A Brief History of Corrina Maine Chapters 6 7 9 12 13 Excerpts

A Brief History of corinna maine

A Brief History of corinna maine,
from its purchase in 1804 to 1916
excerpts from chapters 6, 7, 9, 12, 13

By LILLA A. WOOD
J.P. Bass publishing company, Bangor, maine 1916

"Chapter 6: Corinna in Peace and War

"Stage Route. Before the establishment of the railroad in railroad in 1865-6 a stage route followed the old county road from Newport to Dexter, touching Pleasant Vale corner. Another route from Skowhegan to Bangor passed through Hartland and Corinna. For many years, the driver was 'Bill' Bradford.

"The stage was an object of boundless admiration to the children of those days and a former resident recalls an incident of her childhood when she was walking on the highway as the stage came by. As there were no passengers, the driver invited the little girl to ride. The child accepted with alacrity and sinking down upon the bright red plush cushions became too absorbed in the wonderful experience of riding in the stage to notice her home when they came to it, and did not realize her mistake until the driver asked her destination several miles on the road toward Bangor. So delighted was the little miss with her ride, however, that she did not mind the long walk home.

"When Nathan Packard settled the O.L. Sprague farm at Corinna Center in 1832, coming from Winthrop, Maine, he found no road on the west side of the Main street bridge, no bridge across Sebasticook stream and on the east side of the stream, only a logging road.

"Taxes. In 1823, the town voted to pay the taxes in grain, owing to the scarcity of money, at the rate of one bushel of wheat, six shillings; one bushel of corn or one bushel of rye, four shillings. The tax rate was one and one-third per cent. Picture the tax collector hauling home a two-horse load of taxes.

"Liquor. In 1825 three licenses for selling liquor were issued. Liquor was then considered a necessary part of the food of the male members of a family, though strangely enough the women were able to worry along without it.

"Women smoked. The women of our early days sometimes learned to smoke a pipe, as tobacco was known to have great efficacy in warding off smallpox.

"Newspaper. Judge Whiting published Corinna's first newspaper, The Weekly Herald, later known as the Corinna Herald.

"Chapter 7: Churches

"Early Churches. The first church services were Free Baptist in denomination and were held in Samuel Lancy's barn by Rev. John Palmer, later in the schoolhouse until 1851 when Uncle Ben Moore gave the lot for what is now the M.E. church but was then Union. There were 52 pews in the church and each pew owner had a vote as to the number of Sundays on which services of the various denominations should be held.

"Chapter 9: The Schools

"One of the first schools, if not the very first school, was held at the old John Knowles places, later known as the Pearl Hall farm, near Corinna Center, and paths led from that cabin to the homes of the other settlers.

"Another of the early schools was at the cabin of Jim Young. The house in question was of logs and divided into two rooms, the front room being used for the school while Mr. and Mrs. Young and all of their numerous family who were not in school occupied the back room or kitchen. A large fireplace was built across one end of the schoolroom, the chimney of which was made with 'cat sticks.' These were pieces of wood similar to laths, and were held together with clay and straw, being used as a substitute for bricks. Bricks were then unavailable. Wooden cranes hung in the fireplace. It was not uncommon for these and the 'cat-sticks' to catch fire, so that a pail filled with water was kept at the side of the fireplace ready for use.

"It must have been a sacrifice to the Young family to give up their living room for the purpose of having a school for the children of the neighborhood, but such sacrifices were common.

"Early Schoolhouses. Webster's Spelling book and Pike's or Daboll's Arithmetic, were the most common text books used.

"In 1833, the number of scholars was 575, and the available school funds were 84 1/2 cents per scholar.

"An Academy Established. As Corinna grew in size and importance as a settlement, the interest in its school system increased until some of the more thoughtful of its citizens felt the necessity of a higher school training for their children and determined upon the establishment of an academy. Accordingly they pledged themselves to pay a sum of money towards the erection of a building and 'maintainance' of teaching, and Corinna Union Academy was founded. That was in the early part of 1851."