Up and down the Kennebec Valley: Malta War, 1809

Lendall Titcomb

by Mary Grow

There are still some left-over ponds and related information to continue the previous subseries, but your writer is ready to take – and to give her readers – a break from maps, water bodies and genealogies.

Instead, she will present the story of an often-mentioned, but in detail long avoided, historical event, the Malta War. (From 1809 to 1820, the present Town of Windsor was named Malta.)

The origins of this conflict go back to pre-settlement land titles, a complex topic; and the “war” itself has many surviving original documents that a serious historian would consult when attempting to describe it.

Fortunately, this series is not serious history, but history lite, or second-hand history, and earlier writers have done the research that will be summarized below.

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The chapter on Sources of Land Titles in Henry Kingsbury’s Kennebec County History was written by Lendall Titcomb, Esquire. This man was probably the Lendall Titcomb who graduated from Harvard in 1871, was a lawyer like his father and was mayor of Augusta in 1901 and 1902.

Titcomb discussed two types of titles. Some 17th-century settlers obtained deeds from the indigenous inhabitants, who, Titcomb said, occupied and used the land as tenants in common – all were part owners of an undivided tract –­ and assumed they were merely adding more owners. They therefore saw no problem selling the same piece of land to more than one person.

These deeds and resulting occupation and use of North American land Titcomb considered legally inferior to a title or license from the British monarchy. He did not mention, though other historians did, that the British land titles were created with completely unrealistic boundaries, because nobody in London knew the area they were describing.

After a summary of competing French, Spanish and British claims to North America, Titcomb talked about the 1606 Virginia charter and the 1620 New England Charter, both granted by James I (who ruled England from 1603 to 1625).

The New England Charter covered all the North American territory not “actually possessed” by another European power between the 40th and 48th parallels of latitude – that is, between the latitude of Philadelphia and the latitude of Gander, Newfoundland, north of the United States.

James I awarded the 1620 charter to the 40-man Council of Plymouth. This Council, in 1629, granted what Titcomb said was the “Kennebeck or Plymouth Patent” to “the Pilgrim colony.”

The 1.5 million acres covered 15 miles on each side of the Kennebec River from the north boundaries of Topsham and Woolwich upriver to the junction with the Wesserunsett, close to Skowhegan.

In October 1661, Titcomb wrote, the Plymouth Council sold the whole parcel to four men from Boston. These new owners paid little attention to their holdings; not until August 1749 did interest revive.

By then, Titcomb pointed out, inheritances had added many new owners who “were widely scattered, and knew very little of the extent or value of their lands.” After a series of meetings, in June 1753, the owners formed a new Boston-based corporation that was formally “The Proprietors of the Kennebec Purchase from the late Colony of New Plymouth,” or informally either “the Kennebec Company” or “the Plymouth Company.”

In 1761, this corporation hired a surveyor named Nathan Winslow to divide into lots the land on both sides of the Kennebec River between (current) Chelsea and Vassalboro.

An on-line Winslow genealogy says Nathan was born April 1, 1713, in Freetown, Massachusetts, and died Nov. 22, 1772, in Falmouth, Maine. His parents were James and Elizabeth (Carpenter) Winslow, married in 1708. The family were Quakers, and James was the first of the family to move to Maine, getting a land grant and building a mill in Falmouth.

The lots Winslow created had very little river frontage compared to their depth – modern records would call them “spaghetti lots.” Alma Pierce Robbins, in her Vassalboro history, said the Proprietors had voted to have them 50 rods (about 825 feet, or one-fifteenth of a mile) wide and a mile deep.

Beyond the riverfront lots, Winslow laid out a rangeway eight rods wide; then a second tier of long narrow lots; another rangeway; and a third tier of lots. Some lots the Proprietors reserved for themselves; the majority they sold to people wanting to settle in the Kennebec Valley.

By 1766, Titcomb wrote, most of the lots were sold. Because the terms of sale required each new resident to build a house and start farming within three years and stay – or will or sell to a successor – another seven years, they were occupied as well.

In January 1816, Titcomb said, the current Proprietors sold all the unsold bits and pieces, like gores (triangular bits of land where survey lines didn’t quite match) and islands, to a man named Thomas L. Winthrop. He later sold to residents.

This description sounds like a logical plan to create an inhabited region. In practice, though, large areas were left vacant, and people without legally recognized titles began to fill them.

Linwood Lowden, in his Windsor history, said settlers who were unaware of, or deliberately ignored, the Proprietors’ rights began moving into the Windsor area before the Revolution. More came after the war, “settling for the most part wherever their fancy struck.”

A resident named Ebenezer Grover had surveyor Josiah Jones lot out 6,000 acres in Windsor in 1797, Lowden wrote. Grover and others sold lots, many to speculators who resold them. Grover had no legal title to the land he sold, and he knew it: Lowden wrote that some deeds said explicitly the sellers would not defend buyers against claims by the Proprietors.

The Proprietors did make claims, filing lawsuits to evict the squatters. They also recruited agents among the settlers to keep them informed of sales. From 1802 on, they hired surveyors to resurvey parts of Windsor and offered to sell the new lots to the people already living on them.

The squatters, who had paid for their land and were mostly cash-poor as they tried to make a living from it, felt they were being unfairly made to pay again. And, Lowden wrote, when they were hauled into court, they found the judges were often Proprietors or their agents.

Young men in Windsor organized to harass and intimidate the surveyors. Two of the group were Elijah Barton, mentioned last week, and – probably – Paul Chadwick. They drove at least one of the Proprietors’ spies out of town (Lowden quoted his appeal for help to the Massachusetts General Court).

On Sept. 8, 1809, according to Lowden’s description, Isaac Davis was surveying on Windsor Neck, the northeastern part of town, for a resident named Aaron Choate, who planned to re-buy his property from the Proprietors. Davis’s chain men were two settlers’ sons, Jones or Jonas Pratt and Paul Chadwick.

Lowden surmised that the anti-Proprietors saw Chadwick as a turncoat. Nine of them disguised and armed themselves and went after Davis and his team, especially naming Chadwick.

Lowden said some were wrapped in blankets like Indians, and all wore caps and masks, or “veils.” James North, in his Augusta history, described the “conelike” multi-colored peaked caps, from which the veils fell over the men’s faces, with holes for eyes and mouth.

At least three men had guns, specified as pistols in North’s telling. The rest were armed with what Lowden called “the pointed ends of old scythes fastened into pine handles.”

The “Indians” found Choate first. They waited until the surveyors came out of the woods to join him, Chadwick leading. One (Lowden) or several simultaneously (North) shot Chadwick, who died two days later.

The suspects were identified, some by Choate and the dying Chadwick, and arrested. Brought before a magistrate on Sept. 15, they admitted they were there when Chadwick was shot. They were jailed in Augusta to await indictment and trial.

In the interval, as described by Lowden and in more detail by North, their supporters began to fear harsh penalties and to plan a rescue. Word reached the authorities in Augusta of armed men preparing to free the prisoners, “burn the county buildings” and destroy Proprietors’ and agents’ houses.

