THEY CAME, THEY ENDURED... (Revised 5/1/2018)

The first white men who came to Readfield (then part of Winthrop) were hunters and trappers - perhaps as early as the 1750s. About 1763 Samuel Scott from Wrentham, Norfolk County, MA built a log cabin on lot #8, on the shore of Cobbosseeconte Pond. He occupied it for two years, stocking it with significant amounts of corn, pork, beef and other provisions. The location was ideal  as it was directly on the Cobbosseeconte waterway leading from the Kennebec River inland, and a nearby meadow provided ample amounts of meadow hay for livestock. Scott was, it is believed, a land agent for the Kennebec Proprietors, his responsibility being to draw settlers into Pownalboro and Winthrop, which the Proprietors were calling "Scottstown" at that time. Many of the settlers who came to that part of Scottstown hailed from Norfolk County, including Timothy Foster of Attleboro. He arrived in 1765 and settled in Scott's cabin on Cobbosseeconte Pond. The next year he brought his wife and 10 children. At that point Scottstown became known as "Pondtown".

Scott did not remain in Winthrop. According to Stackpole (History of Winthrop) he sued Timothy Foster, accusing him of illegally entering his property and taking ownership of the log cabin, its contents and the meadow hay. Foster claimed there had been a verbal agreement between him and Scott, that Foster could take over the property and its contents as his own. The court ruling supported Scott - this based on their ruling that Foster had to pay Scott compensation. The court also sentenced Foster to 6 months in jail, but it is thought that he never served that time. The Kennebec Proprietors did end up assigning lot #8 to Foster. Scott thought another lot had been promised as his, but the Proprietors assigned that to another settler as well. In the end, it is thought that Scott returned to Wrentham. It appears that his family never came to live in Winthrop, thus Timothy Foster's was the first family to hold the distinction of being the to settle there. A Revolutionary War  veteran named Samuel Scott, from Wrentham, MA, was probably one and the same. Little more is known about him other than educated guesses.


More colonists, from Massachusetts and New Hampshire, soon followed. Stackpole’s History of Winthrop describes how the countryside looked when they arrived: “(They) found everything around in a state of nature. The roving hunter and trapper had traversed the ground and the surveyor had set his compass and marked the lots, but no clearing had been made… the ground, with the exception of meadows, was completely covered with heavy growth, while beneath the treetops were thickly scattered boulders, largely granite, of various sizes from the smallest to those of many tons in weight… The roots of huge trees were spreading the ground in every direction, sapping the nutrient from the soil and forcing the weaker trees to die. There was little undergrowth, the trees running up tall and straight, not crowded, and with limbs so high that the early settler could ride his horse or drive yoked oxen beneath with little interference by the growth.”

In spite of the challenges our forefathers proceeded to build log cabins, clear land, then plowed and planted the virgin soil. Men came ahead - brothers, sons, fathers, cousins. They came in the spring of the year, cut and burned trees, planted crops, and built shelter for the winter. Cabins were rustic with no windows, doors or chimney. The black flies and mosquitoes were so overwhelming that they were often forced to leave their work for spells in the spring and summer - their eyes buttoned closed and bodies covered with open sores with flies imbedded in them! They sometimes kept a fire going outside the cabin door in hopes of warding off insects, thus the air inside the cabin was usually black with smoke. Once the men had secured enough food supply and adequate shelter they went back for their families, livestock and worldly possessions. Upon their return, weeks later, they set about harvesting their crops and doing further preparations for the next winter season. Once here and settled in, the family proceeded to build a door, and cut a window and a hole in the roof to vent smoke. They laid a floor with split basswood logs, constructed a stone hearth, and maybe even built a partition.

Stackpole says “In locating roads suitable for wheel-carriages, which they hoped to have someday, the meadows, swamps and even the level, undrained lands on the higher ground were avoided whenever possible, for otherwise they (had to) corduroy at an expense of time and labor they could ill afford.” The pioneers’ food crop was sparse so they had to rely on milk, game, fish and wild fruit to survive, but hunting and fishing could be challenging too. Stories that have been handed down about life here in the early days of Readfield and Winthrop demonstrate time and again the perseverance and creativity our town founders tapped into in order to survive. (See "Hardships of the Settlers" by Thurston)

David Thurston, a 19^th century Winthrop historian, wrote a history of Winthrop in 1855 in which he recounts many stories about the hardships of our early settlers. One, Unight Brown, migrated here in 1769 and settled on the west side of Maranacook Lake. One late autumn day Brown and his young son, Jeremiah, traveled to a large bog - which was a fair distance from their home - in search of game. They were fortunate to find and kill a moose, but it was late fall, the days were short and it got dark before they could make their way back home. They knew what had to be done so they settled in for the night. The elder Brown cut wood and started a good fire. Then he gutted and skinned the moose and wrapped his son in the hide for warmth and shelter. They kept the fire going all night, but it got so cold that by morning Brown had all he could do to pry the frozen moose hide loose from his son. They both survived and Brown went on to help settle the nearby town of Fayette where he died at the ripe old age of 87 in 1815.

