The town of Leeds, the plantation name of which was Littleborough, took its name from Leeds, England, the birthplace of John Stinchfield, the father of Thomas and Roger, the pioneer settlers.  It is located in the Androscoggin valley - meridian 70º 15' west longitude, and 44º 15' north latitude.  It is bounded north, by East Livermore; south, by Greene and Wales; east, by Wayne and Monmouth; west, by the Androscoggin River, or Turner and Livermore.  Auburn, the county seat is fifteen miles distant in a south-western direction; and Augusta, the State capital, about twenty miles easterly.  As originally surveyed and laid out, in 1780-1, by the proprietors of the "Pejepscot Claim," its northern boundary was the northern boundary of that claim on the east side of the Androscoggin River, and extended from said river to "Androscoggin Great Pond" on a direct line of which, the north line of "Old Elder Thomas D. Francis'" farm was a part.  It was given the name of Littleborough, in honor of Col. Moses Little, who was the agent and a prominent owner in that company.  Livermore bordered it on the north from river of pond.  Feb. 16, 1801, it wsa incorporated the 128th town in the District of Maine.  In 1802, that portion of Livermore south of a line extending from the Androscoggin River to the western boundary of Wayne, of which the north line of the farm of Increase Leadbetter (now the farm of Samuel P. Francis) was a part, was annexed to Leeds.  In 1809, taken from Monmouth and annexed to Leeds, was a piece of land 160 rods wide and the length of the line between those towns.  In 1810, that part of the Leeds known as the Beech Hill section, was annexed to Wayne.  In 1852, that portion of Leeds sometimes called New Boston, was set off and annexed to Wales.  As now constituted, the town is about twelve miles in length, and its width varies from about one mile

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in the extreme northern portion, to near five in the central and southern, and has an area of twenty-two thousand acres.  Its native forestry was chiefly pine, for which it was long and widely noted.  Probably no other township was its equal in the production of gigantic monarchs of the forest.  The Androscoggin Valley in which Leeds is situated, has a drainage area of 36,000 square miles-extreme length 110, and 70 in breadth from Randolph, N. H., to Readfield, Me.  In the eastern extremity of this area is the water-shed of the "Thirty Mile River."  From the highlands, which form the divide from Sandy River, to the great Androscoggin, a chain of fourteen lakes, ponds and their connecting streams clothe the valley in mirrored sunshine and beauty.  The last in the course, more beautiful than all the rest, that which our fathers loved most and best, and around which cluster fond remembrances of childhood's happy days, is our own Androscoggin thrice sung in county, river, and lake.  Dead River, the terminal of the "Thirty Mile River," is the natural and only out let of these waters and receives them in two branches near the mean portion of the lake.  Flowing inland they form a junction and thus united, the river continues on its meandering way along the alluvial banks, a distance of nearly two miles where it follows its channels of ages agone to its confluence with the Androscoggin.  The land surface of Leeds, not unlike that of many New England towns, is of a diversified character, and along the central and eastern portions hills of considerable magnitude over look the middle and lowlands which, in some localities, are broken by bogs and meadows.  The soil varies from a light, sandy loam, which prevails more extensively, to a strong, heavy loam on the elevations, while in some sections clay predominates.  The interval lands along Dead River, and here and there on the shores of the Androscoggin, are rich in alluvial deposits, and have been very productive; yet, like all else, were not made of that material which improves with age and use.  The range of hills along the Androscoggin from its source to the receding waters of the sea, is continuous through Leeds.  The Fish or Otis and Bates-better known as Quaker Ridge, - together with Bishop and Hedgehog hills, are notable members of that range.  These and lesser elevations are mostly free from boulders, while the miles of stone walls are remaining evidence that the ground was once liberally strewn with stones in those sections.  Interspersed among the uplands are occasional ledges, outcroppings of granite and trap rock, which especially abound on the nortern part of Bishop hill, where it was said of Zadoc Bishop, who came there from Monmouth in 1783, and like the wise man of old, built his house on a rock that, "he made a practice of filing the noses of his sheep, that they might reach the scanty verdure that grew in the close crevices of that rock-bound hill."  Be that

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as it may, labor and industry have been rewarded with prosperity and plenty, and some of the best farms in Leeds are on this eminence.  From the several elevations extended and most beautiful views are presented.
     It is only a matter of little time when Leeds, with its delightful scenery, pure air and water, pleasant drives and lake advantages, will become a favorite summer resort.  The most striking geological feature of the town is the alluvial deposit.  "The Cape," lying on either side of Dead River from beyond and between the outlet of the lake and its ancient western shore, one mile and more in length, by one-third of a mile in width, is the continual alluvial growth of ages unknown.  It is irregularly divided by the river in its tortuous way, gracefully sweeping to the one side in close approach to the lake shore, leaving but a narrow connection of the peninsula.  One of these of less width than others, distant from the mainland one-half mile, or more, was utilized by the Indians, and since by palefaces to carry their canoes and wangan from river to lake, and retains the name of "Carrying Place" to this day.  The story of a ditch having been dug across it by the Indians, as related in the history of Androscoggin County and other works, is the imagination of some over-zealous mind.  It was the work of Col. Leavitt Lothrop, dug for the purpose of stopping cattle, instead of building a fence.  The rocky promontories forming the head of the lake were formerly islands of the cluster near the middle of the lake, and their outlines are now as distinct as when surrounded by water.
     Leeds is an agricultural town and compares very favorably with the best in the Androscoggin Valley. Development of the west revolutionized no New England industry more than that of agriculture. In earlier years, all the grains common to Maine were extensively cultivated and grown with profit to the hardy tiller of the soil.  He supplied his family with flour ground from wheat of his own raising; and to have bought for the consumption of his family, or his stock, a bushel of corn, meal or other feed, would have been to acknowledge his eligibility to the ranks of drones.  How changed!  Flour of better quality can now be purchased for less money than would be required to pay a laborer to raise the wheat, to say nothing of the use or cost of the land from which it is grown.  Stock raising became an important and paying industry.  The superior quality of beef produced from the Durham and Hereford families gave to New England, and especially Maine towns, where they were abundantly bred and reared with pride and profit, a great precedence in the big markets, over the inferior stock of the west of Spanish origin.  In time, the shrewd stock ranchers of the plains procured bulls in the east, turned them out with their native herds, and soon monopolized the beef markets of the world.  Driven from their strong-

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