LUDLOW, Maine — There are plenty of small towns in northern Maine, each etching out its own history. Yet, not many people who live in those towns actually know how the town was forged in the early days of its existence.
The town of Ludlow will be celebrating its 150th birthday on Sunday, Nov. 23, 2014 from 2-4 p.m. at the town office. Refreshments will be provided. Items for a time capsule will also be gathered at this time.
The town west of Houlton has a rich and treasured past, dating back to its first settler, General John Comings, who forged his way through the woods from Houlton to Ludlow in Oct. 1825.
The town of Ludlow was incorporated in 1864.
Town Manager Diane Hines posed the thought she would be curious what Gen. Comings would think of Ludlow if returned to this time.
“He would still see the same views from his homestead,” she said, “But there would be definite changes in the landscape with power lines and the smoke of a distant mill. He would wonder at the fast moving traffic going by his homestead. He would wonder at the more populated cemetery and the additional acreage donated by the Wright family.
“If he were in charge of his Town, he would be faced with serving many more side roads and the people who live on those roads,” she added. “There would no longer be a school in town, even though his home housed the first school. Children travel in a large vehicle to a neighboring town for school. Most folks work in the Town of Houlton, the town that endorsed his settlement. Most everyone is dependent on Houlton for their subsistence: food stores, banks, churches, and other needs.”
Gen. Comings would use his frontier fortitude — an attitude forged through hardship — to lead his small town today. Budget issues and the rising costs of essential services would not falter his progress.
“He would most likely, given his reputation, try his best to serve every citizen’s needs with a fair policy towards all,” Hines added. “He might do his best to have all of the town ways paved. That would probably be a top priority for him. Whatever decisions he faced, he would not take them lightly, but give his choices great consideration balancing the need for capital improvements with available resources.”
As Ludlow celebrates may the residents never surrender the spirit of Gen. Comings, said Hines, may it continue to inspire responsible decision making in the town.
Humble beginnings
The township was granted by the general court of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in Feb. 29, 1808. John Reed and William Smith were appointed trustees of the land on Dec. 6, 1809 after Park Holland surveyed the township in Sept. 1809.
The original deed read: “Beginning at the southwesterly corner of a township granted to Williamstown College (Houlton), at a hard maple tree, thence west, 13 degrees north and six miles to an ash tree, thence north, 13 degrees east three miles to a maple tree; thence east, 13 degree south six miles to a cedar, then on Willamstown College westerly line south, 13 degrees west, three miles to the first bounds and containing 11,520 acres.”
“A condition of the grant was that 10 settlers must be placed on the land within six years,” wrote Leigh Cummings III in his compilation of March 25, 1996. “Since no settlement occurred until 1825, the time limit must have been extended.”
Gen. John Comings (later spelled Cummings) forged his way through the woods, two and a half miles west of the Houlton line, and settled on the land in Oct. 1825.
He cleared up a large farm upon a beautiful elevation from which he could overlook all the settlements upon the adjoining townships. Houlton was then but a small settlement and there were openings in the forest in Hodgdon, Linneus and New Limerick. The smoke of Mirimachi fires could be seen from the elevation.
The Houlton Plantation town fathers, Samuel Cook, Joseph Houlton, William Cary, Daniel Brackett, James Gould, James Houlton and Aaron Putnam, agreed that Comings “has cut out a good and sufficient road from the road leading north from Houlton mills, in Houlton, to the center of the land grants … he also built a good bridge across the North Branch of the Maduxon Crick.”
On the same date, the Houlton town fathers gave a list of those who had settled upon the grant: Comings, who owned 20 acres; Bradford Comings, John M. Comings, Robert Blaisdell, Lewis Wright, Jonathan Jones, James Putnam, Warren Snow, John Wilson and Thomas Osborne.
The reason for Belfast Academy, which was comprised of Ludlow and New Limerick, was due to the fact that many of its first settlers, who arrived in the 1840s to a town called Ludlow, New Brunswick. When Ludlow was incorporated, it split from New Limerick.
Comings was the agent of trustees of Belfast Academy (Ludlow) for the sale of lots and location of settlers.
Comings’ son, Bradford, surveyed the lots of the half township and all deeds refer to his plan and survey. He built a mill on the stream, which flowed across the southwest corner of his lot and which has ever since been known as Mill Brook. The mill contained an up and down saw, and sawed lumber for the settlers.
Bradford Comings moved to Houlton for a short time before relocating to Fort Fairfield. He became known as “Judge Comings” and was a well-known and respected throughout Aroostook County. He served as sheriff of The County and also as judge of probate.
General Comings died Oct. 1, 1849 at his home, the Millard Wright farm, and is buried in the small cemetery across the road. His son, John M., lived on the homestead until 1867 when he moved to Bloomington, Minn.
Ludlow’s first settler
Comings was born in Winthrop on Jan. 5, 1781, the son of John and Ruth (White) Comings. At least three of Comings’ uncles, who were Massachusetts Militia Minutemen, came to Maine during the American Revolution.
Comings married Mercy (Marcy) Barrows, who was born in Taunton, Mass. They lived in Freedom and raised their four children, Bradford, John, Ruth and Sarah.
Commissioned as general in 1820, Comings’ Second Brigade was part of the Massachusetts Militia, but three years later when he resigned, the brigade was part of the newly formed Maine Militia, according to the historical account written by Leigh Cummings III on March 25, 1996.
“He was, therefore, one of Maine’s first generals,” Cummings wrote.
