1813 Massachusetts Law Authorizing Wharf at Newcastle, Maine

"An Act for building a Wharf in the town of New-Castle, as described on page 285 in Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Passed by the General Court at Their Session, which Commenced on Wednesday the 26th Day of May, and Which Ended on the 16th Day of June, 1813.  Newcastle, Maine.

Chap. LVIII.

An Act for building a Wharf in the town of New-Castle.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, That Nathaniel Bryant, his heirs, executors, administrators, and assigns, be, and they are hereby authorized to build, erect, and maintain at Jack's Point, so called, on Damariscotta river, in the town of New-Castle, in the county of Lincoln, a Wharf, in manner and of dimensions following, to wit: - To extend from said point at low water mark northwardly and north-eastwardly eighty feet; eastwardly and south-eastwardly from the end of said point at low water mark, ten feet; making the front of said Wharf a straight line of one hundred and twenty feet, the north-eastern side a straight line of one hundred feet, and from the extremities of the two sides aforesaid, at right angles, to the main land of said point.

[Approved by the Governor, June 16, 1813.]

From online research, hopefully correct:  [corrections and additions welcome!]

I believe the Nathaniel Bryant referenced above was the man born 2 May 1765 at Scituate, Massachusetts, who moved to the Newcastle area, and died at nearby Jefferson, Maine, on 9 January 1835.  

On 1 October 1786 at Bristol, Maine, Nathaniel Bryant married Elizabeth "Betsey" Wall, who was born at Bristol on March 1768.

They had a family of at least five, three daughters and two sons.  The firstborn was also named Nathaniel Bryant, but he would have been only about 23 in 1813, so I feel his father is the more likely prospect.

If you have corrections to the above information or if you feel that the Wharf was authorized to another Nathaniel Bryant, please leave a comment or contact me directly.

Newcastle Historical Society

Newcastle, Maine


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1887 Photograph of John H. Hulford, by Lawrence, Massachusetts studio

October 1887 cabinet photograph of a man identified on reverse as John H. Hulford, who served in Co. F, 1st Massachusetts Heavy Artillery from 1861 to 1865.  

John inscribed the photograph to his daughter Alice Gertrude Hulford.

From online research, hopefully correct:

John Hamilton Hulford was born at Hamilton, Bermuda on 11 November 1841, the son of John Rendle Hulford and wife Sarah (Sharland) Hulford of England.  The elder John was serving in Bermuda with the 20th Battalion.

The family had moved back to England by the time of the 1851 Census of England and Wales, where young John and his parents are shown living in the parish of St. Philip and St. Jacob at Bristol in Gloucestershire, England.  John's siblings Theresa Alice Hulford and William Jessey Hulford were listed as well.

John Rendle Hulford died in 1855 at Bristol.  Sarah and her children John, Theresa, Thomas and William are shown on the manifest of the vessel Juventa, out of Thomaston, Maine, that arrived at Boston, Massachusetts from Liverpool, England on 5 December 1859.  Their intention was to live with relatives already in Massachusetts.

The 1860 Census of Lawrence, Massachusetts has Sarah and four  children, John, Teresa, Thomas and William living in the household of James Warburton, also a native of England.  I'm assuming that Sarah (Sharland) Hulford was married to James Warburton, but I'm not positive.

Thomas returned to England to live with his grandmother Thomasine in North Molton, Devon.

John Hamilton Hulford appears to have spent the rest of his life, except for his Civil War service, at Lawrence, Massachusetts, as he's listed in the Censuses there up to 1900.    He died at Lawrence on 22 March 1905.

He married Mary Ann Whitaker, daughter of Robert and Helen Whitaker, on 4 October 1867 at Johnston, Rhode Island.  Mary Ann was born in England about 1845.

John and Mary Ann had six daughters, Grace, Agnes, Lillian, Florence, Alice Gertrude, to whom the photograph was inscribed, and Bertha. 

Alice Gertrude Hulford was born 6 February 1877 at Lawrence, Massachusetts.  She became the second wife of Joseph A. Clough on 30 June 1903.  He was born at Manchester, England on 27 September 1872, the son of John and Elizabeth (Kenyon) Clough.

Alice and Joseph were in Massachusetts as late as the 1930 Census, where they were listed as living in Methuen.  Alice died at Old Town, Maine, in 1966.  