During the earlier years of unrest, Augusta resident had organized the “Augusta Patrol,” described by North as a 28-man group who took turns patrolling the town overnight. Now, precautions increased.

Augusta officials put a cannon on the west end of the Kennebec bridge and enlarged the nightly patrols. The night of Sept. 29, North wrote, there was a false alarm that kept everyone up all night. Around midnight on Oct. 3, some 70 men actually did approach the bridge and get into a fight with its defenders (apparently without casualties).

“Alarm guns were fired, the court house bell was rung, the Light Infantry turned out, the streets were filled with people and a general uproar ensured,” North said.

In the next few hours, Augusta officials called several hundred armed men (these were organized military companies; North does not use the word “militia”) from neighboring towns to defend the jail and repel the expected attack. A field piece was borrowed from the Hallowell artillery unit, and sentinels were posted throughout Augusta.

In following days, temporary barracks were built to accommodate the out-of-town regiments, and sentry boxes for the sentries. Augusta “assumed the appearance of a military post during actual war,” North wrote.

The Supreme Court’s October term began Oct. 3. The grand jury indicted the nine men for murder and set their trial for Nov. 16. In the intervening weeks, the number of armed companies was reduced to two, with nearby towns contributing in weekly rotation.

North described the well-attended eight-day trial in some detail. Four judges presided, and, in North’s opinion, Judge Isaac Parker’s summing-up “apparently left no escape for the prisoners.”

But, North wrote, the long trial and masses of information and argument “were too much for the feebly discriminating powers of a jury formed after challenging peremptorily the most intelligent men who were called.” (The challenges he referred to were by the defense.)

After their first long deliberation, jurors asked whether they could give verdicts on some but not all of the defendants. When the judges said no, jurors deliberated another two days before acquitting everyone.

* * * * * *

Lowden listed several consequences of the “Malta War.”

One was an 1810 Massachusetts law specifically applying to anyone who disguised himself as an Indian, “or in any other manner,” with the intent of obstructing people, including surveyors, as they were carrying out laws. Such offenders “shall be liable to indictment in the Supreme Judicial Court” and, if convicted, fined and jailed.

Another consequence was the Proprietors’ February 1811 grant of a lot on the west side of the Sheepscot River to Lois Chadwick, “an infant child,” daughter of Paul Chadwick and his (unnamed) widow, because her mother and grandparents were poor and her father died in the Proprietors’ service.

In 1813, Lowden wrote, a Massachusetts commission recommended, and the General Court approved, a deal under which settlers were given “all disputed lands” in the Kennebec Proprietors’ grant, and the Proprietors were given “the township of Saboomook” instead.

(Saboomook was probably what is now the unorganized territory of Seboomook Lake in Somerset County. Wikipedia says its area is 1,435 square miles; its population in 2020 was 23.)

Main sources

Kingsbury, Henry D., ed., Illustrated History of Kennebec County Maine 1625-1892 (1892)
Lowden, Linwood H., good Land & fine Contrey but Poor roads a history of Windsor, Maine (1993)
North, James W., The History of Augusta (1870)

Websites, miscellaneous

WINDSOR: LS Power informs town of project suspension

by The Town Line staff

At the Februry 13 meeting of the Windsor Select Board, Town Manager Theresa Haskell reported she received a letter from Jason Niven, director, project development, on behalf of LS Power Grid Maine. The purpose of the letter was to notify town leaders that LS Power Grid Maine’s development of this project, (Aroostook Renewable Gateway Project), is not moving forward at this time. LS Power Grid Maine LLC requested the town leaders help notify residents of this update.

Haskell also briefly discussed the Dirigo Assessing Group proposal. As discussed with the select board, Haskell will share the proposal with the towns legal team and C. Vern Ziegler, current town’s assessor’s agent and will bring back feedback to future meeting.

Haskell reported a town resident sent a letter to the town regarding the E-911 address change. The resident is not happy about the address change. He listed out several inconveniences this is going to cause him in his letter. Theresa noted that the E-911 address updating is for emergency, fire and rescue services. It has been done and is being done in several towns and is necessary not only for mailing but for accurate arrival for emergency services. There was much discussion about the hardship this may put on the handful of residents that will need to change their addresses. Theresa will be sure there is a posting on the website about the E-911 address update.

Haskell asked the select board if allocation of the snowmobile reimbursement would remain the same as in past years, 75 percent to local Snowmobile Club and 25 percent to be split equally among Windsor Boy Scout Troop #609, Windsor Brownie Troop, and Windsor Youth Association. The board indicated it would remain the same.

Animal Control Officer Ryan Carver reported he will start his door-to-door visits for unregistered dogs. He will issue the resident a 10-day notice. The notice will notify the resident that if their dog is not registered, they could be issued a summons for their unregistered dog when the 10-day notice expires.

Ryan reported a possible rabies case was sent off for testing. It came back negative.

Public Works Supervior Keith Hall answered questions the select board had regarding the upcoming public works budget. The select board asked Hall to get more specific numbers to them. The select board would like to know where money could be reduced in the public works budget regarding adding a public works equipment reserve line to purchase a JCB Mini Excavator with thumb, dig bucket, clean up bucket and mulching head. Also, information about what this piece of equipment would be used for and an estimated guess of future savings.

Hall reported things are going well at the transfer station. The transfer station is fully staffed with a back-up attendant available currently.

Haskell handed out the monthly transfer station report. January was up from last year at this time by $646.30 making the overall total $4,512.89 up for the year.

Ray Bates, select board chairman, opened two sealed Cemetery Mowing RFP’s (request for proposals). A bid was submitted from Maurice Soucey for $25,000.00, proposal beginning July 1, 2024, and ends June 30, 2025. A bid was submitted from Ryan Carver Megan & Hayden Lawn Care and Plowing for $21,500.00, proposal beginning July 1, 2024, and ends June 30, 2025. The RFPs were reviewed, and discussion followed about the equipment being used. The select board discussed having reference checks done by Joyce Perry, cemetery sexton, prior to making the decision.

The next regular select board meeting was held on Tuesday, February 27, 2024. A special select board meeting was held on Tuesday, February 20, 2024, to go over the 2024/2025 budget.

Up and down the Kennebec Valley: Windsor brooks named after people

by Mary Grow

Barton Brook

Barton Brook, in northwestern Windsor, was almost certainly named after Dr. Stephen Barton, Sr. (June 10, 1740- Oct. 21, 1804), or his family.

The brook connects the north end of Mud Pond with the south end of Threemile Pond (which is mostly in China and Vassalboro). In his history of Windsor, Linwood Lowden wrote that in 1799, the stream was named Wonnamdogus, a Native name that is now Warromantogus.

Part of the stream goes through the lot on which Dr. Barton settled in 1803, Lowden said.

Find a Grave says Barton was born in Sutton, Massachusetts. On May 28, 1765, he married Dorothy Learned Moore, who was born April 12, 1747, in Oxford, Massachusetts, and died there Nov. 11, 1838.

