USA > Maine > Washington County > Machias > Narrative of the town of Machias, the old and the new, the early and late > Part 1
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1800
S
Class
Book
THE AUTHOR AT FORTY.
HOME OF THE AUTHOR SINCE 1859.
n
NARRATIVE
OF THE
TOWN OF MACHIAS
THE OLD AND THE NEW
THE EARLY AND THE LATE
BY GEORGE W. DRISKO
"So she gleaned in the field nutil even, and beat out that the had gleaned, and it was about an ephah of barley."- Book of Ruth, ii-17
MACHIAS, ME .: PRESS OF THE REPUBLICAN 1901
F29 MiIT
Preface.
Among scraps of paper, small in size, much worn and difficult to read, not so much in lack of penmanship as orthography, one becomes tangled in thought, at proof of the changes in motive, method, expression of thought and results ; the work of our ancestors dating back less than two centuries; if regarded in the unfolding of progress so clear- ly manifest in a people of our own race and language, what must appear in the mental vision of others whose research is associated with man and his work in the earlier centuries of the human race? The bits of paper. as they lay dumped in drawers and boxes, so carefully folded, so securely tied with strings of linen or hemp (no cotton in use then) so plainly labeled, in the "Town office of Machias," done by hands committed to mother Earth years before the American Revolution. leads the searcher to think those men and women realized they had responsible duties: they left their cluties well performed.
The following selected from several hundred folded and labeled papers, some of these not over three by one, one half inches in size, bearing date of birth, baptism, marriage and death, in some instances with unique requests of personal sentiment, and direction as to what has been done, what is expected to have others do form subjects of mental activity and awakening.
The pioneers of Machias believed in Destiny :- they had faith in vitality and had gladness in the thought of self- denial and suffering: the men and women of this unreclaim- ed region could and would send forth the vitalizing forces
PREFACE.
that make the way, under the influence and protecting care of the Great Ruler, the nobler type of manhood; transform- ing the wilderness into gardens, and the rocks into orna- ments for homes and surroundings.
In the days when only the way of travel was by boat or vessel, with the attending dangers and frequent disasters ; with the scattered dwellings by the shores of the sea, or in some distant river-side, shut apart by dense wilds and un- briged streams, how many prayers went up; how many times in all the dark-seven-years of Revolution, was the Father of all supplicated by mothers, which but for this unceasing Faith, would Hope have perished, voices failed, hearts ceased to beat? "It is not I, but the Love of Liberty in me."
Inder.
PAGE
First Settlement 1 The First Sixteen . 12 First "Lord's Supper" 25
Old Burnham Taveru
33
Battle of the Margaretta. 43
Repulse of British, 1777
55
John O'Brien . 81
Incorporation of Machias 86
John G. and wife, son of James Avery .91
First Vote for President . 160
Memorial Bridge, East Machias 184
Cephas Longfellow 191 The Churches 193
Phineas Bruce House. 222 Educational-Schools . 224
Genealogy
345
Introductory.
The pioneers of Machias have been recognized in their first houses of logs when no boards and few nails were available ;- in their rough homes were courageous souls who believed they had a future. In the years of struggle to gain a fothold, they bade welcome to new comers, each addition imparting strength and renewed hope, -so that when the day of the log house had passed. when houses made of sawed timbers and boards, when they could afford hinges and latches for their doors, and no longer had to lift water from brooks and springs, when the well, the long pole and the pump were the midway conveniences, they forgot not the provident Hand, nor were their sympathies circum- scribed, or their charitable souls less meridian and aglow.
After nearly the century and half since the ax felle l the first trees and the spade cast earth on the first roadway, their successors, who enjoy the fruits of their toil in com- fortable homes intersected by turnpikes and rails, their abodes reflecting the lightning of the clouds: with water poured to sinks and chambers, let it not be said that the elements of character building have been dwarfed or the nobility of welcome and charity in any degree eliminated.
The local environments and experiences which their lives furnished weakened and subdued excessive tendencies, secured only in luxurious living. The early settlers at- tained the normal balance. Without becoming dominated by desires, they prudently governed themselves. This rational status of mental and physical discipline was trans- mitted: their children and grand children manifested its
INTRODUCTORY.
softened and goodly influence in later days. Their homes, if without display, were comfortable: their clothing if not of best fabric was sufficient and ample to protect the body. Educational advancement if not swift was by no means ne- glected. Religious life was early made essential and prominent. Their heredity if not entirely free from sin was and is such as shows the better principles of domestic life. prudence and progress.