In 1765 three Whittier brothers - Thomas, Nathaniel and William - came from Chester, New Hampshire to East Readfield. They took a different approach to opening space in the forest than the other newcomers had. That summer and fall the Whittier’s fell twenty acres of trees, and then returned to New Hampshire for the winter. The next spring they returned to Readfield and burned their fallen trees. The air was filled with smoke for miles around and there was much alarm throughout the area because most people were unfamiliar with the Whittier’s ways. The three men then planted corn in unplowed land and everyone said the brothers were incompetent farmers at best for planting this way. Summer progressed and all were surprised to see the corn sprang up and flourished. It is said that people came from miles around to see with their own eyes that planting without plowing could produce. That fall the Whittier’s harvested a good crop, while the other settlers digested their lesson about farming in the wilderness.

In 1771 Winthrop was incorporated - the first town in this area to be inhabited and established away from the Kennebec River. Word spread about opportunities to own land here and more settlers moved into this backwoods territory. Some stayed here for generations and others moved on to yet greater adventures further north and west of here. Settlers chose the sites for their cabins and a few acres to clear and plant – then built roads to them. Hills were the first choice for a variety of reasons. The soil was richer, and there was less chance of early frost. That also meant easier construction of roads to their dwellings, and better views from their homes. In the early days this also gave a vantage point for spotting Indians and other dangers. Thurston also wrote about Indians during these early days saying “the people were, at times, somewhat terrified by the Indians, as they passed, in their hunting excursions, between the Kennebec and Androscoggin Rivers.”

 

One of Readfield’s earliest settlers, James Lane, chose a lot on Kents Hill (near a spring) when he and his brother Ephraim Lane came here in 1771 from their hometown of Hingham, Massachusetts. They came to Fort Western by boat up the Kennebec River, and then by blazed trail through the woods to Readfield. Here, James first met Eunice Chase who was visiting Gideon Lambert, a blacksmith formerly of Martha's Vineyard. Lane got to work and immediately began to forge a place for his new home. For two years James worked to clear his land, build a log cabin, and to plant corn. He bought a pig at Fort Western and carried it to Readfield in a sack. Once the corn was harvested, and the pig slaughtered and salted down, he figured he had prepared a home fit for a bride. He returned to Massachusetts that winter where he found and courted Miss Eunice at her family home in Tisbury. When Lane returned to Readfield the following spring the cabin had been broken into by Indians and the corn and pork was all gone. James had to carry all of his supplies from Fort Western until the next harvest came in. In spite of this hardship Eunice was not swayed. Upon her return to Maine she and James were married by General James Howard at Fort Western, on August 3, 1774. She was not yet 16 and James was 25. Indians continued to be “plentiful” at that time, according to the Lane family history, and they used to camp near James Lane's spring. The Indians never hurt James and Eunice, but bears destroyed crops and killed livestock - in fact James slew one with his ax one time when it tried to kill his pig. Eunice was four months pregnant with her first child when James went to serve in the Revolutionary War. Oh, the courage!

