USA > Maine > Oxford County > Norway > Centennial history of Norway, Oxford County, Maine, 1786-1886, including an account of the early grants and purchases, sketches of the grantees, early settlers, and prominent residents, etc., with genealogical registers, and an appendix > Part 1
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65
Gc 974.102 N83L 1164958
M. L.
REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01091 8073
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2014
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CAWalker Boston
Henry Quist Clear
CENTENNIAL
HISTORY OF NORWAY
OXFORD COUNTY, MAINE
1786 - 1886
INCLUDING AN ACCOUNT OF THE EARLY GRANTS AND PURCHASES, SKETCHES OF THE GRANTEES, EARLY SETTLERS, AND PROMINENT RESIDENTS, ETC., WITH GENEALOG- ICAL REGISTERS, AND AN APPENDIX
BY WILLIAM BERRY LAPHAM
" The hills are dearest which our childish feet Have climbed the earliest; and the streams most sweet Are ever those at which our young lips drank, - Stooped to their waters o'er the grassy bank." Whittier
Gc
974.102
N83l
PORTLAND, MAINE BROWN THURSTON & CO., PUBLISHERS
1886
COPYRIGHTED BY B. THURSTON & CO., 1886.
1
1164958
CONTENTS.
PAGE
INDEX OF SUBJECTS AND ILLUSTRATIONS, AND PREFACES, i to xvi
PART I. GENERAL HISTORY
I to 452
PART II. GENEALOGICAL REGISTERS 453 to 627
PART III. APPENDIX . 629 to 647 INDEX OF NAMES . . 648
00%% -1
4
COMMITTEE'S PREFACE.
At the annual meeting of the town of Norway, held March 3, 1884, it was voted that there be written and published a history of the town, in view, not only of the fact that it was nearing its one hundredth anniversary, but to meet the desire for a more complete history than that which had been writ- ten a long time previous, and which contained but a partial record of its earlier period. It was further voted that the sum of seven hundred dollars be raised and appropriated for this purpose.
The undersigned, as a committee, were also authorized to arrange for, and superintend the writing and publication of the work, and fully realizing the responsibility resting upon them, have endeavored to execute this purpose of their fellow-citizens to the best of their ability; and they most respectfully submit the work herewith, entitled "Centennial History of Norway," written by Dr. William B. Lapham, whose services they were fortunately able to secure, and whose ability as a local historian is too well known to here require any encomiums.
Arrangements for its publication were made with Brown Thurston & Co., Portland, Me., who have aimed to make the mechanical part of the work superior to that of any town history ever before published in the State. And the enviable reputation which this house sustains is a sufficient assurance that the quality of the materials and labor employed, as also the several styles of binding in which it will appear, will merit the favor of the most exacting.
While every effort has been made by your committee, and by the author, to produce a history as analagous to the facts as the epoch which it covers, and the means at their command would allow, there is no claim made to perfection in all its detail, or that it is impregnable to criticism ; but that it is a history, containing a faithful and impartial record of those events which have taken place from time to time, that are not only of interest to the citizen and general reader, but are more or less important as serving to illustrate the growth, development, and prosperity of the town and its people, from its incor- poration to the present time.
VI
COMMITTEE'S PREFACE.
Especial effort has been made to obtain the genealogical records of fami- lies, and should there appear any discrepancies or omissions in this part of the work in the families of those who have failed to return, with the proper information, the blanks furnished them for that purpose, such discrepencies must necessarily reflect upon themselves, rather than upon the committee or the author.
The committee wish to express their acknowledgment and appreciation of the manner in which the citizens have co-operated with them in obtaining many facts essential to the work, also for the several portraits of its citizens, and illustrations, which have been so freely furnished, and which so greatly add to its interest and value.
That it is a work that will meet the highest expectation, and prove worthy the approval and commendation of their fellow-citizens, is the hope and con- fidence of their committee, who have endeavored to faithfully serve them to this end.
The citizens of Norway are to be congratulated upon the honorable and brilliant record, and the progress and prosperity which have characterized her career during the first hundred years of her existence. And may the sun of peace and prosperity continue to light the way in her progressive march, so that, when the centennial cycle shall have again revolved, and the generations of the present shall have passed away, succeeded by those of the future, on whom the mantle of duty and responsibility must fall, they may be able to read her second centennial history with that degree of pleasure and satisfaction, as can the citizen of today, her first.
