Skowhegan Community Heritage Project
Lee Granville/David Calder and the Skowhegan Middle School local history students
The place in Maine which was to become Skowhegan was formed at the end
of an ice age, perhaps fifty thousand years ago. As the glaciers melted,
enormous geologic forces were unleashed. Torrents of melt-water mixed with
sand, gravel and boulders, fell away from the receding ice faces, grinding
their way inexorably towards the sea. Along the upper Kennebec River, huge
eskers of sand and gravel were deposited at places which would later be
known as Bingham, Emden, Solon and Madison.
Somewhere, perhaps near the present town of Norridgewock, the deluge became
totally blocked by detritus and the river left its original course to take
a gigantic side step. For a distance of perhaps five miles, the waters
flowed nearly due east until they reached Skowhegan, where they became
bottlenecked by the hard ledges. The waters parted around the sturdy plug
of rock which would become known as Skowhegan Island. Continuing east,
they ground out a deep, mile long gorge until they reached what is now
called the Great Eddy. This place was part of another ancient watershed
which included the Wesserunsett River. Here the two rivers combined and
assumed a gentle southeasterly path to the sea.
The Forces which created Skowhegan left in their wake two channels around
the Island. Both of these channels contained waterfalls, described by early
European explorers as being 22-1/2 feet in height. These falls slowed the
progress of migrating fish as they moved upriver to spawn. At the foot
of the falls were pools, which at some seasons of the year were filled
with fish. For several thousand years, various Native American peoples
gathered here to fish at the falls and to grow corn on the river banks
as well as on large islands several miles downstream. There is archeological
evidence of the ancient Red Paint People having been here and much later,
the Abnaki's. It was this latter group who provided the place with its
name.
There is still some controversy over the exact meaning of Skowhegan. The
Abnaki's, unfortunately, left no written language. Louise Helen Coburn,
in Skowhegan on the Kennebec, her landmark two-volume works published in
1942, explores the earlier references quite thoroughly. She quotes a source
named Gannett who authored the book, The Origin of Certain Place Names.
Miss Coburn concluded, "Skowhegan is an Indian word said to mean spearing,
or a place to watch."
This still seems to be the generally accepted definition and it certainly
conjures up pleasant images of the Abnaki's way of life. One thing seems
obvious; Skowhegan was the name of the place long before there was any
permanent settlement there, and certainly well before arrival of the first
settlers from Massachusetts.
Background note: The “Province of Maine” had been under the
governance of the Massachusetts Bay Colony for many years prior to the
beginning of this narrative.
Pre-settlement Period
In 1763 the Treaty of Paris was signed which officially ended the “French & Indian
Wars” between the British and French in Colonial North America. As
a result, the British assumed complete control and the French withdrew.
Although most of the actual fighting took place to the West of the Kennebec
River Valley, the local native tribes paid a terrible price for their support
of the French. Caught up in the struggle between the
European nations,
after nearly one hundred years of sporadic warfare and the ravages of disease,
their numbers were reduced to no more than a few hundred. Hounded by the
British and no longer supported by the French, the few remaining Abnaki
Indians were left with little choice but to leave their homes and flee
northward to join their relatives in Canada.
Student Research on this
Previous to this, English settlers along the coast of Maine had long been
coveting the natural resources available in the mid and upper Kennebec
Valley. Fine farmland, abundant waterpower and virgin timber were there,
tantalizingly close but out of reach for permanent settlement due to hostilities
with the Indians and their French allies. Trappers, traders and explorers
had traveled the area for more than a hundred years, but few had dared
to put down roots. The sudden departure of the native population left the
valley open for settlement and a number of people claimed choice plots
of land and began to build homes and small mills.
In the Canaan area, it was nearly eight years before the legalities of
actual ownership were confirmed and surveyors started the lengthy process
of mapping and marking lots for legal settlement. There were many problems
involved in settling with those who had made improvements without clear
titles to the land. Technically, all improvements belonged to the rightful
owners, named the Kennebec Proprietors. In reality, most claims were reasonably
settled and the “squatters” had to pay a modest sum for the
land they were on or have the improvements revert to the Proprietors.
The Jones & McKechnie survey of 1768-1769, established the “great
lots” that became the basic units owned by the first settlers of
Canaan.
