USA > Maine > Washington County > Machias > Memorial of the centennial anniversary of the settlement of Machias > Part 1
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GENEALOGY COLLECTION
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ALLEN COUNTY PUBLIC LIBRARY 3 1833 01092 9708
Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2014
https://archive.org/details/memorialofcenten00mach
1
MEMORIAL
OF THE
Centennial Anniversary
OF THE
SETTLEMENT
OF
MACHIAS, Maine
MACHIAS: PRINTED BY C. O. FURBUSH. 1863.
ACCOUNT OF THE CELEBRATION
OF THE
CENTENNIAL ANNIVERSARY
OF THE
SETTLEMENT OF MACHIAS, MAY 20, 1863.
3.00 -
At the town meeting held in East Machias for the election of municipal officers, March 30, 1863, after some remarks in refer- ence to the propriety of commemorating by appropriate public services, the 100th anniversary of the settlement of the old town of Machias, the following gentlemen were named a Com- mittee to arrange in concert with Committees from the other municipalities embraced in the original township, the services of the celebration, viz :
SAMUEL H. TALBOT, NATHAN W. FOSTER,
GILBERT W. GOOCH,
DANIEL S. JOHNSON,
LUTHER HANSCOM, JOHN F. HARRIS,
WILLIAM H. POPE.
At the town meeting in Machias held the next day, a similar Committee was appointed as follows :
GEORGE F. TALBOT, LADWICK HOLWAY,
GEORGE WALKER,
NATHAN M. GARDNER,
GEORGE W. DRISKO,
WARREN HILL.
GILBERT LONGFELLOW.
Committees to co-operate with these in the same object were also selected at meetings of citizens held in Machiasport, Marsh- field and Whitneyville, viz :
MACHIASPORT.
CHARLES EMERSON, HENRY A. LIBBY, SAMUEL SMALL,
STEPHEN SPRAGUE,
OTIS W. MEANS,
HENRY B. WAIDE,
EDWARD L. HUSON.
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ACCOUNT OF THE CELEBRATION.
WHITNEYVILLE.
JAMES POPE, JAMES MILLER, MARSHFIELD GETCHELL. MARSHFIELD.
GEORGE S. GETCHELL, NATHAN CROCKER,
WILLIAM D. CLARK, MARTIN Foss.
These Committees met at the Court House in Machias early in April and organized by choosing Rev. Charles Emerson, Chairman, and George F. Talbot, Secretary. It was resolved to undertake the celebration, upon the plan afterwards pursued and the following Sub-Committees were named to carry the resolution into effect, viz :
On Public Services :
George F. Talbot, Nathan M. Gardner, Gilbert Longfellow.
On Invitations to Natives living abroad, and others :
John F. Harris, George S. Getchell, James Miller.
Warren Hill, Henry A. Libby,
On Finance :
Samuel II. Talbot, Nathan W. Foster, Warren Hill.
The following persons were then designated as Officers of the Day, viz :
For President. PETER TALBOT, of East Machias.
For Vice Presidents. GEORGE BURNHAM, of Machias.
CHARLES EMERSON, of Machiasport.
SAMUEL HARMON, of Marshfield.
JAMES MILLER, of Whitneyville.
For Chief Marshal. JEREMIAH FOSTER, of East Machias.
For Aids.
SAMUEL LONGFELLOW, of Machias. ALVIN G. CROCKER, of Machias. THO. G. GETCHELL, of Marshfield. HORATIO N. TOBEY, of Machiasport. ALBION MILLER, of Whitneyville. GILBERT W. GOOCH, of East Machias.
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ACCOUNT OF THE CELEBRATION.
The following circular letter was forwarded by the Committee on Invitations, to about 300 natives of Machias living in various parts of the United States, including California and Washington Territory and the British Provinces, viz :-
Centennial Celebration of the Settlement of Machias.
MACHIAS, Mc. April 15, 1863.
