610
REDLONS OF HOLLIS, MAINE.
his pocket and went forward. When he reached Saco Falls he could find no
corn for sale, and was obliged to go down past his old home at the "Ferry"
to the vessel of Colonel Cutts to fill his sack. Returning to the mill at
the "Falls," he rested and ate his biscuit while his corn was being ground.
About two o'clock in the afternoon he shouldered his two bushels of
meal (minus the miller's toll), and with a bundle of salt fish under his
arm, and a keg of molasses in his hand, he started homeward. He
stopped to rest several times, and once put down his burdens and drank
from a brook. It was a late hour when he reached home, and he was al-
most dead with weariness and hunger, but his good wife Pattie was up
and soon prepared him some food. Robert Martin mentions a similar ex-
perience, and tradition proves that such was the lot of the early settlers
frequently.
Thomas Redlon and his brother James were among the first in the plan-
tation to build frame-houses, and that of Thomas was the largest in the
town at that time. The timbers of which it was constructed were very
large and of the best pine; the clapboards and shingles were shaved by
hand; the chimney, built of stone, was so large that one could sit in the
corner and look out upon the stars of heaven; the rooms were partitioned
with wide pine boards, and very capacious, while hanging around the
walls were the small farming tools. The fire-place over which the cooking
was done was so broad and high that the crane would "swing over Pat-
tie's head," and the wood six feet long could be burned. This dwelling
stood on the same spot where the "Aunt Judith Ridlon house" now
stands, and the barn was between the house and the brook. When this old
mansion was taken down, the beams were sawed into boards with which to
cover the present house. Mr. Redlon lived in the old house until the death
of his wife, which must have been about the years 1820-24; for Thomas
B. Ridlon, of Bridgton, was then living with his grandparents, and re-
members when his grandfather came down to the old barn, weeping, and
said, "Tommy, your grandmarm is dead"; he slept with his grandfather
that summer, and says the old man groaned dreadfully as soon as he lay
down upon his bed. The old house was becoming dilapidated and cold,
and as the children had all married and settled in their own homes, a
small house would do for "Uncle Thomas" and his two maiden-daughters,
Judith and Sarah, who lived with him at that time, and the one since
called the "Aunt Judith Ridlon house" was then built. Mr. Redlon
continued to live in his new house until killed at his own door, in the
year 1830. He had been out to his plains-lot for a load of wood, and as
he went between his steers to disconnect them from the sled, they became
restless, threw him down, and drew the load over him, killing him in-
stantly. This was a solemn day for the neighbors, and as the sad news
spread, the people left their work and hastened to the place. David Mar-
tin, a son-in-law, and Samuel Ridlon, a grandson, unloaded the wood, and
took the body to the house. Everybody in the community, for many
miles around, came to Mr. Redlon's funeral. He had been a man of great
influence, and was widely known as an honest, reliable neighbor and
citizen.
In personal appearance he was a most formidable man, and there were
none like him. He was more than six feet in height, and so broad across
his shoulders that he could lie on his back in a team-cart and touch both
sides at once; his hips were so wide that, when walking, he carried his
legs far apart and made a double track with his feet. His weight was
