Editing Sumner, Maine (section)

==History==
Originally called West Butterfield Plantation, it was first settled in 1783 by Noah Bosworth from [[Plympton, Massachusetts|Plympton]], [[Massachusetts]]. Most of the early settlers were [[American Revolution|Revolutionary]] soldiers from [[Plymouth County, Massachusetts]]. The town was incorporated by the [[Massachusetts General Court|General Court]] on June 13, 1798, and named for [[Increase Sumner]], who was then the [[governor of Massachusetts]].<ref name=Coolidge>{{Cite book  | last = Coolidge  | first = Austin J.|author2=John B. Mansfield   | title = A History and Description of New England| year = 1859| location = Boston, Massachusetts| pages = 320–321| url = https://books.google.com/books?id=OcoMAAAAYAAJ&q=coolidge%20mansfield%20history%20description%20new%20england%201859&pg=PA320}}</ref>

Despite an uneven and somewhat broken surface, the town's principal occupation became [[agriculture]]. The two branches of the [[Nezinscot River]] provided [[water power]] for [[watermill|mills]]. By 1859, when the population was 1,151, Sumner had three [[sawmill]]s, two [[gristmill]]s, two [[roof shingle|shingle]] mills, a [[starch]] factory, a [[clover]] mill (to clean clover seeds, food for [[cattle]]), and a [[powder mill]].<ref name="Coolidge"/> The [[Rumford Falls and Buckfield Railroad]] opened a station near East Sumner in 1878.<ref>[http://history.rays-place.com/me/sumner-me.htm George J. Varney, ''History of Sumner, Maine;'' Boston, Massachusetts 1886]</ref>