Dear Sir :-
On the 20th day of May 1763 the first Sixteen Settlers landed on the West bank of the Machias West river, and com- menced the colony, which from 1784 to 1826 remained under a single municipal government, and has since been divided into the towns of Machias, East Machias, Machiasport, Whitneyville, and Marshfield.
The history of this Town, as you are well aware, is one of pe- culiar interest, especially to all connected with it by ties of na- tivity or long residence. The heroic resistance made by its in- habitants to British invasion in the Revolutionary war, whereby the Eastern portion of New England was preserved from the dom- ination of a distant Monarchy, has found an honorable place in the annals of the glorious achievements of the fathers of the American Republic.
At the annual meetings the several towns organized from the original township initiated measures for a united Celebration of the Centennial Anniversary of the Settlement which falls on the 20th day of May next.
It is to be hoped that the Natives and former residents of the Old Town now living abroad may avail themselves of this inter- esting occasion to revisit scenes familiar in the recollection of past years, and to renew those ties of friendship with those left at home, who have cherished their memories, sympathizing in their evil and rejoicing in their good fortunes.
You are. respectfully invited to participate in the services and festivities commemorative of the sufferings, sacrifices and hero- ism of our fathers, and to honor the first establishment here of those municipal, ecclesiastical and social institutions to which we ' all owe so much.
An early answer is requested that the preparations made by the Committee having this matter in charge may be adequate to the attendance.
With high respect your friends and Former Fellow-Townsmen, JOHN F. HARRIS, WARREN HILL, HENRY A. LIBBY, GEORGE S GETCHELL, JAMES MILLER,
Committee af Invitations.
INCIDENTS OF THE DAY.
The 20th of May, 1863, will long be remembered as a day of pleasant meeting of old friends, of the gathering of scattered families and of the recital, in formal speech and spoken word of reminiscences of the public and social local history of a century. The formal speech may be reproduced and preserved, but all the kind words, as townsman grasped the hand of townsman, and gradually discovered the old family face shining out through the transformations of time ; these the heart may preserve, but the pen can never report. The old family face, renewed with the blood of each generation, and blended, and not lost, with ever changing types. The day and its calm satisfactions showed how men can forget in the young life of their town (for a town that is a hundred years old has only reached a stage of infancy,) the fate that has swept away their fathers, and appoints for them the inevitable proximity of death.
The difficulties that obstructed a successful celebration of our Centennial Anniversary may be understood, when it is explained that the preparations were made amid an absorbing interest in the great war, which now for the first time has come near to this community in the terrible suffering in battle of the 6th Maine Regiment, and that the arrangements embraced five distinct municipalities, each of which retained more or less of the jeal- onsy and antipathy which caused its separation from the origi-
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ACCOUNT OF THE CELEBRATION.
nal town. It was very difficult to accommodate our wide hospi- tality within the walls of any one building, whereby the very de- sirable sitting down together of neighbors was found impracti- cable. Then to settle individual and local claims to precedence and distinction, to insure due attention to the aged and the stranger, and to propitiate the fine sense of fitness which charac- terizes musical people, were no easy tasks. It is due to the good sense and good feeling of the people themselves, who over- looked the faulty arrangements and determi ed to be satisfied that the whole celebration was pronounced to be a success. It was the first occasion since the separation, probably the first since our fathers acted together in the glorious repulse of the British troops in 1777, that these rival towns have been brought into hearty co-operation in one transaction, and the blending was so complete that every person went home with a happy face and a cheerful heart, glad of the day and its memories.
THE PROCESSION.
