Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1913-05-06
A Paris Migration.

might be new and interesting to Pari
readers Of the Democrat.
!; The history Of the human race 1
largely stories Of migrations. beginning
In old Aryan times and continuing to tn
J present. We are interested In them ant
the reasons, SO far az known, which
made them necessary or desirable. Thl
effects of many migrations are world
wide, and so Is interest In them, bul
there are lesser and local migrations jus
as interesting to q smaller circle o
people. Some new industrial develop
ment in nearby locality makes q de
mand for labor and surrounding town.
furnish the supply. What the write
has found Ia that there was, during q few
years prior to 1850. a considerable mi
grafton from the town OF Paris to fount
a new village south of her.
Prior to that date, the surplus popu
lation was absorbed by taking up lauc
In the wilderness, generally to the north O
that already occupied. Industries, 9th
or than agriculture, were carried on In
small and primitive way. There were
no factories to encourage the growth oI
villages, and no means to transport
products, If there had been any, Other
than horse or OK. flesh. But the people
of Paris had dreamed of villages at thai
time, and the iron horse was already
headed In her direction to create them
That was the cause of the migration.
| Wherever the said iron horse paused
for time, there sprang up village,
1t was before the western phrase, "boOm
town." had been coined, but there were
boom towns just the same. Ten miles
south OF Paris, the Little Androscoggin
jumps over q pile of rocks. It was be.
cause of bridging the river, filling the
ravine through which it flowed, and cut
ting through the bills beyond, that
caused the northern terminal Of the At
lantic and st. Lawrence Railway, now
the Grand Trunk, to tarry for couple OF
years at this point. The railroad was
the loadstone. Everybody wanted to
live at the terminal. The big, yellow,
Concord stage coaches discharged their
passengers and left their mail bags there.
Freight wagons backed up to sidings
there and rolled the merchandise they
contained into box-cars. It was q busy
place. To furnish food and lodgings for
men and beasts engaged in this traffic.
called for "tarvarns, as they were then
called Six hostelries flourished where
only two exist now. The influx of
people stimulated trade. Stores opened.
To erect buildings necessary to house
the people engaged in this activity re-
quired carpenters, masons, painters.
Hence the town and migration to it.
The village (now town. of Mechanic
Falls grew up where the river jumped
over the rocks and the railroad rested
while. 1t grew up on both banks Of the
river, one of which was in the town of
Poland and the other In Minot. 1t had
made beginning some more than quar-
ter-century before, but the impetus to
growth was the railroad. The early set
tiers came almost entirely from contigu-
GUS parts of Poland and Minot, and the
towns of Hebron and Paris. l have
found that settlers from the latter town
formed about one-fourth of the pOpula-
tion, and thought that list OF the per-
SONS and families migrating might be Of
interest. Among those, in the list be-
low, are two or three who moved into
town later than the date mentioned
above:
Elnathan Benson, Jr., son of Elnathan,
Revolutionary soldier from Wareham,
Mass, settling in Paris, and Sarah Gibbs.
Elijah S. Berry "a later immigrant)
was the son of George and Sally Swan.
He was third agent of the Grand Trunk
Railway here. He had previously served
the road at West Paris and Bryant's
Pond. 1t may be interesting to add he
was the first postmaster at West Paris
His first two wives were Paris women !:
Miranda Merrill and Flora Parlin.
Ransom Ripley Bonney is name that
sounds familiar to Paris people. He
was the son of John Bonney, Jr., and
Lucinda Bearce. He married Arvilla
Bridgham, daughter of George Bridg-
ham, an early tavern keeper of South
Paris. Her brothers George and El-
bridge also lived portions OF their lives
in Mechanic Falls.
Roland Bonney, brother of the above,
also moved to the budding village. He
became q locomotive engineer on the
new railroad, and afterwards became
one of the first engineers on the Panama
Railroad. 1t may be interesting to add
In this place, in view of the completion
of the Panama Canal, that a large par,
of the rolling stock of that road was
built in Portland, and the first train
crews were recruited from the Grand
Trunk. Besides Mr.. Bonney, George
Richards and Stephen Pottle, from the
vicinity of Paris, were among early en-
gineers.
Considering later immigrants in an al
phabetical order might be mentioned
Deroma Bates and George q. Cum
mings, at one time prominent citizens Of
Paris.
Stephen Doe and his wife Nancy
(Evans) were other Paris immigrants.
Captain Ebenezer Drake, Jr., was a
merchant and prominent man of North
Paris before moving to Mechanic Falls.
While in Paris he represented the town
in the legislature and was militia Off
Ger. He, in company with Ezra Mitchell
built the first paper mill In Mechanic
Falls.
Tristram Durell was another immi.
grant from Paris.
Azil Faunce, with bis sons Elmer, Ed
gar and Perley, have been residents of
the village at different periods. His
daughter Florence married a Mechanic
Falls man, George F. Millett.
Joseph and Jason Hall, SONS of Haven
Hall, belonged to a we'll known Paris
family.
Alanson Briggs is another familiar
sounding Paris name. He was the SOD
of Simeon and Martha (Potter) Briggs.
He married Elizabeth Lowering, a Paris
..-., Tha;r dou0htor Garoh nnar
ried Hon. Waldo Pettengill.
Silenas U. Hawkes. lived in Mechanic
Falls in 1850. He has been considered
by many citizen of Paris, but was only
an adopted one, having been born in
Minot. He lived at alternate periods of
his life In both towns. He married a
Paris woman, Lucy, daughter of Jona-
than and Huldah (Ches!ey) Cummings,
who was sister of George b. Cum
mings.
Richard Houghton was another son
of Paris. He was the son of Moses and
Martha (HaskelD Houghton. His
cousin, Rosalia, daughter OF Samuel,
another Paris Houghton, married a
Mechanic Falls man, Charles n. Dwinal.
| Charles V. Jacobs lived In Paris dur.
ing his younger days, and married a
Paris woman, Emeliue Whitney, daugh.
ter of Joseph and Mary Aun (Whitney)
Blake.
John F. Pratt was a son of Captain
Stephen aud Lucy (Fuller) Pratt. Not
only was he Paris man, but his eldest
daughter, Julia. married Paris man
Charles A. Ripley, who worked 10
Mechanic Falls when the Evans Rife