GEO. L. BEAL. MARCUS F. BROOKS. HENRY UPTON.
AUTHOR'S PREFACE.
In 1852, David Noyes, Esq., wrote and published a History of Norway. The author was born in Massachusetts, but came to Norway in 1804, when he was eighteen years of age, and had been closely identified with the affairs of the town for nearly half a century. He was more or less acquainted with many of the early settlers, and with all their families, and had rare facilities for gathering the materials for his history, which he assiduously improved. He compiled a very good history, as town histories were then considered, perhaps as good as had been written of any town in the State at that time. It was a book at which the people of Norway had great reason to be proud, as being wholly the product of the town, - written by a resident, printed at the Village by George W. Millett, on paper manufactured at Dr. Danforth's paper mill at the Falls, and bound by Noyes & Beal. Few, if any towns in the State or country, could boast of such an achievement at that time, or even at the present day. Mr. Noyes' work was the first printed history of an Oxford County town, and at the time he brought it out, less than half a dozen Maine towns had had their histories written in separate volumes. This field of Literature, therefore, had been but little worked, and in system, per- spicuity, and easy reference, all the early town histories were very defective.
However satisfactory Mr. Noyes' history may have been to the people of Norway at the time it was written, and I have no doubt as it deserved to be, it was fully appreciated and highly enjoyed, it is certainly not now up with the times, either in the arrangement of matter or in the matter itself. The valuable material of which it is composed is loosely thrown together, in many instances not chronologically arranged; very little information is given respecting the early grants and purchases, the component parts of the town ; nothing is said of individual history, except in a few rare cases ; there are no genealogical records ; the work is not subdivided into chapters, and there are no indexes. The foundation of the history of a town is made up of an account of the grants or purchases of which it is composed, and upon which are based individual titles to the soil. The matter should be arranged with reference to dates, in order to avoid repetition and confusion. Sketches of
VIII
AUTHOR'S PREFACE.
the early settlers are of great interest to their descendants, and also of gen- eral interest. A town history in these days, without genealogical records, is of comparatively little value. There is a popular demand for them, and the demand is a just and proper one. The history of a town is the history of its people, and an account of what was accomplished in a town is made much more interesting and valuable, by accompanying sketches of those who accomplished it.
Of the accuracy of the following pages, I make no boast. I have endeav- ored faithfully to arrange the material which has come into my hands in an intelligible form, and at the same time, have it as free from errors as possible. I have made free use of the material contained in Mr. Noyes' history, so far as it appeared to be accurate, and of every other available source of informa- tion within my reach. The loss of the early town records has been seriously felt at every stage of the work. Information would have been there ready at hand, which has been obtained from other sources, with the greatest diffi- culty, and in some instances has not been found at all. This is particularly true of its early records of births, marriages, and deaths, all of which were destroyed, and many of which can never be replaced. I have been laid under obligations to many persons, citizens of Norway and others, for the promptness with which they have responded to calls for information. My thanks are especially due to Howard D. Smith of Norway, for much labor in copying records, and to my friends, Dr. J. F. Pratt and Mrs. Pratt, of Chelsea, Massachusetts, who have never failed me when information contained in the archives of Massachusetts has been wanted. My work, herewith respectfully submitted, has been accepted by the committee of the town, and I trust it may prove acceptable to the people of Norway.
WILLIAM BERRY LAPHAM.
AUGUSTA, September 8, 1886.
Geo. H.Walker & Co.1 4h. Bostan.
Umr@Sukham
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ILLUSTRATIONS.
PORTRAITS.
John M. Adams. 340
Mrs. John M. Adams. 340
Franklin Manning 365
Ezra F. Beal . 463
Nathan Millett.
197
George L. Beal 263
A. Oscar Noyes
369
Luther F. Pike. 578
Fred E. Boothby 469
Dr. Clifford L. Pike
330
Titus O. Brown. .345
Titus O. Brown Jr 384
Mark P. Smith 37 5
Howard D. Smith 330
Charles D. Brown
475
Seward S. Stearns. 330
William Foster
354
David H. Thurston 378
Charles N. Tubbs 611
William Frost, 2d 164
Benjamin Tucker 60
Stephen Greenleaf.
