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Milford Mill Company Records, 1828-1901, undated

 Collection
Identifier: MSS 914

Scope and Content Note

The Milford Mill Company records contain financial papers, land deeds, and lease agreements from the company’s activities in Milford, Maine. This collection has been divided into three series.

Series I. Accounts, Invoices, Vouchers, and Receipts contains accounts, invoices, vouchers, and receipts, the majority of which are addressed to Milford Mill Company. There are however, a significant number of materials addressed or paid out by E. S. Coe who, as one of the owners, acted on behalf of the Milford Mill Company. Also included in this series is an account book belonging to John Winn, an agent of Milford Mill Company; Winn also worked as an agent for E. S. Coe and David Pingree.

Series II. Deeds and Leases contains purchase agreements, deeds, copies of deeds, lease agreements for land and saw mills, and permits for use of the land and timber.

Series III. Other contains correspondence, memos about the Milford lots, inventories, maps, sketches, and plans of the Milford lots. Also included in this series are papers relating to J. W. Goodwin’s settlement; these materials were originally bundled together and labeled as this, so the original title was maintained.

Dates

  • Creation: 1828-1901, undated

Creator

Restrictions on Access

This collection is open for research use.

Historical Sketch

David Pingree (1795-1863), his heirs, and Eben S. Coe (1814-1899), as the Milford Mill Company, owned seventeen thousand acres within the township of Milford, Maine on the east side of the Penobscot River, from 1846 until 1880. Within this township, the Milford Mill Company owned a block of water-powered mills on Oldtown Falls (History of Penobscot County Maine 908). These water-powered saw mills had short connected dams, all of which were built from wood. The Milford Mill Company’s mills included: six single saw mills, four gang mills, one shingle mill, one clapboard mill, and four lath mills, all of which ran roughly seven months out of the year. The products of the mills were marketed in Bangor, arriving by both water and train (Wells 519). The Company leased out the land, mills, and buildings to different individuals and companies.

In 1880, the Milford Mill Company sold its seventeen thousand acres, including the mills to the Milford Lumbering and Manufacturing Company. Following the sale, the Milford Mill Company was dissolved (History of Penobscot County Maine 906).

Extent

4.5 linear feet (7 boxes)

Language of Materials

English

Abstract

The Milford Mill Company records contain financial papers, land deeds, and lease agreements from the company’s activities in Milford, Maine.

Series List

SERIES I. Accounts, Invoices, Vouchers, and Receipts

SERIES II. Deeds and Leases

SERIES III. Other

Physical Location

Phillips Library Stacks

Provenance

This material was donated by Pingree family heirs.

Bibliography and Related Material

History of Penobscot County Maine: With Illustrations and Biographical Sketches. Cleveland: Williams, Chase, and Company, 1882.

Wells, Walter. The Water Power of Maine. Augusta: Sprague, Owen and Nash, Printers to the State, 1869.

David Pingree Papers, 1810-1939. MSS 901.

E. S. Coe Papers, 1844-1906. MSS 924.

John Winn Papers, 1818, 1845-1881. MSS 925.

Processing Information

Collection processed by Hilary Streifer, December 17, 2015.

Title
MILFORD MILL COMPANY RECORDS, 1828-1901, undated
Author
Processed by: Hilary Streifer; machine-readable finding aid created by: Hilary Streifer.
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Sponsor
Processing of this collection was funded by gifts from Pingree heirs.

Repository Details

Part of the Phillips Library Repository

Contact:
Peabody Essex Museum
306 Newburyport Turnpike
Rowley MA 01969 USA