The FamilySearch website says the couple had at least seven sons and seven daughters, born between 1765 and 1791. Laurel Thatcher Ulrich, in “A Midwife’s Tale” (based on the diary of Dorothy’s sister, midwife Martha Ballard), said they had 13 children, and Dorothy “was almost five months pregnant” when they married.

Not all the Barton children lived to adulthood. Find a Grave says at least their first three sons died in infancy or early childhood, and another site says they lost at least one young daughter.

The sons named as adults are Stephen, Jr. (Aug. 18, 1774-March 21, 1862, born in Oxford, died and buried in Oxford and called Capt. on his gravestone because he was a captain in the militia); Elijah Moore (Aug. 10, 1784-Feb. 22, 1849, born in Vassalboro, Maine); Gideon (June 14, 1786-May 30, 1878, also born in Vassalboro) and Luke N. (Sept. 3, 1791-1837, born in Oxford).

Henry Kingsbury, in the chapter in his Kennebec County history titled The Medical Profession, wrote that Barton came from Oxford in 1774 and practiced in Vassalboro until 1778, when he went back to Oxford temporarily. Lowden said Barton and “three of his brothers” settled in Vassalboro in 1776.

Lowden found Dr. Barton’s “ledger book,” in which the doctor recorded details of his medical practice. In Vassalboro, main activities included “pulling teeth, applying dressings, bleeding patients, inducing vomiting, dispensing pills and elixirs, applying plasters and opening abscesses,” Lowden wrote.

Among common prescriptions were myrrh and aloes (which would have worked as painkillers and antiseptics); “Mugs of Toddy and cider” (Lowden did not guess why); and “Pill chochia,” which Lowden translated as “red pill.”

The Bartons went back to Oxford in 1790 (or 1788 – see box) and stayed until 1800. Returning to Maine, they spent two years in Augusta and another in Vassalboro before moving to Windsor.

Ulrich quoted an Oct. 14, 1802, letter Dr. Barton wrote to oldest son Stephen, still in Oxford, inviting him to move to Maine. The doctor said the family was “getting some land” where the only neighbors for a mile around would be owls, and “the boys” – Elijah and Gideon, aged 18 and 16, Ulrich said – could make a farm “if they will work.”

In his Windsor chapter, Kingsbury said Barton built his log cabin in 1803 “on the meadow in the western part of the town.” Lowden said the family lived “many years in a log cabin.”

Dr. Barton was not with his family in the log cabin for long. He died of consumption two years after they arrived, Kingsbury said (Oct. 21, 1804, Lowden wrote), and is buried where “he and his sons [Elijah and Gideon, according to Lowden] bivouacked the night they entered the woods.”

Find a Grave calls the site “the Barton farm.” A monument – a granite stone, according to Find a Grave – marked the grave in 1892, but Find a Grave says it is no longer there.

Kingsbury said Elijah and Gideon and grandson J. H. Barton settled near Barton’s cabin. Gideon married Sarah Pierce (Nov. 27, 1787-Oct. 9, 1834), of Windsor (Kingsbury) or Vassalboro (FamilySearch). They had at least eight sons and five (FamilySearch) or six (Kingsbury) daughters.

In Lowden’s list of Windsor men who served briefly in the War of 1812, Gideon Barton is named as commander of the company in which Clement and John Moody and Rufus Choate (named in previous articles in this series) served.

Lowden called Gideon Barton one of the first storekeepers in Windsor. He did not know when Barton opened the store in West Windsor, but he apparently found an account book from 1814.

The historian listed more than two dozen types of goods in the inventory – shoes and clothing; pipes, tobacco and pen knives; “powder, flints and shot”; scythes and seed corn; yokes and bows (for draft animals); pickled herring and other foods, including of course rum and molasses; and “itch ointment.”

Lowden said Elijah and Gideon were two of the four owners of a sawmill built on Barton Brook sometime after April 1816, on Gideon’s land. The historian recorded ownership changes up to 1832; he did not know when the mill stopped running.

Kingsbury listed Gideon Barton as a selectman in Malta and Windsor, first elected in 1814 and serving for 15 years. Other Bartons served as selectmen, town clerk and town treasurer in the 19th century.

The circa 1834 petition for a dam across the Kennebec that Henry and Dudley Dearborn signed (see last week’s article) was also signed by four Bartons, E. M. (Elijah Moore), Gideon, Luke M. and Samuel W.

There was a Barton school district, Kingsbury wrote, “near R[ufus]. P. Barton’s.” The schoolhouse there was moved closer to the middle of the district around 1850 and rebuilt; it burned around 1889.

The West Windsor post office, Kingsbury said, opened Sept. 8, 1873, “at the residence of Ira D. Barton, the appointee.” Find a Grave says Ira was Elijah’s son (Dr. Stephen’s grandson), born in 1820 and died in 1898.

The 1869 atlas shows five Bartons – G., J. D., R. P., T., and W. C. – plus a schoolhouse and the West Windsor post office, clustered south of the end of Threemile Pond, near what is now the intersection of Weeks Mills and Barton roads.

G. was probably Dr. Barton’s son, Gideon, Sr. R. P. was almost certainly the doctor’s grandson, Gideon and Sarah’s son, a farmer named Rufus P. (1816-1896). T. could have been Rufus’s younger brother, Theodore (1824-1901).

W. C. must have been William Collins Barton (1808-1889), Elijah’s older son. Elijah’s wife was Sally Fairfield; your writer found no other information about her, and also failed to find a J. D. Barton on the various family trees on line.

One more family distinction: Dr. Stephen Barton was the grandfather of Civil War nurse and Red Cross founder Clarissa “Clara” Harlowe Barton (Dec. 25, 1821-Apr. 12, 1912). Clara was the youngest daughter of Stephen, Jr., and his wife, Sarah “Sally” (Stone) Barton (Nov. 13, 1783-July 18, 1851).

Dorothy Barton younger sister of Martha Ballard

Dorothy Learned (Moore) Barton (April 12, 1747-Nov. 11, 1838) was a younger sister of midwife Martha (Moore) Ballard (1735-1812). Martha’s husband, Ephraim, first came to Fort Western to do surveying work in 1775, and he and Martha moved to Augusta in 1777.

Martha’s diary and related documents on which Laurel Thacher Ulrich drew in writing A Midwife’s Tale give more information about the Bartons.

Martha Ballard

Ulrich told a story from Dorothy and Martha’s childhood in Oxford, Massachusetts, before the Revolution, when American colonists were boycotting British imports, including tea (hence the Dec. 16, 1773, Boston Tea Party).

Dr. Barton, Ulrich said, was a member of the local committee formed to keep tea out of town. But when he was out of the house, his wife and sister-in-law were likely to provide “a cup of tea in the cellar for some sick mother in the neighborhood.”

Or, in the version Clara Barton shared as part of her family history, the sisters held tea parties in the cellar, hanging blankets across the door to keep the odor from the rest of the house.

