Gazetteer of the State of Maine With Numerous Illustrations, by Geo. J. Varney

BOSTON: PUBLISHED BY B. B. RUSSELL, 57 CORNHILL. 1882. Public domain image from

A GAZETTEER

OF THE

STATE OF MAINE.

Ablbot is situated in the south-western part of Piscataquis
County. It is bounded in the north by Monson, east by Guilford, south
by Parkman and west by Kingsbury. The area of the town is 23,040
acres. Piper and Greenleaf are the principal ponds,—the first two
miles in length and half a mile in width. The soil is superior, being
largely alluvial; and there is more interval than is found in any other
town on the river above Dover. The principal rock is limestone. It is
the most western of the Bowdoin College townships, granted in 1794
by tbe General Court, and was sold to settlers by the College treasurer
and his agents. The first settler was Abraham Moore, who exchanged
his farm in Norridgewock for 800 acres of wild land, in four lots of
200 acres each. He felled the trees of the first opening in 1805, in 1806
raised a crop and built a log-house, and in 1807 moved his family in.
In 1808, Peter Brawn and Eaton Richards moved in with their families.
In 1810, the township had forty-five inhabitants. It was then called
Moorestown. In 1812 settlers occupied “ Jackson Ridge, ” in the east-
ern part of the town. Barnabas Jackson bought the lot and buildings of
one of tbe first settlers and took his residence there in 1815. In 1818,
Jeremiah Rolfe, settled in the plantation. He had fought at Saratoga
under General Gates and afterward went to North Carolina with him.
He was noted for his skill in fruit raising, and the “Rolfe Apple” which
he introduced to the region will not soon be forgotten. Other es-
teemed citizens of a later time were Hons. J. S. Monroe, P. S. Lowell
and James Foss. There is one citizen in the town above ninety-five
years of age, and three who are over eighty.

The Piscataquis river enters the township near its north-western
corner, and leaves it near the south-eastern. The south branch of the
Piscataquis, issuing from a pond in Kingsbury, passes across the south-
ern part of the town. Mr. Moore early erected a saw-mill on the
river; about which Abbot village has grown up. The town—incor-
porated in 1827—was named for Professor John Abbot, a long period
treasurer of Bowdoin College. The warrant for the first town meeting
■was issued by Robert Gower, Esq. to James Gower; and at the
meeting Cyrus Cook was chosen town clerk. There are two covered