Dover history

From Katahdin

Dover was originally Number 3, 6th Range (T3R6). Dover itself was located in the southern tier of towns in Piscataquis County and, except for a narrow strip on its northern border, it was on the south side of the Piscataquis River, which roughly separated Dover from Foxcroft. Dover consisted of 22,444 acres, generally well watered, with three premium mill privileges on the Piscataquis, and another on Black Stream, in the southern part of town.

Contents 1 Advantages 2 Early history 3 Settlement 3.1 Abel Blood 3.2 The Townes 3.3 The Dows 3.4 The Longleys 3.5 Nathaniel Chamberlain 4 Incorporation 4.1 Plantation 4.2 Town 5 Industry 5.1 Charles Vaughan 5.2 S.P. Brown 6 Shire town 7 Newspaper 8 Railroad 9 Merchants 9.1 Hotels 9.2 Lawyers 9.3 Physicians 10 References 11 Internal links

Advantages

Early in its settlement, a woolen factory and flour mill was established at the Great Falls at Dover village, operated by Hon. S.O. Brown, at a location where the falls drops 23 feet in a distance of 325 feet, yielding 200 horse power of energy. Not far below this, there is another drop of 6 feet, which was also made use of. Two and a half miles further downriver, at East Dover village, there was another fall of 8 feet; and this was where F.H. Brown established a sawmill and a gristmill, and where Gray & Company operated a wood-pulp and pasteboard mill. The Dover South Mills were situated along Black Stream, where a 12-foot high dam was constructed, supporting a sawmill and a shingle machine, which later became known as Brann's Mills.

Apart from the advantages brought about from the mills, Dover also bragged some of the most fertile farmland in the county, especially in its large extent of interval.

Dover grew quickly, becoming the shiretown of the county, and rapidly becoming the largest in wealth and population. As early as 1870, Dover had a population of 1,983 residents.

Early history

Near the beginning of the 19th century, Dover Township was purchased from the state by Robert Hallowell and John Lowell, under the conditions that a portion of the land be set aside for public uses, and a certain number of families should settle upon the land within fifteen years.

The true buyers were Charles Vaughan and John Merrick, both of Hallowell, with Hallowell and Lowell acting as their agents. Lowell had done the same in purchasing the Charleston township for Vaughan just a few years earlier.

Benjamin, John, and Charles Vaughan, brothers, and John Merrick, a brother in law, belonged to a wealthy and well-connected family in England. Tradition has it that they had expressed sympathies for the Colonies in their struggle for independence, and had thus lost favor in England. John settled in Philadelphia in 1793, while his two brothers established residence in Hallowell, Maine, traveling by water or on foot for want of a passable road.

Charles Vaughan invested much of his capital in wild land, buying Charleston Township sometime before 1795, and introducing its first settlers.

Having failed to establish the required number of settlers in either township - Charleston or Dover - in the set period of time, Lowell and Hallowell petitioned the state for an extension in 1814, and were granted three additional years.

Vaughan and Merrick were well liked as proprietors, sometimes letting unpaid notes go unpaid often until the statute of limitation had run out, losing the debts. Merrick built a meeting house, at his own expense, on Bear Hill, and granted it, along with twenty acres of land, to the Methodist Society, in 1836. He also granted land for a small common, or park, in Dover village. Vaughan, for his part, built a flour mill and, later, a factory, at Dover village, benefiting the entire community.

Several ranges on the west side of town were lotted out by Lemuel Perham, who was employed for this purpose in 1803; and at a later date, S.C. Norcross lotted out serveral ranges on the west side of town, from which the lots were later sold and deeded.

Settlement

Abel Blood

Abel Blood is thought to be the first pioneer in the area, buying the first tract of land for settlement, and clearing the first land for building a home. He was also the first known pioneer to come into the region. Some time before 1799, he purchased one square mile of land, of his choice, from the state, even before Vaughan and Merrick acquired the township. He selected a piece of land on the north side of the township, making use of water privileges at East Dover, as well as the beautiful and productuve intervals and slopes on either bank of the Piscataquis.

Unfortunately, not much is known of Mr. Blood. He must have explored the region prior to coming in with workmen to fell the first trees, as by that point he already had a plan and a location in mind. The crew that he brought with him included seven men: John and Seth Spaulding, Jonathan Parlin, Jonas Parlin, Jr., Charles Fairbrother, Samuel Carleton, and Robert Kidder, all from Norridgewock. This was in 1799.