357
Henry Upton. 354
Wm. W. Hobbs 529
Wm. Wirt Virgin. 333
Mrs. Wm. W. Hobbs 529
Charles F. Whitman 330
E. Austin Holmes
534
Thomas Witt.
280
Uriah Holt.
359
Loren H. Wrisley
625
BUILDINGS.
First House in Norway .. 37
Residence of Henry M. Bearce. 390
Residence of Nathan Millett.
556
Residence of William H. Whitcomb
621
Horne & Son's Tannery
399
Residence of Martha H. Holmes
535
Residence of John L. Horne.
533
Residence of Nathan A. Foster 503
Residence of Charles L. Hathaway . 400
John L. Horne. 361
Henry M. Bearce
330
Henry Rust.
Frontis.
Dr. Asa Danforth
324
David Frost. 509
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ABSTRACT OF CHAPTERS.
CHAPTER I.
OUTLINES OF MAINE HISTORY.
The Northmen - Early Navigators - Rival Claims of England and France - Early Colo- nies - Charter of the Plymouth Company - Gorges and Mason - Grants to Various Persons - Grant to Lord Sterling - Contest for Empire - Encroachments of Massa- chusetts - Early Settlements in Maine - Depredations by the Indians - France Driven From The New World - The War For Independence - Division of Maine Into Counties - General Prosperity - Physical Description I
CHAPTER II.
HISTORY OF THE GRANTS AND PURCHASES.
Early Settlements in Oxford County - Lee's Grant - The Rust Purchase - The Cum- mings' Purchases - Rust's Gore - Waterford Three Tiers - Boundary Changes 10
CHAPTER III.
DOCUMENTS RELATING TO THE GRANT AND PURCHASES.
Lee's Grant - Confirmation of Lee's Grant - Sketch of Hon. Arthur Lee - Petition of Francis Lightfoot Lee - Bond to Jacob Tubbs - Francis L. Lee to Ludwell Lee - Ludwell and Eliza Lee to Edward Little - Sales by Edward Little - Sketch of Edward Little - Massachusetts' Committee to Henry Rust - Sketch of Henry Rust, Esq. - Massachusetts' Committee to Jonathan Cummings - Same to Same - Sketch of Jonathan Cummings - Annexation of Rust's Gore 15
CHAPTER IV.
PHYSICAL FEATURES OF NORWAY.
Its Metes and Bounds - Absence of Mountains - Pike's and Other Hills - Its Ponds and Streams - Its Geology, Mineralogy, Flora, and Fauna - The Aborigines · 31
CHAPTER V.
ANNALS OF NORWAY.
The Early Settlers - First Births, Marriages, and Deaths - The First Tax Assessed - Rev. Paul Coffin Visits Rustfield
. 37
XII
ABSTRACT OF CHAPTERS.
CHAPTER VI. INCORPORATED BY THE NAME OF "NORWAY."
Petition for Incorporation - A Second Petition - Act of Incorporation
44
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CHAPTER VII.
THE EARLY SETTLERS.
Discrepancies in Mr. Noyes' Account - Who First Felled Trees ? - The Stevens' Account - Joseph Stevens and Others - A Night in the Woods - Hardships of the Early Settlers - List of Early Comers 49
CHAPTER VIII.
ANNALS CONTINUED.
The First Town-meeting - Town Officers - Rev. Paul Coffin Again - Town Taxes - The First Post-office - Henry Rust Jr. Comes to Town - William Stevens Killed - A Singular Death - Lee's Grant Opened for Settlement - The Cold Season - The Question of Separation from Massachusetts - Various Matters 57
CHAPTER IX.
ANNALS CONTINUED.
The Constitutional Convention - Suicide of Major Cummings - A Fatal Sickness Pre- vails - Oxford Observer Moved to Norway - The Moral Society- The First Tem- perance Society - A Census of the Town - Oxford County Temperance Society - The " Aroostook War "
73
CHAPTER X.
EARLY OXFORD COUNTY.
Early Incorporation of Towns - Census of the District of Maine - Act Creating the County of Oxford - Original Towns in the County - Towns Since Added - Popu- lation by Towns - Agricultural Statistics - Educational Matters .: 92
CHAPTER XI.
ANNALS CONTINUED.
