USA > Maine > Cumberland County > Harpswell > History of Brunswick, Topsham, and Harpswell, Maine, including the ancient territory known as Pejepscot > Part 1
USA > Maine > Cumberland County > Brunswick > History of Brunswick, Topsham, and Harpswell, Maine, including the ancient territory known as Pejepscot > Part 1
USA > Maine > Sagadahoc County > Topsham > History of Brunswick, Topsham, and Harpswell, Maine, including the ancient territory known as Pejepscot > 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 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90
மிதக்கு ச்சி ஒ
Gc 974.102 B83w 1136991
M. L.
GENEALOGY COLLECTION
ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01092 1960
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2014
https://archive.org/details/historyofbrunswi00whee 0
John de Teen
HISTORY
OF
BRUNSWICK,
TOPSHAM, AND HARPSWELL,
MAINE,
INCLUDING THE ANCIENT TERRITORY KNOWN AS
Dejepscot.
BY
GEORGE AUGUSTUS WHEELER, M. D., AND
HENRY WARREN WHEELER.
" Histories make men wise." - BACON.
BOSTON : ALFRED MUDGE & SON, PRINTERS. 1878.
COPYRIGHT : BY GEORGE A. AND HENRY W. WHEELER. 1877.
1138991
TO
The Memory of
THE ESTEEMED CITIZEN, AND FAITHFUL AND EARNEST HISTORICAL STUDENT,
THE LATE JOHN MCKEEN, ESQUIRE,
WHOSE RESEARCHES IN THE EARLY HISTORY OF THE
PEJEPSCOT REGION JUSTLY ENTITLE HIM TO OUR GRATEFUL REMEMBRANCE, This Volume is Dedicated.
1
HO63
PREFACE.
THE labor of compiling a local history, though not necessarily requiring a very high order of talent, does require a careful and conscientious examina- tion of a large amount of miscellaneous material. The difficulties attending a compilation of this kind are numerous and, many of them, not easily to be anticipated In the words of Sterne, " When a man sits down to write a his- tory, though it be but the history of Jack Hickathrift or Tom Thumb, he knows no more than his heels what lets and confounded hindrances he is to meet with in his way."
So much is said by way of apology for the unavoidable errors that may, perchance, be discovered in this volume. The undertaking itself needs no apology, as the value of such compilations, not only to the writers of general history, but also to the public more immediately interested, is now everywhere admitted.
The aim of the compilers has been to furnish a work which should be valu- able rather than merely entertaining They have endeavored to give a faith- ful and complete history of the three towns, and although they have tried to make the volume more interesting by the introduction, when proper, of nar- ratives and traditions, yet this they have considered of secondary importance.
The methodical arrangement of a work of this kind, so as to embrace all that is desired and at the same time to avoid frequent repetition, is involved with difficulties, and is, after all, somewhat a matter of taste. In this work the arrangement by the topics into which the subject is most naturally divided has been adopted as, on the whole, the best. Each division of the subject has, however, been arranged in chronological order, and for further conve- nience of reference full indexes have been appended.
It is proper, in this place, to acknowledge the assistance which the com- pilers have received, in various ways, in the prosecution of their work. Their very great indebtedness to the labors of the late John McKeen, Esquire, has already been shown, and is still further shown by the frequent reference to him throughout the book; but they desire also to acknowledge the kindness of Miss Frances A. McKeen in furnishing them with the private papers of her father.
The name of the late Moses E. Woodman, Esquire, is also entitled to be held in grateful remembrance for the work he did in collecting and tracing the genealogy of Topsham families.
Much interesting information has also been obtained from notes made by the late James McKeen, M. D.
vi
PREFACE.
It is proper also to acknowledge to the public the great obligations of the compilers to the late Doctor Jolin D Lincoln, both for the material assistance rendered by him, and for his steadfast encouragement in their undertaking, from its very inception up to his last hours.
