Editing Acton, Maine (section)

==History==
It was part of the extensive Ossipee Tract sold on November 28, 1668, by Newichawannock Chief Captain Sunday (or Wesumbe) to [[Francis Small]], a trader from [[Kittery, Maine|Kittery]]. Small sold a half interest in the tract to Major Nicholas Shapleigh of [[Eliot, Maine|Eliot]]. In 1770, heirs found the unrecorded deed and divided the land, with Shapleigh's descendants awarded one half of [[Limerick, Maine|Limerick]] and all of [[Parsonsfield, Maine|Parsonsfield]] and [[Shapleigh, Maine|Shapleigh]]. First called Hubbardstown Plantation, Shapleigh was in 1785 incorporated and named in honor of Nicholas Shapleigh. Its western portion was set off and incorporated on March 6, 1830, as Acton, named after [[Acton, London|Acton]], England.<ref name=Coolidge>{{Cite book | last = Coolidge | first = Austin J.|author2= John B. Mansfield | title = A History and Description of New England| publisher = A.J. Coolidge | year = 1859| location = Boston, Massachusetts| page = [https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_OcoMAAAAYAAJ/page/n53 25]| url = https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_OcoMAAAAYAAJ| quote = coolidge mansfield history description new england 1859. }}</ref>
 
The town was first settled at Acton village in 1776 by Benjamin Kimens, Clement Steele and John York, all from [[York, Maine|York]]. In 1779, Joseph Parsons built a [[gristmill]] on the [[Salmon Falls River]] near [[Wakefield, New Hampshire]]. Other [[watermill|mills]] followed at Acton's various [[water power]] sites, including [[sawmill]]s, gristmills, a [[hemp]] mill, a [[carding]] mill, a [[felt]] mill, a [[Tanning (leather)|tannery]] and a [[shoemaking|shoe]] factory. In 1877, a vein of [[silver]] was discovered near Goding Creek and the [[Lebanon, Maine|Lebanon]] border. [[Prospecting|Prospector]]s dug [[mining|mines]] during the 1880s, after which the enterprise declined.<ref>{{Citation
 | last = Varney
 | first = George J.
 | title = Gazetteer of the state of Maine. Acton
 | place = Boston
 | publisher = Russell
 | year = 1886
 | url = http://history.rays-place.com/me/acton-me.htm }}
</ref>

Although much of the soil was poor for [[farming]], the ridges yielded good crops. In 1866, the Shapleigh & Acton Agricultural Society was formed and commenced sponsoring an annual fair and [[cattle]] show. It continues each late summer as the Acton Fair.

The last living member of the Battle of Bunker Hill, Ralph Farnham, lived in Acton for 80 years before his death in 1860 at the age of 104.<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://sites.google.com/site/actonshapleighhistorical/families/ralph-farnham | title=Ralph Farnham - Acton~Shapleigh Historical Society }}</ref>