Alice may have moved to nearby Orono, Maine, to make her home with her only child, daughter Arline K. (Clough) Thomson, an accomplished artist and proponent of the arts, who was associated with the University of Maine for many years.

I'm most appreciative for the research shared by a Hulford family relative living in Bermuda.

If you have any corrections to the above information or any insights into the Hulford and Whitaker families, please leave a comment or contact me directly.

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1813 Laws of Massachusetts Annexing Part of New Sharon, Maine, to Industry, Maine

"An Act to annex Henry Smith, James Gower and Rufus Davis, with their families and estates, to the town of Industry", as described in Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Passed by the General Court at Their Session, which Commenced on Wednesday the 26th Day of May, and Which Ended on the 16th Day of June, 1813.  Industry, Maine

Chap. LIV.

An Act to annex Henry Smith, James Gower and Rufus Davis, with their families and estates, to the town of Industry.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, That Henry Smith, James Gower and Rufus Davis, with their families and estates, as contained within the following described limits, lying in the town of New Sharon, in the county of Kennebeck, be, and they are hereby set off from the said town of New Sharon, and annexed to the town of Industry, in the county of Somerset; viz. beginning at the east corner of lot number eighty-four, in New Sharon, on the westerly line of Industry, thence south forty-five degrees west, about three-fourths of a mile, to the east line of the town of Farmington, so as to include all that part of New Sharon which lies north-west of said line, being the lots numbered eight-four, and eighty-five, containing together about one hundred and seventy acres.  And the said Smith, Gower and Davis, with their estates hereby annexed to the town of Industry, shall therein exercise and enjoy all the privileges, and be subject to the like duties and obligations as the other inhabitants of the said town, as fully and completely, as if they had been originally incorporated therewith.

[Approved by the Governor, June 16, 1813.]

Note: Industry was annexed to Franklin County in 1838, when the new county was formed.

From A History of the Town of Industry, Franklin County, Maine, from the earliest settlement in 1787 down to the present time, by William Collins Hatch, 1893, and digitized online here. [be prepared for many OCR errors; I've corrected a few here.]

An effort was made in the fall of 1813 to establish a new county which would include the town of Industry. The movement caused no little discussion, and many were bitterly opposed to the measure. Capt. David Hildreth and seventeen others petitioned the selectmen to call a meeting of the legal voters to see if they would instruct the municipal officers to oppose the project by sending a remonstrance to the General 

Court. The meeting assembled at the house of William Allen, Jr., Dec. 23, 1813, and after mature deliberation it was deemed inexpedient to further oppose the movement. The measure proved unsuccessful, however, and the town of Industry con- 

tinued to form a part of Somerset County. 

At the session of the General Court for 18133, the following petition was presented from the inhabitants of Gower's (now Allen's) Mills, in the town of New Sharon: 

To the Hon. Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, [an. ~, 181 J : 

The Petition of the Subscribers, inhabitants of the Town of New Sharon in the County of Kennebec, respectfully shows their local situation is such as in a great measure, if not wholly, prevents them from 

enjoying the common and ordinary privileges of the other inhabitants of said town, being situated at an extreme part of said town and separated by bogs and swamps that are utterly impassable even for a horse. 

and at a distance of six or seven miles from where the meetings are holden for transacting town business, &tc, and at the same time being not more than a mile and a half from where the town meetings are held 

in Industry, to which place we have a direct road in good repair, that we have uniformly joined with the Town of Industry in the Support of Schools for our Children, and we there perform Military duty. Being 

thus situated, we humbly request your honorable body to take the premises into your consideration, and grant us relief, by setting off our Polls and estates from the Town of New Sharon aforesaid and annexing 

the same to the Town of Industry in the County of Somerset, by a line as follows, to-wit : beginning at the east corner of lot No. 84, in New Sharon on the westerly line of Industry, thence south forty-five degrees west about three-tenths of a mile to the East line of the Town of Farmington, and then to include all that part of New Sharon which lies to the northwest of said line, being lots No. 84 and 85, containing 

together, about one hundred and seventy acres. 

And as in duty bound will ever pray. 

(Signed)

Henry Smith

James Gower. 

Rufus Davis. 

The prayer of these petitioners was granted, and Gower's Mills (see p. 172) straightway became a part of the Town of Industry, and the inhabitants were annexed to school district No. 2, at Davis's (now Goodridge's) Corner, where their children had previously attended school. 

