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

PAS SAD UMKEA G.    429

under Shapleigh, who immediately conveyed it to Thomas Parsons and
39 associates. The town was shortly afterward surveyed into hundred-
acre lots, two of which were reserved to each proprietor, nine for the
use and support of the schools and churches, and one for a mill privi-
lege. Twelve families settled upon or near these lots in 1772 ; John
and Gideon Doe settled in the western part of the town in 1775 ; and
soon after George Kezar settled in the eastern part. The town was
incorporated in 1785, under its present name, in honor of Thomas Par-
sons, one of the largest early proprietors.

The town has been the residence or birth-place of many distingushed
men. Hon. Rufus Mclntire was a graduate of Dartmouth College, be-
came a member of the York County bar in 1812, soon after recruited a
company and marched to the northern frontier, remaining in active
service until the close of the war. He was afterward elected to Con-
gress for four consecutive terms, commencing December, 1827. He
was land agent under Governor Fairfield, Marshal of Maine under
President Polk, and Surveyor of Customs under President Pierce.
Hon. James W. Bradbury of Augusta, was the son of Dr. James Brad-
bury, an eminent physician of Parsonsfield. Elder John Buzzell, after
long service in teaching and in the ministry, removed to Parsonsfield
in 1798, remaining until his death in 1864, in the ninety-sixth year of
his age. He united with the Free-will Baptists when that denomina-
tion numbered but 101. He was the author and editor of many publi-
cations, and he and Dr. Moses Sweat, a resident physician, were the
chief means of establishing the North Parsonsfield Seminary, the first
institute of learning under the auspices of the denomination. Hon. L.
D. M. Sweat, of Portland, is a son of Dr. Moses Sweat. William B.
Wedgewood, LL.D., elected vice-chancellor of the university at Wash-
ington, D.C., in 1870 is a native of Parsonsfield. Hon. Zenas P. Went-
worth, late of Houlton, Maine, was also a native. One of the old men
of the town is Deacon Elisha Waldleigh, who at the age of one hundred,
rode 4 miles to deposit his vote.

The first church in town was built in 1790 by the town proprietors,
and a parsonage in 1794. There are now in town, churches of the Con-
gregationalists, Baptists, Old School Free-will Baptists, Free Bap-
tists (three churches) and Advents. Parsonsfield has seventeen public
schoolhouses, valued at $4,500. The valuation of estates in 1870 was
$632,970; in 1880 it was $563,075. The population in 1870 w'as
1,804; in 1880 it was 1,613.

PRSSR(IllIllKGcl§U in Penobscot County, lies on the east
bank of the Penobscot River, 31 miles north-east of Bangor. It is
bounded by Enfield on the north, Lowell on the east, Greenbush on the
south, and Edinburg on the west, but separated from the last by Pe-
nobscot River. The territory is about 6f miles in length along the
river, and 3^ of a mile in average width. The surface is varied and
interesting, with good soil. The largest streams are Passadumkeag,
and its tributary, Cold Stream, outlet of the large pond of the same
name, situated just outside the north-western angle of the town. There
is a saw-mill, containing board, shingle, lath and stave mills. The vil-
lage is situated on the Penobscot at the mouth of the Passadumkeag,
near the middle line of the town. There is here a large steam-mill,
manufacturing large lumber, boards, shingles and staves. Other manu-
factures are coopers’ ware, carriages, etc. Farming and lumbering are