A few weeks ago that interesting columnist in the Watervi I Ie Sentinel, who\u00a0ca lis himself “Ima Wanderer”, referred to an old stage route from Augusta to\u00a0Bangor in an almanac of the year 1829. Irna Wanderer was a bit puzzled about the\u00a0stage stops cal led Harlem and Fairfax. am sure that severa I of his readers\u00a0must have informed the columnist promptly about those towns, because a lot of\u00a0our older people know that Harlem was the original name for the town of China,\u00a0as Fairfax was for the town of Albion.<\/p>\n
appreciate Ima Wanderer’s difficulty in reconci lin9 the distances listed\u00a0in the old almanac, because I have had the same difficulty more than once. The\u00a0reason is that many changes have taken place in the highways. Often, even the\u00a0old roads in use fifty years ago and since abandoned were not the roads of 125\u00a0years ago. Those older roads have, in many instances, so grown up to bushes,\u00a0or been so p lowed under, that they are no longer di scernab Ie at a I I.<\/p>\n
The only thing we can be sure of concerning that 1829 route from Augusta\u00a0to Bangor is that it went from Vassalboro to China, and we know that early in\u00a0the nineteenth century there was a well-traveled road through the Oak Grove\u00a0grounds, from the river road to North Vassalboro, and from there straight on\u00a0to China Village. \\1hether there was also a road from Getchell’s Corner to China\u00a0Vi Ilage, as early as 1829, I do not know. But of one thing we <\/em>are sure. In the\u00a0old records Vassalboro, when used as a location or post office, always meant\u00a0GeTche II’s Corner.<\/p>\n That stage route from Augusta to Bangor, through China, Albion and Unity,\u00a0and over the Dixmont Hi I Is, was not the only stage line between the state capitol\u00a0and the big town on the Penobscot. Another line came up the east side of\u00a0the Kennebec to Wi ns low, then out the Gar I and Road to Benton Fa I Is, whe re the \u00a0stopping place was the venerable Reed Tavern, now the home of Colby’s public\u00a0relations director, Dick Dyer.<\/p>\n From Benton the line went through the forme r Un i ty PI antati on to Un i ty,\u00a0and from there traversed the sama route as the line that ran through Ch ina and\u00a0A I b i on.<\/p>\n Very early in the nineteenth century there was a regular stage line between\u00a0Skowhegan and Bangor, fol lowing almost exactly the route of present U.S.\u00a0Route 2, through Canaan and Palmyra to Newport. A dai Iy stage between Watervi\u00a0lie and Skowhegan made connecti ons with that tri -weekly line. Shortly before\u00a0the bui J ding of the ra i I road between Watervi I Ie and Bangor in the 1850! s, therewas a stage J i ne between VJatervi I Ie and Bangor by way of Pittsfie Id and Newport, \u00a0but between Newport and Bangor that line ran sorrewhat west of the present\u00a0automobile route, going west of Etna, through Stetson and Levant.<\/p>\n Anyhow, we are grateful to Ima Wanderer for bringing up again the subject\u00a0of the stage lines. We always find his column worth reading, whether he writes\u00a0it in Watervi lie or in Florida.<\/p>\n On thi s program I have often referred to the mi I itia companies in Maine a\u00a0hundred years ago, but I can’t reca II that we have ever di scussed the law under\u00a0wh i ch the mil it i a was organ i zed. The act passed by the fi rst Ma i ne legi sl ature\u00a0in 1820 was, of course, based on the Massachusetts mi litia act, and cal led\u00a0for the service of every able-bodied man between 21 and 45 years of age, except\u00a0Judges of the Supreme Court, officers who had held commissions for at least five\u00a0years, and mi n i sters .\u2022 The re was, moreove r, a long list of pe rsons who we re excused \u00a0from acti ve mi lit i a duty or even annua I muster in peace t i rre. Those excused\u00a0persons were obliged, however, to keep themselves supplied constantly with\u00a0arms and equipment, in case the companies to which they were nominally attached\u00a0shou I d be ca I led into act i ve se rvi ce \u2022 Amon~ the pe rsons who had th is p ri vi lege\u00a0of no mi Ii ti a dri II ~ but who must be ready incase of emergency, were members\u00a0of the Governor’s Counci I, judges of common pleas and their clerks, judges and\u00a0registers of probate, just,ices of the peace, sheriffs and their deputies, and\u00a0coroners. Simi I ar Iy excused were off i cers of any co II ege, theo logi ca I semi nary \u00a0or academy; also regularly employed schoolmasters, all physicians and surgeons,\u00a0and students of divinity.<\/p>\n Men between the ages of 45 and 55, whi Ie exempt from acti ve servi ce, were\u00a0ob I i ged, like those in the previ ous list, to be ready wi th arms and equi pment\u00a0in case of emergency. But those older men must have their arms and equipment \u00a0inspected annually at the muster point, and for some reason not made clear in\u00a0the statute, they had to pay to their town treasurers $2.00 a year.<\/p>\n Section 5 of Maine’s original mi litia act provided that 1rthe several divisions\u00a0of the Mi li”tia shall be numbered in ascending arithmetical order, so\u00a0that the division now cal led the sixth under Massachusetts law shall be the\u00a0first, and others shall retain their numerical relation thereto, and every division\u00a0shall be designated by the number next higher “than that of the division\u00a0established next before it. Divisions shall take rank according to their numbe\u00a0rs, the first be i ng highest in rank.<\/p>\n In the early days the mi litia companies elected Thei r own officers. The\u00a0law provided: H\\’Jhen any field officer of a regiment. captain or subaltern offi\u00a0cer of any company:l sha II remove from the Ii mi ts of his command, the Governor\u00a0sha I I di scharge such offi ~r and order a new e lecti on.