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HISTORY
OF THE TOWN OF
It is difficult to place ownership for
the area now called Bowdoin during the 17th and 18th centuries. In 1620 King James I granted to the Council
of Plymouth "All land from 40 degrees North latitude to 48 degrees North
latitude, and from sea to sea".
We know that in 1779 James Bowdoin had legal claim to the area of West
Bowdoinham Plantation and was granting deeds on land he claimed to be two miles
in width and fronting on the Cathance River and Merrymeeting Bay and extending
to the Androscoggin River. Some of the early Bowdoin settlers held Indian
deeds. There is also a record of James Bowdoin finding squatters in North
Bowdoin as he had a horse path cut through his claimed territory in 1750, and
family genealogies claim their forefathers to have been in Bowdoin by that
time.
In 1788, when the area became
incorporated as the town of Bowdoin, it covered nearly 90 square miles and
encompassed present day Lisbon and Webster. After incorporation, Bowdoin's town
records show a constant move toward civilization. In 1791, the Town voted 40
pounds to maintain three school districts. In 1798 the first meeting house was
used for church services and town meetings, and by 1808 town meetings were
being held in the "Old meeting House"--an indication of the North
Church having been built in 1805.
In 1797 James Rogers and Ebenezer Temple of Bowdoin paid the Selectmen
of Bowdoinham $2,000.00 for the privilege of building a road from Bowdoinham's
Cathance landing to the Bowdoin line. This road gave Bowdoin residents access
to the Kennebec River and hence to the world, opening up possibilities for
trade and travel.
With 88 votes for division and 30 opposed, it was voted in 1798 to
"incorporate westerly part of town of Bowdoin, in the County of Lincoln,
into a separate town by the name of Thompsonborough". On June 22, 1799, this move was approved by
the Legislature of Massachusetts, and in 1840 this area of Lisbon was again
divided and Webster was formed.
During the years of 1836-37 the West Bowdoin Brick Meeting House was
built by Nathaniel and Albert Purinton.
In 1837 a Town House was built on the hill of the Widow Jane Smith, with
the low bid of $590.00 going to Mr. Lincoln Maloon. Between 1836 and 1837 the
South Meeting House was built on land once owned by Elder James Potter and
overlooking his grave across the road in the South Cemetery.
In 1837, despite the growth of churches, the town voted on the method of
supporting the poor. It was voted that the poor be set at auction separately
(mothers and children not necessarily kept together) and the town agreed to pay
the doctor bills and funeral charges.
Whoever bid off one or more of these poor was obligated to return the
person the next year with clothes in a condition comparable to when they had
assumed care. They were to receive pay for the amount bid at auction. For many
years town meetings included the setting up and auctioning off of these
unfortunates to the lowest bidder.
Also in 1837, John Ridley was sworn in as Pound keeper for the ensuing
year. Three people were licensed as Innkeepers to retail spirituous liquors,
and four gentlemen were licensed to maintain retail stores, presumably with
spirituous liquors as a sideline. Small wonder that the 1838 town meeting voted
that all ardent spirits be removed from the town house -- forcefully, if need
by, by Johnson Jacques, Esq.
The Civil War had a powerful impact on Bowdoin. One hundred and
twenty-eight of its young men marched off to fight and many lost their lives on
Southern soil. The strong Baptist leanings
of the people fostered a desire to eradicate slavery. Since the 1840's the
Baptist clergy had been strongly abolitionist and after years of sermons on the
evils of slavery the call to arms found the young men of Bowdoin eager to
answer. These were hard and heart-breaking years for all, and many Bowdoin
cemeteries contain stones inscribed with the service records of those who died
during this war.
Bowdoin has suffered fluctuations in growth. A population peak must have
been reached in 1850 with 1,861 residents. The 1850 census shows large
families, usually with a hired man and a hired woman, and the wage earners
listed as farmers or laborers. These people were content with the simple life.
Along the old country roads and in the wilds of Haig Mountain you still see the
abandoned cellar holes, the lilac bushes, and the apple trees row on row.
Then came the Civil War, World War I, and World War II. Life looked
easier, richer, and more exciting in the towns and cities with their factories
and job opportunities. As the famous World War I song said,"How Are You
Going to Keep Them Down on the Farm After They've Seen Paree?". By 1870
the population had dropped to 1,345; in 1880 to 1,361; in 1903 to 940; with an
all-time low in 1940 of only 466 Bowdoin residents.
Then came cars, phones, electricity and better schools, plus the lure of
cheaper property values and lower taxes. The country living, so scorned for
fifty years, again became enticing. Bowdoin's population rose again, from 638
in 1950 and 668 in 1960 to 884 in 1970. The biggest increase came between 1970
and 1980 when the population rose to 1,629. The 1990 U. S. Census listed
Bowdoin's population at 2,207.