USA > Maine > York County > Saco > History of Saco and Biddeford, with notices of other early settlements, and of proprietary governments, in Maine, including the provinces of New Somersetshire and Lygonia > Part 1
USA > Maine > York County > Biddeford > History of Saco and Biddeford, with notices of other early settlements, and of proprietary governments, in Maine, including the provinces of New Somersetshire and Lygonia > 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
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REYNOLDS HISTORICAL GENEALOGY COLLECTION
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01187 6247
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2015
https://archive.org/details/historyofsacobid00fols 0
n
HISTORY
OF
.
2
SACO AND BIDDEFORD,
WITH NOTICES OF OTHER
Maine
EARLY SETTLEMENTS,
AND OF THE
Proprietary Governments,
1
IN MAINE,
AV. 4. 1.1.
INCLUDING THE PROVINCES OF
NEW SOMERSETSHIRE AND LYGONIA.
BY GEORGE FOLSOM.
THE
N
SACO:
PRINTED BY ALEX. C. PUTNAM. 1830.
7492
': 2
1570251
DISTRICT OF MAINE, to wit :
District Clerk's Ofice.
BE IT REMEMBERED, that on the thirtieth day of April, A.
L. S. D. 1830, in the fifty-fourth year of the Independence of the UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, George Folsom, of the said district, has deposited in this office the title of a book, the right whereof he claims as proprietor, in the words following, to wit : "A History of Saco and Biddeford, with notices of other Early Settlements, and of the Proprietary Governments in Maine, including the Provinces of New Somersetshire and Lygonia. . By George Fol- som."
In conformity to the act of the Congress of the United States, enti- tled "An Act for the encouragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts, and books, to the authors and proprietors of such copies, during the times therein mentioned ;" and also to an act enti- tled "An Act supplementary to an act entitled, 'an act for the en- couragement of learning, by securing the copies of maps, charts and books to the authors and proprietors of such copies during the times therein mentioned ;' and extending the benefits thereof to the arts cf designing, engraving and etching historical and other prints."
J. MUSSEY, Clerk of the District of Maine.
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3490
"
Ar
1 ........
ADVERTISEMENT.
The materials for the greater part of the present vol- ume have been gathered from unpublished and forgotten documents. - Wherever the writer has derived aid from the labors of others, he has acknowledged the obligation by a reference to their pages. Unfortunately the settle- ments in Maine have been almost wholly neglected by New England historians. Until the publication of Gov. Sullivan's work, there was nothing found relating to them, except a few scattered notices in the earlier writers. The attempt of that distinguished gentleman to embody the history of his native District, in the midst of his nu- merous and important avocations, is honorable to his me- mory, and merits the gratitude of the people of Maine. It is a subject of regret, however, that in connection with so much valuable research, numerous errors of the tran- scriber, or the press, escaped the author, as well as others occasioned by a deficiency of materials, or a hasty examination of ancient records and documents. This circumstance renders the work an unsafe guide, and leaves the inquirer without the means of obtaining a satisfactory knowledge of the early history of Maine, unless he has recourse to original papers. There seemed thus to ex- ist a necessity for presenting in the following pages a sketch of the old provincial jurisdictions under which the towns successively passed, which has accordingly been attempted.
The writer gratefully acknowledges the important aid which he has received in the prosecution of his inquiries, from gentlemen whose official situations have enabled
.
-
iv
ADVERTISEMENT.
them to render it. He is particularly indebted to ED- WARD D. BANGS, Esq. Secretary of Massachusetts ; JEREMIAH GOODWIN, Esq. Register of Deeds, and JERE- MIAH BRADBURY, Esq. Clerk of the Courts, in York County.
His thanks are likewise due to JAMES GRAY and ED- MUND COFFIN, Esquires, clerks of Saco and Biddeford, for the friendly manner in which they have afforded ac- cess to the records in their possession. To various indi- viduals of both towns he is indebted for the use of private papers, and the communication of facts, contributing to the local interest of the work.
In reference to ancient inhabitants of the towns who removed from or to other parts of New England, the writer has relied on the abundant information of Messrs. JOHN FARMER, of Concord, N. H. and JOSHUA COFFIN, of Newbury, Mass. to whom he is under great obligations for kindly according the assistance desired from time to time.
The feelings with which the writer dismisses his hum- ble pages, are happily expressed in the following prelimi- nary passage from a work to which the remarks are cer- tainly far less applicable than to the present.