The thanks of the compilers are also especially due to Mr. A. G. Tenney, for his personal help and advice, as well as for the great assistance afforded by his file of the Brunswick Telegraph, and for the many courtesies extended by him; to Professor A. S. Packard, for valued advice and assistance, and for his kindness in affording unusual facilities for examining the books and papers in the historical and college libraries ; to General Joshua L. Chamberlain, Hon- orable Charles J. Gilman, Professor Stephen J. Young, and Professor George L. Vose, for valuable advice and assistance; to Reverend Elijah Kellogg, for his manuscript lecture on the history of Harpswell; to Messrs. Charles J. Noyes, Stephen Purinton, Edwin Emery, Professor Henry Carmichael, Rever- end George T. Packard, and Doctor Asher Ellis, for assistance in the collec- tion and preparation of material for the work; and to the many others who have, in one way or another, assisted them, the compilers return their sincere thanks.
The various illustrations given in the book will, it is hoped, be satisfactory to the public. The portraits were furnished by and inserted at the expense of the friends of the persons whom they represent.
The Pejepscot plan of the Brunswick and Topsham lots was made from two of the original plans, and was reduced and engraved by the photo-lithographic process, by J. H. Bufford's Sons, Boston. The map of Brunswick and Tops- ham villages in 1802 was compiled from a written description of Brunswick by the late John McKeen, Esquire, and from verbal descriptions of Topsham by Mr. James Wilson and the late Mrs. Nathaniel Green.
All of the maps and most of the illustrations are from drawings made by Mr. Charles G. Wheeler, Bowdoin, Class of 1876.
Whatever praise or censure may be due the authors for the manner in which they have executed their work should be equally divided between them, as it has been a joint production, in which they are themselves unable to specify their respective claims of authorship.
In conclusion : To the citizens of the three towns, and more especially to those of Brunswick and Harpswell, whose interest in the work has been so fully shown by their liberal appropriations in aid of its publication, this vol- ume is offered with gratitude and respect, and its favorable reception will be deemed an ample remuneration for their labors by
THE AUTHORS.
CONTENTS.
PART I.
CHAPTER
PAGE
I. ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS 1
II. PEJEPSCOT PURCHASE AND PRIOR SETTLEMENTS 7
III. DOINGS OF THE PEJEPSCOT PROPRIETORS AND SETTLEMENTS UNDER THIEM 27
IV.
PERIOD OF THE INDIAN WARS.
49
PART II.
I. BOUNDARIES AND NOTABLE FEATURES 75
II. MUNICIPAL HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK 104
III.
HARPSWELL
155
IV.
TOPSHAM
180
V. GENERAL AND SOCIAL . 205
VI. FIRES AND FIRE COMPANIES 257
VII. COURTS AND TRIALS, CRIMES AND CRIMINALS, LAWYERS 277
290
VIII. TAVERNS AND PUBLIC HALLS, MAILS, NEWSPAPERS, ETC.
IX. DISEASES AND ACCIDENTS, FRESHETS 311
X. STAGES, RAILROADS, NAVIGATION, TELEGRAPH, ETC .. 323
XI. BURIAL-PLACES AND EPITAPHS
339
XII.
ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK .
352
TOPSHAM
406
XIII. XIV.
HARPSWELL
436
XV. EDUCATIONAL HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK 456
XVI.
TOPSHAM
482
XVII.
HARPSWELL
493
XVIII. BOWDOIN COLLEGE AND MEDICAL SCHOOL OF MAINE 198
XIX. PUBLIC LANDS, ROADS, BRIDGES, ETC. .
521
XX
COMMERCIAL HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK
552
XXI.
TOPSHAM
603
XXII
HARPSWELL
618
XXIII. FORTS, GARRISONS, CHURCHES, ETC., BRUNSWICK 625
viii
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER PAGE XXIV. FORTS, GARRISONS, CHURCHES, ETC., TOPSHAM AND HARPS-
WELL . 651
XXV. INTERESTING RELICS 670
XXVI. MILITARY HISTORY OF THE THREE TOWNS
676
PART III.
I. BIOGRAPHIICAL SKETCHES 709
II.
FAMILY HISTORIES
827
APPENDICES.
APPENDIX
I. LIST OF EARLY SETTLERS 865
II. LIST OF SOLDIERS IN THE INDIAN WARS 875
III.
REVOLUTION
880
IV. WAR OF 1812-14 . 887
V.
REBELLION
896
VI.
LIST OF NATIONAL AND STATE OFFICERS FROM THESE TOWNS
916
VII.
TOWN OFFICERS .
919
GENERAL INDEX . 937 INDEX OF NAMES IN BIOGRAPHIES AND FAMILY HISTORIES . 956
ILLUSTRATIONS.
