Maynesborough 1772-1821
There is very little that can be said about Berlin before it was settled. There are some records of explorers coming through what is now Berlin, but very few. In the fall of 1775, three of Col. Benedict Arnold’s men came from Québec up the Chaudière River and down Lake Umbagog and thence through the unsettled wilderness that was called Maynesborough to Bethel. In 1775, a reconnoitering party from the Lancaster area went to Lake Umbagog and thence down to Conway by way of the Androscoggin Valley. Four of five persons went from Québec in May, 1776, through the Androscoggin River Valley to Conway.
On August 3, 1781, a small group of Indians, led by Tomhegan (Tumtumhegan), passed through Maynesboro. They first passed through here when going down to Shelburne, Gilead and Bethel to do raids. This raid killed James Pettengill of Bethel
and Peter Poor of Shelburne and raided other houses in the towns previously mentioned. They took a few people prisoner
including Plato, a slave. They then took the captured back through Maynesborough and headed back to St. Francis.
In 1802, Maynesboro saw two noted surveyors, Seth Eames and Gideon Tirrell, who were sent by the descendants or successors of Sir William Mayne. Their job was to explore and run out into lots this tract of land; each lot was to contain 100 acres more or less. They started at the northeast corner of the township, running the lines from east to west, 2,640 feet apart, thus forming the range of lots.
All seemed to go well until one afternoon Mr. Eames and Mr. Tirrell, upon comparing notes, realized that Tirrell had taken the wrong point of compass, but had marked the corners all along the line.The two men decided not to redo the lines, and simply draw them straight on paper. The two men returned their findings to whoever sent them, collected their payment and went back home, but still after all this effort no one came to settled Maynesborough.
Many people who were wealthy back in the late 1700s and early 1800s bought land. Some of them never even stepped foot on their land but if you owned large amounts of land, it showed you had money. Some of the known nonresident land owners in Maynesboro were: William Plumer, Samuel Plumer, Daniel Plumer, Jonathan Cilley, and Greenleaf Cilley. The Plumer family owned large amounts of land here.
Mt. Forist was originally called Plumer’s Fort after William Plumer; he possibly owned Plumer’s Fort at one point in time also. On April 2, 1803, William Plumer, collector of proprietary taxes, sold land in Maynesborough to Samuel Plumer. This event was witnessed by Timothy Dalton and Daniel Plumer. On September 24, 1803, William and Daniel Plumer sold land (in both Paulsburg and Mayneborough) to Samuel Plumer, this was witnessed by Benjamin Hoit and Sally Plumer; again, another piece of land was sold on September 15, 1810, to Samuel Plumer by William and Daniel, but this time the witnesses were Nathaniel Perkins and William Plumer Jr.
In 1812, a military trail was cut on the west side of the Androscoggin from Shelburne to Stark. This provided the people of Stark and the other towns around the Connecticut Valley an additional route by which help could come to them in case of invasion by the French and/or the Indians. This trail was very small, not even passable by a team of oxen. If one would like to see an example of the size of this trail, they could just take a hike up the new trail that goes on top of Mt. Jasper, which was cut by the Berlin High School JAG program during the summer of 2012.
In the same year, landowners were assessed 22 cents on every $1000 of state taxation. This apparently seemed too much, for in 1816 it was assessed 11 cents on every $1000 of state taxation; and in 1820, 12 cents. In 1818 a law was passed granting a tax of two cents an acre on the land in Winslow’s Location, Paulsburg, and Maynesborough.
In the winter of 1818, two young boys, William Horne and Edmund Leavitt, decided to run away from their homes. Horne lived in either West Milan or Stark. Leavitt was originally from Dummer. At this time there were no houses, with the exception of Moses Robbins on Milan Hill, closest to Shelburne. There plan was to come through the woods and then follow the Androscoggin River down to Shelburne. The snow was very heavy and it took them a much longer trip to get to the river then they expected it to take.
They found that there was about eight inches of water on the ice, due to previous warm days. They got to about where the City Hall is today and heard the roar of the falls in Maynesborough. Tradition says that these two boys got frighten by this and decided to turn back and go home. They got to Chandler brook and in the evening they thought they heard someone halloo. What the boys didn’t know was that the noise they were hearing was people at a nearby logging camp chopping some wood. This camp was the closest thing to civilization on the river at that time. The boys continued walking in the dark until the Leavitt boy was too exhausted to go any further, and Horne went to the Robbins house to get help. They went down to try to save this boy but it was too late, Leavitt died on the spot where he rested.This brook where the boy died has been know as Leavitt Stream ever since that time (1818).
