Did you ever hear how the administration of Andrew Jackson had such a\u00a0treasury surp I us that they actua Ily d Istri buted the left-over among the severa I\u00a0states? In 1952, when the national debt is mounting rapidly toward 300 bl I lion\u00a0dollars, it seems fantastic to think that our federal government ever had an\u00a0accumulated surplus, and even more fantastic to believe that Congressmen found\u00a0no way to spend it, wisely or foolishly, but voted to distribute it among the\u00a0states.<\/p>\n
That happened 116 years ago, In 1836, and the State of Maine decided to\u00a0distribute Its share of the surplus to its taxpaying citizens, on an equal\u00a0basis, in the form of silver coins.<\/p>\n
Thanks again to Steve Wing, who has so often helped us with material for\u00a0these programs, we know what some of our Maine citizens did with their share of\u00a0the federal distribution. For in Mr. Wing’s possession is a si Iver serving\u00a0spoon, on the back of whose bowl is inscribed: “Property of John H. Quimby.<\/p>\n
Belfast, Maine. Made from coin paid him by the UAited States under the Act of\u00a0Congress, 1836, d i stri but,j rig the surp I us revenue”.<\/p>\n
I suspected there were other omissions besides those called to my attention.\u00a0immediately after the broadcast three weeks ago, when I mentioned names of present\u00a0business firms that were In business under the same name in 1909. I assure\u00a0you none of those omissions were intentional, nor were they due to carelessness.<\/p>\n
Some of them happened because for no known reason the 1909 Maine Register does\u00a0not list the name. In other instances my own ignorance was the cause. I simply\u00a0did not recognize certain names in the 1909 Register as present firms,\u00a0But whatever the reason for previous omission, we are now glad to make two\u00a0notab Ie add i ti ons to the I 1st. The firm of GI deon Piche r, now on Water Street,\u00a0was doing business in 1909 at No.8 Main Street, and George A. Oaviau operated\u00a0what is sti II Daviau’s Drug Store at the corner of Water and Gray Streets.<\/p>\n
Mr. Horace Goodwin of Benton has shown me a Civil War letter written to\u00a0his grandfather, Charles Goodwin, by a friend, Charles Pratt, in the first\u00a0months of the war in 1861. The letter was written, In fact, when the war had\u00a0scarce~y begun. It is dated CI;Duds Mi lis, Fairfax County, Virginia, July 13,\u00a01 861. I treads:<\/p>\n
“Friend Charles. I received your favor of the 7th last Tuesday, and was\u00a0very glad to hear from you.\u00a0have it pretty hot here, but\u00a0am hearty and rugged and right on my musc Ie. We\u00a0guess it Is not much hotter than you have it at\u00a0home. Henry Rideout writes me that the thermometer ranges from 80 to 100. That\u00a0is full as hot as we have had it here. It is quite cool today. We had a fine\u00a0shower last night, and it cleared the air from all impurities. What a shower\u00a0is like here you can judge when I tell you that last Tuesday it rained two and a\u00a0half inches in half an hour. We have had three just such showers since we came\u00a0into Washington. The country is 50 rough and hi \/ly that the streets are a perfect\u00a0brook. It rained the day we marched up here from the City to our first encampment\u00a01 and in some p I aces in the road the water was knee deep, and down one\u00a0hi I I that we marched It was running in the road to a depth of four inches, over\u00a0our shoes for more than twenty rods.<\/p>\n
“A couple of prisoners were taken last night. The New York Zouaves took\u00a0one and lost one of their own. We are in the enemy’s country now, within ten\u00a0mil es of Fa I rfax Court House I <\/em>and next Monday we sha II <\/em>move up three miles\u00a0nearer, from our brigade, and then go on to the courthouse. I expect we shall\u00a0then have some pretty hot work, but one good thing is we sha II not have to\u00a0march there. They have got the cars to runn ing on the road to Rt chmond. Yes …\u00a0terday they bui It a bridge over a stream about four mi les from here. In fact ‘-}L\u00a0<\/em>they built” two bridges, one for the railroad and one for teams. The picket has\u00a0just come in and reports that three more prisoners were taken last night, but I\u00a0cannot vouch for the truth of the report. We are continua Ily hearing stories of\u00a0some kind; some are true and others are not. I t has been repo rted that some of\u00a0our men have been pardoned (probab Iy the wri ter meant paroled), but I t Is no\u00a0such thing. We have not lost a man yet in any way, but some of ours have been\u00a0fired upon when out on picket guard, but not hurt.