"Here, where they lived. all holy thoughts revive,
Of patient Striving and of Faith held fast :
Here, where they died their hurried records live,
Silent they speak from ont the sacred past."
Our acknowledgments are due Senator Eugene Hale; to Assistant Secretary of State Hon. Alvey A. Adee Washing- ton, D. C. : Frederic Tuckerman, Esq., Amherst, Mass. Bon. Geo. F. Talbot. Portland; Miss Annette O'B. Walker, same city. Rev. H. F. Harding and Mrs. Harding Machias and other appreciated helpers.
We dedicate this book to the sons and daughters of the earlier and later Machias, citizens and residents by nativity or adoption. descendants of past or present dwellers wherever domiciled, trusting that this work may be helpful in keep- ing the worthy deeds and meritorious achievements of the fathers and mothers in memory through Municipal, Ed- ucational and Administrational struggles and strifes to later generations.
December, 1903.
THE AUTHOR.
FIRST SETTLEMENT.
T HERE is no satisfactory record or evidence of discovery and settlement of Machias or vicinity prior to 1605. De Montz, the French Explorer, left the first tangible proof of the discovery of Machias River. There is scarcely room for doubt that some of DeMontz sailor adventurers and associ- ates visited this section as early as 1605-'06. and left written record of having made a Trading Post. on what has for many years been known as Clark's Point in the town of Machiasport. Some one of the company, if not DeMontz himself, made an outline map of the coast west from and in- cluding Quoddy Head, Cross Island and a "peninsular" in later years known as Clark's Point.
DeMontz on his exploring expedition in 1604 discovered the river known by the Indian name of Schodic. later St. Croix. It was in October that he entered the River. He and his men seemed to like the place and lingered well into November, when, tradition tells us, there came a cold night creating so much ice that Capt. DeMontz found his vessel fast in the solid. Continued cold weather made more ice and the explorer, contrary to his plans, was obliged to pass
2
HISTORY OF MACHIAS.
the winter on DeMontz or Dochet Island. They found wood for fuel in abundance and between vessel and camp on the Island, which he caused his men to build, they passed the season in a fair measure of comfort. In the spring of 1605 DeMontz with a part of his crew returned to France telling a dozen or so of his men, whom he left on the Island, that he should return again the following autumn. The men on the Island not liking so circumscribed-limits set at work, and out of such trees and material as they found, constructed a barge or kind of boat, which enabled them to reach the main of either shore of the Bay.
DeMontz, if not in the fall, sometime within a year did return, if not in the same vessel in some vessel, with a larger force of men and marines. and better provisioned and equipped having no doubt farther exploration in mind. In 1606 bý drawings of maps and other record which he left, he commenced sailing westerly along the coast from Schodic Bay. "Quoddy Head" is the first mentioned place: thence to an Island westerly "six leagues", on which a landing was effected ;a cross built and taken possession of in the name of Henry Fourth, the King of France. Later a peninsula, known to early and later English settlers as Clark's Point in Machiasport and near the mouth of the river, was fixed upon by some portion of DeMonts' men ; a camp or sort of Trading Post for traffic with the Indians was made, and half a dozen men left there for a short time.
From evidence by letters sent home by DeMontz to Henry IV there can be but limited doubt, that between the years 1606 and 1620 the entire coast of Mayne so far west as Penobscot or Majorbijaduce (Castine), was explored and, so far as any title could be given, became French possessions under the name of Acadia.
It was about this time, that a few French families were located at or near the head of South West Harbor. Mt Dasart being the first known Europeans and until 1760, for nearly a century disputes were involved and intermitent and alter- nating possession by French and English contending forces ; when as Williamson in his History of Maine says :- "The
3
FIRST SETTLEMENT.
cessation of active hostilities between the two Governments, at the close of 1760, as well as the strong disposition at the time manifested by the Eastern Indian tribes, to agree to and maintain a Treaty of perpetual Peace and Amity, which to this day has never been disturbed, were events of vital im- portance in the settlement of the eastern part of the Province of Maine, and gave a new and favorable impulse to every species of enterprise and improvement, which so essentially concern a rising community."
One writer states that the entire white population of the Province of Maine did not exceed 17,000 at this period, and no permanent settlement had been made eastward of and including Castine, owing to the wars between the New Eng- land Colonists and the numerous Indian tribes aided and assisted by the French. The desolation arising from the contending factions spread disaster and distress over the coast line for more than a century, and with the cessation French control ceased, not again to be renewed.
