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Archiver > MAINE > 2005-05 > 1117482447


From: "carmen crocker" <>
Subject: RE: [MAINE] Amity and Orient - histories of towns? (WILKINS)
Date: Mon, 30 May 2005 15:47:27 -0400
In-Reply-To: <02b701c55ec7$651c8d40$64b5fea9@hsd1.ma.comcast.net>


Hi, Betty,
Perhaps you have already had this question answered, but in case you haven't
...here goes.
In a little book," The names of Maine" by Brian McCauley, I find under
North Amity " Settled in 1825 by Jonathan Clifford. Briefly called
Monument Town as the monument designating the head of the St. Croix River is
in the town. Also called Hodgdon for a while. Named Amity to honor the
peace and harmony of the early inhabitants."(Note: There is a town,
Hodgdon, presently a few miles north.)

He does not list Amity in the book, except as mentioned above.

However, in another small booklet, "Maine Towns and Counties" comp. by
Michael Denis in 1981,
we find Amity listed but not North Amity. He does a nice table showing
when which towns were made part of which counties. (Maine started with a
small no. of counties, then as the state grew, little chunks broke off and
joined other counties (is that true of all states, perhaps?) Amity is shown
to be part of Washington Cty until it became part of Aroostook Cty, which
was organized in 1839. It appears that Amity was incorporated at the time
it became part of Aroostook.

Orient, on the other hand, was not incorporated as a town when Aroostook was
organized. It also had been in Washington Cty before this time. (Denis'
book) In McCauley's book, the info for Orient is "Located on the eastern
border of Maine, the town was called Orient denoting the word's meaning of
'east'. It was settled in 1830 and incorporated in 1856."


I just took a look at "The Maine Atlas" by Delorme. It seems that North
Amity and Orient are towns whereas Amity is a "Minor Civil Division",
which I suppose means a township, plantation or unoganized territory.
(Someone may correct me if I am wrong.)

You may want to look these towns up in rays-place.com if you haven't
already. (I don't know for sure but he has a lot of information there.








>From: "Betty" <>
>Reply-To:
>To:
>Subject: [MAINE] Amity and Orient - histories of towns? (WILKINS)
>Date: Sun, 22 May 2005 08:00:25 -0400
>
>Hello,
>
>I know I've brought up this subject in past years, but I just did a quick
>search in the archives and cannot find the postings on the subject. I
>would like to know if someone could offer a "brief history" of the towns of
>"North Amity" and Orient, ME, in Aroostook County (as per my road map of
>Maine which I keep on my desk). Would they have originally been the
>same
>"Plantation # __" ?? Or, was each of the towns just south of Houlton been
>a separate "plantation."
>
>Also, I was wondering if someone could offer me what the "History of
>Aroostook" says about my WILKINS ancestors in Amity, ME. They
>reportedly moved from Unity to Amity during the 1820's. They were in
>the
>1830 census there, and descendants seem to have remained in that area
>throughout the 1800's.
>
>I'd also like to ask what people's opinions are about why a family would
>have left Unity, ME, in Waldo County and traveled much farther north to
>very
>near Houlton, ME, in Aroostook County - around 1825 ! Unity is
>southwest
>of Bangor - more than half-way down to Waterville. So, in the 1820's,
>it
>would have been quite a trip up to Amity !
>
>I posted the question on another ME List, and someone suggested
>that -sometimes- a Pastor was going to another church in another town and
>brought some of his parishioners with him. But, I found this web site
>which offers a one-page description of the history of Amity, ME, and it
>does
>not mention this:
>
>http://www.amitymatters.com/
>
>Also, a one-page history of this town does not mention my WILKINS family
>who
>arrived there in the 1820's. Would it only mention the "early settlers"
>who made a strong contribution to the town? The above web site offers
>this paragraph, and I can only guess that Samuel WILKINS might have been
>one
>of those six families:
>
>By 1828, six more families braved the wilds and moved to Amity. Jonathan
>Greenleaf not only cleared a farm, but he also kept a hotel there. Now
>there
>were eleven farms and families. As the sons grew to manhood, they often had
>a portion of the family farm, on which they built a house and began raising
>their families.
>
>*The following paragraph was quite moving:
>
>1837 was a year of severe hardship for the townsfolk and bread was scarce.
>Two men from Calais owed the Town money for stumpage on the school lots. At
>a special Town Meeting, held on June 5, 1837, the citizens voted to divide
>the amount evenly amongst them for survival. Later they spent the entire
>amount on corn and divided that evenly among the inhabitants. Although the
>money was supposed to go to support the schools, the folks felt if they
>starved to death or had to leave the area there would be no need for
>schools.
>
>(I can't remember what was said about Samuel WILKINS in the "special 1837
>census.")
>
>This was an important paragraph:
>
>In 1887, tragedy struck the town in the form of Diphtheria. Nearly all the
>children came down with it and even entire families died from it. The
>survivors hastily buried their dead with out funerals in an attempt to keep
>others from exposure to the dreaded disease. The entire Spurr family
>succumed to the epidemic. Their little family cemetary lies just off the
>Estabrook Road.
>
>And, this is interesting !!
>
>In 1899, the first automobile ever to make a trip through Amity came up
>from
>Danforth and the owner stayed at the Tracy's Hotel overnight. The entire
>town came to see it the next day. Lucinda Reed was a high-spirited girl and
>proved her daring by sitting in the machine and having her picture taken.
>As
>the auto moved towards Houlton, teachers let the schools out so the
>children
>could line up on the edge of the road and watch the monstrous machine chug
>past.
>
>:o)
>
>What kind of vehicle "today" would make "whole towns" come out to the
>roadway to see - such an invention ??? And, what would make teachers
>allow their students to leave their classrooms to see it ???
>:o)
>
>Thank you for your time. Enjoy your Sunday !
>
>Betty (near Lowell, MA)
>
>
>P.S. Still looking for the origin or maiden-name of Samuel WILKINS'
>wife.
>I had originally been looking for an Electa "Leeta" ____ born around 1780
>or
>in late 1770's. But, a recent e-mail told me her name might have been
>"Leoto/Leota" _____.
>I hadn't seen that first name before, initially thinking it might have been
>a Native American name. But, I saw the name mentioned yesterday in
>regards to a CORKILL family in a southern State. (I have CORKILL
>ancestors.)
>
>
>
>
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