<\/p>\n ”We I ive high here, I tell you. We have plenty of pork and beef, wIth rice\u00a0and beans once a week each, and tea and coffee in any quantity. There is any\u00a0quantity of blackberrIes here. Whenever we can get out of camp, we can always\u00a0get three or four quarts. Then we persuade the cook to let us have a kett Ie to\u00a0stew them in. He always lets us have the kettle, but swears we shan’t have any ]\/\/\u00a0sugar to sweeten them with, but as soon as his back is turned one of us slips\u00a0in with a dipper, supposedly to get a little water. He fi lis It with sugar,\u00a0and we can’t find that the cook is any worse off for It. We are the poorest\u00a0peop Ie you ever saw wi th regard to money. I’ll bet there is not twenty-f I ve\u00a0dollars in the whole regiment, officers and all. You see I myself am pretTy\u00a0low. have to use this official government paper for the want of a few cents\u00a0to buy some better. I should not have this paper if the wind had not blown the\u00a0adjutant’s tent over, and this piece got wet and spoilt for their use. I hope\u00a0we shall get some money soon. now find it Is true abou+ those last three prisoners\u00a0being taken. Some of our 4th Regiment” pickets took them first, but they\u00a0got away. Then some of the Zouaves saw them and took after them-. There were\u00a0only four of the Zouaves, and only one of them had his gun. The others had only\u00a0kn i ves \u2022 They fo I lowed the Rebs a I mos t to the I r camp, go i ng some ways ins f de the\u00a0Rebel pickets without getting hurt. There is nothing in this world that those\u00a0Zouaves fear. The Rebe Is cat I them the red devils. The i r un I form Is a red\u00a0jacket and cap, wi th blue pants. They go just where theyp lease. I f a guard\u00a0stops them, they just hit him over the eye and pass. They say they are going\u00a0on to Richmond with us as an advance guard to clear the way.<\/p>\n “While I have been writing this, the Zouaves have just come down on the\u00a0railroad with ten more prisoners. They are snaking them right in, and say they\u00a0have two more coming on behind.<\/p>\n “It is now after drill, and I wi II try to finish this letter. There Is another\u00a0shower right upon us. I have learned the full particulars of the capture\u00a0of the Rebe Is today. I t appears they were a party of scouts that were led by\u00a0a spy, one that has been a II through our camps. He had no un i form, and of\u00a0course he could pass the guards. But finally they caught him napping. A party\u00a0of Zouaves were out on a scout and came upon an old negro bui Iding fence. He had\u00a0on a mi I I tary jacket, and they sme It a rat. They asked the negro I f he was a lone.\u00a0He said ‘No, there was 15 more close by’. The major told him to show them where\u00a0the 15 were. He said he would as soon as he fixed his fence. They asked what he\u00a0was bu II ding fence for. He sa Id there were some cows ins I de, and un less he\u00a0fixed It, the cows would run away. Soon the negro led them right to where the\u00a0Rebs were hiding. The Rebs took to their heels like foxes before hounds. They\u00a0were armed with rifles, revolvers and Bowie knIves, whi Ie the Zouaves had only\u00a0the I r bayonets and kn I ves. The Zouaves chased the Rebs about ha I f a mi Ie when\u00a0the Rebels ran into a party of Maine boys that had just been relieved from picket\u00a0duty. Jumping up, these Maine boys stopped the Rebs, who threw away their\u00a0arms. Up came the Red Devils and claimed the prisoners. They only got four be~\u00a0sides the old negro. But hearing that the other ten had somehow got away, they\u00a0put after them full chase and finally rounded up all but three.<\/p>\n “I have written about enough. One word for Frank and then I will close.