Lincoln County occupies a middle
place on the coast of Maine in respect to population, and no
county of equal territory has so many harbors and havens. It is
much cut up by arms of the sea and pond-like rivers, but there
are no great variations of altitude in the surface. Damariscotta
River occupies nearly the middle line of the county, extending
from north to south. East of this and parallel thereto is the
line of Muscongus Bay, its extension inland as Broad Bay, and
Medomac River. Parallel on the west is the Sheepscot River, with
its excellent harbor. This county is bounded on the east by Knox
County, west by Sagadahoc and Kennebec, and north by the last,
Waldo and Knox, and south by the ocean The Knox & Lin. r.r.
crosses it.
Lincoln County was established in 1760, at the same time with
Cumberland County. The easterly line of Cumberland was then the
westerly line of Lincoln. “From the time of its formation until
the erection of Hancock and Washington Counties in 1789, Lincoln
extended over quite three-fifths of the territory of the
province.” Its westerly line was ‘from Small Point
north-westerly upon Casco Bay to New Meadows River, and up said
river to Steven’s carrying place at the head of said river, and
up said river 30 miles ; then north two degrees west on a true
course to the utmost limit of the province. Its north was
Canada, its east Nova Scotia, and its south the ocean. Hancock
County came across Penobscot Bay and river, and took in nearly
the whole of the Waldo
patent. In 1799, the
organization of Kennebec took four-fifths of what. remained
after the formation of Hancock. Lincoln then continued
undisturbed until 1827, when it parted with six towns to form
Waldo; and it had an equal run of time again, down to the
organization of Androscoggin and Sagadahoc, in 1854, when the
former received three towns from it, and the latter was made
entirely from it.” In 1860 (the centennial of Lincoln County),
Knox County was organized, taking from her nine more towns,
leaving the arent county with but 17 towns and a plantation to
her name. In still earlier time this region had been claimed by
France as a part of her territory of Acadie; later, it was known
as Sagadahoc Territory; and in 1665, the Duke of York
(subsequently James II.), to whom it had been granted by the
King, erected it into the County of Cornwall,— Jamestown, at
Pemaquid, being the capital, and New Dartmouth (Newcastle), a
shire town.
At the outbreak of King Philip’s war, in 1675, the settlements
of Cornwall, scattered over a wide extent of country, embraced
some 300 families. Under the prudent management of Abraham Shurt,
the chief magistrate of this county, a larger degree of amity
had been maintained with the Indians than in other parts ; and
the inhabitants of this region did not suffer so severely during
the first year of the war as those in the westerly settlements.
In the second year, however, Old Cornwall was likewise swept
with the besom of destruction; and thenceforth until 1700 the
settlements were deserted, or the inhabitants who remained were
in terror of savage attacks, with only brief intervals of
repose. In 1688, the County of Cornwall was entirely depopulated
and desolated by the Indians under the lead of Moxus. Sir
William Phips, first governor of Massachusetts under William and
Mary, was desirous of doing something, if possible, to recover
from the dominion of the savage the land of his youth; and in
1692 he built in place of Fort Charles, which had been
destroyed, a fortification of stone, naming it Fort William
Henry. In 1696, M. Iberville, with a force of French and
Indians, entered the harbor and invested the place, and by means
of artillery succeeded in forcing its surrender.
It was not until 1729 that the permanent re-peopling of Old
Cornwall commenced. At this time Col. David Dunbar, who had been
commissioned surveyor-general of the King’s
woods, and
deputy-governor in the eastern parts of New England, repaired
Fort William Henry, also re-naming it Fort Frederick. He set
vigorously at work to settle the county. To actual settlers he
made grants of a homestead of 10 or 12 acres, and 100 acres of
farm land. The settlers brought in by Colonel Dunbar were
largely Protestant English, with some Scotch and Irish
Presbyterians; and by his aid the Presbyterian church became
established as the prevailing phase of religion in this county
until after the Revolution.
At the same time with the formation of the county, was
incorporated Pownalboro, its shire town, which was named for
Thomas Pownal—at that date governor of Massachusetts. His
birth-place was
Lincoln, England, a city famous for its antiquity and its noble
cathedral; and thus Governor Pownal appears to have been further
complimented in the name of the new county.
Lincoln County has 180 public schoolhouses, and her school
property at the close of 1879 was valued at $89,250. The
valuation of the county in 1870 was $6,857,610. In 1880 it was
$6,634,693. The population in 1870 was 25,597. In 1880 it was
24,809.
Source: Varney, George J., Gazetteer of the
State of Maine. Boston: B. B. Russell, 1886. |
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