PORTRAIT OF JOHN MCKEEN, ESQUIRE Frontispiece.
PAGE
THE STOCKS, BRUNSWICK .
281
TONTINE HOTEL, ' 295
PRESIDENT ALLEN'S ACADEMY, BRUNSWICK
476
FRANKLIN FAMILY SCHOOL, TOPSIIAM
489
BOWDOIN COLLEGE IN 1821
498
ANDROSCOGGIN BRIDGE AND FALLS IN 1828
549
OLD HAY-SCALES, TOPSIIAM . 613
FORT GEORGE, BRUNSWICK 627
636
FIRST MEETING-HOUSE, BRUNSWICK
637
THIRD MEETING-HOUSE OF FIRST PARISHI, BRUNSWICK
641
CORNELIUS THOMPSON HOUSE, BRUNSWICK
646
COURT HOUSE, TOPSIIAM .
657
OLD HUNTER TAVERN, TOPSHAM
658
WALKER HOMESTEAD, 661
INTERIOR OF OLD MEETING-HOUSE, HARPSWELL . 664
ANDREW DUNNING HOUSE, 668
JOSEPHI ORR HOUSE, 669
PORTRAIT OF REV. GEORGE E. ADAMS, D. D. . 710
PRESIDENT. APPLETON 714
PROF. PARKER CLEAVELAND 719
EBENEZER EVERETT, ESQUIRE 740
746
GEN. JOIN C HUMPHREYS
754
DR. ISAAC LINCOLN
760
DR. JOHN D. LINCOLN
761
PRESIDENT MCKEEN .
763
MAJOR NAHUM PERKINS
785
MR. WILLIAM S. PERRY
786
MR. FRANCIS T. PURINTON
797
PROF. WILLIAM SMYTII
803
MR CHARLES THOMPSON
810
REV. A. D. WHEELER, D. . .
820
MAPS AND PLANS.
PEJEPSCOT COMPANY'S PLAN OF BRUNSWICK AND TOPSHAM Cover.
PAGE
SETTLEMENTS IN 1752
40
BRUNSWICK AND TOPSHAM VILLAGES IN 1802 . 72
ROADS IN 1765
531 .
TOWN HOUSE,
MR. JOSEPH GRIFFIN
-
1
PART I.
" THIS is the place, - stand still, my steed, Let me review the scene, And summon from the shadowy past, The forms that once have been !"
LONGFELLOW, A Gleam of Sunshine.
HISTORY
OF
Brunswick, Topsham, and Harpswell.
CHAPTER I.
ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS.
THE Indian race, formerly occupying the territory now embraced by the State of Maine, was divided, as most authors state, into two considerable nations, called the Etechemins and the Abenakis. The former nation occupied the region east, and the latter that west, of the Penobscot River.1
The Abenaki nation was composed of four principal tribes, viz. : -
1. The Sokokis, who had their principal encampments upon the Saco River.
2. The Anasagunticooks, who occupied the entire valley of the Androscoggin River.
3. The Canibas, who dwelt upon the Kennebec, from its tide waters to its source.
4. The Wawenocks, who reside between the Sagadahock and the river St. George, and upon the latter.2
The Anasagunticooks were, at the first advent of Europeans, a very numerous. powerful, and warlike tribe. The Pejepscot Indians were, in all probability, a sub-tribe of the Anasagunticooks. They had cus- tomary places of resort, if not permanent places of residence, at the Brunswick Falls, at Maquoit, and at Mair Point. It is now considered probable, from the remains and relics found there, that the latter was the place of one of their villages in the sixteenth century.3
Like most of the native tribes, the Anasagunticooks were, at first,
1 Willis, Maine Historical Collection, 4, p. 96.
2 Kidder, Maine Historical Collection, 6, p. 235
8 John McKeen, Manuscript Lecture.
Vetromile, The Abenakis, p 17.
Williamson and others.
1
2
HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK, TOPSHAM, AND HARPSWELL.
probably friendly to the whites. At least, our settlers are represented as living with them upon the most friendly terms up to about the time of King Philip's War.1
They soon, however, became extremely and inveterately hostile to the settlers upon their domain, and until their extermination by disease and by the aggressions of the whites, they continued to exhibit their animosity by frequent attacks upon isolated settlements and habi- tations and by lying in ambush for individuals or small parties.