Ulrich agreed with Lowden and Kingsbury that the Bartons moved several times before settling in Windsor. She said their return to Oxford in 1788 was from economic necessity: Dr. Barton was unsuccessful at “establishing a farm in Maine.” She surmised part of the problem might have been that their first six children (or, per Familysearch, six of the first seven who survived to adulthood) were daughters, unsuited for fieldwork.

The Bartons named two of their daughters Pamela and Clarissa. Ulrich said they were named after heroines of English author Samuel Richardson’s novels with those titles, published in 1740 and 1748, and concluded that Dorothy read the novels. Other daughters’ names she mentioned were Parthenia and Hannah; FamilySearch adds Dorothy and Mary.

When the older Bartons moved back to Oxford for a decade, Pamela, Clarissa and Parthenia stayed in Maine with the Ballards, Ulrich said. Parthenia moved into their household late in May 1788 and lived with her aunt and uncle most of the time until she married in November 1792.

By 1800, Martha Ballard’s health was failing. Ulrich wrote that one of her pleasures was her sister and brother-in-law’s move back to Maine.

Ulrich quoted passages from Martha’s diary about their return in May 1801 and her Sept. 1 visit to them, probably at “Mr. Crages Shop” where they lived first (or possibly in Vassalboro, where they moved later).

Stephen and Dorothy Barton’s son, Elijah, was involved in what historians call the Malta War, the multi-year dispute between proprietors, who claimed land titles from the British, and settlers, who might have alternative legal documents or might claim ownership on the basis of possession and improvement.

Windsor was a major battleground in this “war,” which culminated in a group of settlers shooting and killing a surveyor named Paul Chadwick on Sept. 8, 1809.

Elijah Barton was one of the eight men promptly arrested and jailed for the Chadwick murder. During the months before the mid-November trial, Ulrich wrote that the Ballards and Bartons spent time together, including, she said, an October night when the two sisters worked together to deliver a set of twins.

Ulrich wrote that jury selection for the trial of the alleged murderers began Nov. 16. The trial lasted about two weeks; the jurors acquitted the accused.

And, Ulrich wrote, on Dec. 3, Dorothy Barton and her four sons (Stephen, who was in Maine for the trial, Gideon, Elijah and Luke,) had supper at the Ballards’ and Elijah stayed overnight. “To all appearances, he was just another relative, just another visitor.”

Main sources

Kingsbury Henry D., ed., Illustrated History of Kennebec County Maine 1625-1892 (1892).
Lowden, Linwood H., good Land & fine Contrey but Poor roads a history of Windsor, Maine (1993).
Ulrich, Laurel Thatcher, A Midwife’s Tale The Life of Martha Ballard, Based on Her Diary, 1785-1812 (1990).

Websites, miscellaneous.

CORRECTION: In the February 29, 2024, issue of The Town Line, the wrong photo of Martha Ballard was published. The correct photo has been added to this online version. It was an editing error.

Up and down the Kennebec Valley: Windsor brooks named for early settlers

map of Windsor, Maine

by Mary Grow

Last week’s article was about ponds in Windsor that were named after people who settled or lived near them. According to Henry Kingsbury’s 1892 Kennebec County history and Linwood Lowden’s 1993 Windsor history, several streams or brooks were also named in recognition of early residents.

Dearborn Brook is the newer name of what Lowden said was the Moody Pond outlet, called in an 1800 deed “Grover’s upper meadow brook on the east side of Oak Hill.”

Dearborn Brook has its origin in southwestern Windsor, near the Windsor-Whitefield town line. It wanders north and east most of the length of the town, with Moody Pond and two other widenings in southern Windsor.

The brook passes west of Windsor’s four corners (the intersection of north-south Route 32 and east-west Route 105); passes under Route 32; and joins the West Branch of the Sheepscot River in northern Windsor.

Besides Grover’s Brook, Lowden said this stream was also called Oak Hill Stream, Meadow Stream, Chases Brook and Colburn Stream or Colburn Brook.

Grover referred to Ebenezer Grover. Lowden identified him as the first man to settle in Windsor, choosing a piece of meadowland in the southeastern area called Pinhook (because of a U-shaped bend in the west branch of the Sheepscot).

Lowden found that Grover was born in York in 1724. He married Martha Grant of Berwick in August 1745; they lived in Georgetown and then in Whitefield on the way to what became Windsor.

Grover “laid claim to, and began to improve” the meadowland in 1781 (when he was 57, Lowden pointed out). He probably moved to Windsor permanently before 1786.

In 1797, Grover, his son Thomas, son-in-law Thomas Day and a neighbor named Abijah Grant had the area surveyed, trying to establish a claim that would compete with the British-based proprietors. Lowden devoted several pages of his history to accounts of Grover’s land dealings.

The historian wrote that Grover’s first home was evidently a house rather than a log cabin. He referenced a Sept. 2, 1797, plan by surveyor Josiah Jones showing “a small building with a glazed window.” It was on the west side of the Sheepscot and a little north of what is now Route 17, Lowden said.

The Grovers probably had three sons and four daughters. Lowden found evidence suggesting Martha Grover died before 1785, and Ebenezer lived with a son-in-law named Joseph Trask, Jr.

Lowden called Grover a man overlooked by historians, who should have credit for his role in Windsor’s early development. Specifically, he deserved recognition for the “first serious mapping” of the town, and for “his significant influence in attracting settlers to this area through his many land transactions.”

* * * * * *

Lowden’s lists of early Windsor settlers include no Dearborns, but the name appears in his history. Your writer has found no evidence explicitly linking the Dearborn family to Dearborn Brook, and no explanation for the stream’s name.

Henry Dearborn, of Pittston, bought half a grist mill at what became Maxcy’s Mills, southeast of the four corners, on May 6, 1823.

In or a bit before 1834, two Dearborns, Henry W. and Dudley T., were among Windsor residents signing a petition to the Maine legislature to dam the Kennebec River at Augusta.

In April 1847, after more than 30 years of declining to build a town house, Windsor voters decided they needed one. They appointed a three-man committee to draft plans and find a site, and on May 15, 1845, they bought William Haskell’s lot for $30.

The deed was signed July 10, 1845; and a second committee, consisting of Haskell, William Hilton and Henry Dearborn, was directed to hire a contractor, plan the building, oversee construction and “accept…the building on completion.”

The voters said work should be done by March 1, 1846, except the plastering – that deadline was June 1, 1846. The first town meeting in the new building started at 1 p.m. May 21, 1846, Lowden wrote.

Lowden quoted an additional provision that allowed “individuals” to add a second floor, providing they paid for it. Evidently they did, because he said this “upper story was used as a school” at first and later as a meeting room for town organizations.

In March 1921, Lowden said, voters decided to replace rather than try to repair the 1846 building.

The on-line site FamilySearch says Henry Wood Dearborn was born in Monmouth Aug. 2, 1798, older son of Dudley (1770-1848) and Keziah (Wood) (1765-1834) Dearborn. The younger son, Columbus, lived only from Sept. 13, 1802, to April 7, 1810. Two daughters lived to adulthood.

On Oct. 20, 1836, Henry married Judith Batchelder (1799-1888); they had “at least one son,” William H.

