Benjamin Stanwood

Benjamin Stanwood

Benjamin Stanwood was an early settler along the shores of Frenchman Bay who once owned the land where Cleftstone Manor resides. Stanwood purchased the land from Marie Therese de Gregoire in June of 1787.

Mrs. de Gregoire was a granddaughter of Antoine de la Mothe Cadillac, the French adventurer who served at various times as the French Governor of New Orleans and Detroit. In recognition of his service, the French government had granted him all of Mt. Desert Island, but he had never taken possession of his grant. Following the Revolutionary War, Mrs. de Gregoire desired to take possession of this land, and took her case to the General Court of Massachusetts. The Court was sympathetic and did grant her the eastern half of the island.

Mrs. de Gregoire and her husband planned to live in Boston and rent their lands on Mount Desert Island to tenant farmers. This type of plan would have been successful in Europe where land was hard to come by, but it failed here in the United States. Land in New England was plentiful and the settlers were able to purchase rather than rent. The de Gregoires, unable to make a living as landlords, eventually were forced to move from Boston to Mount Desert Island. They settled in what is now Hulls Cove, and in 1787, they were forced to begin selling off their lands in order to maintain a living.

Benjamin Stanwood had migrated to Mount Desert Island from Suffolk County, Massachusetts, in the 1760s with his family. He acquired a fair amount of land along Frenchman Bay where he was a farmer, and in 1787 he purchased this 100-acre tract from de Gregoire for 5 million Spanish dollars. It seems likely that early logging and boat building along the shore had cleared the way for farming in this area by the late 1700s.

The Stanwood room was once part of the master bedroom suite that was added on to the mansion in 1903.