The plague which broke out among them about the year 1615 or 1616 so reduced them that, in the latter year, they numbered only 1,500 warriors. 2
They were still further reduced in number by warfare and other causes, so that there were, according to one authority,3 on November 24, 1726, only five Indians in the tribe over sixteen years of age. John. Hegon was their sachem at this time.
Twenty-five years later there were one hundred and sixty warriors in the tribe.4. This is a large increase in number, but yet it shows how weak the tribe had become.
The most celebrated sagamores of this tribe were Darumkin, Wo- rumbo, and Hodgkins, - called sometimes Hawkins. Of the former but little is known, except that he was the father of Terramugus, and on several occasions served as orator for the tribe.
Worumbo is better known on account of his deed to Richard Whar- ton, July 7, 1684, confirming to him the lands formerly conveyed to and possessed by Thomas Purchase.
Hodgkins (or Hawkins), whose Indian name was Kankamagus, was, in reality, a sachem of the Pennacooks, but he joined the Andros- coggins about 1684, and lived with Worumbo.
Mugg is thought to have been another of their sachems,5 although by some authors he is supposed to have belonged to the Penobscot tribe.6 He was very conspicuous in the Indian war of 1676-77. On October 12, of the former year, he assaulted Black Point, now Scarborough, with one hundred men, and captured it. In 1677 he again besieged that garrison for three days, and killed three men and took one captive. He was himself killed, May 16 of that year. Prior to this war he had lived for some time with the English, and had been very friendly to them.7
1 McKeen, MSS. Lecture. Woodman, Manuscript History of Pejepscot.
2 Williamson, 1, p. 483. 8 Gyles's Statement, Maine Historical Collection, 3, p 357.
4 Williamson, 1, p. 483. 5 Drake. Book of Indians, 3, p. 110.
6 Ilistory of Pemaquid, p. 122.
7 Drake, Book of Indians, 3, p. 110.
3
ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS.
This chief must not be confounded with Mogg, - generally known as Mogg Megone, - who was killed at the time of Rasle's death (1724), and who belonged to the Saco Indians.
Another of their sagamores was Philip Will, originally a Cape Cod Indian ; he was captured by the French, at the siege of Louisburg, when only fourteen years of age. Remaining with the Abenaki In- dians, he became, eventually, a chief of this tribe. Will was brought up in the family of a Mr. Crocker, in which he was taught " to read, write, and cipher." He prevented, for many years, the final extinc- tion of his tribe. He was six feet three inches in height, and pos- sessed a good development.1
The fact that the lands occupied by the whites were duly purchased of and conveyed to them by the Indians themselves, and that the earlier settlers in this region endeavored to conciliate and make friends of them, seems to have had but little effect in restraining the savage disposition of the natives. After the first outbreak, they rarely lived on really peaceable terms with the settlers, and when there were no actual hostilities going on, they were continually strolling about and annoying the inhabitants,2 and even isolated acts of friendship on the part of individuals amongst them were comparatively rare.
The settlement of the region occupied by this tribe, subsequent to the time of King Philip's War, presents continual scenes of carnage and destruction, midnight massacres and conflagrations, until the tribe itself became extinct.
The language of the Abenaki nation has been carefully studied by many competent students, but the difficulties in the way of thoroughly understanding the different dialects are so great that much uncer- tainty still exists, both as to the correct pronunciation and derivation, and also as to the meaning, of very many of the names formerly applied to localities. The Indian names, and their signification in English, of some of the more important places, will, nevertheless, prove interesting, and are therefore given in this connection.
ABAGADUSSET River and Point. - The original name of the point was Nagusset.3 At a later day it was called Point Agreeable. Abagadusset, or Bagadusset, one of its forms, means "to shine," the reflection of the light from the waters of the bay probably giving the name.4 This river and point is not included within the present territory of either of the three towns, but was within the limits of the Pejepscot tract as originally claimed, and reference to it is often made.
1 Williamson, 1, p. 481. 2 Mckern. M.S.S. Lecture. 8 Pejosent Papers.
4 Dr. Ballard in the United States Coast Survey Report, 1868, p. 246.
4
HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK, TOPSHAM, AND HARPSWELL.