William H. Dearborn, according to FamilySearch, was born Oct. 13, 1840, in Windsor. In 1862, he enlisted for Civil War service, becoming a member of the 21st Maine Infantry regiment.

This regiment spent two months, from March 21 to May 21, 1863, encamped outside Baton Rouge, Louisiana. There must have been skirmishes with the Confederates, because on May 8, 1863, Lowden said, Dearborn was killed in action – one of at least five Windsor men from the regiment killed in that area that spring.

* * * * * *

Choate Brook was mentioned in the Feb. 15 article as the connection between Savade Pond, in northeastern Windsor, and the west branch of the Sheepscot River. This brook goes southwest under Greeley and Sampson roads and enters the Sheepscot a little west of Sampson Road and north of Route 105.

Lowden named two Choate brothers who were early settlers in Windsor Neck, the northeastern part of the town. They were Aaron Choate and Rufus Lathrop Choate, sons of Abraham Choate, Sr. (March 14 or 24, 1732-April 23, 1800), and his wife, Sarah (Potter) (died in 1811).

Abraham and Sarah were from Ipswich, Massachusetts. Lowden said Abraham came to Whitefield by way of Wiscasset, and owned an interest in a large sawmill at Kings Mills, on the Great Falls in the Sheepscot. An on-line history of Kings Mills says Choate acquired part of the mill and associated rights in 1779.

The genealogy lists Abraham and Sarah’s 14 children: Nehemiah (1757-1775, died on a privateer during the Revolution); Abraham, Jr. (1759-1837); Sally (1761-1837); John (1763-1800); Francis (1764-1799); Aaron (Feb. 7, 1766-March 18, 1853); Moses (1767-1851); the first Rufus Lathrop (1769-1769; lived for less than four months); the second Rufus Lathrop (1770-1771, lived about eight months); Rufus Lathrop (Feb. 28, 1772-Oct. 17, 1836); the first Hannah ( 1774-1774; lived three months); Hannah (1777-1873); Polly (1779-1859); and Ebenezer (1783-1876)

Abraham, Jr., was born in Ipswich in 1759; married Abigail Norris, of Whitefield; and died April 12, 1837. Lowden called him “a prominent citizen of Whitefield.”

According to the on-line genealogy, Aaron was born in Ipswich. On Dec. 20, 1788, in Pownal, he married Elizabeth Acorn of Waldoborough (born about 1770, died in 1844). Before moving to Windsor, they lived in Whitefield, where Lowden said Choate ran the mill his father bought into.

They must have moved while Windsor was still Waterford Plantation, because Aaron Choate is one of those who petitioned to have it incorporated as a town in January 1808.

(Lowden pointed out that the petitioners clearly asked the Massachusetts legislature to name their town Alpha, but the legislation that was approved called it Malta. He explained the change as “the slip of a clerk’s pen.”)

Aaron and Elizabeth had five sons and five daughters, born between 1789 and 1807 (or later), the genealogy says. According to both the genealogy (whose writer used the phrase “It is said”) and Lowden, it was Aaron Choate’s land that Paul Chadwick was surveying when he was murdered by settlers on Sept. 8, 1809, and Choate witnessed the murder.

Elizabeth reportedly died in Windsor, Aaron, in China.

Lowden listed their second son, Aaron, Jr. (May 17, 1792- June 21, 1874), among 13 men who bought pews when the Congregationalists and the Freewill Baptists built the Union Church (aka the North Meetinghouse) in 1827 on Windsor Neck.

Abraham, Jr., and Aaron’s younger brother, Rufus Lathrop, spent “part of his youth” with his uncle in Norwich, Connecticut, Lowden wrote. Kingsbury said he moved to Windsor Neck about 1812.

In Connecticut, he married Elizabeth “Betsey” Maynard. Find a Grave shows their double headstone in the Hallowell Village cemetery; the website says she was born in 1785 and died March 18, 1863, and gives his birthdate as Feb. 18, not Feb. 28, 1772.

Lowden’s list of Windsor men who served briefly in the War of 1812 (mentioned last week) includes private Rufus Choate.

In the mid-1830s, Washington Choate and Thomas Choate (Lowden did not explain where they fit into the family – Aaron’s nephews, perhaps?) were briefly part-owners of a mill on a dam across the west branch of the Sheepscot near the confluence with Dearborn Brook. The dam caused the river and brook to back up onto land owned by 20 people Lowden listed, including Aaron Choate.

Lowden called the Choates one of Windsor’s “five basic families” (the others were the Hallowells, Merrills, Pierces and Sprouls), who were the ancestors of “almost all native residents” when he wrote his history in 1993. In addition to the family members mentioned above, readers may remember from previous articles in this series that he often cited the diary of Orren Choate (June 20, 1868-1948).

Sheepscot River

A 2018 article on the history of the Sheepscot River by Arlene Cole, Newcastle historian and weather recorder, includes a description of its course to the Atlantic Ocean.

Cole wrote that the western branch begins in a swamp in southern Albion and goes through Palermo, where the dam at Branch Mills backs up its flow to form Branch Pond; China, including Weeks Mills Village; Windsor; and Whitefield.

The eastern branch, which Cole called Turner Brook, starts in Palermo, she wrote; the deLorme atlas shows branches from Palermo and Liberty joining, detouring into Montville and returning to Palermo. Trending southwest through Sheepscot Pond, this stream passes through Somerville and joins the west branch south of the village of Coopers Mills in Whitefield.

Cole said this junction marks the beginning of the true Sheepscot River. Above, she wrote, the west branch is 21 miles long and the east branch 14.5 miles long. Below, the river runs another 34 miles to the Atlantic.

Your writer found on line three explanations for the name that has become “Sheepscot.”

One was proposed in 1869 by Rev. Edward Ballard, of Brunswick (then secretary of the Maine Historical Society), as part of a list of Geographical Names on the Maine Coast reprinted in the appendix to an undated national coast survey.

Ballard divided the name into three parts from the Etchemnin (or Etchemin, a subdivision of Algonquian) language: “seep,” which he said means a bird; “sis,” meaning little; and “cot,” meaning place or location. He combined them to mean “Little-bird-place,” and wrote that each year “at the proper season” Maine Natives harvested young ducks on the river.

Cole said the name was Abnaki (Abenaki), another branch of Algonquian. Originally it was Pahsheapsakook, she wrote. She quoted Fanny Hardy Eckstorm’s division – “pahshe” means divided; “apak” means rocks; “ook” means water place or channels – and concluded the name means the place where “the river is split up into many rocky channels.”

A third source, Alfred L. Meister, in the introduction to an undated report on Atlantic salmon in the river, said James Davis of the Popham Colony (1607-1608 in what is now Phippsburg) called the river the Pashipakokee, and other early historians (whom Meister did not name) called it the Aponey or Aponeag. Meister said early fisheries included alewives, salmon and shad.

Main sources

Kingsbury Henry D., ed., Illustrated History of Kennebec County Maine 1625-1892 (1892).
Lowden, Linwood H., good Land & fine Contrey but Poor roads a history of Windsor, Maine (1993).

