Early Waldo County

April 13, 1989

By Isabel Morse Maresh

The history of the local area is fascinating to the researcher. Some of our area has been in three counties, and in the commonwealth of Massachusetts, and now in the state of Maine — and the property never having moved.

The local territory was granted in 1620 by King James of England to a group of men called "the Plymouth Council." General Henry Knox acquired the territory in 1792. Most of the original deeds of the area were granted by General Knox.

Such is the history of the house now known as the Massachusetts House Campground in Lincolnville on the Atlantic Highway. The house stands vigilantly and silently and may be two hundred years old. If the walls of these old houses could talk, what tales they could bear.

I often think that if one stands silently, you can hear the cry of babies making their entrance into this world, the joyful sound of children playing, the sounds of men, horses, oxen, cows, dogs, and cats throughout the daily sunup to sundown toils of clearing land, planting crops, toiling to feed and clothe families. One can hear the sobs and sorrow when life departed. Such are the sounds of the ages.

The house in Lincolnville was at one time called "the Jane hart House" for one of its occupants, and also "the John Clark House." It was built in the 1700s when the territory was in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Maine became a state in 1820, and at that time the house was in the County of Lincoln, Plantation of Ducktrap and Canaan. Another division put the house in Hancock County until 1827 when the county named for General Samuel Waldo was formed.

The first occupants of the house were probably James and Priscilla (Ladd) Clark. They supposedly had eight children, the names of whom I do not have, the youngest of which was John Clark II, born 30 November 1811 and died in 1902. This John Clark married Mary Ann Clark, daughter of John and Clarissa (Mansfield) Clark and they settled in the northern part of Lincolnville on Clark's corner. They had 13 children. The Republican Jornal reported when Mary Ann died in 1877: "Dr. Neal, the attending physician of a Mrs. Clark, who died last week, made an autopsy and found two tumors, of about six and found pounds in weight, which he thought was the cost of her decease." She was 59 years old.

It is obvious from the genealogical and historical information written, how difficult it is to sift through information. I personally have four John Clark ancestors and would like to share information with others.