HISTORY OF MONTICELLO

(From the 1946 Centennial Program)

Monticello is an attractive Maine town of some fifteen hundred inhabitants, favorably situated on the main highway between Houlton and the towns of northern Aroostook County. A marked development in progress is clearly shown in its widely cultivated farm lands, its active industries, and neat dwellings. The presence of a daily airline route, the steadily increasing traffic of trucks and cars, and the all important rail service of the Bangor and Aroostook Railroad are significant of the town's advancement from that of early pioneer days. The earliest date of settlement of the town of Monticello is placed approximately at 1830. This section of state land bore the uninspiring title, Letter A-Range 1, and at that time was a part of  Washington County as was all of Aroostook County. Hon. Joel Wellington changed the name to Monticello in honor of the estate of Thomas Jefferson. The consequent task of clearing land upon which to build a log house occupied Mr. Wellington and his son Albion. The spoon selected for his future home was on the south side of the Meduxnekeag Stream. He constructed a dam and saw mill (above the present bridge) later to be swept away by high water. Another saw mill equipped with a clapboard machine was built on a lower site. In 1846 Mr. Wellington built a frame house on the same spot where now is the home of his great grandson Elbridge C. Wellington. In one of the wings of this house was the Post Office where he served as Postmaster for a number of years. To General Joel Wellington more than any other man is due the credit of making the settlement a permanent one. From 1833 until 1864 he proved to be a wise leader and adviser in town affairs. George Pond with his wife and daughter, Laura Jane (Aunt Jane Gould), came to Monticello by ox team about 1831. He was the first settler, actually, as it was with him that Mr. Wellington boarded before bringing his family from Kennebec County. Laura Jane married Isaiah Gould; another daughter , Eliza, married Hiram Gould . Mary E. Barton, a granddaughter, was the first to be buried in the town cemetery. Mr. Pond replaced his log house with the first frame house in Monticello, known as "Pond's Tavern", a favorite loafing center for the townspeople. This was long a historic landmark on the site of the present home of J. M. Foster. It was here in 1839 during the Aroostook War that troops would rest en route to and from the northern border. Years later in 1856 the old Pond house was rented

to Isaac Archibald as a lodging house. Mr. Archibald was the father of Samuel P., James Archibald, and Mrs. Jeremiah Hare. Col. Nathan Stanley was another early pioneer of Monticello. He and his two sons, Gould and James, took an active part in plantation affairs. James M., the grandfather of the present generation of Stanley's, met an untimely end caused by the falling of his horse during a temperance parade. Samuel Stackpole came here about 1832. He was a strong formidable man who could chop his acre of trees in a day and could swing a scythe for several hours at eighty years of age. Of such rugged

stock were these courageous settlers. In the same year came Jesse and David Jewell. After swamping a road a mile beyond the old Shorey house on the north road, they built a temporary log shelter. Later a frame house near the Comer became the Jewell homestead.

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In the early thirties other newcomers began to take a hand in shaping the destiny of the town, such as John Wadlia, Samuel Kidder and Peter Lowell. Mr. Wadlia settled in the southeast part of the town on the lot now owned by Frank Brown. His son Colin was the father of the late Mrs. Perle Bubar. It is said that John Wadlia and Samuel Kidder took the first grist of wheat to the Houlton mill from Monticello. Peter Lowell located on a farm in the south part of the town on what was thereafter called "Lowell Hill". He shared prominently in the Plantation management. He is the grandfather of Ellie

Lowell of Blaine.

George Robertson brought his family from New Hampshire to settle at first on the so called Hare Road. Here was born his son Enoch, the father of Mrs. Annie Ramsey of Houlton and the late Mrs.Alma Weed who gave of her time and energy to public service for so many years. Mr. Robertson would trek to Bangor laden with furs from a winter's trapping to exchange for household supplies. A nearby neighbor of the Robertsons was Jeremiah Lyons. His son, Joel, was one of the first babies born in Monticello. Joel also had the honor of being the oldest living resident in town. This honor is now held by Mr. Hiram Garrison at the age of ninety-three. Hiram is the son of John Garrison, another

early settler. In 1843 Isaac Fletcher hauled machinery from Bangor to Monticello. David, Jesse, and John Jewell helped him clear twenty acres of land near the Dead Stream where he erected a saw mill. His brothers, Gideon and Oliver, soon followed. Gideon brought his family into a house built on a rude sled drawn by a pair of oxen. Gideon is the grandfather of Guy C. Fletcher. Alden Flint came at about the same time and lived in the second frame house to be built in town, the "Flint House", at the corner of the present Fletcher Road. Nathaniel G. Folsom, John Folsom, and Henry Luce were also settlers of this period. "Nat." was a shrewd, ambitious farmer. John H. farmed and kept hotel. He helped in the building of the MethodistChurch on the land of Jacob Jewell in 1876. He is the father of Albert H. and Osceola Folsom. Henry Luce eventually settled on the West Road. His son Charles married Rebecca Lowell. Charles enlisted during the Civil War after which he held many town offices. His granddaughter is Mrs. Wilmot Porter.

On July 29, 1846 the plantation of Monticello was incorporated into a town. The legal voters having been duly notified met on the 24th of August, 1846 at the home of Samuel Stackpole to conduct the first town meeting. Hiram Gould was chosen tax collector having bid off the collections for half of one per cent. The total amount of town appropriations for that year was $850, $700 to be expended in building a bridge across the Meduxnekeag, $100 for support of schools, $50 for town charges. For collecting said taxes Mr. Gould received $4.25. In this same eventful year Rev. Charles Pitcher came to Monticello. He held his first meetings in Uncle Dave Sewell's old log house. He lived here twenty-three years during which time he pursued his religious calling, farmed, served on the School Board and in other offices. Farming and lumbering were the principal pioneer industries. Crops of potatoes, rye, wheat, and oats were harvested by much toil. The lumber, principally pine and spruce, was sold and driven to New Brunswick for manufacture. Everyone wore home spun clothing. George Page was an early trader of the village. "Granddaddy" Miller of the West Road helped the sick with his home remedies. As time goes on in the 1850's new homes were found on the roster of Monticello voters - all of whom were vitally interested in the welfare of their chosen home. They were Thomas Melvin, Henry Harrison Hare, Moses and Hugh Miller, Jepetra Foster, James Good, John Hogan, Zephaniah Mills, Cyrus Small and Wm. Cowperthwaite.

The coming of the railroad in 1894 marked a new epoch in the history of the town. Its effect upon growth and improvement was soon evident. This was especially true of the potato industry. Wars took their toll; the Civil War only remotely. The World Wars more intensely. The veterans of World War I created the Burrill Prosser Post of the American Legion named after the first son to give his life. An honor roll bears the names of over one hundred men and women of the town, who served their country in World War II, seven of whom did not return. Thus the foundation for prosperity and progress laid down by the fore fathers through hardship and privation has become a heritage. Such heritage is entrusted to each successive generation with an obligation to make it more enduring and more respected as the years go on.

Gertrude Fletcher Lowery