Harmony- Items of Interest
The East Somerset County Register
1911-12
Compiled and Published by Chatto & Turner
Auburn, Maine
Clarence I. Chatto; Clair E. Turner
page 123-124.

Items of Interest

The first town meeting was held Nov. 15, 1703 at the dwell-
ing house of Stephen Leighton.  In 1818 a town meeting was 
held in the grist mill of James Leighton and in 1821 it was 
held at the house of Robt. Evans. 

It is interesting also to note the amount of money raised 
for various purposes 100 years ago and the method of paying 
the taxes.  A paragraph from the record of the town meeting 
in 1811 reads as follows:  "Voted $200 for the support of 
schools and receive in pay corn at 5 shillings, rye at six
shillings and wheat at seven shilling per bushel.  Voted $800
on the highway to be paid in labor of men and oxen at 12 1/2c
an hour."

In 1840 a meeting was called at the school house in District 
No. Five (near Mainstream.)  Voted to adjourn said meeting to 
David Leighton's barn.  Disposed of four articles and then
voted to adjourn to the schoolhouse in the village until the 
next day.  Last act was a vote to hold town meetings at Har-
mony village in the future.  1843, voted that selectmen grant
no licenses of sale of spirituous liquors, except to one person
and that for medicinal purposes only, that some person se-
lected for that purpose.  1867, attempt was made to induce 
the town to buy stock in the "Belfast and Moosehead Rail-
road."  The record is laconic:  Voted to pass Art. 1.  Voted to 
pass Art. 2.  Voted to pass Art. 3. Voted to adjourn, "sine
die."

There is a magnificent old willow tree on the farm of 
Franklin Hurd which has grown from a willow stick stuck
in the grown by Mrs. Trustum Hurd when she first came to Har-
mony.  She cut this stick for a riding whip on the way here
and stuck it in the grown beside the spring when she reached 
her destination.  The first male child born in Harmony was
Noah Robinson.

In the days of the old artillery company there was a gun
house in town in which were kept two cannon.  It was sit-
uated abut half a mile west of the village.  Harvey E. Rob-
inson was the first captain.  Training were held three times 
a year and once a year there was a grand muster in which
companies from several towns were inspected by State officers.

In 1840 there were in the village four stores, each with a 
potash factory connected a cooper's shop, a shovel handle fac-
tory, a  hatter's, a tannery, with a large dam near were the old 
schoolhouse stands, and a shoemaker's shop.  There was once 
a chair factory were the creamery is now.

The Boston Post gold headed cane is in the possession of 
Mr. Reuben Bemis, who was 93, Oct. 19, 1911.  The oldest woman
in town is Mrs. Jane Folsom, who was 94 in Oct. 1911.

The Harmony Telephone Company was organized in 1903
principally through the efforts of Chas. Bean, who has since
been president and manager.  The company owns its line and 
hires the transmitting and receiving instruments from the New 
England Telephone and Telegraph Company.  Mr. Bean was 
also influential in securing a petition for an R. F. D. service 
which was begun in 1902.


(c) 1998
Courtesy of Tina Vickery of Somerset Co, Maine USGenWeb Project
<http://www.rootsweb.com/~mesomers/>
&
The Androscoggin Historical Society
<http://www.rootsweb.com/~meandrhs>
*************************************************
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. It is 
always best to consult the original material for verification.