GRAFTON.    •    255

estates in 1870 was $1,445,968. In 1880 it was $1,898,524. The
population at the same date was 3,351. The census of 1880 sets it
at 3,233.

Goiildslboroiigii occupies the south-eastern extremity of
Hancock County, lying between Frenchman’s and Gouldsborough
bays. The town also embraces Stave, Ironbound, Porcupine, Horn’s,
Turtle and Schoodic islands. Gouldsborough is 21 miles east of Ells-
worth, and is on the Shore stage-line. The area is about 30,000 acres.
Forbes’s and Jones’s ponds are the chief bodies of water. The principal
eminence is Mount Cromer, 600 feet in height. The surface of the
town is much broken, abounding in rocky bluffs consisting of granite
penetrated by veins of galena, zinc and copper. There is also green-
stone and syenite. At Grindstone Point is an immense deposit of
metamorphic or siliceous slate, which might prove excellent material
for grindstones.

The soil is clay loam and gravelly loam; but one-third of the area
is unsuitable for cultivation. The principal crops consist of wheat and
potatoes. The manufactories consist of a flour-mill, two grist-mills, a
shingle, and a spool-lumber mill, a saw-mill, and a lobster-canning
establishment. There are also six incorporated mining companies, and
two unincorporated, but in operation. T£ie ore mined is principally
galena, mixed with sulphurets of copper and iron. The centres of
business are Gouldsborough village, West and South Gouldsborough,
Winter and Prospect harbors.

There were squatters in the town as early as 1700. On Ash’s
Point are the relics of an old French fortification. The so called Indian
dykes are also objects of curiosity. The first settlers were from Saco
and vicinity. Their names were fiibby, Fern aid, Ash and Willey. The
first male child was Robert Ash, and the first female Mary Libby. An
old inhabitant says: “Nathan Jones and Thomas Hill settled here in
1764.” Maj. Gen. David Cobb, one of General Washington’s aids,
and later, judge of the Court of Common Pleas, of Hancock County,
resided here for many years.

Gouldsborough was incorporated in 1789; being named in honor of
Robert Gould, one of the original proprietors. That part of No. 7
known as “West Bay Stream,” was annexed in 1870. The town
furnished 167 men to the Government during the war of the Rebellion.
The amount of town bounty was $27,460. There are 12 persons in
Gouldsborough who are over eighty years of age. The town has two
churches, both Union. There are twelve public schoolhouses, and the
school property is valued at $6,000. The valuation of estates in 1870
w^ras $224,690. In 1880 it was $225,244. The rate of taxation in 1880
was 2 per cent. The population in 1870 was 1,709. In the census
of 1880 it was 1,824.

Grafton lies on the western border of Oxford County, north
of the middle line. It is bounded by Upton on the north, Riley on
the south, Newry on the south-west, and New Hampshire on the west.
The area is about 45 square miles. A tract upon Cambridge River
and its branches in the north-eastern part of the town, and about Bear
River, and its tributary brooks in the south-eastern part, are compara-
tively level; but the western half and a belt across to the eastern side