Websites, miscellaneous.

Windsor select board approves building codes

by The Town Line staff

Windsor Select Board members in attendance, Chester Barnes Jr. was absent, unanimously approved the town of Windsor’s building codes, 4-0, at their meeting on January 30, 2024. Sections of the codes the select board had specific questions about were reviewed in depth. It was also noted that yearly reviews of ordinances will be done as needed.

The board also voted to accept and sign the assessor’s abatement for Samuel A. Newcombe in the amount of $163.85 as recommended by C. Vern Ziegler, Windsor’s assessor’s agent. They also unanimously approved the supplemental tax warrant to Double Eagle Properties LLC, in the amount of $361.05.

Public Works Director Keith Hall reported that truck #6 is back in service, for now. He also stated the 2016 International is still the next truck to be replaced in the public works fleet. In the meantime, McGee covered the extra hours while the truck was out of service. Town Manager Theresa Haskell noted that 40 hours of addition to McGee’s contracted hours were used for roads.

Hall went on to report the transfer station is now fully staffed, and they have also hired a fill-in attendant to help when needed.

Haskell then reported the Windsor Volunteer Fire Department would like to use the MMA Grant to purchase an ice rescue alive sled. This would be for cold water rescue. The grant would cover 70 percent of the slad, and the WVFD would cover the other 30 percent. The board approved it unanimously.

Haskell informed the board the town has received the stabilization refund from the state. Windsor received $14,505.16. The town received about 56 percent of the stabilization refund expected due to a shortage. The state anticipates receiving more funds and get more refunds to the towns in the spring.

Haskell reported switching from TRIO SQL to TRIO WEB would be very costly. She has again looked at the price to make the switch and from a few years ago, the price has almost tripled. She has also been looking into the possibility of using TRIO as the town’s back-up instead of using the current back-up server. Haskell will possibly be looking for new IT options and further review of TRIO options.

Haskell noted that Dirigo Assessing Group is ready to go, and take over for Ziegler as the town’s assessor’s agent. She gave some more background on the group and the employees, and what the working hours and days would be. The select board approved $825 per day for 30 days, one in office day per week, and one remote day per week.

Haskell reported that some towns have come up with a counter offer for Delta Ambulance of $20 per capita, even though Delta was looking for $25 per capita. More information will be forthcoming.

Haskell said work on the 2024-25 municipal budget is coming along, and the first meeting was scheduled for February 6.

Adrian Prindle, a resident, came before the select board with an interest in becoming a conservation committee member. After giving a background of himself, the board unanimously approved his appointment, effective immediately, and running through June 2024.

The next select board meeting was scheduled for February 13.

Up and down the Kennebec Valley: People for whom ponds are named, part 4

by Mary Grow

A suggestion to readers: this story will be easier to follow if you have a map of Windsor, Maine. Do not believe everything you see, however; your writer noted discrepancies between on-line maps and official tax maps of Windsor and its neighboring towns. Two Kennebec County atlases, published in 1856 and 1879, offer other variations.

Windsor is the southeasternmost of the dozen municipalities this series has included in the central Kennebec Valley. Henry Kingsbury called its shape unique in Kennebec County, with “four equal sides and four right angles.”

Windsor covers 36 square miles, Kingsbury wrote. Starting as New Waterford Plantation, it was incorporated as Malta in 1809, became Gerry in 1820 and Windsor in 1822.

It is bordered by Vassalboro and China on the north, Augusta on the west, Somerville on the east and Whitefield on the south. Only Vassalboro and Augusta have frontage on the Kennebec River.

Kingsbury counted “seven distinct bodies of water” partly or wholly in Windsor. Windsor’s tax maps show five named ponds (plus others that are nameless, and numerous wetland/swamp areas) entirely within town boundaries. Four more ponds – Wellman and Given in the south, Threemile (or Three-mile, to Kingsbury) in the northwest, Long in the northeast – are shared with neighbors.

Some of these ponds derived their names from early settlers, according to Kingsbury and Windsor historian Linwood Lowden.

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map of Windsor, Maine

WELLMAN POND

Starting, arbitrarily, in the southwestern corner of Windsor, on the border with the City of Augusta, the Windsor tax map shows that Windsor includes a small part of the east shore of Wellman Pond. (An on-line map shows this pond entirely in Augusta.) This pond might well have been named after a Wellman family, but your writer was unable to find evidence.

The Lakes of Maine website says this pond has an area of 12 acres. It gives no depth.

The Windsor tax map shows the State of Maine owning the land around the Windsor end of the pond, and a large surrounding area that includes Baker Bog a short distance northeast.

East of Wellman Pond and a short distance south of Route 17, Windsor tax maps show the northern tip of Given (or Given’s; formerly, as on the 1856 and 1879 maps, Longfellow) Pond inside the Windsor town line. Three-fourths of the pond is in Whitefield, Kingsbury said.

The Maine Inland Fisheries and Wildlife (IF&W) website says this pond covers 20 acres; Lakes of Maine says 23 acres. Both give its maximum depth as 20 feet.

Kingsbury wrote that Longfellow Pond “probably” took that name “from an early settler,” and was definitely renamed Given’s Pond to honor “another family living on contiguous land.”

Lowden said David Given, born in Newcastle Sept. 4, 1779, and married to Mary Marson there on Dec. 1, 1803, came to Windsor in or after the spring of 1808. He “settled to the east of Given Pond.”

In Kingsbury’s version, David Given arrived in 1810 with his son James (1792-1881). The 1856 and 1879 maps both show J. Given living northeast of Given Pond.

James and his wife, Elizabeth “Betsey” (Johnson) Given (Feb. 27, 1797-March 6, 1888), had three sons (one named David, who was, in 1892, living on what had been his grandfather’s farm, Kingsbury said).

They also had a daughter named Annie (1821-September 1822), who was the first or one of the first people to be buried in the Oak Hill (or Colburn or Coburn) cemetery. The Find a Grave website shows a gravestone Annie shares with Elizabeth J. Given, born in 1830 and died June 17, 1888, at the age of 58.

Family members listed on the Given monument, also pictured on Find a Grave, include an earlier David, born in 1745 and died Jan. 8, 1825, and his wife, Ann, born in 1749 and died Oct. 5, 1832; James’ widow, Betsey (whose birth year is listed as 1795); and David (probably James and Betsey’s son), born in 1837, married Sylvia Le Ballister (1848-1930), and died in 1921.

The youngest David was a teacher as well as a farmer, and served the town as a selectman for eight years and supervisor of schools for three years, Kingsbury said.

* * * * * *

East and north of Wellman and Given ponds, close enough to Wellman so the State of Maine owns its western shore, is long, narrow Moody Pond, the southernmost widening of Dearborn Brook.

According to Kingsbury, Moody’s Pond, near Given’s Pond, “received its designation in a similar manner” to Given’s. Lowden found that Windsor attracted several families named Moody, one (or more) of whom might have lived close to Moody’s Pond.

