THIS township was Number Two, Seventh Range, and contains
20,625 acres. Feb. 1, 1816, the western half was
granted to David Gilmore for making the Dixmont road.
He conveyed to Rufus Gilmore, Moses Patten, Jedediah
Herrick, J. W. and Francis Carr and William D.
Williamson, each one-eighth of his part, and the residue
to others. These parties sold their rights, and it has
had several successive proprietors.
The eastern half was sold to Gen. John Parker Boyd
of Boston, in March,, 1816, who had, eleven years before,
bought the Orneville township. The west half was
lotted out byGen. J. Herrick, the east half by
Eben Greenleaf, in 1831.
A fair portion of its soil is good, but only a part of
it is under cultivation. Portions of it bore a
valuable growth of pine timber, but the great fire of 1825
destroyed this and most of the other native growth, sweeping
away more than three-fourths of the taxable property in
town. But the fertile soil, in the lapse of time, has
wrought a work of recovery, a new growth has sprung up, and
some of it is already fit for timber.
In water power this town has a decided pre-eminence,
through but little of it is improved. The Piscataquis
River croses it from west to east, dividing it into two
nearly equal parts. The volume of water here exceeds
that of the Merrimack, and it has two falls, - Little Falls
and Schoodie Falls, - both inviting mill privileges, but
both unimproved. On the Schoodie stream, issuing from
the Great Schoodie Lake, there is a fall of twenty feet, now
occupied by a saw-mill and
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shingle machine. Where this stream falls into the
Piscataquis, Gen. Boyd erected the largest saw-mill,
in 1820, then upon the Penobscot or any of its branches.
Logs from the Schoodie stream were taken in at the upper end
of the mill, while those from the Piscataquis were drawn in
from the opposite direction. This mill did a large
business, being sometimes rented for $1000 per annum, before
the great fire. It was saved from the flames, but its
business was diminished. After Gen. Boyd's
death, his executors sold this building to N. Hatch
of Bangor, and he, in 1832, had it taken down, and rafted to
Bangor. Afterward, Clark Rand & Co. erected
another mill upon that privilege. this was sold to
Asa Getchell, who also sold it to John Hitchborn.
He took it down and rebuilt another, which is still running.
Cold Brook, which flows into
the Piscataquis from the south, affords another good
privilege, upon which Messrs. Hitchborn &
Hasty built a saw- and grist-mill in 1835. This is
still improved. It makes the business center of the
town, and a village is growing up around it.
FIRST SETTLEMENT. This preceded the grant or
purchase of any part of it. As early as 1808, James
Grover moved the first family into the township.
He dwelt on the south bank of the Piscataquis River, near
the upper ferry, but eventually settled on a farm near the
top of the hill, on the Bangor road. This he commenced
clearing at his first entrance, and here the first trees
were felled. Mr.. Boobar, mentioned already in
the sketch of Milo, came in soon after Grover, and
settled near him.
The date of the settlement on the east half is not
easily learned. A Mr. Weston and two
Hitchborns from Bangor, were among the pioneers.
The census of 1810 reported fifty-five inhabitants, but in
1820, it had only sixty-one.
About 1820, the State opened the Bennock road from
Piscataquis River to Oldtown. This tended to increase
the settlement.
In 1824, it was incorporated as the town of Kilmarnock,
Gen. Boyd selecting the name. The question
arises, why
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he selected that name? Some thought that he was a
native of Kilmarnock, Scotland, and wished to perpetuate his
early associations. But the American Encyclopaedia
affirms that he was born in Newburyport, Mass., in 1768.
Probably his father was a native of Kilmarnock, and thence
emigrated to this country, and reared his family here.
True to Scotch tenacity, J. P. Boyd tacked that name
upon the first township which he could control. In
1856, the inhabitants petitioned for a change, and it became
the town of Medford.
As Gen. Boyd was a man of mark, and owned
another whole township in this county, a brief notice of him
seems in place. As soon as of sufficient age, he
entered the United States army, but soon left and sailed to
India. There he raised an independent corps and
commanded it, fighting for such of the native princes as
would pay the most. Here he remained for several
years, and obtained considerable wealth. By 1805, he
had returned to this country, for his deed of the Orneville
township bears that date. After his return he again
entered the army of the United States, and as a colonel
again entered the army of the United States, and as a
colonel fought in the battle of Tippecanoe, Nov. 7, 1811.
He commanded a brigade, in the war of 1812, and was in some
of the battles in Canada. After the war closed, he
resided in Boston, and in writing and publishing certain
military essays. He died there, Oct. 4, 1830,
possessing a fair estate.
All the land reserved for public uses in this town aids
in the support of schools. Stores were opened at
Medford Center quite early, and generally two have been
kept, though now there is but one. Medford is on the
stage line from Milo depot to Enfield.
As there is no bridge across the river, and only two
ferries, the inhabitants cannot conveniently assemble for
religious meetings, schools, or business, as in other towns,
and the population does not increase according to the
opportunities for it.
Its highest number of inhabitants at any time was 350;
its State valuation in 1870, $60,321.
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