jackson index

Waldo County, Maine Gen Web Site

JACKSON, MAINE

Early Settlement*

The first settlement in this town was made in 1800 by Benjamin Cates, of Gorham, from whom Cates’ Hill has its name. Joel Rich arrived the next year, and settled on a hill which has since borne his name. Other early settlers were Nicholas Hamlin, Benjamin Skillings, John Cates, George, Elisha and Ebenezer Morton, and Nathaniel Knight, most of whom were from Gorham. First Minister, S. Warren.

The town was a part of the Waldo Patent. Gen. Henry Knox, who soon after the Revolution became proprietor of this patent, sold a few lots to settlers, then disposed of all that remained to Israel Thorndike, David Sears and William Prescott. Thorndike was a citizen of Boston, but, having a taste for agricultural pursuits, he cleared up and cultivated a large farm near the centre of the township, which he stocked with horses, kine, sheep and poultry, and set out an orchard of 500 apple trees. The place was long after his death known as “Great Farm,” but has since deteriorated.

The plantation was organized in 1812, and incorporated as a town in 1818. It was probably named in honor of Gen. Henry Jackson, a soldier of the Revolution. Ezra Abbot, D.D., LL.D., was a native of the town.

* From "A Gazetteer of the State Of Maine" by George Varney published in 1886 as excerpted from Ray's Place