Factory Square History Walk ~ Additional Information Discovered Revised 6/24/2014

William Turner c.1844 at Old Kents Hill Road was included
on the Factory Square history walk on 10/11/13.

On our 10/11/2013 History Walk we included the Curtis (previously Louise Wood) house on Old Kents Hill Road but at the time knew nothing about the origin of the house or what the adjacent stream / water power / dam was used for. No one knew the origin of the name Handy Stream either  or who built that (lovely old) dam. All we knew was that this was part of the Factory Square industrial area. So I did a little digging and below is what I came up with. Anyone who has info to add please feel free to email me.

First of all, Nathaniel Handy lived there around 1930 – thus the name Handy Stream. The house was built by William Turner c.1844. The land this house sits on was sold to Turner by Lot Morrill in 1847 and in the deed it says that Turner had already built a dwelling house on the property. The births of two of William Turner's children were recorded in Readfield. The first was born on 10/4/1844 - which leads me to believe this is about the time Turner built this home.

This parcel is located on the easterly line of lot #211. Water flowage rights (from the adjoining stream and dam) were reserved for Joshua Bean's tan yard. The southeast corner of the tan yard bordered on this property.*

This dam on Handy Stream is on the Old Kents Hill Rd
was built by Joshua Bean in 1817 and supplied the
water necessary for his tannery.

I did not search beyond this in the deeds because I found what I was looking for – when house was built and what the water and dam was used for. In referring to Kingsbury's History of Kennebec County pg. 894 the following information is given about this tanning mill: " Joshua Bean built a tannery and a bark mill before 1815 on a stream that crosses what used to be called Cameron Hill. This was in operation as late as 1840." One of the old deeds from which I extracted the above information refers to an adjoining property as "...previously known as the Cameron place..." The same deed also refers to Bean's mill pond.** So this is where Cameron Hill is - I have always wondered! Another piece of our history puzzle solved!


UPDATE 6/24/2014: Another reference to Cameron was found in 1815 when Joshua Bean and his brother-in-law bought land part/of lot #211 at this location. The deed (book 24 page 111) gave all rights to Bean and Pierce except the dwelling house where Collin Cameron was living at the time. One year later Bean and Pierce bought 4 acres of land on the bank of White's Brook (now called Handy) on the western line of lot #212. One year later, in 1817, Bean bought Pierce's interest in this 4 acre piece and Pierce gave Bean the right to build a dam and flood part of his land for use of a mill. Bean's occupation was listed as tanner.***


Joshua Bean was son of Elisha and grandson of Joshua Bean, the original Bean in Readfield. Joshua's uncle, Joel O. Bean, built and ran a sawmill, gristmill and fulling mill on Torsey Pond. He and three of his sons had homesteads on Thundercastle and Chase Roads. We will be holding History Walks at two locations in that area in the fall of 2014. There will also be a presentation at Maranacook Adult Ed about "The Beans of Readfield Maine" the fall of 2014.


NOTE: There were two Bean's mill ponds in this area - the other we now know as Torsey Pond. From what I can gather, the two were differentiated by being called Bean's mill pond (on White or Handy Brook) and Joel's pond or Joel Bean's mill pond (Torsey). 
 

* Kennebec County Registry of Deeds Book 165 Pages 412-413 1/4/1847
** Kennebec County Registry of Deeds Book 127 Book 403
*** Kennebec County Registry of Deeds Book 42 Page 257-259; book 24 page 235

Here are some tidbits about another house that we knew little about when we walked Factory Square. The "Grist Mill house" brought out significant interest. It is located on Factory Square next to the stream. I actually stumbled onto some very interesting information about this house when researching for History Walk #15. 

"The Grist Mill house" on Factory Square.

 

This house is located on the Mill Stream Road / Factory Square and is no longer habitable (in 2013). In the old deeds it is described as the "Grist Mill house". On November 18, 1805 James Craig, who built the grist mill at Factory Square, sold his grist mill lot and buildings thereon on lot #212 to Robert Page (Kennebec Registry of Deeds Book 9 Page 53). The deed states that on the land was "a grist mill, house and barn." COULD it be this was the home of James Craig - one of Readfield's most visible and influential industrial pioneers? In later deeds this property's boundaries are given as: beginning at the southwest corner of the cheese factory lot and north side of the north bridge at the grist mill. At this time I do not know the exact date it was built, but I do know that if it was the home of James Craig it would have been built well before 1800. James Craig came to Readfield c.1770. Harley Weatherby lived here in the 1940s. After that Miss Mildred Humphrey lived here. She was a favorite of the young children who lived in town.