Discover late 18th century Embden
Learn about some of the early pioneers who settled along the Kennebec River and the Seven Mile Brook
Hutchins
The Hutchins family arrived in late spring of 1782 and was possibly the first permanent pioneer family. Olive R. Hutchins and her four children, aided by a native American guide, followed the Kennebec River from the Woolwich – Wiscasset area. Mrs. Hutchins was married to Capt. Samuel Hutchins who was, at the time, away in the army. Read more...
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Hutchins Homestead
Cragin
Simeon Cragin, born in 1761, of Acton, MA and later of Temple, NH served in the Revolutionary War and joined other area settlers during the 1780s in making the trip up the Kennebec through Woolwich, probably with his Cleveland cousins, and staked out their settlers’ lots sometime before 1790. Read more...
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Simeon Cragin House
Gray
Early Embden settlers, Capt. John Gray, and his wife Elizabeth Boyington Gray, originally lived in Georgetown, near Woolwich, Maine. Their Embden home was located on a fertile tract of land by the Kennebec River. Capt. John soon became an influential man in Embden and adjacent river towns.
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Joel Gray Mansion
Cleveland
Embden's Cleveland family became the owners of perhaps the largest settler's tract in Embden. They sprang from Joseph and Dorothy Cragin (an aunt of Simeon Cragin) Cleveland, both born near Acton, MA. The family began their progress by stages to the Upper Kennebec region around 1765, residing in Dresden and later Bloomfield, which is now a part of Skowhegan.
Jonathan Cleveland House
Thompson
Moses Thompson (1768 - 1831), of Scotch-Irish ancestry settled initially on a farm near the Kennebec River in Solon. He was married to Mary Churchill and by the early 1790s began building his tavern on a hilltop near the river on the Embden side.
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Moses Thompson's "Yellow Mansion"
Pierce
The Pierce family that settled in Embden had their roots in Weston, MA where Benjamin Pierce (born in 1725) and Mary Lamson were landowners and Benjamin served in the Revolutionary War in Lexington. Their son, Lieut. John Pierce is known to have been living in Sidney in 1789 with his wife Mary Webb when
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John Pierce, Jr. House
