In 1829, two brothers came to Dexter in search of a mill site. Amos and Jeremiah Abbott visited numerous sites Downeast before deciding to purchase the mill and privilege of Jonathan Farrar. Eventually, two of their other brothers followed them to Dexter, Joshua, and Paschal, and a fifth, Abel, lived here for a short time before returning to Andover, Massachusetts. This picture of the five brothers had to have been taken between 1847 (when Paschal moved here) and 1859 (when Paschal died). In 1894, when George Amos Abbott, son of Amos Abbott, donated a library building to the town, he dedicated the structure to the four brothers who lived out their lives here: Amos, Jeremiah, Joshua and Paschal. From left to right are: (front row) Abel, Paschal, and Jeremiah; (back row) Amos and Joshua. One interesting side note concerning Amos and Jeremiah; they married sisters, daughters of Lieutenant John Stafford. Amos married Mehitable and Jeremiah married Lucy Stafford.

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