From online research, hopefully correct and hopefully with the right person, or at least the right family:

• Henry Smith, born 30 March 1795 at Hallowell, Maine.  If this is the correct Henry, he didn't live long in his new town, as he died on 19 November 1814 at Industry, Maine.
• James Gower, born 2 January 1778 at Topsham, Maine, son of Robert and Mary (Henry) Gower; married Susannah Norton at Industry, Maine on 2 September 1800; died at Farmington, Maine 13 September 1853.
• Rufus Davis, son of David and Sarah (Cousins) Davis, built a grist and saw mill at the outlet of Clearwater Pond in 1804.  He married Abigail Smith, daughter of Joseph and Abigail (Butler) Smith.

An online resource mentioned that many of the early settlers in this area were from the Edgartown, Massachusetts area and came from a sailing, rather than a farming, tradition.

Industry Historical Society

New Sharon Historical Society

Farmington Historical Society

Map of Industry, Maine [New Sharon is to the south.]


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1813 Law Establishing Boundaries of Belfast, Maine

"An Act to establish the boundaries of the town of Belfast, in the county of Hancock", as described in two pages of Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Passed by the General Court at Their Session, which Commenced on Wednesday the 26th Day of May, and Which Ended on the 16th Day of June, 1813.

Since 1827, Belfast has been located in Waldo County.

Chap. LIII.

An Act to establish the boundaries of the town of Belfast, in the county of Hancock.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, That the boundary lines of the said town of Belfast be, and they are hereby established as follows: beginning at the northerly corner of lot numbered fifty-four, in the fourth division of lots in said town, at a marked hemlock tree; thence running south by the town of Prospect one mile, one quarter and twenty-one rods, to Half-way creek; thence following the course of the channel of said Half-way creek, to a ledge of rocks, projecting from the side of Prospect, at the tide waters of Belfast bay; thence running south into said bay until said course intersects a line running due east from the mouth of Little river; thence running west to the said mouth of Little river; thence by the town of Northport, up said Little river, following the course of its ancient channel, which includes the island in said river, within the town of Belfast, to a marked yellow birch tree, standing on the west bank of said river, and at the south-easterly  corner of lot numbered one hundred and two, in the third division of lots, in said town of Belfast; thence by the town of Northport, running south sixty-eight degrees west, three miles, one quarter and four rods, to a marked yellow birch tree, at the south-westerly corner of lot numbered one, in the fourth division of lots, in said town of Belfast, and commonly known by the name of Chadwick's corner; thence running north twenty-two degrees west, by the unincorporated plantation of Green, four miles, three quarters and fifty-two rods, to a marked maple tree, at the north-westerly corner of lot numbered twenty-six, in the fourth division of lots, in said town of Belfast; thence by unincorporated lands running north sixty-eight degrees east, eight miles, one quarter and fifteen rods, to the hemlock tree first mentioned; Provided however, that nothing contained in this act shall be so construed as to affect the claims of individuals to the right of soil within said boundaries.

[Approved by the Governor, June 16, 1813.]

Note: Green Plantation incorporated as the town of Belmont on 5 February 1814.

Belfast, Maine, official website

Belfast Historical Society and Museum

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1813 Act to Incorporate the Town of St. Albans, Maine

"An Act to incorporate the township numbered five, in the fourth range of townships north of the Waldo patent, in the county of Somerset, as a town, by the name of St. Albans", as described in Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Passed by the General Court at Their Session, which Commenced on Wednesday the 26th Day of May, and Which Ended on the 16th Day of June, 1813

The Act incorporating the town of St. Albans, Maine, was approved by the Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts on June 14, 1813.

Transcript:

Chap. XXXII

An Act to incorporate the township numbered five, in the fourth range of townships north of the Waldo patent, in the county of Somerset, as a town, by the name of St. Albans.

Sec. 1. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, That the township numbered five, in the fourth range of townships north of the Waldo patent, in the county of Somerset, as contained within the following described boundaries, be, and the same is hereby incorporated as a town, by the name of St. Albans, viz. - North, by the township numbered five, in the fifth range; east, by the township numbered four, in the fourth range; east, by the township numbered four, in the fourth range; and west, partly by the town of Harmony, and partly by the township numbered three, in the first range of townships east of the Kennebeck River.  And the said town of St. Albans is hereby vested with all the corporate powers and privileges, and shall be also subject to the duties and requisitions of other corporate towns, according to the constitution and laws of this Commonwealth.