The day was most favorable. As most of the services were in the open air, fair weather was quite essential, and we could not have had a better choice of the days of the year. At sunrise the bells were rung and sixteen guns fired in honor of the first sixteen settlers. The Young America Fire Company of Machias, and the Mazeppa Fire Company of East Machias, with their en- gines draped with flags and festooned with flowers, paraded through the streets in the morning, marching to music by the Machias Cornet Band. At half past ten they halted in front of the Court House, where the procession was formed by Gen. Jeremiah Foster, Chief Marshal, assisted by his Aids. Next the Committee of Arrangements walked the President of the day, the venerable Peter Talbot, Esq., of East Machias, hale and strong with his eighty years, and the Vice Presidents, Rev. Charles Emerson, Geo. Burnham and James Miller, Esqs. The orator and chaplains followed, after them the Selectmen and Town Clerks of the five towns followed. The procession filled the whole street from Shorey's to the house of Edwin Longfel- low, and as it moved forward, full as large a crowd moved down the sidewalk directly to the grounds, which were already half full of people. The procession crossed into Water Street and
ACCOUNT OF THE CELEBRATION.
passed by a flag on the wharf, hung to designate the place of the first landing, and so round into Court St., entering the ground from the East,
THE AMPHITHEATRE.
The place selected for the public services was the area in front of the new Town Hall. It is the old George Libby lot, and the site of the first meeting-house, out of the windows of which Capt. Moore and the officers of the Margaretta jumped to escape being captured by the people in 1775. It was the old green where the Machias Light Infantry used to parade, and is upon the bluff just above the first Landing. Seats had been prepared covering the slope to the centre of the street, and a stand covered with canvas, and decorated with flags, had been erected in the low- est part. In the rear was the handsome facade of the Town Hall, and wherever there was not an enclosure of buildings, ev- ergreens were closely set, as also at the angles of the stand and side of the street to complete with verdure the line of white walls of the amphitheatre. The whole intervening space was densely packed with the assembly, not more than half of whom could be accommodated upon seats that would seat two thousand people. We have heard no estimate of the numbers in attendance, that puts them at fewer than three thousand, and the best judg- es reckon that there were four thousand.
THE FORENOON SERVICES.
After music and an invocation by Rev. G. Bacheller of Machi- asport, the 45th Psalm was sung by a large choir to the tune of St. Martins. Appropriate passages of scripture were read by Rev. H. F. Harding of Machias, and after another Hymn, a His- torical Address was read by Wm. B. Smith, Esq.
After the address sixteen young girls, pupils of Mr. Bill, and under his leading, stepped upon the stand, tastefully dressed, and cach waving a small flag and sang :
"Before all lands in cast or west, I love my native land the best,"
Deacon Libby's prayer, offered on the occasion of deliverance from the formidable invasion of the British in 1777, and the original manuscript of which in his own handwriting was shown
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ACCOUNT OF THE CELEBRATION.
upon the platform, was read by Mr. Harding, and after music by the Band, the throng separated for lunch.
THE QUARTERS.
For the Pic-Nic dinner, the different public rooms had been engaged, and tables laid to their fullest capacity. The Town Hall was assigned to East Machias. On the wall were placed in letters trimmed with green the name of the town with the dates 1765, 1777 and 1826 of its settlement, its historic renown and its establishment as a separate town, together with the names of the principal old families,-Scott, Munson, Foster, Stillman, Talbot, Rich, Andrews, Gardner, Hanscom, Gooch, Seavey, Avery and Chase. Each of the dining halls were liber- ally provided with hot coffee, but all the other materials and the utensils were provided by the energetic ladies who from each town superintended the preparations. The Court Room was occupied by Machias for its outlying population and the invited guests. About six hundred people were fed here. On the walls were corresponding dates, and the names of O'Brien, Smith, Lyon, Kelly, Hill, Bryant, Holway, Jones, Meserve, Farnsworth, Burnham, Chaloner, Longfellow, Boynton. Albee and Elliot, and the portraits of the venerable Parson Steele, and of the late Jeremiah O'Brien.
Marshfield occupied the Vestry, upon the walls of which were trimmed the names of Crocker, Harmon, Barry, Getchell, Waterhouse, Averill and Bowker.