AH-ME-LAH-COG-NETUR-COOK, which means a place of much game, of fish, fowl, and beasts, was the Indian name for Brunswick near the Falls.1
ANDROSCOGGIN. - The river now known as the Androscoggin, and from which the tribe inhabiting its shores received its name, was variously called the Anasayunticook, the Anconganunticook, Amasa- quanteg, and Amascongan. The latter is the original of Androscog- gin, as appears by the deposition of the Indian Perepole.2 The name has been written in some sixty different forms, as its sound was received by the ancient hunters, owners, and settlers. There seems to have been a disposition to make it conform to known words in the English usage. The name " Coggin " is a family appellation in New England ; and it was easy to place before it, according to each man's preference, other familiar names, and to call the stream " Ambrose Coggin," "Amos Coggin," "Andrews Coggin," "Andros Coggin," and " Andrus Coggin." 3 Vetromile 4 says that Coggin means " com- ing"; that Ammascoggin means "fish coming in the spring," and that Androscoggin means " Andros coming," referring to the visit of a former governor of the province. But the visit of Governor Andros was not made until 1688, while the river is called Andros- coggin in an indenture, made in 1639, between Thomas Purchase and Governor Winthrop.5
Another authority 6 says the word means " the Great Skunk River." By another,7 it is said to be derived from naamas (fish), kees (high), and auke (place), and to mean "the high fish place.". According to Reverend Dr. Ballard,8 its derivation is from the word namās (fish), abbreviated, as is the frequent practice, by dropping the first letter, and Skaughigan (Skowhegan), a fish-spear. The name may therefore be translated the Fish Spear, or Fish Spearing. The name, as furnished by Perepole, with his description, marked the part of the river above the Amitigonpontook - that is, the " Clay-land Falls " at Lewiston, - upward to " Arockamecook," that is, the " Hoe-land," at Canton Point. The rips and shallows in this portion were favora- ble for spearing fish beyond any part below.
BUNGANUNGANOCK, commonly shortened to Bunganock, is the name
1 Pejepscot Papers.
2 Maine Historical Collection, 3, p. 333, taken from the Pejepscot Papers.
8 Dr. Ballard in United States Coast Survey, 1868, p. 247.
4 History of the Abenakis, p. 24.
5 See next chapter.
6 Willis, Maine Historical Collection, 4, p. 115.
7 Potter, Maine Historical Collection, 4, p. 189.
8 Report of the United States Coast Survey, 1868, p. 247.
5
ABORIGINAL INHABITANTS.
of a small stream flowing into Maquoit Bay. It runs at the bottom of a deep ravine, suggesting the name of Bunganunganock, which means the " High-bank Brook." 1
CATHANCE River, pronounced by the Indians Kat-huh-nis, is said by them to mean bent, or crooked.2
MAQUOIT means the "bear-place " or " bear-bay."
MERRICONEAG. - This name was originally applied only to the In- dian " carrying-place " at the upper end of Harpswell Neck, but finally denoted the whole peninsula. The word in full would be Mer- rucooneyan, from merru (swift, quick), and oonegan (portage), mean- ing the " quick carrying-place." 3
PEJEPSCOT. - That portion of the Androscoggin River extending from Brunswick Falls to Merrymeeting Bay, and the adjacent land upon the south, was called Pejepscot. The word was originally applied to the water, and meant " crooked, like a diving snake." 4
QUABACOOK, meaning " the duck water place,"5 was the Indian designation of Merrymeeting Bay. The English name of this bay, ac- cording to one, and the most probable, tradition, had its origin from the meeting of the waters of five rivers. According to another ac- count, the name was due to the meeting of two surveying parties, and their enjoyment of the occasion upon its shores.6
SAWACOOK, as the land upon the north side of the river where Top- sham is situated was called, signifies, according to one authority,7 " the burnt place "; according to other authorities it means either " a tree forking in many branches," or else it means " the place to find many cranberries." 8
SEBASCODEGAN is the Indian name of the Great Island in Harpswell. This name is supposed to be derived from k'tche (great) and t'basco- degan (measure), and this solution of the name shows that the na- tives had taken some means of measuring the island and had found it great.9
There are other Indian names of localities in the vicinity of Bruns- wick, Topsham, and Harpswell which have been preserved by tradi-
1 Dr. Ballard in United States Coast Survey Report for 1868, p. 248. 2 Ibid.
8 Dr. Ballard in United States Coast Survey Report for 1868, pp. 248, 258.
4 Willis, in Maine Historical Collection, 4, p. 108.
5 Pejepscot Papers, Peropole's Deposition. Also, Dr. True, in Brunswick Telegraph, 1864.
6 Dr. Ballard in United States Coast Survey Report for 1868, p. 253.
7 Dr. N. T. True, of Bethel.
8 Potter, Maine Historical Collection, 4, p. 191.
9 Dr. Ballard in United States Coast Survey Report for 1868, p. 258.
6
HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK, TOPSHAM, AND HARPSWELL.
tion, but those that have been mentioned are the best known. The others hardly require particular mention in this connection.