"To please all sorts of readers, I know is impossible : he, who writes with such hopes, is a stranger to human nature, and will be infallibly disappointed. My design is rather to inform than please. He, who delights only in pages shining with illustrious characters, the contentions of armies, the rise and fall of empires, and other grand events, must have recourse to the great authors of anti- quity. A detail of the little transactions, which concern a colony, scant in its jurisdiction, and still struggling with the difficulties naturally attending its infant state, to gen-
V
ADVERTISEMENT.
tlemen of this taste can furnish no entertainment. The ensuing narrative (for it deserves not the name of a his- tory, though for brevity's sake I have given it that title) presents us only a regular thread of simple facts ; and even those unembellished with reflexions, because they themselves suggest the proper remarks ; and most readers will, doubtless, be best pleased with their own."
SACO, 30 April, 1830.
1
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SUMMARY OF THE CHAPTERS.
PART FIRST.
1. Voyages of discovery.
2. Patents from the King, and the Council of Plymouth.
3. First permanent settlements.
4. Jurisdictions established.
5. Notices of the Gorges ; Rich. Vines ; Robert Child.
6. Early Clergymen.
7. Usurpation of Mass. Bay. Government of the
King's Commissioners.
8. Commencement of the town records. Purchase of the Biddeford patent by William Phillips.
9. Notices of the first Colonists.
10. Ministers .- Seth Fletcher; Barnabas Chauncy ; William Milburne.
11. Government resumed by Mass. Bay. Sale of the Province.
12. First Indian War.
13. Maj. Phillips. Brian Pendleton. Benj. Blackman.
14. Division of Lewis and Bopython's patent. Names
of the inhabitants.
15. Troubles with the Indians. Chronology.
PART SECOND.
1. Re-settlement of the town. The name Biddeford
adopted. Divisions of estates.
2. Indian War.
3. Ministers. Settlement of Rev. Samuel Willard.
4. Settlement of Rev. Moses Morrill. Notices of the inhabitants. Indian troubles.
5. Division of H. Scamman's estate. Sir W. Peppe- rell. Physicians. Merchants. Mechanics.
6. East side of the river incorporated. Settlement of Rev. John Fairfield. Governor Sullivan. Phy- sicians. Roads and Bridges.
7. Revolutionary War.
8. Notices of inhabitants. Religious Societies.
. 9. Attorneys. Late improvements, &c.
HISTORY
OF
SACO AND BIDDEFORD.
PART FIRST.
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CHAPTER I.
THE discovery of New England may be justly ascri- bed to Bartholomew Gosnold, an enterprising and intel- ligent navigator, who in the year 1602, performed a voyage to this part of North America, before unknown to the civilized world. The Cabots had indeed Jailed along the whole coast of the United States as early as 1497, but without setting foot on any part of it .* During the succeeding century, the discovery of the river St. Law- rence, and a partial exploration of the coasts of Virginia and Florida, in the course of a few unsuccessful attempts to plant colonies in that quarter, comprised nearly all that was contributed towards a further knowledge of North America. At the period of Gosnold's voyage, no per- manent settlement had been made by civilized nations north of the Spanish province of Mexico ; from Florida to Greenland, says an accurate writer, not one European family could be found .; Although the discovery of the
"Rees' Cyclop. Art. America. tPrince N. E. Chronology. 1.
2
0
HISTORY OF SACO
New world seems to have been at first duly appreciated in Europe, where it was proclaimed as the most remark- able event of the age, the North American continent was thus suffered to remain unoccupied, and for the most . part unexplored, for more than a century after its existence was made known.
Gosnold had sailed to Virginia in the service of Sir Walter Raleigh by the old and circuitous route of the Canary isles and the West Indies. The voyage of 1602 was undertaken to prove that a shorter and more direct course to America was practicable. On the 26 March in that year, he set sail from Falmouth in a small vessel, accompanied by a few adventurers who embarked with the design of forming a colony in Virginia. The first land they discovered after a passage of seven weeks, was in latitude about forty three degrees north ; and is supposed to have been some part of Maine. It has even been said that they landed on our coast, but this statement is believed to be incorrect. Continuing their course to the south, they discovered the southern shore of Massachu- setts and disembarked on an adjacent island, called by them Elizabeth island, a name it retains to this day. Here they remained six weeks, visited the neighboring shore, and trafficked with the natives. The colonists made pre- parations for a permanent abode ; built a storehouse and fort, the remains of which may be still seen *; but on more mature deliberation, being ill supplied with the means of subsistence and of defence against the natives, should they prove hostile, they relinquished this design and all returned to England. Beside accomplishing the chief object of his voyage, by marking out a course nearly one third shorter than that which had been hitherto pur- suedt, Gosnold awakened the spirit of enterprise in Eng- land by favorable representations of the country he had accidentally discovered. Several of the adventurers who accompanied him, after their return published glowing descriptions of the fertility and delightful aspect of
*Belkn. Am. Biog. II. 115. tRobertson's America. book IX ยง 20.
