Several of the most useful trades had representatives in the township as early as 1805, but it was still destitute of a blacksmith. The year 1807 contributed a representative of this useful trade to the township in the person of Andrew Kimball of Belgrade,Maine. Mr. Kimball had at this time three daughters here--Mrs. James McCluer, Mrs. Josiah Bartlett and Mrs. William Sargent. These were the attractions that lured him thither. The settlers of a township can get along without gold and silver but not without IRON. The latter is, in some form, a necessary factor of civilization, and the worker of iron is esteemed as one of the most useful of citizens. The coming of Mr. Kimball was, therefore, hailed with great satisfaction, but his usefulness was greatly abridged by the want of tools and stock.
The scant supply of necessary materials, and the rude character of the tools and fixtures used by the blacksmiths, at the opening of the present century, were not unfrequently the occasion for merriment. A man of this trade came into a neighboring township to set up in business. He made a crib of the requisite size of logs and filled it with sand for a forge, put his bellows in position, adjusted his anvil to the top of a stump, and with no suggestion of a covering save the moving treetops, announced himself ready for business.
Shortly after, a stranger who was riding through the township on horseback, lost a shoe from his horse.
Meeting a resident, he inquired for a blacksmith shop. The instant reply was--"Why bless you, Sir, you are in a blacksmith shop now, but itŐs three miles to the anvil." Then, with the utmost gravity, he directed the stranger to the distant anvil.
Mr. KimballŐs shop was of smaller dimensions. It was a rude structure of slabs, located on the brow of the village saw-mill. Here he shod horses and oxen, mended plows and chains and did numerous jobs of making and repairing that came within the range of his facilities for doing.
A little later, he built a larger and more convenient shop on the little island just below the site of the gristmill owned by Edward Washburn. Like others of his trade, Mr. Kimball was often obliged to resort to makeshifts to meet the wants of his patrons. Some of these would hardly accord with ideas of the professional farrier of the present time. On one occasion he had business in Bangor, and must go on foot or horseback. By dint of effort he procured a shoeless horse, but a horse without shoes might prove a dangerous horse to ride. Although Mr. Kimball had forged many a horseshoe, successful work of this kind required iron, and of that he had none. In a pile of rubbish in a corner he found a set of ox-shoes that had been thrown aside as worthless. Shaping these to meet the exigency, he nailed two to each foot of the horse. Thus equipped, he made his trip to Bangor, accomplished his business and reached home in due time without accident.
Previous to the coming of Mr. Kimball, the inhabitants of Lincolntown were obliged to go to Simon PrescottŐs shop in New Ohio (Corinth) to get their iron work done. This involved inconvenience, loss of time and increased expense. Mr. PrescottŐs price for shoeing a horse was two dollars.