Deacon Clement Moody, Lowden wrote, was born in Nobleboro c. 1746; an on-line source corrects the date to 1776, which fits better with his history. He died May 5, 1863.

Lowden said Clement and Mary (Moody) filed marriage intentions April 4, 1796, in Nobleboro; presumably they married soon afterward. Mary Moody Moody was born Dec. 10, 1772. She died Dec. 10, 1856, according to an on-line genealogy, or Dec. 10, 1865, according to Lowden.

Lowden wrote that the Moodys came to Windsor in the summer of 1801. Clement served as deacon of the Whitefield Baptist Church, and in 1820 helped organize the North Windsor Baptist Church.

Clement’s land was on the Windsor-Whitefield line in southern Windsor. Lowden wrote that he sold his property to his nephew, Clement Moody II, Richard’s son.

Your writer worked hard to unscramble the Moody genealogy. She concluded that Richard Moody, another early settler Kingsbury named, was Deacon Clement’s brother.

An on-line source says Richard was born in Nobleboro in 1762 and died in Windsor in 1839. This source lists only one (the oldest?) son in each succeeding generation.

Richard, if your writer interpreted different incomplete sources correctly, had (at least) three sons.

John was born Dec. 4, 1789. Lowden’s list of early Windsor residents says he owned land on Windsor Neck in the northern part of town.

Richard II was born in 1793 in Nobleboro and died in 1876 in Windsor. The on-line source lists the younger Richard’s son as Clement F., born in 1823 in Windsor and died there in 1888; and Clement F.’s son as John H. (1868-1952).

Richard I’s son Clement was born in 1800 and died in 1858. Clement’s son Miles was living when Kingsbury finished his history; Kingsbury said he had moved in 1888 from “the old homestead where his father died” to South Windsor to take care of his in-laws.

Lowden’s list of Windsor men who served briefly in the War of 1812 (they spent less than three weeks in Belfast after the British had occupied it, he wrote) includes Sergeant Clement Moody and private John Moody (uncle, in his mid-30s, and nephew, aged 22, if your writer’s genealogical conclusions are correct).

The 1866 Windsor school committee report included in Lowden’s history lists Miles Moody as District 2 school agent and yet another Clement Moody as District 7 agent.

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Less than a mile south of Windsor’s four corners (the intersection of Route 32 and Route 105), on the east side of Route 32, is a small round pond ignored by IF&W and Lakes of Maine, but mentioned by Lowden and Kingsbury. It is nameless on contemporary tax maps; the historians said its names have included Dorr’s Pond, Donnell Pond (on the 1856 and 1879 maps) and Grant Pond (to Kingsbury in 1892).

This “aqueous lilliputian” covers a little more of an acre, but is worth notice because, Kingsbury wrote, “it has no perceptible outlet, and, as near as can be ascertained by soundings, no bottom.”

Your writer found no relevant Dorrs or Grants. The name Donnell Pond recognizes Methodist preacher, Rev. Moses Donnell, Jr.

Donnell was born in Wiscasset Aug. 25, 1789, and came to Windsor in March, 1818. He kept detailed records, from which Lowden took information about his strenuous life and how much – or little – money he earned. Lowden listed different houses Donnell probably owned at different times and wrote that he preached in Windsor in 1822 and again from 1832 until his death.

After 1838, he was appointed to different circuits, preaching in multiple towns and traveling thousands of miles. His home base was Windsor; Lowden said he moved back for good on Dec. 3, 1839, taking over the “circuit house” that stood between Donnell Pond and the road that is now Route 32.

The Find a Grave website says in 1817, Donnell married Martha Cunningham, born in 1793. The couple named their children Mary (1819-1876), Jeremiah (1821-1906), John Wesley (1826-1869) and Moses (1833-1904).

Rev. Donnell died on October 2, 1861, and Martha sometime in 1868. Find a Grave has a photo of the family monument in Windsor’s Resthaven Cemetery, which is on Route 32 a short distance south of his former house.

* * * * * *

MUD POND

Other ponds in or partly in Windsor are not named for people.

Going back west to the Augusta line, north of Route 105, is Mud Pond (and on the tax map another unnamed pond north of it). It covers either 52 acres (IF&W) or 65 acres (Lakes of Maine) and has a maximum depth of 12 feet. Located below Porcupine Hill, Mud Pond is accessible by “an old woods road and trail,” the state says.

Barton Brook connects Mud Pond with the south end of Threemile Pond, which is mostly in Windsor’s northern neighbors, China and Vassalboro.

THREE MILE POND

Threemile Pond is the largest of the named lakes – 1,162 acres, according to IF&W, or 1,174 acres according to Lakes of Maine. Its maximum depth is 37 feet; it has shore frontage in Vassal­boro on the northwest and China on the northeast. Public access is via the state-owned boat landing on Route 3, in Vassal­boro.

The on-line Google map shows town lines following the shoreline to leave the pond entirely in China & Vassalboro. All three towns’ tax maps show straight lines, putting the triangular southern end of the pond, and one of its four small islands, in Windsor.

To Kingsbury, this pond’s name “requires no elucidation.” Wikipedia relates the name to its size, saying that “Despite the name,” the pond is 2.71 miles long.

Jumping to northeastern Windsor, near the Somerville town line, on-line maps show four more ponds; the tax map shows two and some swampland. The smaller northeastern pond is named Fox Pond. The tax map shows a brook – one-eighth of a mile long, Kingsbury wrote — connecting it with larger Savade Pond.

Savade Pond’s outlet flows a short distance west into the intersection of Bull Brook and Choate Brook. Choate Brook flows into the west branch of the Sheepscot River. The State of Maine has a Savade Pond boat landing on a 14.1-acre parcel on Greeley Road.

Kingsbury said Fox Pond was “a favorite resort” of wild foxes. Savade he equated with “surveyed.”

South of Route 105 on Windsor’s eastern boundary, Long Pond is a wide place in the west branch of the Sheepscot River, on the Somerville town line. This pond covers 523 acres (IF&W) or 504 acres (Lakes of Maine), and is only 16 feet deep at its deepest.

Main sources

Kingsbury Henry D., ed., Illustrated History of Kennebec County Maine 1625-1892 (1892).
Lowden Lowden, Linwood H., good Land & fine Contrey but Poor roads a history of Windsor, Maine (1993).

Websites, miscellaneous.

WINDSOR: Absent board members delays building codes review

by The Town Line staff

With two of the five select board members absent at their January 16 meeting prevented the select board from reviewing the building code. The building code is to be reviewed in its entirety. Selectman Thomas McNaughton has asked the board to review page 6 closely when the review takes place. Select board members present were Ray Bates, Andrew Ballantyne and Thomas McNaughton. Absent were William Appel Jr., and Chester D. Barnes Jr.

Town manager Theresa Haskell also briefly discussed the six-month 2023-24 budget. There were no concerns from the board, as Haskell pointed out the budget lines for Central Maine Power Co., and the public works trucks.

Haskell also handed out the monthly transfer station report. December was down from last year at this time by $729.30, making the overall total $3,866.59 up for the year.