Settlement
Student audio file on Weston family
In the spring of 1771, Joseph Weston, a tailor from Concord Massachusetts,
together with his Brother-in-law, Peter Heywood, journeyed to the place
that would become Canaan. Weston was accompanied by his son Eli, 11 years
of age. Heywood brought along his 12 year old son Asa and Isaac Smith,
16, a young friend The two families were prepared to start farming, having
brought cattle and tools to clear the land and plant their seeds. How they
came to purchase and settle on the property exactly where they did is still
something of a mystery.
Some historians speculate that they may have had inside information regarding
the most likely farm sites from John Jones, one of the surveyors and a
relative of Weston’. In any event, their deeded properties included
several large islands in the river, several miles below Skowhegan Island.
These islands, previously cleared by Indians, proved to be the perfect
place to start small farms, house their livestock and cut hay for the coming
winter.
In late summer, Joseph Weston decided to return to his home in Concord,
leaving his son Eli with the Heywood family to harvest the crops and tend
the cattle. His intention was to gather up the rest of his family and bring
them and all their possessions back to Canaan before winter. Many problems
arose and Weston did not return until the following spring. As autumn came
on, Heywood, believing that Weston would be coming back soon, decided to
go back for the rest of his family as well. Taking his son Asa, he left
16 year old Isaac Smith and Eli Weston, 11, in charge of the little farm.
He also encountered difficulties and failed to return that winter. The
story of how the two boys survived the winter alone on the island is a
classic example of pioneer endurance.
Both Weston and Heywood returned to Canaan in the spring, bringing other
family members and all their worldly goods. During that summer of 1772,
they left their temporary homes on the island and built new log cabins
close by on the riverbank. Other families from southwestern Massachusetts
and New Hampshire came to join them and in the next three years the first
true community began to develop. These families were all descended from
the puritan stock that had originally settled in the Boston area and spread
north and westward as the population grew. It seems likely that the Kennebec
Proprietors, before selling them land, had screened them and chosen only
those whom they believed would become “good” citizens.
Early Churches and Schools
This lack of diversity may have deliberate. At this time, as a general
practice in Maine, churches were established and ministers hired by the
towns rather than by private congregations. Closely related to religion
were the schools. Frequently, the ministers were also the schoolteachers
and the first public buildings were used for both of these purposes as
well as public gatherings. Therefore, the first settlers in any town needed
to be able to agree on religious and educational matters.
As might be expected with such an arrangement, Canaan’s first two
official ministers were never fully accepted and each of their terms lasted
no longer than four years. Traveling evangelists filled the gaps in services
and gradually, the settlers created congregations and built new church
buildings to house denominations of their own preference. The late 1700s
were turbulent times for Canaan in a religious sense.
The building of ‘little red schoolhouses”, as they were called,
strictly for the purpose of education, commenced in 1790 and by the early
1800s, all neighborhoods in Canaan had their own one-room school.
Agriculture & Trade
1772-1780
The first small farms were of a subsistence type used to produce as many
of the basic necessities of life as possible.
The first stores and trading posts were built into the homes of some settlers.
Who were they?
Most of the first settlers of Canaan were what we might consider today
to be “middle class”, certainly not poor as some historians
have suggested. By and large they were tradesmen, farmers, millwrights
and merchants as well as professional men; Justices of the peace and
Ministers. Regardless of their business or social standing, these first
settlers shared a common need; to farm the land and produce as many of
the necessities of life as possible. There were several reasons for this,
foremost, their geographical location. The nearest trading post was Fort
Halifax in Winslow, more than twenty miles downriver. No roads existed,
only the roughest of trails through the woods. The nearest seaport was
in Augusta twenty miles beyond Winslow. Therefore, fresh foods and meat,
feed for cattle and livestock and materials for clothing needed to be
produced locally.
Why did they come?
Why did they come to this rough wilderness when they had already created
successful careers for themselves? The landowners made them an offer they
found hard to refuse!
