Censuses Reviewed
Listed below are the towns and the US censuses (taken every 10 years starting in 1790) I reviewed. I tried to account for everyone unless they seemed to have a very temporary presence. Mostly, that was in the later years of 1920 and 1930. I succeeded in just about every case but there were a few individuals whose origins or link to the community were unattainable. Not all towns had their current names so I have tried to list what I know. Basically a good part of the area of Somerset County being studied was originally Bingham Purchase. This million acres also included some of today's Franklin and Piscataquis Counties. This was eventually subdivided into square-shaped towns, most of which had a name attached to it by the late 1800's.
When Bingham Purchase was subdivided the town blocks were assigned a numerical designation which depended on how far north the town was and whether it was to the west of or east of the Kennebec River. The 1st Range included Bingham, the 2nd Moscow, the 3rd Caratunk, etc... So, for example, Highland Plantation used to be referred to as Number 2 (or Town 2) on Range 2 West of the Kennebec River. For those to the east I have dropped the "East" designation. Even today, some of the "towns" still have an odd name. The Franklin County towns of Greenville, Shirley, Blanchard, Kingsbury, and Wellington used to be the N3 towns to the east of the Kennebec when they were a part of Somerset County.
By 1800, the towns (or the areas now called) of New Portland, Embden, Solon, and Athens, as well as the southern corners along the Kennebec of Concord and Bingham were settled. By 1820 people had migrated up to the first range towns of Lexington, Concord, Bingham, and Brighton and had set up in the second range towns of Pleasant Ridge & Moscow, and in the third range along the Kennebec in Carrying Place Plantation and Caratunk. After this they spread out to the rest of Somerset County in search of new places to live in .
The list starts at the northern boundary for my project which includes the range 5 towns.
When Bingham Purchase was subdivided the town blocks were assigned a numerical designation which depended on how far north the town was and whether it was to the west of or east of the Kennebec River. The 1st Range included Bingham, the 2nd Moscow, the 3rd Caratunk, etc... So, for example, Highland Plantation used to be referred to as Number 2 (or Town 2) on Range 2 West of the Kennebec River. For those to the east I have dropped the "East" designation. Even today, some of the "towns" still have an odd name. The Franklin County towns of Greenville, Shirley, Blanchard, Kingsbury, and Wellington used to be the N3 towns to the east of the Kennebec when they were a part of Somerset County.
By 1800, the towns (or the areas now called) of New Portland, Embden, Solon, and Athens, as well as the southern corners along the Kennebec of Concord and Bingham were settled. By 1820 people had migrated up to the first range towns of Lexington, Concord, Bingham, and Brighton and had set up in the second range towns of Pleasant Ridge & Moscow, and in the third range along the Kennebec in Carrying Place Plantation and Caratunk. After this they spread out to the rest of Somerset County in search of new places to live in .
The list starts at the northern boundary for my project which includes the range 5 towns.
RANGE 5
King & Bartlett N3 R5 West Lower Enchanted West Forks Moxie Gore Squaretown RANGE 4 Flagstaff N3 R4 West Pierce Pond Bowtown The Forks Plantation East Moxie RANGE 3 Bigelow Plantation Dead River Plantation Carrying Place Carrying Place Plantation Caratunk Bald Mountain RANGE 2 Highland Plantation Pleasant Ridge Plantation Moscow Mayfield RANGE 1 Lexington Concord Bingham Brighton Plantation Just South of Range 1 New Portland Embden Solon Athens OTHER Carrytunk Bet. Norridgewock & 7 Mile Brook 7 Mile Brook Million Acres Anson Madison Freeman Parlin Pond |
no censuses up to 1930 no censuses up to 1930 1840 [as Inchanted] 1830 [as Dead River Settlement], 1840 & 1850 [as The Forks], 1860 [as N1 R5 West], 1870-1920 1900-1930 1920 1830 [as Wyman Plantation], 1840-1930 1900 1910 1830 & 1840 [as N1 R4 West], 1850, 1860 [no census], 1870, 1880 1830 [as N1 R4], 1840 [as Pleasant Pond Plt], 1850 [as N1 R4], 1860-1930 1910-1930 1880-1920 1840-1930 no censuses 1820-1850 [as N1 R3 West], 1860 & 1870 [no census], 1880-1920, 1930 [no population] 1830-1850 [as N1 R3], 1860-1930 1870, 1880, 1900 [no census found], 1910-1930 1820 [as N2 R2 West], 1830 [as Smith Plt North of Gilman Plt], 1840 [as N2 R2 West], 1850-1930 1810 [as N2 R2 West], 1820 [as N1 R2 West], 1830 [as Andrews Plt], 1840 & 1850 [as N1 R2 West], 1860-1930 1820-1930 1820 [as N2 East of Moscow], 1830 [no census], 1840-1920 1810 [as N2 R1 West], 1820 & 1830 [as Gilman Pond Plt],1840-1930 1810 [as N1R1], 1820 [as Asia], 1830-1930 1820-1930 1830 [part done], 1840, 1850 1800 [as East Portland], 1810-1850 1790 [part as Titcomb], 1800 [census not found], 1810-1860 1800 [as Spaulding Town], 1810-1830, 1850 none The following censuses were also included because the people who populated the above towns tended to come from the ones from the south. Also, some of the early censuses encompassed the towns like Embden and any north of there. 1790 & 1800 1790 1790 & 1800 1800, 1810 [only part done] 1790 [part as Titcomb], 1800-1820 1810 [part done] 1800 [as West Portland] - later in Franklin County 1840 |