\u00a0(Frank was Charles Goodwin’s wife Frances.) Tell her that, if she misses my\u00a0morning calls any I’IDre than I do, she must have thought a great deal of them.\u00a0I dare not a II ow myse I f to th ink of such past enjoyments for fear It w III make\u00a0me homesick. must close now, for the drum has beat for dri II again. Give my\u00a0love to all the folks. Goodby for this time. Yours as ever, Chas. H. Pratt”<\/p>\n Thanks to that very helpful listener, Emery Hegarty, I have seen the assessment\u00a0book for the town of Watervll Ie for the year 1847. As most of you know\u00a0that is one of my favorite years in local history, a year into whose records I\u00a0keep digging so that some day I hope to have a clear picture of what was going\u00a0on in business, industry, education, religion and social life in that year, a\u00a0hundred and five years ago, when Dr. Valorus Cool rdge murdered Edward Mathews.<\/p>\n Quite by accident I found the records of the town liquor agent in 1847,\u00a0for it was that record book in which had later been pasted the first prescriptions\u00a0of the old drug store that is now Dexter’s. Now we add to these interesting\u00a0items the Waterville Assessors’ records for 1847.\u00a0The first name in the book is Waterville’s famous doctor, Moses Appleton,\u00a0who is down for $5,500. In respect to real estate, Watervi lie’s richest man\u00a0was Nathaniel Gilman, whose real property was assessed at $20,550. Timothy Boutelle,\u00a0at one time reputed to be nearly as wealthy as Gilman, had land and buildings\u00a0assessed at only $9,400. Both V. p. 0001 idge and Ed Mathews, the man he\u00a0murdered, have their names in this book, but neither owned any real estate. C.\u00a0S. Hathaway, founder of one of Watervil Ie’s great industries, was then a young\u00a0man. He was down for only a thousand dollars\u00a0The Moors (spelled “MOOR”) were lawyers and mi.ll owners. Daniel Moor was\u00a0assessed $4,000 and W. B. Moor $3,850. Esty and Kimbal I, other mi I I owners,\u00a0were put “down for $4,900.\u00a0The Marstons owned a lot of property in 1847. Joseph paid a tax on $4,250,\u00a0Oliver on $3,000, Isaiah on $3,500, Thomas on $2,550.\u00a0Ed Mathews was a descendent of Watervi I Ie’s patri arch, Simeon Mathews, who\u00a0had built a big house on Sliver Street. Simeon. had died before 1847, but the\u00a0assessment book lists the Simeon Mathews estate at\u00b7 $6,700. Char les, the bookseller\u00a0and stationer, owned no real estate, but John was put down for more\u00a0than his dead father’s whole estate, $6,825.<\/p>\n The Merrills, too, had property. Jediah was listed at $5,950, Josiah at\u00a0$4,300, and Ephraim at $2,400, while the younger Morrills — Jediah Jr., Josiah,\u00a0Jr., Abraham and Nathan — were assessed respectively for $1,100, $700, $1,450\u00a0and $750.\u00a0The only Morses listed in 1847 were Horatio and Eben, neither for any real\u00a0estate. McKechnles stili lived In Waterville in 1847. The founder of the famIly,\u00a0John McKechnie, who had made the famous survey to which most Waterville\u00a0real estate titles go back, was long since dead, but two of his thirteen children\u00a0owned Watervi lie rea I est~te in 1847. A lexander was It sted for $1,600\u00a0and Obadiah for $200. John’s grandson and Alexander’s son, Erastus, was living\u00a0on a farm on the Oakland road when the Centennial History of Waterville was pubI\u00a0i shed just fifty years ago. That h I story a Iso says that Obadiah was burled In\u00a0the same cemetery with his father, in Watervi lie’s first burying ground on the\u00a0south side of Mi” Street, now Western Avenue.<\/p>\n The only Colby faculty member who is listed as owning property was Professor\u00a0Loomis, the chemist who examined the stomach of the murdered Mathews and\u00a0found the prussic acid. His house was assessed at $400.\u00a0Three of the Percivals — Homer, Sumner and Joseph — had among them property\u00a0assessed at $5,600. Of the Redingtons, only Samuel was In the upper :1:’::,’\u00a0brackets, with $9,925, although Si las had a comfortable $4,000. Isaac was down\u00a0for $2,850. Asa, who was then a young man, scarcely starting on his commendable\u00a0road to fortune, was I isted for $650, only $150 more than Harriet’s $500.