These first families had been carefully chosen by the Kennebec Proprietors
to become the nucleus of the new community. Their presence would provide
stability and order to the settlement and attract new buyers of land as
the town flourished. Therefore those who qualified were each offered one
of the two-hundred acre “great lots” free of charge if the
would fulfill the obligations laid out in the deeds. Quite simply, they
agreed to build a house and at least one barn and clear a minimum of ten
acres of cropland in the first five years after the settlement. If they
did this, the contract was complete and the land was theirs permanently.
If they did not, the property, with any improvements, reverted to the Proprietors
to be resold.
Joseph Weston and his two oldest sons each claimed one lot and the Heywoods,
Peter Sr. and Jr., claimed two. Thus, the two founding families received
a total of one thousand acres of some of the finest land in the Kennebec
River valley with no cash outlay at all.
Homes built and small farms cleared from the wilderness.
It is hard to imagine today how much physical labor was involved in clearing
the land of huge trees and boulders with nothing for power other than strong
backs of men and oxen. The first permanent homes were log cabins and the
families lived in rough shelters or tents while these were being built.
As necessary as homes, were the barns needed to protect livestock from
weather and predators. Finally, they needed to clear land for crops and
hay at the same time as the buildings were being built. There were some
small natural meadows along the river that were also mown for hay and small
clearings left by the Indians were used as well.
Students learn about farming in Cornville
1780-1800
Building small mills and starting businesses
However, A new community does not live on food and clothing alone. Shortly
after the settlement period, the settlers felt the need for sawn lumber
to build the next generation of homes and outbuildings to replace the
original log structures. The mills in this first generation were located
on small streams rather than the Kennebec itself. The settlers soon resumed
the trades that they had left behind in their home towns. Among these
were tailors, shoemakers, carpenters, mill operators, blacksmiths, ferrymen,
storekeepers and school teachers. For the most part, these trades were
carried on part time, particularly during the seasons when the demands
of farming were low.
For the first thirty years, at least, cash money was scarce to nonexistent.
Trade was carried on in monetary terms but the medium of exchange was bushels
of grain or other agricultural commodities. Soon, skilled tradesmen were
able to exchange their products or services for necessities and a full-time
business community developed. What money was available came to the community
through the merchants, who were able to sell some commodities for cash.
Animal Furs were usually in demand and other items such as pot-ash, made
from wood ashes, were actually shipped to England. The first bank was not
established until 1817, some sixty-five years after the arrival of the
first settlers.
Kennebec River
The Kennebec was the central reason behind the settlement of Canaan. It
provided the settlers with their only means of travel & transport
other than rough Indian foot trails. The islands provided the first footholds
for farming and its waters teemed with fish. Fur bearing animals and
waterfowl thrived in the tributary ponds and streams and logs could be
floated down to the mills. The potential for waterpower around Skowhegan
Island was enormous and would later be developed by industry.
The other side of the picture was just as dramatic. In its natural state,
the river seemed to have either too much or too little water much of the
time. In late summer and fall, water was so low in some years that boats
had to be dragged upstream by hand. In the spring, as snow melted and the
rains came, floods could destroy everything in their path. The community
developed on both banks and crossing the river was dangerous. Quick rising
freshets, triggered by heavy rains, could happen very quickly at any time
of year.
Arnold Expedition
Student Research link
In the autumn of 1775, just three years after the first settlers arrived,
an army led by Col. Benedict Arnold arrived on their doorsteps. His 1250
men were on their way attempt a surprise attack on the British troops at
Quebec City and strike a blow for the American Revolution. Joseph Weston,
with several of his sons and a team of oxen, volunteered to help Arnold
traverse Skowhegan Falls with his heavy boats. Moving the entire army took
a week, with the men working in icy water. Tragically, Joseph Weston contracted
pneumonia and died about a week later. He was thirty-nine years old and
left a widow and nine children to tend the small farm they had so recently
carved out of the wilderness. Weston became one of the first men to give
his life for the new nation.
The war was to prove to be a positive factor in the growth of Canaan. When
the veterans were discharged at the end of the war, many of them were paid
off with Canaan land grants and became useful citizens.
The recently released heritage profile written by David Calder contains
a wealth of detailed local information.
