Brief Notes on the Early Settlement of Bangor, Maine by EDGAR CROSBY SMITH. printed in John Sprague's Journal of Maine History (1913) Vol 1 page 31 Courtesy of Androscoggin Historical (c) 1998 It is well known that Penobscot River was first visited by De Monts and Champlain in 1605. Later there was a French and Indian settlement farther up the river and a trading post was established near the mouth of the Kenduskeag. These various settlements were destroyed by the English from 1723 to 1725, the final work having been accomplished by Captain Heath, with a company of men from the Kennebec, during the latter year. 34 SPRAGUE'S JOURNAL OF MAINE HISTORY The erection of Fort Pownal oil the Penobscot and the settle- ment which was soon springing up around it encouraged others to penetrate the wilderness farther up the river, and so, in the year 1769, we find Jacob Buswell from Salisbury in the colony of Massa- chusetts, with a family of nine children, making his way as far north as the junction of the Penobscot and Kenduskeag Rivers, the latter then being called "the Kenduskeag Stream." Here he commenced a clearing and erected a log house near where is now the foot of Newbury Street. It was two years later (1771) before other families located in this vicinity. That year came several; among whom were Thomas Howard, Jacob Dermett, Simon Crosby, Thomas Smart, John Smart, Hugh Smart, Andrew Webster, Joseph Rose, David Rowell, Solomon Harthorn, Silas Harthorn and Joseph Mansell. Thomas Howard located and built a house near the site of the present A. H. Thaxter residence. So by the time that Robert Treat appeared upon the scene in 1774 there was already quite a settlement. Robert Treat was born in Boston in 1752 and when seventeen years of age went to Fort Pownal as an armorer. Upon arriving in Bangor he opened a shop near Penjejowock Stream. Dr. John Herbert came in 1774 ; besides his duties as practis- ing physician he also taught school and is said to have been the first male teacher in the settlement. The first school was taught by Abigail Ford in 1773. Thomas Goldthwaite, son of the commander of Fort Pownal, opened a trading house near the mouth of the Kenduskeag in the same year. He was a Tory, and, like some others of his kind, fled to New Brunswick upon the outbreak of the Revolutionary War. A rude fort was soon erected above where is now Mount Hope Cemeterv. A military company was organized, commanded by Lieutenant Andrew Gilman, with Joseph Matisell, sergeant. The first two births of white children occurred this year, Mary Howard, daughter of Thomas Howard and Hannah Harthorn, daughter of Silas Harthorn. Another military company was organ- ized in 1776, consisting of twenty white men and ten Indians. The first settled minister was Rev. Seth Noble, who came with NOTES ON THE SETTLEMENT OF BANGOR 35 his family in 1786. He was installed as pastor by Rev. Mr. Little and received $400 per year. Until the year 1791 this was only a plantation and the matter of naming it was left to Mr. Noble, who first gave it the name of Sunbury, but afterwards changed it to Bangor in honor of the church hvmn of that name, being a favorite of his. The town of Bangor was incorporated February 25, 1791. In 1800 the first schoolhouse was built by James Drummond for $150, near Treat's Falls. Among those who settled here up to that time were Moses Patten, Amos Patten, Abner Taylor, Luke Wilder, Allen Gilman, Francis Carr, Joseph Carr, James Carr, William Emerson and Samuel Dutton. As early as 1605 the territory on the Penobscot, about the present location of Bangor, was known of and visited by explorers. De Monts came here in the spring of that year, accompanied by his accomplished historian, Samuel deChamplain. In his published accounts of his voyages and explorations Champlain described the river and the territory near the mouth of the Kenduskeag with such minuteness as to leave no doubt about their visit to the place. They found it a very agreeable spot, and in writing of it Champlain said: "The river was handsome and pleasant as far as the place where we cast anchor. Going on shore and going on foot, hunting to see the country, I found it very pleasant and agreeable as far as the road led me, and it seemed as if the oaks that were there were planted for pleasure. " The Plymouth Colony established a trading post at Penobscot (Castine) in 1626, which was kept up until 1635, when they were driven away by the French tinder D'Aulnay. D'Aulnay maintained the post until his death in 1651, and then, in 1667, Baron de St. Castin came and he and his SOD, known as Castin the Younger, continued in possession until about 1720. So, almost continually, from the exploration of the river by De Monts in 1605, there was a white settlement on the Penobscot, consequently the locality near the mouth of the Kenduskeag was well known and often visited bv white traders and barterers, but no settlement was attempted. In 1759 Fort Pownal was built by the Province of Massachu- setts Bay, at what is now Fort Point, and a garrison was estab- 36 SPRAGUE'S JOURNAL OF MAINE HISTORY lished there, giving security and protection from the Indian ravages, and settlements soon commenced along the river. The historic of Bangor, from the earliest traditions of the aborigines down to the present day, is teeming with interest and is too worthy of preservation to he allowed to be lost by lack of some effort being made to compile and record it. Other towns of no more historic interest than Bangor, and some of much less, have published volumes of their history, and some of them two and more. Bangor has been in the vanguard in many things; in the his- tory of early railroading, and letter in that of the development of electric railroads, she has had a prominent part; the lore of the early stagecoach days in eastern Maine, and the history of the development and decline thereof, radiates from this place as a ceD- ter. The reverential custom of erecting monuments to the memory of the soldier dead, the observance of which has spread to every town and hamlet of our countrv, undoubtedly had its beginning here, when on the 17th day of June, 1864, with impressive and appropriate ceremony, the monument was unveiled at Mount Hope bearing the inscription, "In Memory of the Citizen Soldiers Who Died for Their Country. " EDGAR CROSBY SMITH. * * * * NOTICE: Printing the files within by non-commercial individuals and libraries is encouraged, as long as all notices and submitter information is included. Any other use, including copying files to other sites requires permission from the submitters PRIOR to uploading to any other sites. We encourage links to the state and county table of contents. * * * * The USGenWeb Project makes no claims or estimates of the validity of the information submitted and reminds you that each new piece of information must be researched and proved or disproved by weight of evidence. 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