<\/p>\n
So many years have passed since the first Kennebec Valley farms were settled that few of them today remain in the original family, that is, in the hands of decedents of the original settler. One farm in the Waterville area that is now owned by a fifth generation descendant of the man who cleared the land is the big Goodwin dairy farm in Benton. It is situated on the river road running along the east side of the Kennebec from Benton Station to Hinckley Bridge. The Goodwin dairy farm is about half a mile north of Fitzpatrick’s Dairy at a place called Goodwin’s Corner, where the Wyman Road joins the River Road.<\/p>\n
The dairy is now operated by Horace Goodwin and his two sons. The sons, of course, are in the sixth generation from the founder. Stephen Goodwin came to this place on the Kennebec when it was primeval forest. Because all documents describe his as a settler’s lot, we may confidently assume that he received his square mile of land under settler terms from the Proprietors of the Kennebec Purchase. Stephen came to the place in 1772, only 23 years after that group of Boston merchants and professional men had bought from the heirs of the four owners in 1661 the huge tract of land fifteen miles
\non each side of the Kennebec from the Cobbossee Stream to Caratunk Falis.<\/p>\n
Those four men had bought it in 1661 from the Plymouth Colony, which had received it in a grant from the British King in 1629. In order to get settlers on their lands the Kennebec Proprietors used various methods, sometimes, as in Winslow, they sold a large piece to another group who got the settlers. Sometimes they gave one man an extra large lot if he would get others. But in many cases, single lots of various sizes were granted directly to settlers. In most instances the settler was required to build a house, usually a simple log cabin, 20 feet square and 8 foot stand, within two years get an acre under cultivation, within five years have a specified number of additional acres in tillage and pasture. At the end of seven years he was given a warranty deed to the land. Thus an enterprising man and his sons could clear a productive farm from the primeval forest and own it free and clear without paying a cent of money for the land. That is what Stephen Goodwin did, and his settler’s lot was a big one, a mile wide and extending a mile back from the river. That is 640 acres, unusually large for a single lot in one of the Kennebec settler’s grants.<\/p>\n
Of course, as years went by, that original lot was broken into smaller pieces. Old deeds preserved by Horace Goodwin also reveal that one of sons, Miles Goodwin, not only bought additional land from his father before Stephen died, but also bought at least one piece from another owner of land adjoining Stephen’s. Miles Goodwin became a very prosperous farmer. Among the old documents are loans he made to other persons, and numerous transactions of land and commodities. <\/p>\n
Conditions were indeed primitive when Stephen Goodwin came to Benton in 1772. It was not then even Benton, but was a part of the big town of Clinton that began at the Winslow line. Long after Stephen arrived, the southern half was set off as Sebasticook and later still became the town of Benton, there was no highway up the river when Stephen Goodwin cleared his farm. The river was a highway for small craft between Ticonic Falls and the falls at Skowhegan, but any large boat could not get above the high Ticonic Falls at Waterville, and every small boat that went farther had to be portaged around those falls.<\/p>\n
When the early settlers above Ticonic wanted to get their grain to a mill for grinding, they had to take it to Augusta until John McKechnie built his mill on the Messalonskee at Waterville in 1775. Because of the difficulty of the portage around Ticonic Falls, Stephen Goodwin took his grain to Augusta on horseback over the old trail that had been used for centuries by the Kennebec Indians. When he got to Winslow, from there to Augusta, he had the rough road that had been built in 1754 by Governor Shirley to connect Fort Halifax with Fort Western, and since 1754 part of that old road had seen some improvement. In fact, in 1771, just one year before Stephen Goodwin came to Benton, the towns of Vassalboro and Winslow had both been incorporated by the Massachusetts General Court.<\/p>\n
It was not many years before the number of settlers along the east side of the river in Benton warranted a definite roadway, not a mere bridle path, but at best those early roads were crude. One reason why goods were transported over
\nthose roads in two-wheeled carts with enormous wheels was to enable the axle to be set high enough to pass over boulders left in the road.<\/p>\n
There is a family tradition that while Stephen Goodwin was on one trip to the mill, a bear got away with his pigs. On his return, when Stephen learned of the loss, he immediately took his musket and went after that bear. Down near the
\nriver bank he came upon the animal, which oddly had not killed the pig, but was playing with it. Stephen killed the bear and brought the pig home.<\/p>\n
Just north of Goodwin Corner is the old family cemetery of the Goodwins, in which lie the bones of several generations of Goodwins and their neighbors. The old slate stones that marked the graves of Shephen and those of his generation are broken and their markings are illegible, but those of his descendants are well marked. There is a fine stone indicating the grave of Stephen’s prosperous son Miles. As in all old cemeteries, there are in this one numerous tiny graves for children, a reminder of the very high infant and child mortality of the early 19th century. Young children used to die of diseases that do not even affect children today.<\/p>\n
I was interested to see in the old cemetery one grave placed there only a few years ago. It is that of my friend and former student, Brainerd Caverly, who was, like the Goodwin, a prosperous dairyman. His sons now operate the Caverly farm on the same road, a short distance south of the Hinckley Bridge, and another farm on the Wyman Road out of Goodwin’s Corner.<\/p>\n
The Goodwin farm today is in every respect a large modern dairy farm. Besides the big barn and milking room with latest equipment, there are four huge silos, and nearby are extensive corn fields to supply part of the silage. There are all sorts of farm machinery and trucks for conveying feed. Like all modern dairy farms, the Goodwin has no stanchions or tie-up.
