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The Bethel Journals Bethel Maine History |
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January 2, 2010
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History News People Places Events
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Dates and Events in Bethel Area History |
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1691 onwards: Sudbury militia survivors of the march to Quebec start petitions to the Massachusetts General Court for land grants as compensation for military service. Petitions are not answered. 1739 – Brunswick, Maine is founded as a town in the District of Maine, near the mouth of the Androscoggin River’s emergence into Merry Meeting Bay 1756 to 1763 – French and Indian war; Treaty of Paris; France gives England all French territory east of the Mississippi except for New Orleans. 1768 - Massachusetts grants Josiah Richardson, representing 76 Sudbury petitioners, a township of land on the Androscoggin River in the District of Maine. Petitioners meet and name their grant, Sudbury Canada. 1768 to 1773 – Captain Joseph Twitchell of Sherborn, Massachusetts ( a neighboring town south of Sudbury) becomes president of the proprietors of Sudbury Canada. 1774 – Captain Joseph Twitchell sends a crew of workmen to Sudbury Canada to construct a saw mill and a grist mill on his Mill Brook property lots. 1775 – English troops are attacked by Minutemen at Lexington and Concord. Battle of Bunker Hill; Washington’s troops occupy Dorchester Heights forcing English to withdraw from Boston. 1775 to 1800 – Water powered saw mill at the Mill Brook site provides sawed lumber for building second generation of Bethel homes; first buildings used whole logs. 1779 – Eleazer Twitchell and his family arrive from Dublin, New Hampshire to settle and assume supervision of his father’s interests, those of Captain Joseph Twitchell, in Sudbury Canada. 1781 - Ten individual settlements divided into upper (today’s Bethel) and lower (East Bethel) groupings have been started along the Androscoggin River’s south intervale lots. (It took two to three years to clear land, build a log house, small barn and establish a pasture plus garden that could sustain a small family for the next year). 1781 - August. Small band of St. Francis River Indians attack and terrorize settlers located from Sunday River west to Gilead and Shelburne, New Hampshire returning to Canada with prisoners after killing four 4 settlers. Petition sent to Boston to send garrison of soldiers. October. Washington receives Cornwallis’s surrender at Yorktown, Virginia.
1782 – Samuel Barker, a former personal tailor to General Washington, operates the first ferry across the Androscoggin River. 1782 to 1810 – Eleazer Twitchell becomes the “general manager” of log rafting to saw mills in Brunswick of the “stumpage” logs cut by Sudbury Canada settlers. He also becomes the principal buyer and retailer in Sudbury Canada of goods available from the West Indies many sugar and rum. 1783 – England and France agree at Treaty of Paris; this ends our war for independence. 1785 – Flood. This was the first big flood to occur after the early settlers had arrived. Caught unprepared many were forced to abandon their homes near the river. Experience gained caused most to re-build at higher elevations where they could avoid future flooding. Androscoggin River’s water level rose over 35 feet. 1787 - The Constitution of the United States of America is adopted. 1789 - President George Washington takes office in New York City. 1790 – First United States census: Sudbury Canada (Bethel) population: 324. 1796 - Massachusetts grants Sudbury Canada the right to incorporate as the town of Bethel. Charter signed by Governor Samuel Adams on June 10, 1796. August, 15th. First town meeting held at the home of General Amos Hastings at Middle Interval pursuant to a document issued by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to Eli Twitchell of Bethel in the County of York authorizing him to form a town meeting of qualified voters. Lt. Jonathan Clark (who had escaped from Indians in 1781) was chosen moderator. 1797 – Eleazer Twitchell builds the first frame and clapboarded house on Bethel Hill; it is labeled “The Castle”. 1798 – First school committee appointed with instructions to divide town into districts. At a later meeting it was voted to build three school houses and spend $100 on each. 1799 – George Washington dies at his home at Mount Vernon, Virginia. 1800 – Second national census: Bethel has 622 residents. 1806 – First church meeting house of the West Parish Congregational Church is built near Barker’s Ferry on the south side of the Androscoggin River (near the main highway bridge location in 2005). 1812 – A road connecting Bethel with Norway was finished. It ran south from Bethel Hill over Paradise Hill. (2) July 13th: a special town meeting was called to take action on the war with Great Britain. A committee of safety was appointed: all men able to bear arms where to equip themselves as soon as possible. 1815 – Bethel is authorized its own post office; the new post office was located at Dr. Moses Mason’s house with Mason as the post master. Mail was received and dispatched weekly. (1) 1816 – Middle Intervale Church built. It is still standing in 2005. 1820 – March 15: Maine is separated from Massachusetts; it is admitted to the United States as the 23rd state as part of the Missouri Compromise, an act to balance the number of free and slave states. 1830 – Although one family sighted wolves near their home that year, this was the last sighting of wolves in the Bethel area. (1) 1832 to 1836 - Plans were considered to build a canal system that would connect the Androscoggin River near Bethel to coastal markets in the Portland vicinity. The plan was known as Dr. Moses Mason’s Canal System; railroad construction in 1851 ended canal building plans. 1833 – Josiah Burbank built the first hotel, named the Bethel House, on Bethel Hill. 1835 – Bethel High School opens; first classes held in the district school house next to the Common; since more space was needed classes were moved to the Bethel House. 1839 – Androscoggin River is bridged for the first time so that Mayville and Bethel Hill are connected; however, it was a short lived bridged that was washed away the following year. Barker’s ferry resumed operation.
1842 – Bethel’s new town house (Middle Interval part of town) was first used for September elections. Plan for the building was approved in 1841. Twenty nine years later, in 1871, town voted to hire Pattee’s Hall in Bethel Hill village for five years and to sell the old town house to the highest bidder. (In 1880, the building was still standing; click here for map.)
1850 – Indians turn to crafts to make a living; set up camps near summer resorts to sell baskets, beadwork, trinkets and war clubs to tourists. 1851 – The Atlantic & St. Lawrence Railroad (a railroad venture to connect the port of Portland with Montreal, Canada) reached Bethel from Portland. Irish immigrant workers made up much of the construction work force; a number stayed and became Bethel residents. 1853 – The first guide book to Maine was published. It praised Bethel for its scenic beauty, stoking Bethel’s tourist appeal. 1858 – December, 17. The Bethel Courier begins publishing a weekly newspaper with Dr. Nathaniel True edited for 15 months and wrote historical columns as well. 1860 – National census records 2,523 people living in Bethel. The town’s population high water mark has lasted to 2005. |
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1622 - England grants the land of Maine and New Hampshire to Ferdinand Gorges and John Mason. Mason and Gorges divide the land; Maine goes to Gorges. Massachusetts buys Maine in 1677 from the heirs of Gorges after his death. 1630 - John Winthrop leads 900 Puritan colonists to Massachusetts Bay; Boston established as the seat of government. 1639 - Sudbury becomes the 19th incorporated town of Massachusetts Bay Colony. 1676 - (April 21) King Philip’s war; attack at Sudbury results in forty English killed by the Indian attack. King Philip is hunted and killed in August but in New Hampshire and Maine Saco Indians continue to raid settlements. 1689 - William and Mary of Orange assume the English throne. 1690 - King William’s War (1690-1697) begins; in the colonies it is the English against the French and Indians. Indian attacks on towns in New York, New Hampshire and Maine spur calls for retaliation. Sudbury men join militia army for campaign against Quebec. Campaign fails to breech French defenses and return defeated. Meanwhile in Ireland, King William leads the protestant English army to rout James II at the battle of the Boyne. |
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Gov Samuel Adams |