Newcastle History On Its Way To The Sheepscot

Congratulations to Linda Bailey on her winning picture in The Lincoln County News photo contest for the year 2023. Her picture was taken in the snow at Kerr Brook. I was happy to see it. It brings back many pleasant memories to me. It was a part of my youth. I haven’t been there for 70 years.

Much of the water in Kerr Brook (we always called at Kerr Pond) comes from Little Dyer Pond to the south. Little Dyer Pond is only one mile long with an elevation of 165 feet, giving it a good height to find its way to the Sheepscot River in Newcastle. According to Stanley B. Attwood in his “The Length and Breath of Maine,” Little Dyer Pond has an area of .17 square miles.

There is a small road going to Little Dyer from Route 215, but the brook between Little Dyer and Kerr Ponds crosses the Atkins Road. One can follow along this brook, south from the Atkins Road to Little Dyer and north to Kerr Brook (Pond). Kerr Pond is even smaller. It is listed as .2 miles long with an elevation of 170 feet.

Attwood lists Kerr as Kerr Pond and that is what we always called it. Truly, it is small. It is near where I grew up and my sister, Margaret, and I always had to keep a check on it in the warm months.  (I should say that Margaret is a three generation name in our family.)

Kerr Pond was named for my great uncle, Hugh Kerr. Hugh was from Europe, but came to this country and fought in the Civil War. He married my grandmother Lucy’s sister, Margaret Manuel on Oct. 11, 1885.

According to my grandmother, Hugh and Margaret were married by The Rev. George Boynton at her father’s house. They built a house on Route 215 where Reeves Brook splashes down from Kerr Pond. An earlier house had been there, but it was destroyed by lightning. Hugh was a lot older than Margaret. They never had any children.

We always called the brook which flows out of Kerr Pond, Reeves Brook. Attwood does not list it in his book. It was named after James Reeves. It was at his house, which is long gone, located off what then was the McCurda Road (now Hinks), in behind where the McCurda schoolhouse was located. There the meeting was held to separate Ballstown into Jefferson and Whitefield, making two towns.

James Reeves was my great, great grandfather. His daughter, Mary Reeves, married my great grandfather, John McCurda in 1792 in Newcastle. They were both of Ballstown before it split. I think I was related to about everyone who lived in our small area. It was called McCurda Town.

Reeves Brook ran under Route 215 near Clark Point Road and flowed into Dyer Pond. Dyer Pond was often called Dyer Long Pond because it is quite long but narrow. It is nearly three miles long and only about a half mile wide. This is where my father, Elton, had his farm. One of its inlets is on Route 126 and it flows into Dyer River at its south end. It is a shallow lake, only listed as 16 feet deep, and even today, not heavily populated

At the outlet of Dyer was the Trask mill. The local area was known as Trask Town. There was the mill, Trask school and the Trask meeting house, on the hill. I had no relatives in Trask Town.   The Trask owners sold the mill to Alden Boynton and he ran the mill with his family for years. He built a large house near the mill to house his six sons. (He had one daughter.)

After Alden died the young people went their separate ways and one son, George Boynton, nephew of the Rev. George Boynton, was left owning the mill, house, and land. Dyer River flowed between ledges and then turned and flowed under the mill. When I was growing up I remember the river and the rotting old mill. The mill and the house are gone.

I am sure you knew I was going to write this –  George married my father’s widowed sister, Margaret McCurda Leadbeater and became my uncle.

Dyer River runs parallel to Route 215 but cannot be seen from the road. It then crosses under the road and heads south for Newcastle, the town line stone and Winnisittico Falls

Dyer River passes through the outskirts of North Newcastle where I have written  about such places as Erskine Mills, Tildon Hodgkins’ store, Matie Wodbridge, the Ames family, and the school; then on to Sheepscot Village where the Dyer meets the Sheepscot River.

Dyer River is 17.75 miles long from where it leaves Dyer Pond and twists and turns until it flows into the Sheepscot. The wedge between the Dyer and the Sheepscot rivers has been known as Dyer Neck, named for William Dyer. William Dyer, according to the Rev. David Quimby Cushman, “anciently” came to Sheepscot and built his house near the foot of the Neck near where Franklin Carney had his store.

Any Dyer locations in Newcastle and Jefferson, like Dyer Pond and Dyer River,  are named for him and his family.

It was a dangerous time. The Native Americans became troublesome and began to waylay the English and fire upon them when they were alone. Dyer was mowing with his scythe in his marsh when he was killed by natives. His death threw his family and the colony into gloom.

I won’t even attempt to mention all the stories I have written about this little village of Sheepscot and the majestic river that flows to the sea. My books are full of these stories.

If even a teaspoon of water from Kerr Pond made it all the way to the ocean it had a very scenic trip. This area is filled with beautiful sites and full of history. It also has abundant water ways. From Kerr Pond to Newcastle is just one of them.