Geography
Skowhegan Island has always been the center of activity in this area from
the time of the Native Americans through the present day. For the Abnakis,
It was an important stop in their annual migration pattern. In early
summer, they came to fish at Skowhegan Falls and plant crops on the riverbanks
before continuing on to costal areas. In late summer, they came back
upriver to harvest the crops and retrieve their stored fish before continuing
on to their northern winter hunting grounds. Skowhegan is an Abnaki word
meaning “A place to watch”
To the first settlers, fishing was also important but even more so was
the abundant water power. The slow water above the island was a perfect
place for a ferry boat service while the island itself supported the first
bridges.
Next to the Kennebec itself, the Wesserunsett River was the most important
stream in Canaan. A natural set of falls about a mile upstream from the
confluence with the Kennebec proved to be the perfect site for a complex
of early mills. The first settlers did not have the skills or resources
to develop the water power potential of the main river but quickly developed
the smaller stream. A community known as Malbon’s Mills developed
around the mill site as early as 1780.
As Canaan grew and small villages developed within this township, changes
in boundaries and names occurred. In 1814, the section where the first
settlers had built their farms and homes was separated off from Canaan
and became the town of Bloomfield. A few years later, in 1823, the section
of Canaan north of the river was set off as Milburn, thereby splitting
the original town of Canaan into three parts. In 1858, the towns of Bloomfield
and Milburn reunited under the name of Skowhegan, which had always been
the name of the island between the two. The remainder of Canaan continued
under the original name and still retains those boundaries today. A system
of primitive roads and bridges gradually developed connecting Canaan with
the downriver communities and farms that slowly spread away from the river.
The first bridges across the Kennebec at Skowhegan Island were finished
in 1807. From this time forward, Skowhegan became known as “the crossroads
of Maine.”
Early Industry
By the turn of the 19th century, after thirty years on the Kennebec, many
of the descendents of the original settlers and some more recent arrivals
were ready to move from their subsistence farms and businesses and start
milling and manufacturing on a larger scale. In the 1790’s, the
first rudimentary dams were built across both channels in the river around
Skowhegan Island. This channeled some of the rivers flow through a natural
cleft in the islands granite ledges that would become known as the power
channel. Along this short run several substantial mills were built.
Members of the Weston family built a productive sawmill here that operated
for more than a hundred years. A “carding and fulling” mill
was built to process wool and to spin it into yarn for the production of
fabrics. A grist mill ground farmer’s grain for flour and animal
feeds.
Other mills were soon sited on the south bank below the island. These included
a tannery, and iron forge and a shoemaking plant. On the North bank above
the island, the Philbrick brothers came from Exeter New Hampshire to start
up a pottery operation to make red ware vases, bean pots and other vessels
for local use. Another use of local clay deposits was the manufacture of
bricks. As the 19th Century got under way, a large number of new public
buildings and factories were made from brick. Ice harvesting was one of
the first activities carried on by early settlers for their own refrigeration
needs in summer. This gradually grew into one of the primary export products
for Skowhegan and Kennebec River ice was shipped to many parts of the world
by the late 1800’s.
Student podcast on the history of the Island industries
Community
Manufacturing
By the mid 1800’s, full fledged Factories were being built and employing
hundreds, later thousands of mill workers. The iron smelting work had branched
out into the manufacture of top quality iron and steel specialty products.
The Williams tool company made edged tools such as woodworking chisels
and planes as well as ice skates. A factory that specialized in axes shipped
its products Nation wide. Manufactured wood products such as sashes and
blinds were made using the raw material from the adjacent sawmills. Two
industries predominated on the Skowhegan scene during the late 1800’s
and well into the 1900’s. Shoe making provided jobs for over a thousand
workers and woolen and cloth making industries employed perhaps twice that
many. The Anderson mills alone used 750 workers by 1900 and their high
quality women’s fashions were sold worldwide.
Immigration-French Canadians and Irish
By the 1840’s the demand for mill workers far exceeded the available
local work force. Poor economic conditions in French speaking Canada provided
the impetus for a large population shift as factory jobs opened up, not
just in Skowhegan but all over New England. Joining into this wave of immigrants
were a substantial group of Irish who had come to Canada to escape the
terrible conditions in their homeland only to find there was not a lot
of opportunity there either. These two groups had many common bonds. They
were primarily Catholic, most were not well educated and all were viewed
with suspicion by the longer established resident population. On the positive
side, they were hard workers, were basically intelligent and their culture
and religion gave them a strong sense of community and purpose. Within
a few generations, the immigrants were able to educate their children and
take their place at all levels of society. This diversity eventually made
for a stronger sense of community in Skowhegan.
