Nealey Road Stage Coach Inn

A massive stone foundation, 30' x 40', is right out in the open at the corner of Nealey and Bluff Roads. Some 8' deep, the cellar hole of the Ebenezer Frye house is in surprisingly good condition.

The remains of a 40' tunnel, which led from the barn to the cellar at the house, is an interesting feature of the foundation.

THE NEALEY ROAD STAGE COACH INN

At the end of the Nealey road, at the corner of Bluff Road, up an embankment and behind some trees is a very large foundation. It measures 32’X40’ ,and its special characteristic is that leading out from it is a long stone tunnel, approximately 40’ long. The tunnel is in disrepair and is close to collapsing. It is not possible to walk all the way through it at this time and it seems only marginally safe to walk under it at all. It was the only way into the cellar of the original structure. Currently there is no sign of a structure or any remains at the outgoing end as the land has been developed for housing but originally it led to a large barn. .

The Land

This is what we know of the land on which the foundation sits. On 12 November 1801, Henry Knox deeded 94 acres and 30 rods to Ebeneezer Frye for $470.00. He added another 7 1/2 acres to it so as “not to infringe on the possession of any previous possessor.” With 100 acres, Frye mortgaged the land to Knox for $537.00. This land was a long strip that went from Penobscot Bay up to where the foundation now is—perhaps beyond.

This land was mortgaged several times with Ebeneezer Frye regaining it each time. The most interesting mortgage was on 29 September 1804, when he mortgaged it for $30.00 paid by his sons Robey Frye, Amos M. Frye and Jonathan Frye, bricklayers. What is interesting about that is that the house on Nealey Rd is described as being a brick house.

Ebeneezer Frye died in 1828, and I was not able to find if he took his land back from his sons or where it went from there but it definitely stayed in the family—probably with son Amos (1786-1868.) In 1818, Amos mortgaged it to William Sullivan but he regained it by 1820 when he either sold it or some of it to his brother Jonathan. Apparently he regained that as well for the next definitive deed we have is on 18 July 1857 when Amos deeded the land,100 acres, to his son William for $2,000.00 and then on 13 September 1859, when William deeded it back to him for $2,000.00.

The final Frye deed is from Amos Frye to Erastus D. Freeman for $1,800 on 1 April 1868. “A certain parcel of land being the farm on which I now live and have occupied as a homestead for about 50 years , tract situate in said Northport, being the lot fully described in a deed from Henry Knox to Ebeneezer Frye, bearing the date Nov. 12, 1801, and the same premise conveyed to me by William Frye by deed acknowledged Oct 1, 1859 and recorded in Registry of Deeds for Waldo County in Book 109, Page 500 and containing one hundred acres more or less.

Erastus Freeman deeded the land to Alexander Leith for $2,000.00 on 25 July 1879. He describes the land as being on the road running from Saturday Cove to Mt Percival (this is the Bluff Road) and describes a road that runs across the property as the new county road running between the highway (RT1) and the old road (Bluff Rd). This latter road is probably current the Nealey and Priest Roads which at the time were one road. The deed states that there were three public highways passing through the property.

On 25 July 1879, Erastus Freeman deeded the land to Alexander Leith. Leith came from Bombay, India to live in Belfast. On 26 July 1879, Leith signed an indenture for the land in exchange for care of Alexander and his wife Cora until their natural deaths or any children reach the age of 21 years. Robert Coombs was to use the land and at the death of Alexander and Cora, dispose of it. But, Robert Coombs died before Alexander Leith and by the terms of the indenture a new Trustee had to be appointed. This was Charles Coombs.

On 13 August 1909 Charles Coombs, acting as attorney for Alexander Leith and Robert Coombs, deceased, sold the entire parcel to John Dunton. He, in turn, sold it to Daniel Wing on 22 December 1915. I have further deeds but I do not think they are relevant.

The Area

This area was a much busier place than it is now and it led to inland roads, now mainly discontinued, which had prominent farms along them. The Shore Road was the oldest and probably started as a Native American foot path. It was the main road for quite awhile, certainly in the 1700-1800s. The road then moved inland and the Bluff road, including Pound Hill, was the stage coach road to Belfast. The Frye House was a stop-over place for the stagecoach. The big barn out in back, at the end of the tunnel, held the horses while the drivers could come through the tunnel after caring for their horses. It would have been a stopover for people going to Temple Heights or any where along the shore. It was about an hour from Belfast for those landing in Saturday Cove and wanting go on. RT 1, which was not an important road at the time, ran closer to the shore and to the Bluff Road than it does now and there are still places where you can see the old road.