Sec. 2. Be it further enacted, That any Justice of the Peace for the county of Somerset, upon application therefor, is hereby authorized to issue a warrant, directed to a freeholder and inhabitant of the said town of St. Albans, requiring him to notify and warn the first meeting of the qualified freeholders and voters thereof, to meet at such convenient time and place as shall be appointed in the said warrant, for the choice of such officers as towns are by law required to choose, at their annual town meetings.

[Approved by the Governor, June 14, 1813.]

St. Albans, Maine, official town website

According to a source as of 2012, "The St. Albans Historical Society meets at 7:30 pm on the last Tuesday of the month at the Town Hall in the Historical Room."


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1813 Law Creating Town of Levant, Maine

"An Act to incorporate the inhabitants of Plantation number two, in the third range of townships, north of the Waldo Patent, in the county of Hancock, into a town by the name of Levant", as described in Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Passed by the General Court at Their Session, which Commenced on Wednesday the 26th Day of May, and Which Ended on the 16th Day of June, 1813.

Levant, Maine, has been part of Penobscot County since 1816, when that county was formed out of part of Hancock County.

Transcript:

Chap. XXVII

An Act to incorporate the inhabitants of Plantation numbered two, in the third range of townships, north of the Waldo Patent, in the county of Hancock, into a town, by the name of Levant.

Sec. 1.  Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, That the Plantation numbered two, in the third range, north of the Waldo Patent, in the county of Hancock, as contained within the following described boundaries, be, and hereby is established a town, by the name of Levant, viz. east by township numbered one, in the third range; north by township numbered two, in the fourth range, (now Corinth); south by townships numbered two and three in the second range; and west by the township granted to Leicester Academy.  And the inhabitants of the said town of Levant are hereby vested with all the powers and privileges, and shall also be subject to all the duties and requisitions of other towns, according to the constitution and laws of this Commonwealth.

Sec. 2.  Be it further enacted, That upon application therefor, any Justice of the Peace for the county of Hancock is hereby authorised to issue a warrant, directed to a freeholder and inhabitant of the said town of Levant, requiring him to notify and warn a meeting of the inhabitants there, to meet at such convenient time and place as shall be appointed in the said warrant, for the choice of such officers as towns are by law required to choose at their annual town meetings.

[Approved by the Governor, June 14, 1813.]

Note: The Leicester Academy Grant is now Stetson, Maine.

Town of Levant, official site


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1813 Law Creating Town of Freedom, Maine, from Beaver Hill Plantation

"An Act to incorporate the plantation heretofore called Beaver Hill, into a town, by the name of Freedom", as described in Laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Passed by the General Court at Their Session, which Commenced on Wednesday the 26th Day of May, and Which Ended on the 16th Day of June, 1813

Approved by the Governor on June 11, 1813.

Transcript:

Chap. XXII

An Act to incorporate the plantation heretofore called Beaver Hill, into a town, by the name of Freedom.

Sec. 1.  Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives, in General Court assembled, and by the authority of the same, That the plantation heretofore called Beaver Hill, in the county of Kennebeck, as described within the following boundaries, be, and the same is hereby incorporated into a town, by the name of Freedom, viz. Northerly on the town of Unity, easterly on the town of Montville, southerly on the town of Palermo, and westerly on the town of Fairfax; and the said town of Freedom is hereby vested with all the powers and privileges, and shall be also subject to the like duties and requisitions of other corporate towns, according to the constitution and laws of this Commonwealth.

Sec. 2.  Be it further enacted, That any Justice of the Peace for the county of Kennebeck, is hereby authorized to issue a warrant, directed to a freeholder and inhabitant of the said town of Freedom, requiring him to notify and warn a meeting of the qualified voters therein, to meet at such convenient time and place as shall be appointed in the said warrant, for the choice of such officers as towns are by law required to choose, at their annual town meetings.

[Approved by the Governor, June 11, 1813.]

Note:  The Town of Fairfax, incorporated in 1804, changed its name to Albion in 1824.

Town of Freedom, Maine official website
Freedom Historical Society

Map of Freedom, Maine, located in Waldo County


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