:
:
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11
AND BIDDEFORD.
these northern shores. "From the island," says one of them,* "we went right over to the mayne, where we stood a while as ravished at the beautie and dilicacy of the sweetnesse, besides divers cleare lakes whereof we saw no end, and meadows very large and full of greene grasse, Sec." They sowed several kinds of grain by way of ex- periment, which "in 14 days sprung up 9 inches." A- mong the spontaneous productions of the soil were "ground nuts as big as egges, as good as Potatoes, and 40 on a string, not two ynches under ground."
A country invested with so many charms, did not fail to captivate the imaginations of many adventurers. The shortness of the voyage also furnished an inducement to new enterprises in the same direction. Through the influence of Richard Hakluyt, a clergyman of Bristol, already distinguished by his labors for the advancement of geographical knowledge, the corporation and mer- chants of that city engaged to fit out two vessels for the further discovery of the country, which now received the name of North Virginia. These vessels, one of which was a ship of fifty tons, the other a bark of twenty six tons burthen, sailed from Bristol April 10, 1603, under the command of Martin Pring, who took for his pilot a man that had been with Gosnold the year before. Early in June they arrived on the coast of Maine, called by the natives MAVOSHEN, and harbored among the islands of Penobscot bay. Thence sailing towards the south and passing all the islands as far as the western part of Casco bay, they soon after entered four inlets which are thus described in the journal of the voyage :
"The most easterly was barred at the mouth, but hav- ing passed over the bar we ran up it for five miles, and for a certain space found. very good depth. Coming out again as we sailed southwest, we lighted on two other inlets, which we found to pierce not far into the land. The fourth and most westerly was the best, which we rowed up ten or twelve miles. In all these places we found no people, but signs of fires where they had been."f
"John Brierton. Smith's Virginia. 107. tPurchas' Pilgrims.
.
1 12
HISTORY OF SACO
From this brief description Dr. Belknap infers, that "the easternmost of the four inlets which they entered, was the mouth of the river Saco. The two next were Kennebunk and York rivers, and the westernmost and best was the Pascataqua." "The reason," he adds, "of their finding no people, was that the natives were at that sea- son (June) fishing at the falls of the rivers ; and the vesti- ges of fires at or near the mouths of the rivers, marked the places where they had resided and taken fish in the earlier months of spring."* We can see no good cause to doubt the accuracy of this opinion, and are thus en- abled to assign the date of the discovery of the Saco to the year 1603. Capt. Pring continued his course to the southern part of Massachusetts, following the track of Gos- nold, where having laden his vessels with sassafras and furs, he returned to England after an absence of six months.
A second voyage, more particularly directed to the coast of Mavoshen or Maine, was performed by this "un- derstanding gentleman," as Pring is styled by a writer of that period, in the year 1606, under the patronage of Chief Justice Popham. The journal of this voyage ap- pears not to have been published ; an omission which we the more regret, as Sir F. Gorges says, that a perfect dis- covery was then made of all the rivers and harbors on our coast, and the most exact account of it brought that he had ever received.
A geographical outline of this eastern territory, for which the materials were obtained from the journals of these and other early visits to the shores of Maine, was drawn up by Mr. Hakluyt, and published by Samuel Pur- chas in his great work, entitled "Purchas his Pilgrims, or Relations of the World," &c. The chapter containing it, is headed, "A Description of the country of Mavooshen, discovered by the English in the years 1602, 3, 5, 6, 7, 8, and 9."
"Mavooshen," says this writer, "is a countrey lying to the North and by East of Virginia between the degrees of
*Belkn. Am. Biog. II. 126.
13
AND BIDDEFORD.