The Methodist Church, quarters of Machiasport had upon its walls the names of Libby, Holmes, Sanborn, Larrabee, Emerson, Parker, Woodruff, Sprague, Kenney, Fogg, Pettigrove, Phin- ney and Tobey, and was set for tables accommodating two hundred persons. About six hundred persons dined here, principally upon a clam-chowder, which was decidedly the big thing of the whole celebration. We have heard something of the perils and dangers attending the procurement of the clams quite equal to those our fathers endured when subsisting upon their predecessors, but this is a side history, which we, devo- ting ourselves to the main subject, cannot stray into, however tempting the flavor and odor.
At the Old Court House "Young America" feted "Mazeppa" very sumptuously, we understand, being the only place where
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ACCOUNT OF THE CELEBRATION.
fresh fruits were provided, the crowd reckoned at three hundred. Besides this, three or four hundred dined at the hotels, and a large number of visitors were entertained at private houses.
AFTERNOON SERVICES.
It was considerably past three o'clock when the people again assembled at the stand for the public speaking of the afternoon. The band were in attendance and enlivened the proceedings with fit music admirably performed. Peter Talbot, Esq., presi- ded, and opened the services by a brief and pertinent address. Remarks were made commemorative of the character of Rev. James Lyon, the first settled minister, by Mr. Harding of Ma- chias, his successor ; of Judge Jones, by Hon. M. J. Talbot, his kinsman ; of Col. Jeremiah O'Brien, by George Walker, Esq, whose wife is of his family, and of Deacon Libby, by Rev. Mr. Emerson. Col. Benj. Foster was eulogized by his great grand- son, John C. Talbot, and Col. John Allen, by Mr. Vose of Den- nysville, In response to the mention of Dr. William Chaloner, our first physician, his venerable sons, Col. Wm. Chaloner of Trescott, 88 years old, and Benj. Chaloner of Winchester, Mass., rose upon the stage, and were thanked in behalf of the com- mittee for their attendance by Geo. F. Talbot, who also res- ponded to a sentiment alluding to our Schools and Teachers. The speaking closed with a speech by Hon. J. A. Lowell of East Machias, to the sentiment, "Natives of Machias resident abroad." These speeches were interspersed with the reading by Charles W. Porter, Esq., of letters from invited guests, na- tives of Machias and others, which are published in this pamphlet.
We noticed among the more aged natives of Machias, who were present on the occasion, besides the President and his brother, the Messrs. Chaloner and Mr. John Getchell who have already been mentioned, Mr. Benjamin Getchell and Daniel Rich of Cooper, Col. William Burnham of Cherryfield, Mr. Jonas Pierce of East Machias, Mr. Horatio Hill and Henry Albee of St. Stephen, Mr. Asa Farnsworth of Jonesboro, Mr. Dan Pineo of Topsfield and Mrs. Eben Gardner of East Machias.
An occasion has passed that for none of us will occur again. We ought to be satisfied that it has been observed in a manner worthy of the brave deeds it commemorated, and of the sterling men whose names it has honored.
HISTORICAL SKETCH.
BY WILLIAM B. SMITH.
I have found it impracticable to include within the limits of this address, a relation of all those minute incidents and occurrences which are connected with the history of the old township of Machias, and the personal anecdotes of the settlers and families identified with it.
And I am therefore compelled to select from the materials at my command, only such of the prominent events as oc- curred up to the close of the Revolution.
While much then must necessarily be omitted, my narra- tive, it is believed, will add something to the love, respect, and admiration we have heretofore entertained towards our ancestors. These brave, indomitable men,-and women, too,-laid well, and firmly, and broadly, the foundations upon which have been built our five flourishing municipalities.
And their departed spirits, we doubt not, are now looking down upon this large gathering of their kindred, and rejoic- ing that we are reaping the beneficent results which have
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HISTORICAL SKETCH.
grown out of all their toils and hardships, and courage, and resolution.
