By Kimberly R. Smith
As the City of Presque Isle celebrates America’s 250th this year, it is perhaps timely to ponder the origins of our community especially in April. When the American Revolutionary War ended, no formal border was ever established between Canada and the United States. Maine had just become a state in 1820 and needed to increase settlement in the uninhabited portions of the state.
The State of Maine began to give out “land grants”. These land grants accomplished many things for the State of Maine: they encouraged permanent settlement, exploited timber resources responsibly and established ownership of same, and helped establish self-sustaining communities and not just speculative ownership.
The land grants would have been handwritten and on heavy paper such as parchment. These were intended to stake a claim and, as such, typically began with a header of “The State of Maine” and stated that they were issued under the authority of the Maine Legislature.
A land grant was similar to a deed. For instance, there would have been a description of the land being conveyed. These grants often described the land being claimed based on their proximity to rivers and lakes – or described by survey ranges. Our community had been surveyed and was listed as Township F Range 2. The grants were usually made to one lead settler (in our case, Dennis Fairbanks) or to a group of proprietors often consisting of 10 – 60 people. Typically, these land grants established a “township”, 6 miles x 6 miles. However, Fairbanks’ Land Grant differed from a typical one in that it was, at the time, only for one square mile or 640 acres.
The terms, conditions, and obligations listed in the land grant were perhaps the most important part of the document. In addition to laying out what was expected of settlers to the area, it was quite specific as to what was expected of the grantee. The grantee was required to build a saw mill on a suitable stream by a certain deadline (usually 5–7 years) and it must be capable of sawing boards for local use. In addition, the grantee must build a grist mill within a certain period of time (usually longer than the time limit for the saw mill). These were major requirements allowing settlers to obtain cut wood and process grain locally to be self-sustaining. Additional terms included roads being laid out and maintained, and land reserved for schools, meetinghouses or churches, and a “minister’s lot” (an old term meaning cemetery). The grantee was also expected to encourage other businesses including a blacksmith to settle here.
The land grants always included a forfeiture clause. Typical wording would state that “if the conditions are not met within the specific time, the land shall revert to the State of Maine”. This clause was intended to keep speculators from holding on to the land without developing it into a self-sustaining community.
In 1826 a man by the name of Dennis Fairbanks arrived in this area. In 1828, he obtained a land grant from the State of Maine. He called his stake of land “Fairbanks Mills”. Dennis was born in Winthrop, Maine in 1790. Like his father and older brother, Dennis seemed to have good business sense evidenced by his establishment of this community. However, he also seemed to have a bit of a temper. He left the area in 1846 after a slight scandal and moved to New Brunswick. The majority of his land holdings were sold to Sumner Whitney, another well-known man of the area. The town then reverted from ‘Fairbanks Mills’ to Township F, Range 2 for a time.
On April 4, 1859, a handwritten document was submitted to the State of Maine formally incorporating our town as Presque Isle. And the rest, as they say, is history…
Kimberly R. Smith is the resource development and public information officer for the city of Presque Isle. She can be reached at 760-2722 or via email at ksmith@presqueisleme.us.
