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

TURNER.    545

the north-western part of Androscoggin County. Its length on the
river is ten miles, the towns on the eastern side being Leeds and
Greene. The western line is of equal length, where it joins Hartford,
Buckfield and Hebron. Its wddth at the north is about three miles,
where it joins Livermore. Minot and Auburn bound it on the south,
the line being there about five and one-lialf miles. Its area is near
33,793 acres. The principle streams are Twenty-mile River, which
crosses from the western side of the town to Androscoggin River on the
east; and Martin’s Stream, coming down through the northern part of
the town, to Twentv-mile at Chase’s Mills. Within its limits and on its
borders are several ponds, of which Bear Pond, containing an area of one
square mile, and Pleasant Pond, one mile in length and one-half mile in
width, are the largest. The others are Little Wilson,Pickerel, Lily,Sandy
Bottom, Frog, Black, Mud, Long and Round ponds.. The scenery of
Turner is various and agreeable, though there are no high hills or
deep valleys. A cave called “ Ledge House,” about 15 feet square,
is a curious freak of nature. The rock is granite; and a quarry in
the south-east part of the town is worked through the year. The soil
in the valleys and lowlands is alluvial, of vegetable nature at the top,
with a substratum of sand. The farmers are generally thrifty ; as the
neatness and size of the buildings prove. The town has heen noted for
a culture much above the average agricultural towns. The plantation
name of Turner, was Silvester Canada, it having been granted in 1765
to the heirs of Captain Joseph Silvester and Company, for the services
of the latter parties in an expedition against Canada in 1690. It was
incorporated as the town of Turner in 1786 ; being named for Rev.
Charles Turner, of Scituate, Mass., one of the proprietors, as an ac-
knowledgment of his services in aid of its settlement. The first set-
tlers were Daniel Staples, Thomas Record, Elisha Record, Joseph
Leavitt, and Abner Phillips, who removed thither in 1772. The fol-
lowing were eminent citizens of the town at a later period : Dr. Luther
Cary, who practiced in Turner from 1798 until about 1848, being hon-
ored with several elections to the presidency of the Medical Society
of Maine, and in 1805 appointed judge of the Court of Common Pleas,
for Oxford County. Dr. Timothy Howe practiced in the north parish)
from 1806 until the close of his life in 1848. He was the author of
many sketches of Turner families. Of many natives of the town edu-
cated as physicians, Dr. Philip Bradford was the only one who re-
mained to practice; retaining the confidence of his townsmen until his
death in 1863. Among those more or less eminent who were natives
of Turner, are Hon. T. O. Howe, national senator from Wisconsin;
Hon. Eugene Hale, for many years representative in Congress from
the fifth district of Maine ; Clarence Hale, of Portland ; C. S. Conant,
of Lewiston; Hon. Washington Gilbert, judge of probate for Sagadahoc
County; Hon. Leonard Swett, of Chicago; Hon. E. M. Prince, of
Bloomington, 111., master in chancery for M‘Lean County ; William
Cary, U. S. attorney-general for the Territory of Utah ; William W.
Cushings, of Missouri, merchant; and B. B. Murray, jr., for several
years adjutant-general, and later IT. S. marshal of Maine. Among
those prominent in his own town and state in the last century we should
not omit to mention Hon. Job Prince. At one time or another he
served acceptably in all the principal offices of the town ; was president
of the State Senate in 1839; then judge of probate; and subsequently

35