In other matters:

Haskell discussed an invitation to the select board for a self-protect class being offered to female municipal employees at the Chelsea School. The select board agreed it was a great opportunity for anyone interested in taking the class.
Haskell discussed with the select board writing a letter requesting a grant for Community Concepts offering housing to very low income people who have applied to USDA-Rural Development for funds to assist families in achieving the dream of home ownership through the 523 Self-Help Homeownership Program. The board agreed it would be suitable for Haskell to write this grant letter.
Haskell brought up the fact that the transfer station is short staffed on Saturday. Select board member Ray Bates indicated he will be able to help in the morning, and Haskell volunteered to assist in the afternoon, until a person can be hired to fill the gaps when needed.
The town will be receiving a proposal from Dirigo Assessing, according to town assessor Vern Ziegler. Talks are ongoing with Dustin and Nicole from Dirigo Assessing.
RHR Smith and Company, the town’s new auditor, has requested copies of ledgers and statements to begin the audit.

Resident Steve Hoad commended the Windsor Rescue for their hard work and dedication to the town. With the recent passing of his wife, Helen, he has asked to have donations made to the Windsor Rescue and Windsor Volunteer Fire Department on his wife’s behalf. Donation should be brought to the town office.

The next meeting of the select board was scheduled for January 30.

Windsor board carries over $300,000 in WVFD tanker truck funds

by The Town Life staff

Select board members, at their January 2, 2024, meeting, approved carrying over Windsor Volunteer Fire Department tanker truck funds in the amount of #300,000, which was approved at the last town meeting. Town manager Theresa Haskell said the tanker truck should be ready by the end of January.

Keith Hall, public works supervisor, reported that clean up work continues along Windsor roads from recent storms.

Hall also reported that a culvert will need to be replaced on Coopers Mills Road, an item that will be discussed more in the upcoming budget. The projected cost is $12,000 for the four-foot or five-foot culvert. This estimate does not include labor cost to install the culvert.

At the transfer station, Hall reported they had to disconnect the switch on the gate to one of the compactors, for now, because it wasn’t working properly. J&M Electric inspected the switch will take another look at it when they have time.

The annual inspection of the compactor has been done, at a cost of $1,995.65, an expense that is expected to increase next year.

In other business:

Haskell reported the town of Windsor has received $25,000 from Mark Scribner, for the NET Co Scholarship Fund for the 2024-25 school year. This will be the 11th year the town has received this donation.
The town’s assistant E-911/CEO/LPI has been working on updating roads and mapping. He will be joining the codes enforcement officer to look at some roads in the coming weeks.
Haskell also informed the board the town will be mailing, via certified mail, the impending automatic foreclosure notices to residents who sitll have not paid on property that has a lien.
Presidential primary voting will take place at the Windsor Elementary School on Tuesday, March 5, 2024. The budget committee is also scheduled to meet that day, at 6 p.m., at the town hall.

Windsor Cub Scouts Pack holds holiday party

Cubmaster Shawn MacFarland passes out pinewood derby car kits to the Cubs. Over the next few weeks, the Cubs and their parent or grandparent will carve and cut these blocks of wood into sleek racers.

by Chuck Mahaleris

Corbin Burdeck is a Webelos in Pack #609 and lives in Whitefield. “I love everything about Cub Scouts!”

Cub Pack #609 held their holiday party on January 4, at Windsor Elementary School. The event was delayed due to the “Grinch” storm that left many in the area without power for days. Families brought food to share and Cubs learned a new song. The highlight of the evening came when each Scout received a new pinewood derby car kit.

“We have a busy January and February,” said Cubmaster Shawn McFarland. “We have the Klondike Derby at Camp Bomazeen later this month, perhaps the China Ice Fishing Derby next month and then the Pinewood Derby after that.” The pinewood derby is the wood car racing event of Scouting.

Julia Hartwell, of Windsor is, in fourth grade at Windsor Elementary. She has been in Cub Scouts for a year and is one of the six original members of Pack #609 after it restarted this past autumn. She enjoys hiking and is looking forward to the Pinewood Derby.

With the help of adults, Scouts build their own unpowered, unmanned miniature cars from wood, usually from kits containing a block of pine wood, plastic wheels, and metal axles. The Scouts use their imagination to come up with the design for their wooden car which ranges from Formula 1 racers to tanks to tractors to spaceships and even cartoon characters. Those cars are raced down the pack’s Pinewood Derby track and the fastest go on to race at the district level. “It is a lot of fun,” McFarland said. “One of the best parts is it is a great project for a kid to do with their parent or grandparent.”

Pack #609 had ceased operation before Covid-19 and only began this past autumn. “We started back up after the Windsor Fair,” McFarland said. Six youth and parents from Augusta Pack #684 who lived in Windsor were the nucleus but since then the pack has grown to 19 kids drawing from Jefferson and Whitefield. “I am glad to see it taking off. Scouting has a great opportunity to build character in these kids and it is a lot of fun,” McFarland said.

All photos by Chuck Mahaleris

Ivan Peaslee is a Lion Cub Scout and is in kindergarten, in Jefferson.

Pack 609

WINDSOR: Delta Ambulance chief gives select board presentation

by The Town Line staff

At their December 5, 2023, meeting, the Windsor Select Board heard Chris Mitchell, interim executive director for Delta Ambulance, speak about a variety of topics on behalf of the board of directors for Delta Ambulance.

He started by answering questions regarding his relationship with Delta and his history with the corporation. He then reviewed some future financial and demographic goals for Delta Ambulance. He confirmed the rumors that Delta will be selling the Cony Street location, in Augusta, and relocating up to 80 staff and up to five trucks, emphasizing they have not been using the location at full capacity. The reduction of rescue calls and transfers were a couple of the big deciding factors. New locations have been discussed with other towns, Windsor being one of them. Delta covers 13 towns.

Mitchell reported that currently the town of Windsor pays $15 per capita and that will increase. What the increase will be has yet to be determined, but could go as high as $25 per capita, if not higher.

Delta currently pays operating expenses only at the Cony Street location. They have contacted a consulting group and meetings will be held soon. He pledged to keep Town Manager Theresa Haskell up to date with any financial changes.

In other business, Haskell handed out the monthly transfer station report. November was up from last year at this time by $642.89 making the overall total $4,595.95 for the year.

Acting as the Board of Assessors, they accepted the assessor’s agent’s 2023-24 supplemental tree growth penalty commitment in the amountt of $3,040, as presented by Assessor Vern Ziegler.
The Select Board accepted the three-year contract from RHR Smith Buxton & Co., for auditing services. Haskell sent out six bid requests and received two responses.
Haskell updated the board on renovations that could take place in the future at the town hall. The renovations include adding interior walls near the lift and adding office space and possible storage area. There was also discussion about heating and cooling in the office areas as well as upstairs. More information will be forthcoming.
It was agreed to sign the certificate of appointments for the Windsor Educational Foundation & Reed Fund member.
Haskell reported the Health Trust rates have increased by 4.25 percent. Dental rates didn’t change.