The seasons past, hunters and fishermen came and went, but still no notable improvements. The first improvement of
Maynesborough occurred in 1819, when Clovis Lowe of Randolph built a “nice little camp” on the spot where McGee Street meets Riverside Drive. He soon sold to “Lascar”Jackson, who occupied it for a few years and left. Another notable event occurred in 1820 or 1821, when two hunters, John Messer and Amos Peabody, came here from Shelburne, and realized they could make a large sum of money by burning the large elm trees, some were three feet in diameter, and turning them into ashes. These ashes would then be taken to Shelburne and sold to make potash. In the winter these two men, who just so happened to be brother-in-laws, came back to Maynesborough and built a camp on the brook north of where the Brown Company barns now stand.
During the time these two men came here, there was no road from Shelburne Addition (Gorham) to Maynesborough. The only way one could come to what is now Berlin was by a trail, which these two men either cut or found. This trail stated in Shelburne, a little bit east of Lead Mine Brook, and went through Success to where the barns formerly owned by the Brown Company now stand. John Messer and Amos Peabody didn’t stay here long. Peabody went back to Shelburne. The next time Messer can be found is in 1823, when he, along with Benjamin, Abiathar, and Lowell Bean, and Elijah Griffin, lived in a log house on Page Hill in Success.
In the years previous to our city being called Berlin, this place was known for being a “hunters’ and fishermen’s paradise.”
The untamed wilderness was full of game of every description, moose, deer, bears, panthers, wild cats, wolves, otter, mink, muskrat, and many more. The river and its tributaries were full of trout; a fisherman could catch enough fish in a matter of minutes to make a meal that would take all day to finish. Some of the names of these hunters and fishermen were as follows: “Yager” Page, “Lascar” Jackson, Clovis Lowe, Amos Peabody, John Messer, Simon Evans, Barker Burbank, and William Sessions. Some of these men even played a larger part in Berlin’s history.
On August 3, 1781, a small group of Indians, led by Tomhegan (Tumtumhegan), passed through Maynesboro. They first passed through here when going down to Shelburne, Gilead and Bethel to do raids. This raid killed James Pettengill of Bethel
and Peter Poor of Shelburne and raided other houses in the towns previously mentioned. They took a few people prisoner
including Plato, a slave. They then took the captured back through Maynesborough and headed back to St. Francis.
In 1802, Maynesboro saw two noted surveyors, Seth Eames and Gideon Tirrell, who were sent by the descendants or successors of Sir William Mayne. Their job was to explore and run out into lots this tract of land; each lot was to contain 100 acres more or less. They started at the northeast corner of the township, running the lines from east to west, 2,640 feet apart, thus forming the range of lots.
All seemed to go well until one afternoon Mr. Eames and Mr. Tirrell, upon comparing notes, realized that Tirrell had taken the wrong point of compass, but had marked the corners all along the line.The two men decided not to redo the lines, and simply draw them straight on paper. The two men returned their findings to whoever sent them, collected their payment and went back home, but still after all this effort no one came to settled Maynesborough.
Many people who were wealthy back in the late 1700s and early 1800s bought land. Some of them never even stepped foot on their land but if you owned large amounts of land, it showed you had money. Some of the known nonresident land owners in Maynesboro were: William Plumer, Samuel Plumer, Daniel Plumer, Jonathan Cilley, and Greenleaf Cilley. The Plumer family owned large amounts of land here.
Mt. Forist was originally called Plumer’s Fort after William Plumer; he possibly owned Plumer’s Fort at one point in time also. On April 2, 1803, William Plumer, collector of proprietary taxes, sold land in Maynesborough to Samuel Plumer. This event was witnessed by Timothy Dalton and Daniel Plumer. On September 24, 1803, William and Daniel Plumer sold land (in both Paulsburg and Mayneborough) to Samuel Plumer, this was witnessed by Benjamin Hoit and Sally Plumer; again, another piece of land was sold on September 15, 1810, to Samuel Plumer by William and Daniel, but this time the witnesses were Nathaniel Perkins and William Plumer Jr.
In 1812, a military trail was cut on the west side of the Androscoggin from Shelburne to Stark. This provided the people of Stark and the other towns around the Connecticut Valley an additional route by which help could come to them in case of invasion by the French and/or the Indians. This trail was very small, not even passable by a team of oxen. If one would like to see an example of the size of this trail, they could just take a hike up the new trail that goes on top of Mt. Jasper, which was cut by the Berlin High School JAG program during the summer of 2012.
