The Thomas Vose Homestead (Part 2)

July 29, 2026

With the end of the Revolutionary War in 1783 the Massachusetts General Court reconstituted the Committee for the Sale of Eastern Lands. By encouraging the settlement of the frontier wilderness of Maine, the court hoped to generate revenues to counter the financial chaos left by the war. That same year Edward Hutchinson Robbins of Brush Hill a graduate of Harvard Law, sent Col. Jonathan Eddy, a veteran of the French, Indian and Revolutionary Wars, to survey four townships on the St Croix River. Eddy recommended Township #4.

In 1786 Edward and his brother Nathaniel received a land grant for that township; 17,860 acres of wilderness; a forest of birch, beech, spruce, and vast stands of old growth great white pine, occupied largely by the indigenous Passamaquoddy.

It was the proprietor’s responsibility to settle the town. Robbins persuaded a group of men and their families from Milton to make the move. These were difficult post war economic times; many may have been lured by the cheap land, plentiful lumber, and a chance for a fresh start on the Maine frontier. It was said that twelve families went to Robbinston at Mr. Robbins’ urging. Men like millwright, William Bugbee, surveyor, Samuel Jones and blacksmith and surveyor, Solomon Cushing were among them. Robbins enticed 22-year-old Joseph Hayden Porter, with a salary of 16 shillings a month to manage his investment.

The men of Milton cleared land and built Mr. Robbins a house and store on his property at the north point of Mill Cove. On the stream entering the cove, they built a tide mill for grist and lumber. They likewise constructed simple log cabins as lodging for themselves and their families in little clearings not far from the banks of the river.

Porter lived in the Robbins home, ran the store and managed his affairs for several years before moving on to new business opportunities in nearby Calais, Maine and St Stephen, New Brunswick. He would eventually become a British citizen.

George Boardman recounted in the St. Croix Courier in 1896; After Mr. Porter left, Thomas Vose in 1790, took Robbins house and store, and carried on a very large and extensive business in timber, fish, furs, etc. He was the first person to fish with long seines at Calais and often would take one hundred barrels of fish at a haul.

(click photo to view larger image)

(comments = 0)

leave a comment