The Cobbosseeconte Waterway and the 30 Mile River (from the Androscoggin) were used by Indians and early travelers and settlers alike. In 1776 a party of six men, having been told about the fertile Sandy River Valley by hunters and trappers, traveled through Readfield on their way to explore that wilderness. Their goal was to reach and explore Sandy River Valley near present day Farmington Falls with an eye towards plotting a settlement there. Butler's History of Farmington relates the story of their trip in a fair amount of detail, which I'll quote here in part: "...The party came up the Kennebec River in canoes as far as Hallowell, which was generally known at that time by the Indian name of Bombahook. From Hallowell they proceeded on foot through the sparsely settled district to Mr. Rumford Smith’s, who had settled and built a log cabin a little east of what is now known as Readfield Corner...” This was without doubt, in this author’s opinion, Ransford Smith (not Rumford). Butler went on to say that “…after leaving Mr. Smith’s, the last house on the route, they proceeded a west-northwest route, supposing this course would lead them to what is now Farmington Falls…” Upon arrival there the men surveyed lots, then each agreed to meet and return in two weeks with some tools to begin chopping trees and marking boundaries. Butler also described their second trip to Farmington Falls and it is interesting to note that on their return trip they chose to use the old Indian Cobbosseeconte Waterway instead of walking the rugged land terrain they had traversed the first time.  This route took them from the Kennebec River, up Cobbosseeconte Stream, into Lake Cobbosseeconte, then Maranacook Lake and towards lakes and streams further northwest of Readfield. Butler made no mention of them stopping at Ransford Smith’s on this recount but since the travelers passed so near his log cabin – when paddling up Lake Maranacook – it seems probable they would have stopped by again. Sometime before 1790 Smith returned to Martha's Vineyard because of threats from Indians, but he returned to Readfield in 1792. Ransford Smith’s land was located on the Cobbosseeconte Waterway and the Indian’s portage to the Sandy River (land) Trail. The Indians would have undoubtedly passed directly through Smith's property and it is understandable that some could have shown resentment about Smith’s presence there.

Let us not forget the women in this equation. They kept the home fires burning, took care of the young children's needs and managed all the inside domestic chores - and none of those came easy in those days. Of course the children helped too! As soon as they were old enough they were taught how to do chores and no one sat idle. They were busy from sunrise to sunset. In addition to the duties we often think of as "women's work" the wives and daughters also carried much of the outdoor workload too - such as tending the animals, milking the cows and such. They did this for at least for a few years, until the men had brought the homestead and the land to a sustainable level. The women even helped with catching fish or shooting game if the occasion presented itself - or if their husbands became too ill or debilitated from the strenuous workload. Thurston tells one story about Squire Bishop's wife whose husband became so weak and frail from lack of enough food in the house he was ready to lay down and die. His wife would have no part of it! She threw her shawl over her shoulders, grabbed a fishing pole and made her way by foot a great distance to the nearest pond where, to her relief, she was able to catch some fish. On the way home she managed to tree a coon, set up a fake person at the base of the tree to keep him up there, and made her way back to the cabin. There she demanded her husband get off that bed and go shoot that coon before they all starved to death! He did and they gained ground, flourished and went on to be substantial citizens of Winthrop! The size of many families was huge by today's standards. It was not unusual for there to be 8 - 12 children within one household and sometimes more! Women were grateful when babies were born in the winter because of their heavy workload during warmer months. To complicate matters the death rate was high for mothers, babies and young children from illness and complications from childbirth. Some women, who had been taught old herbal remedies or midwifery, carried herbs and medicines in their saddlebags and sometimes rode long distances to visit the sick or deliver an infant. These women were generally the only source of any healthcare in the 18th and most of the 19th century.  Readfield’s own Sarah Norton (Mrs. Stephen Norton) was known for her extensive knowledge of herbal treatments and medicines.  Martha Ballard, a well-known midwife from Hallowell and Augusta sometimes made the long trek to the “backwoods” as our area was then known, to treat illness or deliver babies. It was actually more common for midwives than doctors to deliver babies during the 18th and early 19th centuries in our parts. When the woman of the house died, her husband married again right away - oftentimes to her younger sister or a cousin. The house simply could not survive without a woman. The few who did not marry again right away, I have noticed, soon returned to where they came from. Ransford Smith is one such example and I have read of others.

In 1798 when Methodist missionary Jesse Lee and Bishop Francis Asbury came to Readfield for the first Methodist Conference they gave descriptions of the countryside. Remember - this was thirty years after the first settlers arrived and had created some semblance of civilization. Bishop Asbury stated in his journal that he and Lee had arrived on a Saturday, August 25^th. He described their trek by saying “We had to beat through the woods between Winthrop and Readfield, which are as bad as the Alleghany Mountains and the shades of death”. They must have been very travel weary for Asbury went on to say they “laid by the carriage and saddle to wait (four days).” That Wednesday Lee and Asbury led the Methodist Conference in East Readfield, which was the “first of the kind ever held in these parts." 

As soon as the conference was over the 50 year old Bishop left Readfield and aimed his horse for Portland. He “rode sixty miles (by horseback) in two days, under the heat of the sun over desperate roads and rocks”.  Thus was the determination and fortitude displayed by all the courageous men and women who settled our fair town of Readfield and beyond!

Read more about some of the Hardships of the Early Settlers
written by Rev. David Thurston in 1855.