Milo, Brownville, and Lake View

By Milo Historical Society and Brownville Historical Society

In the wilderness of Piscataquis County, rich in river power and vast with untouched forests, three communities were born. Although each is close in proximity, Milo, Brownville, and Lake View have unique histories and personalities. Milo s beginnings are based on the legend of young Theophilus Sargent, who faced the wild alone, almost perishing but for the kindness of a Native American chief and his son, Attean. One hundred years later, this survival story became the basis for Elizabeth George Speare s book Sign of the Beaver. Along with its grist- and sawmill industries, Brownville s slate quarries were prolific and offered Welsh immigrants a wealth of employment. Lake View Plantation was born because of timber. Merrick Thread Company built a spool mill near Schoodic Lake, whose shores were abundant with birch, and even after the mill closed the community of Lake View remained. Its small permanent population now swells to more than 1,000 in the summer as visitors flock to the beautiful shores of natural spring-fed Schoodic Lake.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Arcadia Publishing
• Release date: Jun 15, 2009
• ISBN: 9781439637326

Milo Historical Society

The Milo Historical Society has partnered with the Brownville Historical Society to present the history of these industrious, diverse communities. The vintage photographs in Milo, Brownville, and Lake View were drawn from the societies� archives and private collections.

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Society.

INTRODUCTION

In the early-morning hours of September 14, 2008, several historic buildings seen on the cover of this book were destroyed by fire. They had been features of Milo’s Main Street character since the early 1900s. These were the places where people came to do business, to socialize, or, in the case of the theater, be entertained or informed.

This was the core of the community. With these landmarks gone, one might believe that all is lost. However, photographs provide an everlasting guide to history. In these records, viewers can relive times of prosperity, times of loss, and look forward to times of rebirth and growth.

Also enduring are the oral histories that pass through generations of families and communities. Stories are told, retold, and eventually written down in diaries, correspondences, or in books. This book is a glimpse at familiar faces and landscapes. It is also an introduction to the character of three communities that have so much in common yet are so distinctly different.

The ties that bind Milo, Brownville, and Lake View are water, lumber, and rails. Each of these is so linked that at one time there could not be one without the others.

Although the Snow brothers visited the area in 1799, having been encouraged by their father’s description of the land and rivers, it is the Sargents who are considered Milo’s first family of settlers.

Philip, Stephen, and Moses Snow did indeed settle on the banks of the Pleasant River in 1803. However, in 1802, Benjamin Sargent and his 14-year-old son, Theophilus, arrived to build a new home for their family near the Piscataquis River.

When Benjamin returned to Methuen, Massachusetts, where his wife and three other children waited, he left Theophilus behind. Thus a legend was born and the seed planted in the imagination of author Elizabeth George Speare. Her book The Sign of the Beaver is loosely based on Theophilus’s experience alone in the wilderness.

Oral history reports that Theophilus went out one day, leaving the door open behind him. A bear, smelling food, entered the cabin, and ate all of the boy’s provisions. Without his staples, Theophilus became weak with hunger. At the same time, the legend continues, a tribe of Native Americans, probably Penobscot, were in the area collecting bark for canoe making when they came upon the boy. Taking pity on him, the chief had his son Attean Oseon stay with Theophilus until his father returned from Methuen.

In fact, Benjamin had arrived in Massachusetts to discover the city under quarantine for typhus. By the time it was lifted, the Sargents, with their dog Hunter, departed much later than originally planned. They arrived at their new home and reunited with Theophilus, as the Piscataquis River began its winter freeze.

On December 28, 1804, Alice Sargent was the first child born in the settlement, in the area now known as Milo.

The first recorded Brownville settlers were the Heath family, who arrived around 1795. They lived in the northern part of the area. In 1806, Josiah Hills and Francis Brown started the settlement, later building mills and dams. The next to arrive were Dr. Wilkins and Rev. Hezekiah May, who provided services to the population, which numbered 131 in 1810. Brownville was first organized as a plantation on June 29, 1824. It was named in honor of Francis Brown, a founding father and industrialist.

As the lumber industry declined, slate quarries were established. In 1843, the Bangor and Piscataquis Slate Company opened on the eastern side of the river. This industry provided roofing slate and slate boards for schools. It was sold to Adams H. Merrill in 1876 and remained in operation for many years. The railroads came in 1887, hence the establishment of Brownville Junction, once known as Henderson. Another business was U.S. Peg and Shank Leather Company, which was sold to J. Lewis and Sons, providing employment for many years, as did the sawmill, which operated along the river.

Several miles from Brownville, lumber continued to be a key ingredient for industry. Having depleted their supply of white