A Brief History of Monson, Maine
The territory that is now Monson, like the state of Maine itself, was first part of Massachusetts. In 1811, Massachusetts granted two tracts of land, each three miles wide and six miles long, on the east side to Monson Academy in Massachusetts on February 27 and on the west side to Hebron Academy in the “District of Maine” on June 17. Maine became a state in 1820, and two years later, the two tracts of land were joined and incorporated as the town of Monson by an act of State Legislature on February 8, 1822.
The first settler to the region prior to Maine’s statehood and Monson incorporation as a town was Joseph Bearce, who had come from Hebron in 1816. During that summer, he cleared a field and built a small log cabin, establishing the first house in the region. He married Nancy Ricker in the spring of 1818, but died by autumn of that same year.
The path Bearce and others took to Monson branched off an existing path to Million Acres, now Blanchard. As a guide to travelers, Bearce, finding a pair of moose horns, placed them on a post as a guide board for the many settlers traveling these trails to the new settlements. Placing, and replacing, moose horns continued at that spot from 1817 to 1955. On October 29, 1961, the DAR, Tisbury Manor Chapter, placed a bronze marker at the “Moosehorns” to preserve the historic marker. This marker is clearly visible from Route 15 between Abbot and Monson.
In the summer of 1818, the trustees of Monson Academy sent Abel Goodell to explore the township, thus to be able to recommend to others to relocate there. In 1820, seventeen men, some with their families and some without, came from Monson, MA, and started a new settlement, where the current village now stands, arriving on May 8. Among these seventeen were Capt Samuel Whitney, Justin and Calvin Colton, William and Lucius Hyde, Royal Day, Aus
tin Newell, and Horatio Sherman. The first home built by this group was the home of Capt. Whitney. By 1823, no less than five families were living in this small house until the could complete homes of their own.
That same summer of 1820, a dam was built across the outlet of the pond, flooding the pond and more valuable the water power. Within a year, a saw-mill and a grist-mill had been erected. Monson was growing in number and industry. An old tax list reveals that in 1822 there were 32 resident taxpayers.
On April 22, 1822, the first meeting to form a town government was held, “for the purpose of completing the organization as a town by the choice of the necessary officers.” The total population of the new town numbered ninety at that time, and from that number, they chose the following “good and true men” to fill those positions:
Moderator Andrew Cushman
Town Clerk Samuel Whitney
Selectmen & Assessors Samuel Whitney
Andrew Cushman
Abel Goodell
Treasurer Lucius Hyde
Constable & Collector Austin Newell
School Committee Abel Goodell
Lucius Hyde
Chauncey L. Colton
1816 Joseph Bearce (Hebron, ME) – 1st settler & 1st house
George Doughty (Gray, ME) – brought 1st children (5)
Simeon Irish (Hebron, ME) – 1st frame house & 1st child born
Samuel Rowe (Hebron, ME) – 2nd child born in town
1818 James Stanchfield (Albion, ME)
1819 Joseph Jackson (Abbot, ME)
Samuel Weymouth
Amos Atkinson – 1st settlement north of Hebron Pond
Abial Packard
Capt. Amasa Chapin
1820 Capt. Samuel Whitney (Monson, MA)
Joseph Colton (Monson, MA)
William Hyde (Monson, MA) – 1st child born of MA settlers
Calvin Colton (Monson, MA)
Lucius Hyde (Monson, MA)
Royal Day (Monson, MA)
Austin Newell (Monson, MA)
Horatio Sherman (Monson, MA)
Isaac Tyler (New Gloucester, MA)
1821 Abel Goodell (Monson, MA)
1822 Andrew Cushman (Oxford, ME)
Hiram Vinton (Monson, MA)
Cyrus Packard (Oxford, ME)
William Bowker (Oxford, ME)
Cornelius Barrows (Oxford, ME)
Zibeon Packard
Nathaniel Bennett
Reuben Cushman
Samuel Tobin
George Hathaway
Isaac Stone
James Whiting (Wrentham, MA)
1823 Frederic F. Gates – established first post office
1823 Frederic F. Gates – established first post office
Alexander Greenwood, Esq. (Hebron, ME)
Samuel Robinson
Zenas Scales
Abel Janes
Daniel Wallace
Joseph Goodell (Vt)
Dr. A. Davison (Vt) – 1st physician
Samuel Thomas
Zebedee Thomas
John Packard
Daniel Briggs
1824 William Connor
Simeon Davee
John Crafts
Solomon Cushman
John Morton
Oliver Eveleth
1826 Capt. J. Mathews
R. K. Packard
Joseph Barrett
Roland Taylor
Warren Dudley
Joshua Buck
David Goodell
Benjamin Ward
John P. Packard
1827 Joseph Booth
H. G. O. Harmon
George Dunham
William Goding
Abel Jewett
1828 Abner Brown
William D. Hoar
Milton Hoar
Thomas Towns
Solomon Bray – largest family in Monson, 14 children
Monson Village: A History of Monson, ME - 1822-1997
(Complete text without pictures)
This publication was initially produced in 1972 and updated and reprinted in 1997 on the occasion of Monson's 175th Anniversary Celebration.
It is the collected energy and dedication of Jeanne Brown Reed, Althea Haggstrom French, Elizabeth Emanuelson Davis, and Julie Sargent Anderson that made this History of Monson, Maine possible.
This book is available for purchase through the Monson Historical Society.