And if, one hundred years hence, we, who are now living, shall be permitted from another sphere to witness a similar gathering of our descendants,-may we see in them no less faithful a representation of the virtues of our ancestors, and a community no less prosperous and happy, than ours !
Not long after the settlement at Cape Cod, Richard Vines, Isaac Allerton and others purchased of the Plymouth Council the exclusive right of trading with the Indians on the coast of Maine; and in pursuance of this object, in 1633, Vines fitted out several small vessels which he commanded on a trading voyage to the Eastward. At this period, the whole country from Cape Sable to Cape Cod was claimed by the French Government; and La Tour, who had succeeded De Monts as Governor, and with his vessels, was constantly on the watch to prevent all trading by the English, declared he would make prizes of all vessels of the English found trading or fishing east of Penmaquid. But in spite of these threats, Vines was determined to push his way Eastward until interrupted by some superior power.
Late in the summer of this year, La Tour and Vines met with each other at some point east of Machias-probably at Passamaquoddy. Immediately a controversy arose between them, as to their respective claims ; and upon some abuse which the Englishmen gave him, La Tour made some of them prisoners. These, however, he surrendered on the par- ticular entreaties of Vines ; after giving them, as the annalist states, "grave and goodly counsel." Upon the resumption of their friendly relations, La Tour traded with Mr. Vines for many of his commodities, of which he stood in need, paying liberally therefor in valuable fur and other articles, and finally gave Vines permission to trade away the balance of
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HISTORICAL SKETCH.
his goods, and return home, provided he would not build or fortify within the limits of his, La Tour's, commission, that is, east of Penmaquid.
They parted thus, on amicable terms. But Vines,-un- willing, perhaps, to relinquish every prospect of gain, and probably believing also from La Tour's lenity on this occas- ion, that the latter would not disturb him, proceeded direct- ly to Machias, where he set up a trading house, and left it in charge of five men with two large guns and a small ves- sel to defend it. This establishment was well supplied with a great variety of articles, suitable for continuing a trade with the Indians, and a large store of Wine and "Strong Waters."
Two days after this, La Tour cast anchor before the place. One of Vines' men came on board, and while he and La Tour were conversing together, several of the French crew went on ashore. As they approached the English trading house, the four sailors in charge of it were much alarmed and undertook to fire their guns. They failed, however, to discharge them, but La Tour's men, not understanding this sudden hostility on the part of those with whom they had so recently been on friendly terms, began to retreat, and in doing so, one of their own muskets was discharged,- (La Tour afterwards alleged accidentally)-and killed two of Vines' men. La Tour immediately went on shore, and on examining the goods at this trading establishment, he found as he alleged, many which had been stolen from his fort on the St. John river, by some Scotchmen. He therefore seized all the goods and the vessel, and made the remaining Englishmen prisoners, and sent the whole to France for confiscation.
The news of this disaster reached Boston in the following November. And the next spring, Vines and Allerton des- patched a vessel to St. John, and demanded of La Tour a
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HISTORICAL SKETCH.
restoration of the goods and vessel he had seized. This he peremptorily declined, and on being asked to show his com- mission and authority for what he had done, haughtily re- plied that "his sword was his commission, sufficient when he had strength to overcome, and when that failed it would be time enough to show his authority."
Ten years afterwards, however, La Tour was obliged to promise a recompense to Vines for the goods and vessel he had taken. It would seem that during the lapse of these years, there was another Richmond in the field, in D'Aulney who claimed to be Governor and to have authority also over the French claim, by virtue of a superior commission from the King of France. Under this, he had established a fort at Castine, as his rival La Tour had done at St. John.