By 1800, preparations were being made for building mills and introducing settlers. We know that Blood was in the area in October of 1800, raising a crop of corn and garden vegetables, so he must have cleared his land and planted his crops that spring, harvesting the first known crop raised in the county, although he may not have been the first to move his family. Just when he did that is not known, although on May 16, 1805, he and his wife executed a deed there, selling two hundred acres of land to Eli Towne.

In October of 1804, he and John Spaulding contracted with Colonel Foxcroft to build and put into operation a sawmill and a gristmill on the upper falls at Foxcroft, and to have them running by January 1, 1807; but Blood transferred his contract to Eleazer and Seth Spaulding, who completed the project.

Brown did make and burn the first kiln of brick in the county. From this first batch, Chamberlain and Baker procured brick for a chimney in 1807. His brother, Royal Brown, also settled there, occupying a part of Abel's land. However, the title passed to a John Dow, not to his brother, after which the Bloods moved to Sebec.

The Bloods were from Temple, New Hampshire, and were sons of General Francis Blood, a Revolutionary War officer, who had earned an honorable record in the service of his country. Abel Blood had a different reputation, however. While it is not known just what the infraction was, he is known to have fled to part unknown in 1811, after which his brother returned to Temple.

The Townes

Eli Towne has the distinction of being the first permanent settler of Dover, and of the county, but his father, and his brother, Moses, preceded him in taking the first steps. Thomas Towne and his three sons, Moses, Eli, and Abel, then grown to adulthood, were living in Temple, New Hampshire.

It seems that Moses Towne first bargained with Abel Blood for a part of his land on the north bank of the river. While there is a tradition that a man from Carratunk, by the name of Baker, had cleared a lot of land in 1779, it appears that this was further downriver, as Colonel Foxcroft makes no mention of it in 1800.

By 1801, trees must have been felled, since Thomas and Moses, and probably Eli Towne, spent the summer of 1802 raising a crop on it, while clearing additional land. As winter came on, all but Moses and his father returned to Temple, but the two of them remained throughout the winter, living off of the crops they had harvested, and through hunting, a skill that the Townes were known for.

Since they were expecting Eli and his family in the spring, and the Chase family were preparing to move on to the river, a few miles below, at the next fall, Moses Towne and Francis Chase made maple sugar together on the interval below the Towne place.

At this time, while land had been cleared in several townships along the river, no one had settled in the county with their wives and children, and very few families were then residing in Dexter, Garland, and Charleston.

Eli Towne, his wife, and one year-old son, Alvin, came in the spring of 1803, traveling by water or on foot, to establish residence along the Piscataquis River, in Dover.

Moses Towne sold his interest in the Blood purchase to his brother Eli, moving into the Burrill place, clearing that interval. Eventually, he sold that as well, and moved to Foxcroft, then, in 1833, to Ohio. In 1805, Eli bought another two hundred acres from Blood, taking ownership of the larger part of Blood's land on the north bank of the river. Eli and his father spent the remainder of their days there, turning a wilderness into agricultural land and, later, building a dam and mills, preparing the way for a village to emerge.

In the spring of 1804, others came: relatives of Abel Blood, Lyford Dow, and Moses Towne, probably. Then in February of 1805, John Spaulding moved his family to Dover from Norridgewock, making their home in a log cabin near Towne's. In March, John Dow arrived from New Hampshire, on a sled pulled by oxen. He had a house built on the Sturtevant place, and began clearing land. By this time, other clearings had been made higher upriver, opposite Foxcroft village.

Thomas Towne was a Revolutionary War veteran, and a good shot with a musket, so he developed quite a reputation as a hunter, traveling well into the wilderness on hunting expeditions, as much for sport as out of necessity. In 1818, an Act granting pensions to Revolutionay War veterans was passed, which permitted Towne to live the remainder of his life comfortably. He died in May of 1824, at the age of 83 years.

Eli Towne was a blacksmith, a trade that was of use to him and his new neighbors. For a few years, he lived in a crude cabin, but as the new settlement prospered, he was able to move into more comfortable accomodations. The first public meetings within the limits of Dover and Foxcroft were held in his house. He enjoyed a good reputation, holding office as a Justice of the Peace, as an officer in the first military company organized in Dover, and often held plantation and town offices.

In March of 1805, his daughter was born, the first child born in Dover, and the fifth in the county. His daughter later married into the Dow family, and lived her life in Dover. Not long after she gave birth to her daughter, Mrs. Towne died, and was buried on the banks of the Piscataquis.

Towne married again, leaving several other children. He lived to be nearly 80 years of age, dying in 1852, dividing his property between two of his sons, Obed and Ezra Towne, who remained in Dover.