There are writers who claim that certain marks or races of civilization, such as the Picture Rocks at Machiasport and "Norse Pond" at Cutler, indicate settlers on this coast as early as the eleventh century, and express opinion that Norse Pond especially, denotes great antiquity and can be no different than work of the Northmen on this side of the Atlantic about the same time that they overrun France and England.
At best it must remain conjecture by whose hands the "Stone Dam", that made Norse Pond. was built or the date when built. It is not known how large an immigration of French followed DeMontz in his exploring expeditions on this coast. There were no doubt a larger number of French Settlements and a larger number of resident families 1606 to1644 than we have any record of. Suppose the French settlers on the coast near Cutler built the dam it must have been nearly three hundred years ago; hence ample time for large trees to grow on top of the dam and time's offacing hand would do very much in three centuries, to dim the work of man. It seems quite probable that Norse Pond is
4
HISTORY OF MACHIAS.
the product of French labor; for what purpose remains a inystery. Marks of the "Cross" made by DeMontz on Cross Island are quite distinct and when discovered first by Colonists about 1772-'74, the work was attributed to Indians and little thought given it, until revelation of DeMontz voyages were given out by historical research
When the Pioneers of Machias from Scarboro, in May 1763 domiciled on Machias soil, and until the Declaration of Independence in 1776, they had supposed they were under the French flag, and the doubt was not wholly removed until the surrender of Cornwallis, at the close of the Revolution.
Shortly after the settlement at Cape Cod, Richard Vines, Isaac Allerton and associates purchased of the Plymouth Council the right to trade with the Indians on the Maine coast. In pursuance of this plan in 1633 Vines equipped some small vessels of which he assumed command and entered on a "trading voyage to the Eastward." It will be borne in mind that the entire country from Cape Sable to Cape Cod was claimed by the French and La Tour who had succeeded DeMontz as Governor, was in his vessels almost continuously on the watch, to prevent English inteference or trade, issuing a declaration that he would make prisoners of all English and prizes of all vessels found trading or fish- ing "East of Pemaquid." Vines, however, appeared de- termined not to be thwarted in his designs and resolved to penetrate the coast until checked by a superior power.
During the Summer of 1633 La Tour and Vines came in contact at an Eastern point, probably Passamaquoddy. A sharp controversy resulted as to respective claims and quick ened by what he considered abusive language used by the Englishmen towards him, he seized some of them as prison- ers. They were shortly surrendered on the especial pleading of Vines and La Tour had given them "grave and goodly counsel." Fraternal relations were resumed and LaTour ex- changed with Vines valuable furs and other articles receiv- ing groceries and commodities of which he stood in need. La Tour finally gave Vines permission to trade off the bal- ance of his goods and return to Cape Cod, provided he
5
FIRST SETTLEMENT.
would not build or fortify within the limits of La Tour's claim of coast, viz :- East "of Pemaquid. " In this way they parted on friendly terms, but Vines persumably unwilling to abandon every prospect of gain, and calculating on La Tonr's lenity at the recent meeting, concluded that the lat- ter would not disturb him, proceeded at onee to Machias river, where he established a Trading camp and left it in charge of five men, with two small cannon and a vessel of light tonnage to defendl it. To obtain tra le this post was liberally supplied with a variety of merchandize. suitable for gaining trade with Indians including much wine and "strong water."
In a few days La Tour anchored a part of his fleet near the place. One of Vines' men ventured on board and while he and Vines were in social chat several of Vines' salilors went on shore. As they neared the camp, the four men in charge manifested alarm and attempted to fire their guns. The guns were not discharged, and La Tours' men not under standing this demonstration of hostility ou the part of the Englishmen, with whom they so recently had been on friend- ly terms. at once retreated and in doing so one of their muskets was discharged-La Tour stated afterwards accident- ally- and killed two of Vines men in the camp. La Tour immediately went ashore and by examining the goods in store he found, as he alleged, many which had been stolen from his fort on the St. John river, by some Scotchmen. Consequently he seized all the goods and Vines' vessel, made the men prisoners, and sent all to France for confiscation ! News of the disaster reached Cape Cod in November. The following Spring Vines and Allerton sent a vessel to St John, and demanded of LaTour restoration of the goods and vessel he had seized. This he stontly declined. On being asked to show his authority and commission for what he had done, disdainfully replied that "My sword is my commission, suffi- cient to overcome and when this failed it would be time enough to show authority."
About ten years later La Tour was obliged to promise recompense for the goods and vessel he had taken.
6
HISTORY OF MACHIAS.
During the lapse of these few years another would be French possesser of the coast appeared in D'Aulney, who claimed to be Governor and to have prior if not superior authority over the entire French claim by virtue of Commis- sion from the King of France. