Editing Turner, Maine (section)

==History==

First called Sylvester-Canada, the township was granted by the [[Massachusetts General Court]] on June 20, 1768, to Major James Warren and others, survivors of Captain Joseph Sylvester's company for their services in the 1690 [[Battle of Quebec (1690)|Battle of Quebec]]. It replaced a 1735 grant of the same name located at what is now [[Richmond, New Hampshire]], but which was ruled invalid in 1741 because of prior claims from the heirs of [[John Mason (governor)|John Mason]]. Reverend Charles Turner of [[Scituate, Massachusetts]], acted as an agent for the dispossessed grantees, and would become the first minister of their new town.

It was settled in 1772 by Daniel Staples, Thomas Record, Elisha Record, [[Joseph Leavitt]] and Abner Phillips.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=1a4TAAAAYAAJ&dq=%22joseph+Leavitt%22+turner+maine&pg=PA59 A History of Turner, Maine, from Its Settlement to 1886, W. R. French, Hoyt, Fogg & Donham, Portland, Maine, 1887]</ref> Many of the first settlers came from [[Pembroke, Massachusetts]], where most of the proprietors of Sylvester-Canada resided.<ref>[https://books.google.com/books?id=LDryyTRj8tgC&dq=turner+maine+pembroke+massachusetts&pg=PA482 Genealogical and Family History of the State of Maine, George Thomas Little, Henry Sweetser Burrage, Vol. I, Lewis Publishing Company, New York, 1909]</ref> Nearly all the early settlers came from towns which had sprung up around [[Plymouth, Massachusetts]], including the Leavitt family,<ref>[http://www.mainememory.net/bin/Detail?ln=29416 Leavitt Farm, Turner, ca. 1900, MaineMemoryNetwork]</ref> descendants of [[Deacon]] [[John Leavitt]] of [[Old Ship Church]] in [[Hingham, Massachusetts]], and the Bradford family, descendants of Governor [[William Bradford (Plymouth governor)|William Bradford]] of the [[Plymouth Colony]].<ref>[http://www.state.me.us/sos/arc/edu/turner/thistory.htm A Brief History of Turner, Maine, maine.gov] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110415015055/http://www.state.me.us/sos/arc/edu/turner/thistory.htm |date=April 15, 2011 }}</ref> Following the Revolutionary War, settlement began to pick up, and by 1784 the expanding village had 30 families. Incorporated on July 7, 1786, Sylvester-Canada was renamed for Reverend Turner.

It was primarily a [[farming]] town producing [[Maize|corn]] and [[apple]]s, but with exceptional [[water power]] sites on the [[Nezinscot River]]. Here, Samuel Blake built in 1775 the first [[watermill|mill]], both a [[sawmill]] and [[gristmill]], although it was destroyed by the great [[freshet]] of 1785.{{Citation needed|date=May 2025}} It was rebuilt the next season. There were 5 sawmills and 3 gristmills in the community when a fire destroyed those at Turner Village in 1856. They were replaced, and by 1886, industries included not only sawmills and gristmills but a box factory, [[carriage]] factory, [[shoemaking|shoe]] factory, [[Tanning (leather)|tannery]], [[paper pulp]] mill, [[cheese]] factory, [[fulling]] mill and [[pottery]] factory.
[[File:Turner Maine flood 1896.jpg|thumb|left|250px|Flooding on the [[Androscoggin River]], Turner, 1896]]