\u00a0Next to Nathan ie I Gi I man, Watervi lie’s biggest taxpayer in 1847 was James\u00a0stackpole, whose many holdings amounted to an assessment of $12,800.<\/p>\n One of the group of doctors who performed the autopsy on Ed Mathews’\u00a0body was Dr. Stephen Thayer. His property was set at $3,7QO, and three other\u00a0Thayers had together $6,800.\u00a0The Gatchel Is were substantial citizens. William and Walter, in business\u00a0together, paid a tax on $10,000, whi Ie Nehemiah’s property was listed at $4,500\u00a0and Homer’s at $2,800. The Phi Ibrlcks, too, had become prominent, John befng\u00a0assessed for $7,250. Well In the running were the Prays and the Plaisteds -Robert\u00a0P;ray for $5,800 and Samuel Plaisted for $4,150.\u00a0In the whole book, with Its 708 listed taxpayers, there were no surnames\u00a0beginning with O,.Q, U, V, X or Z. And get this, among the 708 there is not a\u00a0single French-Canadian name. The French had not come in 1847, at least not In\u00a0any numbers to be property holders and tax payers. Today French names appear\u00a0In any list of Waterv! lie’s substantial citizens.<\/p>\n What other property was taxed In 1847 besides real estate? Cows were uniformly\u00a0assessed at $20. Horses ranged from $20 to $60, oxen from $60 to $80 a\u00a0pair, young cattle for $10. Sheep were listed at $2, hogs at $6, hay at $7 a\u00a0ton.\u00a0Either the goods stocked by Watervl lie merchants In 1847 we re few, or the\u00a0assessors overlooked a lot. The largest stock assessed was Daniel lord’s for\u00a0$2,000. Charles Thayer and Johnson Woodbury each were dOltn for stock ,of\u00a0$1,500, John Bradbury for $1,000, Steves and Clark for $400, James West and P.\u00a0Hi II for $200 each, and Clark Stanley for $50. Those are all the merchants whose\u00a0stock was taxed In Waterville in 1847 — just eight of them.\u00a0Only four citizens paid taxes on carriages. Harrison Smith and Hiram Crowell\u00a0had vehicles listed at $100 each; 01 iver Marston!s was $50; and K. Marston\u00a0was put down for a chaise at $25.\u00a0After the name of Wi II lam Coombs appears this notation: lip r I vate p rope rty\u00a0to be taken from the cows by request. House r.lt the Village near the Penstock\u00a0assessed to Wi II iam Coombs Is owned by his wife.”\u00a0Set down as Joseph Smith’s property was one-half the old printing office\u00a0and one-half of the pool.\u00a0William Ellis is assessed $100 for a loft in the Boutelle Block. Alfred\u00a0Wins low had to pay a tax on $157 for hoi ding 45 cords of bark; seven men were\u00a0taxed for debts due, ranging from $100 to $500; and Nathan Freeman’s stored oats\u00a0were hit for $500.<\/p>\n Getting Interested In the re latlve number of horses and oxen owned In Waterville\u00a0in 1847, I went through the whole book,page by page, carefully counting\u00a0the listed horses and oxen. Horses were owned by 48 different taxpayers, none\u00a0of whom owned more than two horses, and on Iy nine of the 48 owners had more than\u00a0one. The tota I number of taxed horses In Watervi I Ie In 1847 was on Iy 57.\u00a0Oxen were not as numerous as I would have guessed. They were owned by 72\u00a0men, none of whom owned more than two yoke, but 12 men did own two yoke each.\u00a0The total number of oxen was 84 yoke, or 168 oxen. Certainly, with only 57\u00a0horses and 168 oxen, Waterville was not noted for its beasts of burden a hundred\u00a0years ago.<\/p>\n Year: 1952<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Read the script for “Little Talks” program #142, broadcast on March 30, 1952<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":405,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[787,35296],"tags":[],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7307"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/405"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7307"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7307\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7307"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7307"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7307"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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