Society
Wars
Skowhegan has never been the site of a major battle but certainly has been
affected by our nation’s wars. The settlement of the area was made
possible by the end of hostilities at the conclusion of the French and
Indian War. The American Revolution proved to be a major step forward
in settling the fledgling community. No fewer than seventy-five veterans
settled in the new community and their names dominated local politics
and businesses for at least fifty years. The War of 1812 proved far less
destructive to inland Skowhegan than to those towns located on navigable
rivers and costal areas. Bangor and Portland were burned and sacked by
the British and costal shipping was devastated. A British blockade caused
Skowhegan entrepreneurs to develop uses for local low-grade iron ore
that later became a major industry.
The American Civil War caused terrible
hardships as the rapidly growing town buried dozens of its finest and
most promising young men. Ironically, the war also brought prosperity
to the mill towns of New England including Skowhegan. Local industries,
including the manufacturing of uniforms and boots, stood the town in
good stead through the Spanish-American War, the Mexican incursion and
World War One.
Rise and decline of established industries
Student research on a civil war soldier from Skowhegan
The aftermath of WW2 proved to be the beginning of a decline in those
industries that had been a way of life for a century. As part of the
Marshall Plan and rebuilding the industrial base of defeated Japan and
Germany, the US built state-of-the art textile and shoe factories in
these countries and, in doing so, undermined our local businesses. Gradually,
off-shore production forced most local manufacturing businesses to close.
The Kennebec log-driving company that had floated wood products downriver
for a century held its last drive in 1976. This came about from new regulations
based on environmental concerns and also resistance to a single use of
the river by one industry, no matter how prominent.
Revival and new directions
Fortunately, the continuing local availability of forest products created
the opportunity for the building of a modern, state of the art paper making
facility and Sappi Fine papers continues today as Skowhegan’s premier
industry. Other specialty businesses have filled one industrial park and
another was opened for business in 2006.
Recreation vs. industry
The ending of the log-drive fortunately coincided with the building of
sewage treatment plants all along the Kennebec. Since the 1970’s,
the beautiful river has regained much of the water quality that early settlers
enjoyed two centuries before. The emphasis on industry and log driving
had created a less than desirable building situation along the riverbanks
and this had kept uncontrolled development from spoiling the scenery. Passengers
on a boat trip along the river today could get the impression that they
were seeing the historic waterway of yesteryear.
Student movie on the Kennebec Log Drive
Cultural and heritage related attractions
Skowhegan today is a quiet community proud of its past and people. A museum
of local history, Skowhegan History House, provides seasonal tours and
historical resources for researchers. The Skowhegan Free Public Library
has a genealogy section and features a Civil War memorial reading room
in a beautifully preserved 1880’s building.
The Senator Margaret
Chase Smith Library is attached to the former home of one of America’s
most prominent twentieth Century politicians. Coburn Park is a wonderful
place for a relaxed family picnic or a Sunday afternoon band concert. Lake
George Regional Park is open year-round with hiking, swimming, boating & fishing
in summer and a range of winter activities. The Skowhegan State Fair in
August and the Lakewood Summer Theater in neighboring Madison expand the
range of activities. A modern Community Center provides a place for social
and athletic activities for all age levels in a full sized gymnasium and
an outdoor playing field complex.
Student newsletters on Lake George Regional Park
Student documentary on Margaret Chase Smith
Margaret Chase Smith
The run-of-river initiative is well on its way toward becoming reality.
This will be a controlled white water park for kayakers and canoeists,
situated in the Kennebec River Gorge.
The potential for orderly expansion and a bright future
Skowhegan is a small town with a stable population. Circumstances have
caused us to miss much of the urban renewal and unregulated expansion
that has plagued many small communities across our nation in the last
half-century. Much of our early architecture remains intact and the beautiful
Kennebec River is still the heart of the community. This is sure to become
an attractive situation for people looking for a more relaxed way of
life in a small town.
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