In the same year, landowners were assessed 22 cents on every $1000 of state taxation. This apparently seemed too much, for in 1816 it was assessed 11 cents on every $1000 of state taxation; and in 1820, 12 cents. In 1818 a law was passed granting a tax of two cents an acre on the land in Winslow’s Location, Paulsburg, and Maynesborough.
In the winter of 1818, two young boys, William Horne and Edmund Leavitt, decided to run away from their homes. Horne lived in either West Milan or Stark. Leavitt was originally from Dummer. At this time there were no houses, with the exception of Moses Robbins on Milan Hill, closest to Shelburne. There plan was to come through the woods and then follow the Androscoggin River down to Shelburne. The snow was very heavy and it took them a much longer trip to get to the river then they expected it to take.
They found that there was about eight inches of water on the ice, due to previous warm days. They got to about where the City Hall is today and heard the roar of the falls in Maynesborough. Tradition says that these two boys got frighten by this and decided to turn back and go home. They got to Chandler brook and in the evening they thought they heard someone halloo. What the boys didn’t know was that the noise they were hearing was people at a nearby logging camp chopping some wood. This camp was the closest thing to civilization on the river at that time. The boys continued walking in the dark until the Leavitt boy was too exhausted to go any further, and Horne went to the Robbins house to get help. They went down to try to save this boy but it was too late, Leavitt died on the spot where he rested.This brook where the boy died has been know as Leavitt Stream ever since that time (1818).
The seasons past, hunters and fishermen came and went, but still no notable improvements. The first improvement of
Maynesborough occurred in 1819, when Clovis Lowe of Randolph built a “nice little camp” on the spot where McGee Street meets Riverside Drive. He soon sold to “Lascar”Jackson, who occupied it for a few years and left. Another notable event occurred in 1820 or 1821, when two hunters, John Messer and Amos Peabody, came here from Shelburne, and realized they could make a large sum of money by burning the large elm trees, some were three feet in diameter, and turning them into ashes. These ashes would then be taken to Shelburne and sold to make potash. In the winter these two men, who just so happened to be brother-in-laws, came back to Maynesborough and built a camp on the brook north of where the Brown Company barns now stand.
During the time these two men came here, there was no road from Shelburne Addition (Gorham) to Maynesborough. The only way one could come to what is now Berlin was by a trail, which these two men either cut or found. This trail stated in Shelburne, a little bit east of Lead Mine Brook, and went through Success to where the barns formerly owned by the Brown Company now stand. John Messer and Amos Peabody didn’t stay here long. Peabody went back to Shelburne. The next time Messer can be found is in 1823, when he, along with Benjamin, Abiathar, and Lowell Bean, and Elijah Griffin, lived in a log house on Page Hill in Success.
In the years previous to our city being called Berlin, this place was known for being a “hunters’ and fishermen’s paradise.”
The untamed wilderness was full of game of every description, moose, deer, bears, panthers, wild cats, wolves, otter, mink, muskrat, and many more. The river and its tributaries were full of trout; a fisherman could catch enough fish in a matter of minutes to make a meal that would take all day to finish. Some of the names of these hunters and fishermen were as follows: “Yager” Page, “Lascar” Jackson, Clovis Lowe, Amos Peabody, John Messer, Simon Evans, Barker Burbank, and William Sessions. Some of these men even played a larger part in Berlin’s history.
References
1. Traditions and Recollections of Berlin, N.H. (1897) by Bailey K. Davis, pg. 5-8 and 155-156.
2. History of Coos County, New Hampshire (1888) by George Drew Merrill, pg. 789 and 955.
3. Once Upon a Berlin Time: Early Pioneers by Paul “Poof” Tardiff.
4. The Berlin Centennial Program, pg. 32.
5. Chronicles of the White Mountains (1916) by Frederick Wilkinson Kilbourne, pg. 65.
6. Deeds of land in Maynesborough, Dartmouth College (Click here to see list).
7. Photo of William Plumer is from www.senate.gov (Click here to see orginal).
8. Photo of Cilley was found HERE, but the orginal is from the Maine State Museum.
2. History of Coos County, New Hampshire (1888) by George Drew Merrill, pg. 789 and 955.
3. Once Upon a Berlin Time: Early Pioneers by Paul “Poof” Tardiff.
4. The Berlin Centennial Program, pg. 32.
5. Chronicles of the White Mountains (1916) by Frederick Wilkinson Kilbourne, pg. 65.
6. Deeds of land in Maynesborough, Dartmouth College (Click here to see list).
7. Photo of William Plumer is from www.senate.gov (Click here to see orginal).
8. Photo of Cilley was found HERE, but the orginal is from the Maine State Museum.