The Dows

Lyford Dow was another early settler of Dover. He came before his brother, John, and settled along the river, a little below the Bloods.

John Dow came from Temple, New Hampshire, with his wife and child, traveling on an ox sled. He had a house prepared for him on the Sturtevant place, and cleared land for farming. Mrs. John Dow especially, became a well-known resident of the Dover area, living to the age of 98 years.

In 1806, Peter Brawn moved his family to Dover, having already cleared his land and constructed a log home. The following year, he lost his wife and, in 1808, sold out to Seth Spaulding, and moved to Abbot, and still later, to Foxcroft, eventually dying in Guilford.

The Longleys

Jonas Longley settled the northwest corner of Dover, clearing his land as early as 1806. His brother in law, named Fifield, began clearing land on an adjoining lot.

Zachariah Longley, his father, brought a bushel and a half of seed potatoes from Norridgewock by horseback, which produced seventy bushels of potatoes.

In the fall of 1807, Luke Longley, an older brother of Jonas, drowned trying to move a boat and a raft across the mill pond at the same time. This was the first death in town, and probably the first in the county. His body lay in the water until the following spring, when it was found lodged on rocks above the Great Falls.

In 1808 or 1809, Zachariah Longley, who had been a fifer during the Revolutionary War, and Mr. Fifield, his son in law, moved from Norridgewock to Dover, Longley settling onto the lot that his son, Jonas, had taken up, where he resided until his death in 1826.

In December of 1811, Jonas Longley froze to death while hunting a fox on a course that took him into the thick, dark forest.

After residing in several different farms in the Dover area for some fifteen years, Fifield moved to Aroostook, where he lived until his death.

1808 was a good harvest year, allowing for several improvements in the settlement. Nathaniel Chamberlain took up residence in what was to become Dover village, clearing the first land and building the first house there. That same year, Paul Lambert bought five hundred acres of land in the southern part of town for himself and his sons, beginning the settlement in South Dover.

The following spring, Lambert came with his son, Eben, who was then sixteen, planting a crop and clearing additional land, making preparations to move the family there.

Deacon James Rowe made his entrance that year, moving his family to Dover in 1810. He cleared land for a farm, which he occupied until his death, during which time he was known to be an influential part of the community.

Captain Job Parsons came to Dover in March of 1809, and Artemas Parlin came about the same time. That spring, William Mitchell settled in Dover, crowding his large family into Eli Towne's already cramped home until he could build his own frame house. Another early settler was Allen Dwelley, who came with his family in 1809 or 1810.

The settlement grew slowly at first. In 1808, there were only seven families in the township, which grew to only eleven families by 1810. The 1810 census recorded a population of 94, which included all the single men, some of whom were not permanent residents.

Nathaniel Chamberlain

By 1810, Nathaniel Chamberlain had built a frame house on the Dover village lot, and moved his wife into it. A carpenter and joiner, he was employed to frame the more complicated structures that needed building in the area, and for a long way around. At one time, he had had a hand in building most of the bridges on the river.

On one occasion, he nearly drowned while repairing Knowlton's mill in Sangerville. Heavy rains had made a great freshet, and the flume suddenly burst its bulkhead, only a few feet above where he was working. He was swept into a large pile of slabs, carried over the dam and down a succession of falls, before coming to ashore on dry land, bruised and sprained, but able to recover.

An educated man, he was appointed Justice of the Peace for Hancock County, served a term in the state legislature, and held many plantation and town offices. He lived upon the lot that he had initially cleared until 1819, then exchanged it with Colonel J. Carpenter, and moved across the river to Foxcroft, a decision that left everyone wondering what he was thinking, since by then it was clear that a village would rise largely on his domain, providing a steady income from the sale of building lots. As it was, he never did become wealthy, dying in Foxcroft, in his early eighties.

Other early settlers included Joel Doore, who came in 1811, settling on a lot near Paul Lambert's. Prior to this, John, Eleazer, and Seth Spaulding had sold out in Foxcroft, and bought lots in Dover.

In August of 1811, Eli Towne and others petitioned Isaac Wheeler to call a legal meeting of the inhabitants of the area, in order to regulate the taking of fish in the Piscataquis River. This meeting was held in the mill yard at Foxcroft, with Jeremiah Rolfe serving as moderator. Three fish wardens were chosen: Eli, Moses, and Abel Towne, all brothers. The Towne brothers took this as a slur upon them, and declined the office, after which the meeting was dissolved without resolution.

By the summer of 1811, Paul Lambert had constructed a sizable barn; and b1812, he had built several frame buildings on his property, moving his large family, which included seven grown sons, into them.