<\/p>\n The 1820 statute took care of continuance of existing officers in Maine\u00a0companies,who he Id commissions under the Governor of Massachusetts, by requi ring\u00a0the Governor of Maine to give them new commissions.<\/p>\n The annual musters were festal affairs, much like the county fairs of a\u00a0later day. There were pedd lers and entertainers, and a great dea I of Yankee\u00a0horse trading. Cider and New England rum flowed freely. It was difficult to\u00a0keep any sort of order, for the independent Maine Yankees were inclined to pay\u00a0little attention to officers’ commands.<\/p>\n Even before Maine became a separate state, mi litia companies were distributed\u00a0a II over the Di stri ct of t~ai ne. The i r importance is shown by orders i ssued\u00a0from Boston in 1807. Those orders read: ”To deter the hosti Ie invader\u00a0and suppress the lawless hopes of domestic ambition, the Mi litia must be formidable.<\/p>\n The state of things abroad is unsettled. On this side of the Atlantic\u00a0the public tranqui lity has in some instances been disturbed. The general\u00a0safety sti II requires that all be vigi lant.” The order continued to state:<\/p>\n “The superintendence of the major generals over their respective divisions is\u00a0highly important. Their personal presence at the reviews excites emulation\u00a0in the ranks and attracts favorable public attention. The brigadier qenerals,\u00a0residing in the midst of their troop, have it greatly in their power to direct\u00a0their movements, restrain irregularities, and inspire individuals under their\u00a0command with the zea I of so I di ers.\u00a0Just as in the regu I ar army, men in the mi Ii ti a were subject to court martial.<\/p>\n In June” 1811, for instance, Lt. John Springer was tried on complaint of\u00a0his company commander, Captain Reuel Howard. The captain charged that the lieutenant\u00a0fai led to appear for the annual inspection in May and had shown unmi litary\u00a0conduct by encouraging a non-commissioned officer and certain privates to\u00a0behave with contempt toward Capt. Howard in disobedience of his command. He\u00a0further charged that Springer had encouraged certain privates and non-corns to\u00a0quit the company and had joined in an unlawful combination to resist orders of\u00a0the commanding officer. Specifically Springer was accused of declaring, in the\u00a0presence of company privates, that after inspection Capt. Howard had no business\u00a0with the soldiers, had no authority over them, and the men had the right to go\u00a0where they p I eased.<\/p>\n The court found Lt. Spri ng~r gui Ity on four of the fi ve counts and he was\u00a0sentenced to be reprimanded in official orders. The sentence was then passed\u00a0on to the Division commander, Major General Sewal I, who appended to the document\u00a0of sentence hi s own comment in these words: “The Major Genera I must express\u00a0his surprise that an officer of Lt. Springer’s intelligence should have\u00a0been so lost to all sense of common decorum, but especially of mi litary propriety,\u00a0as to be gui Ity of so flagrant a violation. As it appears that a novel\u00a0explanation of the 18th section of the mi litia law has been advanced by this\u00a0officer — namely, that a captain has no authority to train, exercise, or discipline\u00a0his company on the first Tuesday of May, because the law has specially\u00a0assigned that day for inspection — I would correct so dangerous a doctrine\u00a0be fore any further ends are produced by it. It i s conc I us i ve that, wheneve r a\u00a0captain has his company assembled in arms, he may exercise them in any manner\u00a0authorized in his commission, and his subordinate officers are bound to obey_\u00a0The crime of which Lt. Springer has been convicted is of a mutinous nature and\u00a0subversive of that subordination without which the militia would be a lawless\u00a0mob.”<\/p>\n Sometimes it was a company commander himself who was tried by court marti\u00a0a I. In 1818 the fo II owi ng order went out from Augusta: “A court of i nqui ry\u00a0wi II sit at the dwelling house of Richard Thomas in Winslow on Monday, January\u00a025, 1818, at 11 a.m., in order to i nvesti gate the conduct of Capt. I saac Spencer\u00a0of the Third Regiment, relative to certain accusations made against him byJonathan Brown and other soldiers in the company of hi s command. ~J1ajor Genera I \u00a0John Moore, one captain from the First Regiment, and one from the Second Regiment\u00a0wi I I compose the court. The court wi II pay no attenti on to rumors or prejudiced\u00a0statements, but wi II please give their opinion on the rrerits of the\u00a0case. ”<\/p>\n We do not know the outcome of that case nor of what the captain was accused,\u00a0but the fact that it happened at a II shows that the I aw protected the\u00a0mi litiamen from any tyrannical commander. Subordinates in a mi,litia company\u00a0could bring charges against superiors,even against the commanding officer .. and\u00a0have those accusations judged in a formal court martial.<\/p>\n Year: 1957<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Read the script for “Little Talks” program #357, Broadcast on December 1, 1957<\/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":[761,35296],"tags":[],"builder_content":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7796"}],"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=7796"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7796\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7796"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7796"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/web.colby.edu\/csc-home\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7796"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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