43 and 45 .* It is fortie leagues broad, and fiftie in length, lying in breadth East and West, and in length North and South. It is bordered on the East side with a coun- trey the people whereof they call Tarrantines ; on the West with Epistoman, on the North with a great wood called Senaglecouna, and on the South with the mayne ocean sea and many Islands. In Mavooshen it seemeth there are nine Rivers," &c. The most western of these rivers is thus described : "Seven daies journey to the South west of Ashamahaga there is another river that is sixe fathoms to the entrance : This river is named the SHAWAKOTOC, and is halfe a mile broad ; it runneth into the lande fiftie daies journey, but foure daies from the entrance it is so narrow, that the Trees growing on each side doe so crosse with their boughs and bodies on the other as it is permitted not by any means to pass with boates that way ; for which cause the Inhabitants that on any occasion are to travel to the head, are forced to go by land, taking their way upon the West side. At the end of this River, there is a Lake of foure daies journey long and two daies broad, wherein are two Ilands. To the North West foure daies journey from this Lake, at the Head of this River Shawakotoc, there is a small province which they call Crokemago, wherein is one towne. This is the Westernmost river of the Dominions of Bashabez."+
Such was the most accurate account of our river pos- sessed by the English geographers at that period. The small extent of a day's journey may be estimated from the distance thus computed between the Aponeg, (Sheep- scot,) and the Sagadehock, which is called three days' journey, but is only about twelve miles. No Euro- pean, probably, had yet explored the country far be- yond the mouths of the principal rivers, and the informa- tion of navigators respecting their sources and extent, must have been derived from the inexact descriptions of the natives. The supreme sachem who governed the country of Mavoshen, and bore the title of Bashaba, is
*The sea-coast of Maine is comprehended almost exactly within these lunits. tPurchas. lib. X. c. 6. Third Edition printed 1617.
3*
14
HISTORY OF SACO
repeatedly noticed by the first voyagers to this coast, and is said to have resided near the Penobscot. The subor- dinate chiefs, somewhat like the feudal barons, exercised a separate authority over their respective tribes. The province of Crokemago, probably, included the famous tribe of the Pequawkets whose principal town, known to have been of great antiquity, occupied nearly the site of Fryeburg. The large ponds in that vicinity were doubt- less considered by them the sources of the Saco ; one of which, the upper Kezar, principally in the town of Lov- ell, is about 15 miles in length, and from one to two miles in breadth, and contains two or three islands. The principal branch of the Saco, the Great Ossippee, termi- nates in a small lake ; on this river, also, was seated a con- siderable Indian village .*
-
A name similar to that in the preceding extract, was applied to our river by the celebrated Capt. Smith, who examined the coast from Penobscot westward in 1614, and two years after published a description of the country under the general name of New England. After de- scribing the Kennebec, Smith proceeds : "Westward of this river is the country of Aucocisco (Casco) in the bot- tom of a large deep bay, full of many great isles, which divide it into many good harbors. SAWOCOTUCK is the next, in the edge of a large sandy bay, which hath many rocks and isles, but few good harbors except for barks, (that) I yet know."+ Omitting the last syllable of this word, which was doubtless done for the sake of brevity, we have nearly the present name of the river. Smith drew a map of N.England, with the Indian names of rivers, islands, &c. and presented it to Prince, afterwards King, Charles, who at his request substituted English names in their stead. A few only of these were adopted by the inhabitants, when the country was settled. The name of Ipswich was bestowed on the Saco, but there is no reason to suppose it was ever used. The Kennebec was called Edinboro' ; Agamenticus river, Boston, &c.t
"Sullivan. 222. tSmith's Virginia. II. 193.
tIbid. 11. 177. There was a small tribe of Indians within the colony of Plymouth called Sawccatuckeis. They lived in the west- ern part of Harwich. Mass. Hist. Coll. I. 197. Prince. 63.
15
AND BIDDEFORD.
It can scarcely be a subject of regret that the aboriginal names have been retained in so many instances. Al- though often not remarkably euphonious, they serve to keep alive the memory of the former possessors of the soil, of whom so few vestiges remain. The deep feeling of interest excited by the unhappy fate of the powerful tribes, once inhabiting the banks of our rivers and lakes, is impressed on whatever survives the wreck of their for- tunes, if it be only a name.
The French were somewhat behind the English in making voyages of discovery to the American conti- nent. In 1524, John Verazzano, an Italian, in the ser- vice of the king of France, sailed along the coast from Florida to Labrador, and gave to the whole extent of ter- ritory the name of New France. Notwithstanding the discovery of the Cabots nearly thirty years previous, this navigator was regarded as having given to France a title to the greater part of North America, as the original dis- coverer. But it was not until early in the following cen- tury, that a permanent settlement was commenced by peo- ple of that nation on the shores of the new world. In 1603 the Sieur de Monts received a commission from his sovereign for the government of New France. His juris- diction extended from the 40th to the 46th degree of north latitude. In the following year, De Monts arrived on the coast of Nova Scotia, then called Cadie or Aca- die,* accompanied by Samuel de Champlain, who had ascended the St. Lawrence the year before and obtain- ed much information respecting the country. A small set- tlement was made on the island St. Croix, where they passed the winter, and the next season changed their loca- tion to Port Royal, now Annapolis, N. S.