Incorporation

Up to 1812, neither Dover nor Foxcroft had been organized as a town or plantation. In February of 1812, T5R7 was incorporated as Foxcroft.

Plantation

On August 3rd of that year, the Dover township was organized as Plantation Number Three. It then had fewer than twenty voters. Seth Spaulding, William Mitchell, and Abel Towne were chosen as the plantation's assessors, with John Shaw serving as clerk and tax collector.

At the next plantation meeting, Nathaniel Chamberlain was chosen to serve as clerk, Artemas Parlin as an assessor, and William Mitchell as the collector of taxes. They voted to raise money to build schools and to maintain roads.

Mr. Vaughan made a proposal to the plantation, that he would pay the state tax out of his own pocket if the inhabitants would pay the county tax, and the plantation voted to accept that arrangement. Soon they experienced trouble, as the first collector appropriated the money to his own use, and some residents failed to pay their taxes.

At around this same time, they had some cold seasons, and many crops failed. The population of the new plantation grew very slowly for a period of about ten years, remaining organized as a plantation long after many of its neighbors had organized into towns. In 1813, Dover cast nineteen votes; in 1820, only thirty-four.

In 1818, A. Moore came to Dover, taking up land in the lower lot of Dover village, building a grist mill on the western side of the Great Falls. Colonel J. Carpenter moved onto the other village lot the following year. He was elected to represent the district in the legislature in 1822, which then included Dexter, Garland, Sangerville, Guilford, and Dover. He and Eben Greeley built a sawmill on the Moore privilege, which operated for nearly a century, still in the hands of the Greely family. In 1824, he moved downriver, and was eventually killed while felling a tree at the age of 83 years.

In 1821, Thomas Davee opened a store and potash factory, also building mills on the falls below Brown's mills, producing boards and clapboards. In 1830, the dam failed, was never rebuilt, and the mills were eventually converted to other uses.

About this time, a Baptist minister named Elder N. Robinson came to town, and the plantation voted to invite him to remain, settling him on a lot of land which had been set aside for the first settled minister. He then brought his family to Dover.

Town

After Dover was incorporated as a town in 1822, the townspeople voted to change this arrangement, agreeing to settle him only if he would give up and equal half of the lot back to the town to be used as it might determine. This he agreed to do, settling on the poorer half of the lot. There was some quarrel over what to do with the other half, with some of the townspeople wanting to deed it to Elder William Frost, a Universalist preacher who lived in town, while others wanted to divide it equally among the other religious societies in town, except for the Calvinist Baptists, as Robinson's half was considered to be their share. Eventually, it was decided to contribute it to the support of public schools.

In 1822, the residents of the plantation petitioned for an act of incorporation as the town of Dover, and an Act to that effect was passed on January 19, 1822. Joshua Carpenter, having been named as the Justice, called the first town meeting, which was held at the home of Joseph Shepard on March 19, 1822. Eli Towne was chosen as town clerk, while D. Lambert, E.S. Greeley, and Eli Towne were to serve as selectmen.

Industry

One of the first acts of the new town was to build a bridge across the river, just above Moor's mill. In the fall of 1823, a vote to build such a bridge succeeded by only one vote. After some political maneuvering, it was finally decided to raise the funds to complete the original bridge, and to raise additional funds to begin one at the lower falls.

Prior to this time, in 1823, Eli Towne had built a dam on the falls, putting a sawmill and a gristmill in operation; and soon after that, Deacon R. Parker had established a hatting business, where he operated a clapboard machine, and opened a store, all in the same place. Elder F. Bartlett also opened a store, where he also operated a clapboard machine.

Because of this additional industry, it was determined that the second bridge was necessary, and without much further delay, both were constructed.

About this time, there was a rapid increase in the town's population. In 1825, the town cast 90 votes, and by 1828, there were 154 voters.

Charles Vaughan

In the summer of 1825, Charles Vaughan decided to utilize the water power on the eastern side of the Great Falls, and began blasting out a canal, to divert the flow of water to where he intended to build a mill. By the next season, the dam and canal were completed; and in 1826, a grist mill, with a cleanser for wheat, was put into operation. This was the first cleanser, an essential part of a flour mill, ever to operate in the county, so it drew a large business.

Vaughan employed Sewall Cochran to take charge of his new mill, a choice that was to everyone's advantage. Flour milled in Dover was sent to Bangor, Kenduskeag, and other places, supplying merchants in the trade. After running the mill for three years as an employee, Cochran purchased a third share of it, continuing as a part owner for more than forty years. As the grist mill stood near the factory, when it burned, it took the flour mill with it, but it was soon rebuilt, and renamed the Dover Flouring Mill.