The Harrison Campaign - Isaac Abbott - Fires - Revolution in Trade - Licenses to Sell Spirits - Millerism - Destruction of the Town Records - Murder of Ebenezer Hobbs by Hiram Totherly - Railroad Excitement - Norway Female Seminary - Atlantic and St. Lawrence Railroad - By-Laws of Norway - Norway Liberal Insti- tute - Destructive Fire in Norway Village - Deaths for Several Years . 98 ·
CHAPTER XII.
NEW SETTLERS 1797 TO 1853.
From the Tax Lists by Mr. David Noyes
C .
115
1
XIII
ABSTRACT OF CHAPTERS.
CHAPTER XIII.
NORWAY IN 1852.
Industries at the Steep Falls - Traders at the Falls and in the Village - Manufacturing at the Village - List of Carpenters - List of Traders - The Liberal Institute - Retro- spection - Summary of Norway Industries · 129
CHAPTER XIV.
ANNALS CONTINUED.
The Land Contest with Paris - Breaking Out of the War of the Rebellion - Patriotic Resolutions Passed - Recruiting to Fill Quotas - Aid to Soldiers' Families - Col- lapse of the Rebellion - The " Boys Come Marching Home " - Heavy Tax Payers - Norway Savings Bank - Concert Hall - Norway Light Infantry Re-organized 136
CHAPTER XV.
ANNALS CONCLUDED.
Action for Establishing Shoe Factories - Norway Reform Club - Norway Advertiser Revived - Deaths of Prominent Citizens - Excitement Over the " Count Out" - The Light Infantry Under Marching Orders - Destructive Fire in the Village - Prepar- ations for a Centennial History of the Town - Norway Water Works . 153 .
CHAPTER XVI.
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY.
General Remarks - The Universalists - Rev. Thomas Barns - Other Universalist Minis- ters - The Congregationalists - Rev. Noah Cressey and His Successors - The Bap- tists- Rev. Reuben Milner and Others - The Methodists - Early Methodism in Maine - The Two Churches in Norway - Rev. Oliver H. Pillsbury 169
CHAPTER XVII.
CHARITABLE ASSOCIATIONS.
Free Masonry - Oxford Lodge Number 18 - Union Royal Arch Chapter - Odd Fellow- ship - Norway Lodge - Wildey Encampment - Knights of Pythias - Patrons of Husbandry - Grand Army of the Republic - George L. Beal Post - Harry Rust Post 204
CHAPTER XVIII.
EDUCATIONAL MATTERS.
Early Schools and School-houses - Rev. Noah Cressey - Norway Liberal Institute Char- tered - Ebenezer P. Hinds - Districting of the Town for School Purposes 222
XIV
ABSTRACT OF CHAPTERS.
CHAPTER XIX.
MILITARY AFFAIRS.
First Military Company in Norway - Early Trainings and Musters - Revolutionary Sol- diers - War of 1812-Captain Bodwell's Company - Ensign Reed's Letter - Cap- tain Town's Company - The "Aroostook War" - Captain Noyes' Company - War of the Rebellion - Norway's Contribution to the Loyal Army - Sketches of Regiments - Personal Record of Norway Soldiers-Captain Cobb's Company - Norway Men in Organizations Outside the State- Substitutes - Conclusion . 228
CHAPTER XX.
NORWAY PRINTERS AND NEWSPAPERS.
Oxford Observer - Politician - Village Spy - Oxford Oracle - Journal of the Times - Norway Advertiser - Norway Messenger - Oxford Register - New Religion - Oxford County Advertiser - Asa Barton - Thomas Witt -George W. Millett - Ira Berry - Edwin Plummer - Cyrus W. Brown - Simeon Drake - Fred W. Sanborn
. 277
CHAPTER XXI.
TEMPERANCE REFORM.
General Remarks - Habits of the Early Settlers - Early Temperance Movements - Union Temperance Society - Moral Society of Norway- Oxford County Temperance Soci- ety - Statistics of Temperance in Oxford County - Washingtonian Movement - Rechabites - Sons of Temperance - Temperance Watchmen - Good Templars - Reform Club - Ladies' Reformers Aid Society · 287
CHAPTER XXII.
MAIL CARRIERS AND POSTMASTERS.
