
the mills. hotel, etc. He is called
mayor in the village. He fills the
office of mayor, town official at large,
road and fire commissioner, superin-
tendent of schools and dozen other
offices.
The people contribute to public
privileges and everyone is allowed
all the freedom and liberty of
American citizenship. Crimes are
ankfszen and trnant officers are net
needed There are thirty scholars
in the little red schoolhouse and the
teacher is graduate of Bates college.
The one-room grocery store at
Hastings is unique. The floor is all
eaten up by the spike-soled shoes of
the lumbermen and the good-natured
Mayor Hastings, who assumes the
role of storekeeper. can supply any
want from a trading stamp to the
mechanical gear of a bicycle. The
postoffice is there. too
i The mountains are so high that
when it is summer time in the val
leys there may be snow on the
heights and the great peaks are bar
ren rock where only few hardy
Alpine wild flowers grow.
\ New Years is the day celebrated,
and at that time there is fun galore.
AT other times the children arrange
entertainments and dances are oc
casionally held, and on one occasion
a travelling theater troupe ventured
here. Evening suits are an un-
known quantity in Hastings. There
they mean might clothes.'
Hastings, or Negro Tom Opening,
as it was originally known, seems
in a different world. 1t is closely
allied with the history of the famous
Shelburne gold region and the old
name Of Negro Tom Opening is still
used by some of the older sttlers.
1t was in 1892 that Richard
| Batchelder, citizen of Massachu-
setts, in consideration of certain
sum of money and the understand
ing that he should have colony of
twenty-three families located there
within stated time, was granted
hundreds of acres of what was then
named Bachelder's Grant. But the
making of the contract proved to be
an easier thing than keeping the
agreement about colonizing the ter
ritory.
1t was country covered with
deep forests. Fryeburg and a few
other little places some miles dis
tant were settled and it was in these
backwoods settlements that Batch
elder sold tracts of land of 100 acres
at auction. The settlers were slow
in moving to their new territory,
however, and Batchelder was obliged
, to go before the legislature two or
three times and ask for renewal of
his charter, SO that it was about
1914 before he obtained clear title
to his land.
In 1880 three or four families
moved to the left shore Of Evans
brooke Cedar brook" it was called
, by some-and here they founded the
t present site Of Hastings. They did
not stay more than half dozen
years and, picking up their belong
} ings in worldly oods,packed through
the woods to the settlements, with
the simple, sweeping exclamation:
} "We have had enough of the woods. u
Another character is woven into
: the story at this time, for Negro
| Tom. valuable slave, who had fed
) from his masters plantation, came
} to Massachusetts, by means of the
Underground railroad" 1t was
+ too near civilization to suit him