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A glance at the map of the western part of Washington County will show that any treatment of the early settlement upon the Narraguagus River, necessarily involves more or less of the histories of Steuben, Milbridge, Harrington and Cherryfield.
Steuben was formerly township "No. 4, East of Union River," and No. 5 comprised the territory now included in the towns of Milbridge and Harrington. The town of Cherryfield is composed of No. 11, Middle Division, Brigham Purchase, and of the northeastern part of what was formerly Steuben. All that part of Cherryfield lying south of the mills on the first or lower dam was, prior to 1826, a part of Steuben, and was called Narraguagus to distinguish it from the settlement in the southwestern part, which was called "Head of the Bay," and the postoffice at Cherryfield was called "Narraguagus" until within some twenty-five years past. What is now the flourishing town of Milbridge was a part of Harrington until 1848. Harrington (No. 5) was incorporated as a town in 1791, Steuben (No.4) in 1795, Cherryfield (No. 11) in 1816, and the northeast part of Steuben was annexed to Cherryfield in 1826. I find that prior to the incorporation of Harrington, that township and No. 11, Cherryfield, held their plantation meetings and kept their records as one organization. At that time most of the settlers in Harrington lived at Mill River, where the earliest settlement was -made. There was no settlement at what is now Harrington village until several years later.
A.J. Huston [Reprint, Portland, Maine]
Machias, Maine [Original Printer]
Steuben, Milbridge, Harrington, Cherryfield, Maine, Family Histories, Washington County
Milliken, James Alphonso, "The Narraguagus Valley : Some Account of its Early Settlement and Settlers" (1886). Books and Publications. 78.