The Frye House was up a steep hill on the Bluff Road still known as Frye Hill. From there you could go inland along the current Nealey Road and Priest Road. This was all one road known generally as the Priest Road although at some time this road was also called the Orcutt Road after the large farm at the Rt 1 end belonging to Charles Orcutt. This road, as well as the Beech Hill Road coming from Saturday Cove led to the Flanders Road with land belonging to William Flanders , the Bog Road with the large farms of many Herricks, the Lear Road with the Lear farms , and the homestead farms of Jesse Priest, Charles Orcutt and others. The Priest Road is now a dead end for vehicles but if you walk it it leads to the now discontinued Flanders, Bog and Lear Roads.

The Bluff Road too has undergone significant change. The Frye house foundation sits atop a high mound. It was not always like that; at one time the road and foundation were level with each other. The road was cut away in the 1930s as a WPA project so as to make it more suitable for cars. It does leave the foundation looking a little odd sitting atop its mound.

The Frye House

We do not have much information on the actual house but what we have is from a list compiled by Dr. Hazel Bird ( 1889-1977) titled, “List of houses that once stood in Northport but are now torn down—1960. Done by Dr. Hazel V. Bird.” The Bird family had land on the Beech Hill Road still know as Bird Hill. Her information is in Vol 2 of the two notebooks complied and indexed by Isabel Morse Maresh, available in the Belfast Library.

In her quite extensive list she records houses that she personally knows about—she notes when they were torn down or burned although some have no description. When she knows, she mentions anecdotes about the house i.e. a certain person tore down the house and built a new one or something about who lived there. There are very few dates. It is a personal recollection so the information is not standardized.

"The Ebeneezer Frye house on top of Frye Hill at corner of Nelley Rd where Walter Coombs' wife and family lived. She later was my aunt, Hannah Drinkwater, wife of Oscar, Sr”

Major Ebeneezer Frye house at corner of McNelley Rd and Frye Hill Rd. Brick house with an arch under it to cellar. Burned down 1880?”

Ebeneezer Frye

Obituary for Ebeneezer Frye: Major Ebeneezer Frye died on 9 February 1828. Major E. Frye, 84 years, native of Pembroke NH, soldier at the taking of Louisburg in the French War and acted well his part. He became distinguished at the Battle of Bunker Hill as also at the taking of Burgoyne and elsewhere in the Revolutionary War and was much beloved by the Commander in Chief.

He is buried in Saturday Cove Cemetery. He was born in Andover, MA on 17 September 1745. He was married to Hannah Baker Frye, born 30 September 1745 and died 30 September 1845. S 1745. he was born in Pembroke, NH.

Census Data: I have checked the census from 1850-1890. Ebeneezer and his son Amos both appear and both are listed as farmers, and Erastus Freeman appears, also as a farmer. The other names are not listed.

Agricultural Census

Ebeneezer Frye lived too early to be part of the agricultural Census but his son Amos appears in the 1860 census, eight years before his sold his “homestead farm” where he had lived for 50 years.

Agricultural Census for Amos Frye, 1860

60 acres of improved land

40 acres unimproved

$1,500.00 cash value of farm

$50.00 value of farming implements and machinery

1 Horse

3 Milch cows

2 Working Oxen

4 Other Cattle

19 sheep

$330.00 value of livestock

9 bushels of what

5 bushels of oats

60 pounds of wool

2 bushels of dried peas and beans

100 pounds of Irish potatoes

25 bushels of barley

400 pounds of butter

50 pounds of cheese 13 tons of hay

$12.00 value of homemade manufacturing

$40.00 value of animals slaughtered.

Agricultural Census for Erastus Freeman, 1870

Improved Land—60 acres

Unimproved Land—woodland-25 acres, other unimproved land-15 acres

Cash value of farm—$3000.000

Cash value of farm implements and machinery-$100.00

Total amount of wages paid including board—$200.00

Horses-1

Milch cows-4

Working oxen-4

Other cattle-3

Sheep-12

Swine-2

Value of all livestock-$600.00

Indian corn-25 bushels

Oats-40 bushels

Barley-10 bushels

Wool-60 pounds

Butter-250 pounds

Hay-25 tons

Forest Products-$40.00

Value of Home manufacturing-$10.00

Value of animals slaughtered or sold for slaughter-$50.00

Estimated value of all farm production including betterments and additions to stock-$800.00

The remains of the Frye House are fascinating in themselves. The tunnel is a great source of ideas, stories and mysteries. The actual history of the house is a work in progress and we seek to find out more about the people who lived there.

Corelyn Senn

Lincolnville, ME

January, 2019