Whitten Stream Farm sits over the Steuben town line in Township 7, an unorganized township in Hancock County, at 372 Village Road. Whitten-Parritt Stream marks the dividing line between Washington and Hancock Counties. The origins of the Whitten family are difficult to trace, but they came to the Gouldsboro area in the mid-1700s.

While I was unable to find a property deed for the original land purchase, David Whitten (1778-1859) acquired a large parcel of land in Township 7 adjacent to Steuben around the current Gouldsboro Point Road and US Route 1 area. Upon his death in 1859, he willed his property, including 145 acres of land and the house, to his oldest sons from his second marriage to Lovinia Wakefield, William Pendley Whitten (1836-1909) and Jason Clapp Whitten (1838-1901). The will included a life estate provision from Lovinia and an additional $100 each for the younger two sons, Richard and Lorenzo, on their 21st birthdays, assuming they stayed to support the farm.

In the 1861 map, there are two Whitten residences on the property, one for H. Whitten (home of Horace and Daniel Whitten) and a Mrs. Whitten (according to the 1860, a woman of 67 named Eunice). Lovinia and her remaining children are not included on that census, and it looks like another Whitten household temporarily installed itself alongside William.

By 1870, Jason and Lorenzo were at the farmhouse, and William and his wife, Ophelia (Hodgkins), were living in the house near the intersection of the current Gouldsboro Point Road and US Route 1 (there is no house there today). By 1880, Jason was married to Alma (Tracy), and the couple had two children, Susie and Alice.

In 1875, Jason sold his interest in the farm to Ophelia, although it was entered into property deed records in July 1908, long after his death in 1901. At this point (around 1900), I believe that William and Ophelia moved their family to the farmhouse. After William died in 1909, Ophelia continued to live at the farm. She moved to Prospect Harbor to live with relatives by 1920.

Her niece Susie (daughter of Jason) moved in with her husband Roscoe Smith by 1920. The approximately 210-acre property stayed in the Smith family until 1997 and was sold off in lots.

The Farmhouse

The current farmhouse property at 372 Village Road is 15 acres. I believe the house dates to the 1840s with later modifications. The original house featured several large barn structures. One barn facing the house still stands.

Historical Photos of Whitten Stream Farm

Image Source: Henry D. Moore Library, Steuben, Maine