Justin Hughes
Ms. Lind/ Mr. Viles
Honors English/ History 10
1/14
History of North Newport: A simple farming community
This report will not only be a history of Newport Maine but will also show how the farming industry grew in small towns and what the people were like during these times. Without Newport there would not be a North Newport. North Newport sits on the outer fringes of Newport, neighboring the community of Stetson. North Newport may not be the home of influential businessmen but it is rich with cultural history and is a quaint little community.
On June 14, 1800 John Hubbard bought the township of Newport and other surrounding towns. He bought nearly 33,147 acres for only 5,635 dollars, which is only about seventeen cents per acre. Land has inflated so much since then. The year was 1807 and it was springtime in Maine. John Ireland and his wife and children arrived in what was then known as East Pond Plantation. They came from Bloomfield, which is now the Skowhegan area. A year earlier John, his brother Joseph, Elam Pratt, and Benjamin Eaton came to Newport to build a cabin in which his family could stay in the following year. For the next six years or so the town developed and the population had nearly grown to one hundred people. In 1814 Newport officially became a town. After the town was incorporated, the townspeople needed some sort of local government. Samuel Hayden became the selectman of North Newport. John Ireland and Daniel Bicknell were put onto the committee to lay out roads and school districts. On March 6, 1815 the town was divided into six different school districts. On May 20, 1816 it was a big day for the whole state of Maine but on this day the town voted in favor of separating from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. This history is just from the settlement of the town up to the actual incorporation of the town.
The life of a settler in the early days was much different than than the life of an average person today. Imagine a life without even the simple luxury of running water. Many settlers then were farmers. Many people that live in North Newport now are somehow connected to the surrounding farms. The first house of the settlement which was owned be Deacon Daniel Ireland, was a one floor simply built cabin. Before John Ireland, came his land was completely covered in trees. Before he could start building his cabin he had to clear land. The floor was dirt and the walls were not insulated. The small cabin was lived in by nearly eleven people. All of the children except the little ones slept in the loft on straw mats. The cabin was heated by a fire that was surrounded by stones. Their heating fire was also used for cooking. The diet of the settlers usually consisted of stew. The stew did not usually consist of meat unless it could be hunted. The livestock was used for farming. The whole family worked Monday through Saturday and the summer and fall were devoted to tending and farming the fields. The women stayed indoors and tended to the baby if they had one and also they did chores like cleaning or cooking. Men tended the farm and did things around the cabin. Children went to school but after they had their chores. Children usually went to school until they were twelve or thirteen unless their parents would send them into the village of Newport. In that time if you did not grow it or make it yourself than you did not have it. There were not any stores in North Newport where you can just buy anything you need, nor are there any stores even today.
Schooling was big on the minds of the settlers. The first school in North Newport was built on Route 222. This was the only school of the community and one teacher by the name of Amanda Barker taught fifty-two students. Not long after, this school was no longer used and a new school was built on the Rutland Road. This was called the Rutland Road School. After this two other schools were established. One was built on Route 222 not far from the Stetson town line. This school was called the Hubbard School. The other was on the corner of Route 222 and the road I now live on which is Durham Bridge Road. The school was called the Coburn Corner School. All three of these schools were one room classrooms taught by one teacher. During the winter they were heated by a woodstove in the center of the room. Only grades one through eight went to these schools. If you wanted to go to high school then you had to go into the “Village of Newport”. In 1942 these schools were closed and students were bussed into town.
Before the time of churches in Newport the two faiths (the Baptists and Christians) met in the two school houses. The Baptists met in the Coburn Corner School and the Christians met in the Hubbard School. This was an inadequate place for a church. They even had to put planks across the seats. There were two main churches of North Newport. There was the Baptist Church and the Christian Church. The Baptist church was created on June 23, 1817. Some notable members of the church were Joseph Ireland, John Ireland (he was also the Deacon of the church), Samuel Hayden, and Daniel Bicknell. The church met every Saturday for service. The Christian Church was created in 1852. The church services were held on Saturday also. Some members of one church attended both church services. The Christian church shows periods of time in which there were no church services. In 1950 a meeting was held to plan on building a church for both the Baptists and the Christians. The meeting place was one mile from each of the school houses. In 1857 Abiah Steward was contracted to build the meeting house for 1,000 dollars. The church was sectioned off, the Christians on the East side and the Baptists on the West side of the church. The pews were sold for ten-fifty dollars. The first pastor for the Christian church was Rev. Moses F. Davis and the first Baptist Minister was Rev. Mr. Robinson.
In 1897 the willing workers were formed. The willing workers were a group of women that gathered money for the upkeep of the church and for other needs in the town. In the 1900’s the willing workers installed a tin ceiling in the church.
Farming was a big industry in the Newport community. Many products were shipped abroad. (Abroad meaning Waterville, Bangor, and even Boston) Meat, hay, potatoes, grain, and milk were sent away to different towns such as Bangor and Waterville. Some products were even sent as far as Boston. The farming industry gave access from North Newport to Corinna. This may not be too far today, (only a couple of miles) but this gave settlers the power to ride on horse to Corinna easily. The dairy farmer in North Newport was not at all short of business. Milk was picked up at the farms, taken to Corinna, and then shipped off by train to Newport. Other than farming many people of North Newport were attracted be the Woolen Mill in Corinna. With the invention of the car it was relatively easy to get from North Newport to Corinna. Even though not everyone had a car, people did carpool. Some people lived in Corinna for a short period of time so they could work at the mill. There were three prominent farms in the North Newport Community. The Hillacre Farm was founded by Densmore Stewart Hilliker in 1910. Densmore graduated from MCI and then he moved back to North Newport. The farm was built on what is now Route 222. In a short time the farm grew to a pretty good size that could support his family. Densmore’s daughter Josephine married Keith Smith. Keith soon took over the farm. At this time they were growing potatoes and hay. In 1969 Carl Densmore Smith combined his already acquired farms in Corinna and started the Hillacre Farm. In 1985 Carl R. Smith III took over and now resides in the farm house. This is only one of the farms but the Coburn farm is now part of the Hillacre estate. The Sawyer farm in my mind is not really in North Newport. Much of North Newport is covered with farms and fields. This is why today North Newport is considered a farming community.
Native Americans once live in Newport. The first meeting of the town was brought together because the settlers feared that there was going to be an Indian attack. At the meeting subjects were what to do if the Indians attacked. Each family was to have a gun over their fireplace in case they attacked. A few days later 150 Native Americans were seen on the Stetson River. Two people were sent to find out if they intended to harm the settlers. The settlers quickly found out that the Indians were not there to harm them. The Indians were from the Penobscot tribe and were fleeing from another tribe.
North Newport may not be a town by itself but it is rich with cultural history. There is more history in this section of a town than many towns in the state. North Newport is small community and almost everyone knows everyone. In one hundred short years this community has made a lot of history. It has seen only one murder. It is all around a good place to live.
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