In the summer of 1794 the Allen family had a half bushel of corn that needed grinding. The responsibility fell to 14-year-old William, who threw the 25-pound bag over his shoulder and trudged five miles on foot to Moses Starling’s mill on Temple Stream in West Farmington. But Starling’s mill was shut down due to lack of water power.

William knew he couldn’t go home without the corn meal his family depended upon. Samuel Butterfield Jr. had water power at the outlet of Wilson’s Pond, so in the company of another boy about his age, William threw the 25-pound bag back on his shoulder and headed southwest. The boys walked as far as they could along the river road and then followed a rude path through the woods for several miles until they finally arrived at Butterfield’s mill.

By then, daylight was almost gone. The boys were tired and hungry and stranded at the mill, fearing they would never find their way back to Farmington in the dark. Samuel and his wife, Rachel, took pity on the boys. After grinding their corn, Samuel invited them to stay at his house over night, and Rachel fed them supper. In the morning the Butterfields gave their guests breakfast and wished them a safe trip home.

“I always remembered their kindness,” William Allen wrote years later, “and afterwards often went out of my way to carry large loads of wheat to his mill.”

These reminiscences were published in the Farmington Chronicle in a history of Wilton reprinted from the Maine Farmer in 1867. The author of the history, John Willard, based his writings on first-hand observations from some of the area’s oldest settlers. Willard relates how Samuel Butterfield was drawn to the area southwest of his home in Farmington because of the water power potential and became the first settler in 1789.

Butterfield made a go of his enterprise thanks to hard work.

“He was constantly clearing land and building,” writes Willard, “and ready to employ any man who wanted to work, for which he paid in grain at a fair price.”

Luann Yetter has written a history column for 10 years. She teaches composition at the University of Maine at Farmington.

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