The Indians, in their travels from place to place, went by water whenever possible. The places where they were obliged to leave the water, either to go around falls and rapids or to cross from the salt water to the fresh, or from stream to stream, were called carrying- places, because at these places they were obliged to leave the water and carry their canoes. The paths they made from one carrying-place to another were called trails. The principal carrying-places were in Harpswell, at CONDY'S POINT, Sebascodegan, the trail leading across the point, and at Indian Point Landing, on the northeast corner of Sebascodegan. There was also one across the upper end of MERRI- CONEAG NECK. In Brunswick, the chief carrying-places were : THE UPPER CARRYING-PLACE. This was at the bend of the river above the falls, and was the place where the Indians left the river on their way to Maquoit. The name was given to distinguish it from the lower or STEVENS'S CARRYING-PLACE. The latter was at the narrow neck of land between the New Meadows River and Merrymeeting Bay. The land was owned in 1673 by Thomas Stevens, hence its name. WIGWAM POINT, a small point of land extending into the New Meadows River, a short distance above the dike or bridge at the foot of Ham's Hill, though not strictly a carrying-place, was a landing-place of the Indians, who probably had a wigwam there. It was once called Indian Town.
In Topsham, the chief carrying-place was at the Androscoggin River, above Merrill's, and the trail led to Cathance Pond. It is probable there was another carrying-place at the head of Muddy River, with trails leading to the Androscoggin and Cathance Rivers.
After Lovewell's war, the Indians dwelling on the Androscoggin, finding they were too weak to protect themselves either from the set- tlers or from other tribes, moved to Canada and joined the Saint Francis tribe. Even the bones of their ancestors are no longer to be found, and naught but a few names remains to remind us of the exist ence of this once powerful tribe.
7
PEJEPSCOT PURCHASE, AND PRIOR SETTLEMENTS.
CHAPTER II.
THE PEJEPSCOT PURCHASE, AND PRIOR SETTLEMENTS, 1605-1714.
THE earliest voyage of discovery made to the immediate vicinity of the Androscoggin River was possibly that of Captain George Wey- mouth, in the spring of 1605. He is supposed to have come up to the falls.1 That it was the Sagadahoc River, and not the St. George's or the Penobscot, which Weymouth visited, has not, however, been fully settled.
[1607.] He was followed in the year 1607 by Captain George Popham, who arrived near Monhegan, July 31, in two vessels, the " Gift of God " and the " Mary and John," carrying one hundred and twenty planters. From Monhegan they went to Cape Small Point, and built a fort on Atkins Bay. This fortification was named Fort Saint George. Though the place was abandoned the next summer, it was intended to be a permanent settlement, and was occupied suffi- ciently long to establish its claim to be called the first English settle- ment on the New England coast.
[1620.] In the year 1620 a charter was granted by King James I to forty " noblemen, knights, and gentlemen," constituting them a body corporate, called the Council of Plymouth. Their territorial limits extended from the fortieth to the forty-eighth parallel of lati- tude, and from sea to.sea.
The Council of Plymouth, in addition to the grant to the Plymouth Company of New England, granted patents in the Province of Maine to the Kennebec (or New Plymouth) Company, the Muscongus (or Waldo) Company, and to the Pemaquid Company.
[1632.] They also, June 16, 1632,2 granted a patent to Thomas Purchase and George Way. By some this patent is thought to have emanated directly from King James.3 The patent itself was lost, 4 and no record of it has been found. It is known to have existed from the frequent references to it in old deeds and other documents.5
1 McKeen, Maine Historical Collections, 5. p. 335.
2 Willis, History of Portland, p. 64. 8 Pejepscot Records, Statement of Title.
4 Very likely when Purchase's house was burned.
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