In 1869, Cochran sold his interest in the mill to the heir of S.P. Brown, and lived the rest of his years in retirement in Dover.

S.P. Brown

In 1827, Vaughan erected a carding and clothing mill on the canal that he had dug, employing S.P. Brown to operate it. In 1836, this mill was converted into a woolen factory, which required an enlargement of the canal, and Vaughan, Brown, and Sawyer formed a company to run it. After three years, Sawyer sold his interest in the mill to Vaughan, and formed a business with Mr. Gifford, his son in law. In 1839, Vaughan died, and his son, John, became the primary owner of the mill.

In March of 1840, both the factory and grist mill were burned. The community assisted in replacing them, and Brown continued to run the operations with varying success until a time just before the Civil War, a time in which the business paid enormous profits. Becoming wealthy, Brown bought out Vaughan's interest in the operations. In 1857, the dam was swept away, damaging the canal and the building, but these were quickly repaired. In 1867, Brown built a large brick mill, at a safer location, which would employ several additional people. Just before he was to abandon the old mill and occupy the new one, Brown was taken sick and died.

Brown had held a seat in the Maine Senate, and was well respected in the community and state. After his death, S.O. Brown & Company took over the business, owning both the flouring mill and the entire water privilege, running it for many years.

Shire town

Piscataquis County was incorporated in 1838, and Dover was made its shire town. This gave new life to the growth of the village. Stores, mechanic shops, hotels, meeting houses, and residences were added at a rapid rate. The courthouse, with rooms for the courts and county offices, was constructed in 1844.

Newspaper

Soon after the county was incorporated, George V. Edes moved to Dover for the purpose of starting a weekly newspaper, first named the Piscataquis Herald. Later the name was changed to Piscataquis Farmer and then, in 1848, to the Piscataquis Observer, which published for many years, his son carrying on the tradition after his death.

At the time of his death, George Edes was the oldest printer in the state. He had been involved in printing the Herald of Liberty, in Augusta, in 1810. In 1815, he set the first types in Penobscot County, printing the Bangor Register. In 1822, he published the American Advocate in Hallowell; then, he moved to Norridgewock and established the Somerset Journal, a newspaper he edited and published for fifteen years before coming to Dover.

Railroad

The completion of the Bangor & Piscataquis Railroad to Dover in 1869 marked the beginning of another era in the growth of Dover. To complete the project, the town of Dover took $35,000 in stock in the railorad, while private local investors took out another $10,000, enough to push the project to completion.

The investment did not prove lucrative to its investors, but it did give new life to the business of the town, and greatly increased the valuation of the town, especially while its terminus was at Dover. In December of 1871, the railroad was extended to Guilford, after which the the business to and from the upper towns centered there, and fell away in Dover.

Merchants

Many of Dover's early merchants have already been mentioned. Others, who operated businesses near the Great Falls, include T. Davee and A.S. Patten, with whom C. Blanchard was a silent partner; J.L. Philbrick, D. Bryant, G.W. Sawyer, C.E. Kimball, C.H.B. Woodbury, and B.C. Lowell are also prominent.

Near the Foxcroft bridge, trade began in the middle of the 19th century, and was continued by a number of people, including A.L. Ober, J.W. Loud, E.D. Wade, and E. Coburn.

Hotels

E.R. Favor opened a small hotel in 1827, then purchased the house of T. Davee in 1832, and moved into that. This house was destroyed by fire in 1834, but was rebuilt.

Major I. Blethen erected the Blethen House in 1845; and in 1869, the American House was built by Harvey Greeley, only a part of which was used for a hotel.

Lawyers

Prominent attorneys practicing in Dover during the 19th century include:

• C.P. Chandler
• J.B. Everett
• W. Blake
• A.M. Robinson
• H.G.O. Morrison
• J.S. Wiley
• J. Rice
• S.R. Hall
• C.A. Everett
• James Rowell
• J.B. Peakes

Physicians

Physicians practicing in Dover in the 19th century include:

• Dr. Hiram Canon
• Dr. Jacobs
• J. Smith
• Benjamin Johnson
• E.A. Thompson
• J.B. Cochran
• S.W. Elliott

In 1922, the towns of Dover and Foxcroft voted to combine to form one town, the town of Dover-Foxcroft.

References

• Harvard College Library, "History of Piscataquis County, Maine: From its Earliest Settlement to 1880", by the Rev. Amasa Loring, 1880.

Internal links

• Dover-Foxcroft
• Dover-Foxcroft history
• Foxcroft history