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

NEW LIMERICK.    '    387

end was far from gentle. Holes in the floor served for spittoons, and
gave ample ventilation. Seats turned upon their hinges during prayer
to afford space for the wide skirts of the ladies, and dropped down
with a rattling chorus and many a bang at the welcome “ Amen.” The
town’s stock of powder was kept in small closets within the sacred
desk, ready to be served out to the members of the congregation on
Sundays and at their homes on secular days, in case of an Indian
attack. If the pulpit was not the driest place in town, it was in some
danger of becoming the hottest.

The town was incorporated in 1794; from 1795 to the organization
of Oxford County in 1805 the courts were held here alternately with
Portland ; and New Gloucester therefore early became one of the most
distinguished towns in the State, much of its present elegance being
due to the people thus brought into its limits. Hon. Peleg W.
Chandler of Boston was a native of this town. William Pitt Fes-
senden spent his boyhood here ; and his brother Hon. S. C. Fessenden,
a member of the 37th Congress (1860) was born here. Their father,
General Samuel Fessenden, began the practice of law in this town.
The mother of Hon. W. W. Thomas, of Portland, was born in New
Gloucester in 1779. She was a daughter of Judge Widgery, and a
lady of great benevolence and public spirit. Elias Thomas, to whom
she was married in 1802, died in 1872, being above one hundred years
of age.

The religious societies in town are the Congregationalists, Bapt-
ists, Free Baptists, Universalists, Shakers, each of these have churches,
some of which are superior edifices. The Bailey House school at
New Gloucester village is well spoken of. New Gloucester has
eleven public schoolhouses, and its school property is valued at
$5,000. The valuation of estates in 1870 was $848,905. The rate
of taxation in 1879 was 9|- mills on the dollar. The town has no debt.
The population in 1870 was 1,496. In 1880 it was reported at 1,382.

New Harbor,—a post-office and small village in Bristol,
Lincoln County.

New Limerick, in Aroostook County, is in the second
range, and is-adjoined by Houlton on the east, Ludlow on the north,
Linneus on the south, Smyrna and Oakfield Plantation on the west.
The town embraces a half township, and contains numerous ponds.
New Limerick Lake, in the south-eastern part of the town, is about
three miles in length, and one-half mile in greatest width. Drew’s
Lake occupies about one and a half square miles in the south-west part
of the town. Cochran's and Bradbury’s lakes lie in the north-west,
Gould’s in the midst of the western part, and others smaller are found
in various quantities. Davis Stream and its branches, forming the
outlets of the sheets of water mentioned, are the principal water-
courses. This stream is the south branch of the Meduxnekeag River.
There is on Davis Stream, in the south part of the town, a large tan-
nery ; and near by is a saw-mill. On the outlet of Drew’s Lake is a
saw-mill and a starch-factory. This is a fertile township, and abounds
in excellent timber. The rocks are granite and limestone, the latter