James Richards was the first setter of Camden,Maine.∼From the book entitled, Lincolnville 1776-1976 The Life and Times of Its People, by Shirlee Connors Carlson; published by The Town Crier, 1975, page 75 - the author obtained the following from a newspaper written in 1921: "Mr. Richards first came here in 1768 to cut ship timber, and liked the beautiful location so well that he built a log cabin with the intention of making the place his home, which he did the following year, bringing his family and household goods here on a schooner, from Bristol, where he had been living for the preceding two years. Mr. Richards was a resident of Dover, N.H., going from there to Bristol in 1767.
There is a story that, as Mr. Richards' vessel passed the island at the entrance to the harbor, the negro cook, attracted by the beauty of the little isle, pointed to it and said: "Dare, dat's my island," from which incident it has ever since been called "Negro Island." Mr. Richards had his cabin amid the tall timber somewhere on the land lying between Elm, Mechanic, Washington and Free streets, and one of his descendants has fixed the site at a point just back of the Norwood house. He afterwards got a permit from the proprietors of the township, the "Twenty Associates," to settle lot 28 of the Fales survey, but did not get his deed of it until 183. This lot contained priveleges on Megunticook river, which his descendants utilized and are now used by some of our properous industries, like the Knox Woolen Factory, etc. The lot extended back in Pearl street direction and quite a portion of it is still in the hands of his descendants and their families.
Mrs. Richards' name was Elizabeth, and she was called by his friends "Betty" or sometimes "Battie." She claimed the mountain nearest to her cabin as her mountain and from this fact we have today the name "Mt. Battie."
When the Richards family came here a remnant of the Tarratine Indians had a few wigwams on Sherman's Point, and they used to come around the Richards cabin and sharpen their knives and tomahawks on Mr. Richards' grindstone. Mr. Richards would usually be away at work in the wood, and Mrs. Richards was at first considerably alarmed. The Indians, however, were "tame" and treated her with due respect, and with the courage of true, self-reliant pioneer womanhood, she soon got over her nervousness and met the Indians on friendly terms.
Within the year Mr. Richards' two brothers, Joseph and Dodiphar, came and also built lof houses, thus starting the settlement that is now Camden. These three Richards brothers were the progenitors of nearly all the numerous population of the name in Knox and Waldo Counties.
James Richards lived to see the town grow from his own family only, to a population of nearly 2,000 souls, and the new state of Maine admitted to the Union."
There is a story that, as Mr. Richards' vessel passed the island at the entrance to the harbor, the negro cook, attracted by the beauty of the little isle, pointed to it and said: "Dare, dat's my island," from which incident it has ever since been called "Negro Island." Mr. Richards had his cabin amid the tall timber somewhere on the land lying between Elm, Mechanic, Washington and Free streets, and one of his descendants has fixed the site at a point just back of the Norwood house. He afterwards got a permit from the proprietors of the township, the "Twenty Associates," to settle lot 28 of the Fales survey, but did not get his deed of it until 183. This lot contained priveleges on Megunticook river, which his descendants utilized and are now used by some of our properous industries, like the Knox Woolen Factory, etc. The lot extended back in Pearl street direction and quite a portion of it is still in the hands of his descendants and their families.
Mrs. Richards' name was Elizabeth, and she was called by his friends "Betty" or sometimes "Battie." She claimed the mountain nearest to her cabin as her mountain and from this fact we have today the name "Mt. Battie."
When the Richards family came here a remnant of the Tarratine Indians had a few wigwams on Sherman's Point, and they used to come around the Richards cabin and sharpen their knives and tomahawks on Mr. Richards' grindstone. Mr. Richards would usually be away at work in the wood, and Mrs. Richards was at first considerably alarmed. The Indians, however, were "tame" and treated her with due respect, and with the courage of true, self-reliant pioneer womanhood, she soon got over her nervousness and met the Indians on friendly terms.
Within the year Mr. Richards' two brothers, Joseph and Dodiphar, came and also built lof houses, thus starting the settlement that is now Camden. These three Richards brothers were the progenitors of nearly all the numerous population of the name in Knox and Waldo Counties.
James Richards lived to see the town grow from his own family only, to a population of nearly 2,000 souls, and the new state of Maine admitted to the Union."