Early Mail Facilities - Post-riders - Jacob Howe - Seba Smith - Joshua Pool - William Sawin - James Longley - Stage Coaches - New Routes - Grosvenor Waterhouse - The Railroad - Postmasters in Norway - Postal Receipts . 299
CHAPTER XXIII.
OXFORD COUNTY AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY.
The First Organization - First Fair Held at Norway - Some of the Awards - Lists of Officers 1843 to 1850 .
. 305
CHAPTER XXIV.
SURNAMES AND THEIR ORIGIN.
General Remarks on Surnames - Various Terminations - Curious Surnames - Surnames in Norway . . 3II
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XV
ABSTRACT OF CHAPTERS
CHAPTER XXV.
PUBLIC HOUSES.
Early Houses of Entertainment - Dr. Case - Joshua Smith - Elm House - Samuel Smith - William Hobbs - Hezekiah Pingree - Ezra F. Beal - The Beals Hotel . 319
CHAPTER XXVI.
THE MEDICAL PROFESSION.
General Remarks - Early Physicians - Moses Ayer - Asa Danforth - Calvin E. Evans - Augustus N. French - Jesse Howe - Willard C. George - William H. Jewett - Jonathan S. Millett - Clifford L. Pike - Frank H. Tilton 322
CHAPTER XXVII.
THE LEGAL PROFESSION.
Early Lawyers - General Remarks - Henry M. Bearce - Luther Farrar - Charles E. Holt - Alfred S. Kimball - Seward S. Stearns - Henry Upton - William Wirt Virgin - Levi Whitman - Charles F. Whitman
330
CHAPTER XXVIII.
PERSONAL NOTICES.
General Remarks - John M. Andrews - Ichabod Bartlett - Ezra F. Beal - George L. Beal - Fred E. Boothby - Titus O. Brown Sen .- Titus O. Brown Jr .- Charles D. Brown - Ephraim H. Brown - Sumner Burnham - Sylvanus Cobb - Sylvanus Cobb Jr. - Jonathan Cummings - Adna C. Denison - William Foster - William Frost 2d - Benjamin Fuller - Stephen Greenleaf - Ebenezer P. Hinds - William W. Hobbs - Uriah Holt - Stephen A. Holt - Freeland Howe - Charles P. Kimball - Benjamin B. Murray Jr .- Franklin Manning - Henry W. Millett - Sumner H. 'Needham - David Noyes - Robert Noyes - A. Oscar Noyes - Joshua Parsons - Solomon Parsons William Reed - Henry C. Reed - General Henry Rust - Elliot Smith - Mark P. Smith - Jonathan B. Smith - Sidney I. Smith - Simon Stevens - Charles A. Stevens - Daniel H. Thurston - Elijah Upton - Addison E. Verrill 338
CHAPTER XXIX.
NORWAY VILLAGE.
Early Industries - Early Buildings - Village Corporation - Fire Company - Brass Band - Norway Savings Bank - National Bank - Branch Railroad - Shoe Factories - Library Association - Water Works - Norway Village in 1886
CHAPTER XXX.
OTHER EARLY INDUSTRIES OF NORWAY.
Upton's Mill - Jonathan Cummings' Mills - Holden's Mills on Crooked River - Millett's Saw-mill at North Norway - March's Clothing Mill - General Remarks. . 403
XVI
ABSTRACT OF CHAPTERS.
CHAPTER XXXI.
VILLAGES IN NORWAY.
General Statement - Fuller's Corner - Swift's Corner - Frost's Corner - Job E. Stevens - John B. Ford - William Foster - William Frost 2d 405
CHAPTER XXXII.
THE CENTENNIAL.
Remarks - A Great Day for Norway - The Decorations - The Procession - Literary Exercises at Ordway's Grove - The Dinner - Literary Exercises Concluded - The Committees - The Fireworks - The Crowd - Closing Remarks 407
CHAPTER XXXIII.
ANECDOTAL.
Prison Experience - Horse Hill - Primitive Marketing - Parson Stoddard's Dream - Forest Fires - Killed His Corn - " Boldly "- A Sharp Retort - A Parallel .Case - A Narrow Escape - Phineas Whitney - How the Tailor would Settle It 447
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HISTORY OF NORWAY.
CHAPTER I.
OUTLINE OF MAINE HISTORY.