And for a time, these gentlemen found abundance of em- ployment in warring upon each other without particularly molesting the English traders on the coast. Indeed both were desirous, on the contrary, of propitiating the govern- ments of Massachusetts and Plymouth, in order to obtain aid from them, of money, men and vessels, to destroy each other. And it was for the purpose of getting special assistance against D'Aulney that La Tour visited Boston in 1644 .- But here he was first compelled to answer to the charges of seizing the property of Vines and of killing the two English- men at Machias in 1633; and the whole matter was thoroughly investigated by the Governor and Court of Assistants. His defence and explanation of this affair, was, that some of the goods he found at Machias had been stolen from him,-that the English sailors were drunk at the time his men went on shore to see them, and that the two men were killed by the accidental discharge of one of the muskets in his men's hands. With these explanations, and on his agreement to re-imburse Vines for his loss,-La Tour was acquitted.
It would be pleasant to know the exact location of this
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HISTORICAL SKETCH.
trading establishment. By one writer it is rather indefinite- ly stated to be at an "eligible station above Cross Island, on the west bank of the river." But there is no record or tra- dition of the particular point where it was established .-- From the natural situation of the river, bay, and islands in the harbor, it might have been either near the lower wharf at Machiasport, or on the height where the Congregational Church stands, or more probably on Clark's Point, where there are traces of a picture map still to be seen, and was evidently an Indian trading place.
It will be thus seen that Machias had a "local habitation and a name" in history, as early as 1633, only thirteen years after the landing of the pilgrims at Plymouth,-230 years ago-that it was a place well known at that time to the ad- venturers on this coast, and was then the scene of violence and bloodshed occasioned more or less by the still unextin- guished hatred which for many centuries had existed be- tween England and France.
In 1644 an unsuccessful attempt was made by the French to make a settlement here. Thirty years afterwards a small colony of French had a few habitations in this vicinity.
In 1688, an account was taken of the inhabitants scattered on the coast between the Penobscot and the St. Croix, by Gov. Andros. Martel-John Bretoon, wife and a child of Jersey-Lattre, wife, and three children, were then found living here. At this time there were only 45 Europeans settled between those two rivers. These persons, in 1704, were all captured, by the celebrated Captain Church, on his fifth expedition eastward against the French and Indians, and their settlements and habitations broken up.
In July 1734, our river was honored with a visit from Gov. Belcher, who visited other places east and west of us, for the purpose of conferring with the inhabitants and ascer- taining their condition and wants. He was accompanied by
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HISTORICAL SKETCH.
Rev. Mr. Prince, Pastor of the old South Church, Edward Winslow, Sheriff of Suffolk County, and other distinguished gentlemen of Boston. They spent a Sabbath in the harbor, but on landing found no inhabitants.
But the country between Penobscot and the St. Croix, soon after the visit of Gov. Belcher, began to receive the attention of the Massachusetts colony, for the purpose of encouraging settlements there. The first movement in this direction was the employment in 1748 of Richard Hazen to make surveys and form a chart and plan of the coast west of the Passamaquoddy.
In 1753 the Governor of Massachusetts recommended the appointment of a tribunal for the settlement of land titles, and the adoption of some practicable measure for filling up the country with inhabitants.
Encouraged by these indications of interest and protection, Florentius Vassal, a gentleman residing in the island of Ja- maica, proposed that if the Government would transfer the territory between Penobscot and 'Quoddy to him and his as- sociates, they would settle there, within a specified time, such number of inhabitants as would form an effective bar- rier to the French, and a check on the Indian tribes. . The Legislative branches assured him that if he would by 1758 obtain His Majesty's approbation, introduce 5000 settlers, a proportionate number of Protestant ministers, and satisfy the Indians as to their claims, the emigrants should have all the lands they should settle, and all the Islands within three miles of the coast. A few years afterwards, at the close of the old French war, another proposition was made to Mas- sachusetts by the Earl of Catherlough and Francis Vassall, to settle the lands twelve miles in width on each side of the Machias river, running back from its mouth 50 miles, with 600 Protestant families, containing at least 3000 souls .-
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