\nBut, in the big barn, even in summer time are places for cows to He down as they wish. The wide door is always open for cattle to come and go. Today all big dairy farms use milking machines entirely. Only a few years ago it was, thought necessary, after a cow left the machine, to strip her by hand, but most dairymen have now abandoned that practice. The Goodwins milk the year round between 100 and 125 cows, and of course keep a large herd of young stock in addition.<\/p>\n
At Horace Goodwin’s invitation, I was delighted to visit this ancient farm. It is pleasing to know that here on the Kennebec we have a place still operated by the descendants of the man who first cut the trees and first ploughed the land there more than 200 years ago.<\/p>\n
Now for another subject. On this program I have more than once referred to the carpentry shop that Colby College operated in its early days to give student a chance partially to earn the cost of attending college. It was never a financial
\nsuccess, and it lasted for only about ten years.<\/p>\n
There has recently come to light an old letter which shows that the reason for that shop, called the mechanic shop was not solely to give students a chance to earn money. The letter was written by Colby’s first president, Jeremiah Chaplin, to the Board of Trustees in August 1833, just before the annual meeting of the Board that had already accepted Chaplin’s resignation.<\/p>\n
On previous programs I have told you that the resignation was caused by student resentment, partly supported by parents and others, when Chaplin reprimanded the students for their behavior at an anti-slavery rally held on July 4, 1833, accusing the perpetrators of intoxication. The furor that resulted ended in Chaplin’s resignation.<\/p>\n
Jeremiah was so concerned about one of his pet projects, the shop, that even after he left the presidency,he urged its continuance, as this letter shows, and as I quote the letter, you will note the principal reason why he advocated the shop. Here is what the letter says.<\/p>\n
“As the shop was closed most of last term and must so continue until Commencement unless a supply of lumber was obtained, Professor Newton and I purchased from Simeon Mathews a private lot of pine boards, about 7000 feet, for which we gave a note for $70. As it seemed necessary to get a large quantity of green lumber to have it dried for next years’ supply, I persuaded four men (Calvin Newton, Josiah Morrill, Lucius Allen, and Lemuel Baxter) to unite with me in the purchase of 50,000 feet, to be sawed at Kendalls Mills according, to direction of Mr. Coffin, superintendent of the shop.<\/p>\n
“If the shop had not been closed the unfortunate disturbance of July 4 would, in my opinion, not have happened. The effect of a well regulated manual labor establishment on the moral behavior of students is highly important. Idleness is the bane of youth in every situation, and in a college it is particularly destructive. Long experience and observation have convinced me that one of the most important ways to secure good behavior in a college is to provide means for keeping its inmates constantly employed in something honorable and useful.”<\/p>\n
That letter makes it clear that Chaplin considered the shop a place where students could let loose their surplus energy, let off steam. If they worked at the shop at all times when they were not attending classes or preparing for them, they would be too tired to start a boisterous celebration on the Fourth of July. In those long ago days before baseball or football had been invented, when no college had a athletic program of any kind, there may have been something to be said for Jeremiah Chaplin’s shop.<\/p>\n
As for athletics, it was the middle of the 19th century before Colby had any game with another college. And what do you think that first contest was? Colby and Bowdoin met in a game of croquet.<\/p>\n
Year: 1977<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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