IT has been claimed by an Icelandic historian that his ancestors dis- covered the western hemisphere, and there is some degree of plausibil- ity in this claim. He asserts that about the year one thousand, certain Icelandic voyagers, some of whose names are given, left their island in the Arctic Sea, sailed to Greenland, thence to the coasts of Labrador, and that they made oft-repeated voyages to the coast of North America which they carefully explored, and established colonies on the coasts of Nova Scotia. It is even claimed that they sailed around the New Eng- land coast as far as Cape Cod, to which they gave the name of Vinland. But the story of these early discoveries by the Northmen rests mainly upon tradition, the narratives having a decided mythological flavor, the geographical details being very vague, and the description of the coun- try, its climate, soil, and its native population highly exaggerated, if not wholly fictitious. Whether it be true or not, that the rude Northmen were the discoverers of this continent, is of little consequence, as they left no lasting monuments of their occupancy, laid no claim to the lands discovered, and if they occupied for a short time the territory along the coast, they accomplished thereby nothing in the interest or direction of human progress. The subject is of so little importance as to deserve only a passing notice, and is referred to at all only because the narra- tives of these probably mythical early voyagers have been published and become a part of the literature of the century.
It was from quite a different quarter of our planet that discoveries in this hemisphere were made, that resulted in peopling it with civilized human beings. It was left for an Italian, under the patronage of the crowned heads of Spain, to solve the great problem of a western hem- isphere. Christopher Columbus discovered the new world, for whose
2
HISTORY OF NORWAY.
existence he had long contended, in 1492. The elder Cabot came five years after, and made known the coast line to the entrance of Ches- apeake Bay. A Florentine navigator, John Verrazzani, reached the coast of North Carolina in 1524, and from thence sailed northwardly to New York, thence to Newport, Rhode Island, and from there along the coast to Nova Scotia. Ten years later, James Cartier, of Saint Malo, made the first of several voyages to the new world, which were of great importance to France in her efforts to establish her claim to the coun- try. In 1602 Bartholomew Gosnold sailed along the New England coast, though leaving no record of making landings until he reached the Isles of Shoals. The following year Samuel Champlain, a distin- guished navigator, came over, and became the father of the French occupancy of Canada. The same year Martin Pring took charge of a private enterprise, and safely reached the coast among the islands of Penobscot Bay, and discovered many of the rivers and harbors of Maine. In 1604, De Monts explored and claimed for France the coast, rivers, and bays from Nova Scotia to Cape Cod, and planted a colony in the vicinity of what is now called Annapolis. And finally, in 1605, Captain George Waymouth was sent over by King James of England, and, in May of that year, anchored his ships on the north side of an island, which is now the well-known island of Monhegan. He visited many points along the coast, trafficked with the natives, and a full account was written and subsequently published by Rosier, who accompanied him.
These different visits to the North American coast formed the bases of the rival claims of France and England to the country, and brought on a contest, which continued with varying fortunes and with greater or less severity for more than a hundred and fifty years. De Monts planted a colony at Port Royal, now Annapolis, in 1604, but this was destroyed by Argall in 1613. The next planting was by the English in 1607, at the mouth of the Kennebec, known in history as the Popham Colony, and this proved a failure, and was abandoned after the first win- ter. The English Colony at Jamestown, Virginia, was established in 1607, and became permanent. A Jesuit mission was established near the mouth of Some's Sound, on Mount Desert Island, in 1613, but this had a short existence, and was broken up by Argall, the agent of the
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3
HISTORY OF NORWAY.
colony at Jamestown. Plymouth was settled by the Pilgrims in 1620, and very soon after settlements began to be made at points along the Maine coast. Pemaquid was settled permanently as early as 1625, Cas- tine in 1630, Kittery in 1623, Saco in 1623, Wells in 1640, York in 1624, Falmouth in 1632, Woolwich in 1638, and other places along the coast a little later. But there was no rush of settlers to the State of Maine, and for many years colony planting was limited to the sea-coast. The long and persistent quarrel between the rivals for the possession of Maine, and the hostile attitude of the natives, made so by the blandish- ments of the French and the attractions and allurements of the Catho- lic forms of religious worship, operated to retard the settlement of this State, as it rendered it exceedingly hazardous to attempt to establish a colony in the interior. After virtually abandoning her claims to the entire country, France still claimed Acadia, and insisted that its west- ern limit was the Kennebec River.
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