James Richards was the first setter of Camden,Maine.∼From the book entitled, Lincolnville 1776-1976 The Life and Times of Its People, by Shirlee Connors Carlson; published by The Town Crier, 1975, page 75 - the author obtained the following from a newspaper written in 1921: "Mr. Richards first came here in 1768 to cut ship timber, and liked the beautiful location so well that he built a log cabin with the intention of making the place his home, which he did the following year, bringing his family and household goods here on a schooner, from Bristol, where he had been living for the preceding two years. Mr. Richards was a resident of Dover, N.H., going from there to Bristol in 1767.
There is a story that, as Mr. Richards' vessel passed the island at the entrance to the harbor, the negro cook, attracted by the beauty of the little isle, pointed to it and said: "Dare, dat's my island," from which incident it has ever since been called "Negro Island." Mr. Richards had his cabin amid the tall timber somewhere on the land lying between Elm, Mechanic, Washington and Free streets, and one of his descendants has fixed the site at a point just back of the Norwood house. He afterwards got a permit from the proprietors of the township, the "Twenty Associates," to settle lot 28 of the Fales survey, but did not get his deed of it until 183. This lot contained priveleges on Megunticook river, which his descendants utilized and are now used by some of our properous industries, like the Knox Woolen Factory, etc. The lot extended back in Pearl street direction and quite a portion of it is still in the hands of his descendants and their families.
Mrs. Richards' name was Elizabeth, and she was called by his friends "Betty" or sometimes "Battie." She claimed the mountain nearest to her cabin as her mountain and from this fact we have today the name "Mt. Battie."
When the Richards family came here a remnant of the Tarratine Indians had a few wigwams on Sherman's Point, and they used to come around the Richards cabin and sharpen their knives and tomahawks on Mr. Richards' grindstone. Mr. Richards would usually be away at work in the wood, and Mrs. Richards was at first considerably alarmed. The Indians, however, were "tame" and treated her with due respect, and with the courage of true, self-reliant pioneer womanhood, she soon got over her nervousness and met the Indians on friendly terms.
Within the year Mr. Richards' two brothers, Joseph and Dodiphar, came and also built lof houses, thus starting the settlement that is now Camden. These three Richards brothers were the progenitors of nearly all the numerous population of the name in Knox and Waldo Counties.
James Richards lived to see the town grow from his own family only, to a population of nearly 2,000 souls, and the new state of Maine admitted to the Union."
There is a story that, as Mr. Richards' vessel passed the island at the entrance to the harbor, the negro cook, attracted by the beauty of the little isle, pointed to it and said: "Dare, dat's my island," from which incident it has ever since been called "Negro Island." Mr. Richards had his cabin amid the tall timber somewhere on the land lying between Elm, Mechanic, Washington and Free streets, and one of his descendants has fixed the site at a point just back of the Norwood house. He afterwards got a permit from the proprietors of the township, the "Twenty Associates," to settle lot 28 of the Fales survey, but did not get his deed of it until 183. This lot contained priveleges on Megunticook river, which his descendants utilized and are now used by some of our properous industries, like the Knox Woolen Factory, etc. The lot extended back in Pearl street direction and quite a portion of it is still in the hands of his descendants and their families.
Mrs. Richards' name was Elizabeth, and she was called by his friends "Betty" or sometimes "Battie." She claimed the mountain nearest to her cabin as her mountain and from this fact we have today the name "Mt. Battie."
When the Richards family came here a remnant of the Tarratine Indians had a few wigwams on Sherman's Point, and they used to come around the Richards cabin and sharpen their knives and tomahawks on Mr. Richards' grindstone. Mr. Richards would usually be away at work in the wood, and Mrs. Richards was at first considerably alarmed. The Indians, however, were "tame" and treated her with due respect, and with the courage of true, self-reliant pioneer womanhood, she soon got over her nervousness and met the Indians on friendly terms.
Within the year Mr. Richards' two brothers, Joseph and Dodiphar, came and also built lof houses, thus starting the settlement that is now Camden. These three Richards brothers were the progenitors of nearly all the numerous population of the name in Knox and Waldo Counties.
James Richards lived to see the town grow from his own family only, to a population of nearly 2,000 souls, and the new state of Maine admitted to the Union."
Inscription
"He with his wife were
the first who settled
in Camden, 1769."
Family Members
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