In the meantime, De Monts and Champlain explor- ed the coast toward the south for the purpose of select- ing suitable places to establish colonies. The following
*In Latin Cadia or Acadia. This word is generally supposed to be borrowed from the Arcadia of the Greeks, as Douglas, Brit. Am. derives it. But it is a different word, even with the initial a, which it often wants. Being at first restricted in its application, it was pro- bably of Indian origin, as is Pesmo-cadie, the French orthography for Passamaquoddy. All New France was often termed Acadie.
16
HISTORY OF SACO
passage from the volume published by the latter descrip- tive of this voyage, it is confidently believed, refers to Saco river* and the islands near its entrance.
"Having left the Kennebec, we ran along the coast to the westward, and cast anchor under a small island near the main land where we saw twenty or more natives. I here visited an island beautifully clothed with a fine growth of forest trees, particularly of the oak and wal- nut, and overspread with vines that in their season produce excellent grapes ; the first I had seen since leaving Cape de la Heve, (N. S.) We named it the island of Bac- chus. At high water we weighed anchor, and ran up a small river, barred at its mouth. There is but half a fathom of water on the bar at low tide, and about nine, sometimes twelve feet at high tide; within there is a depth of four, five and six fathoms. As soon as we had cast anchor, a number of Indians appeared on the banks of the river and began to dance. Their chief was not among them ; he came two or three hours after with two cannes, and took a turn around our ship. This river is called by the natives Chouacoet."+
. No settlement was made by the French at that time west of the river St. Croix. As late as 1613, they were not found beyond that limit except on the isl- and of Monts Deserts, now Mount Desert, where two priests of the order of Jesuits had gathered a few adven- turers in 1609. It is not a little remarkable that with all the country before them, the French should have fixed the seat of their jurisdiction so far north as Nova Scotia. Their title to that part of the territory of New France was not less defective than to a more southern position. The English regarded them as trespassers at Port Royal, and measures were taken for their removal in 1613.1
:
*Belk Am. Biog. II. 149. tPronounced nearly, Shwar'co. Les Voyages de Sieur de Champlain, Liv. ii. c. 3.
#Belkn. Am. Biog. I. 340 II. 52. Sullivan, Hist. Maine, p. 170, says that "soon after Popham's party left the river (Kennebec) in 1009, the French took possession of it," and refers us to Hubbard as an authority for the statement ; but it finds no support in that author. Hist. N. E 15. Ind. Narrative. 286. Hubbard says, however, that Argal found French settled at Penobscot 1013, and is followed in Ab-
17
AND BIDDEFORD.
The claim of the latter people, founded on the discov- ery of the Cabots, extended from Newfoundland to Flori- da, and after various vicissitudes was ultimately sustained.
There are no definite accounts of voyages to this part of America by navigators of any other nation, unless we except Hudson in the service of the Dutch, who sailed along our coast towards the south in 1609, when he dis- covered the noble river that now bears his name. After that year the Dutch frequented the American coast, and established a trading house near where Albany stands as early as 1614 *. A geographical work of high reputation, written in the Latin language and published soon after that period at Leyden, comprises, probably, all the informa- tion relating to the new world gathered by the early navigators of that and other nations. The author, John de Laet, was a director of the Dutch East India Company, and distinguished for his scientific as well as geographical knowledge. In the account of Cadia or Acadia, (for the word is thus differently spelled in this work,) the writer has twice described the Saco under its French and English names. The first account, of which we subjoin a plain version, was chiefly derived from Champlain, with some additions ; the other is an exact translation of Smith.
"Four leagues south of the Kennebec," says this writer, "following the direction of the coast, there is a bay con- taining in its bosom a large number of islands, from which are seen the lofty summits of mountains on the main land.f Eight leagues beyond, the river Chouacoet opens in lat. 43 deg. 45 min. having several islands near its en- trance, one of which was called by the French navigators the
bot and White's Hist. Belfast. 16. But Charlevoix, the historian of New France, tome I. liv. iii. does not authorize even this statement ; nor is it supported by Prince, N. E. Chronol. 37; or Belknap, Am. Biog. art. Argal ; or Holmes, Ain. Annals, I. 173.
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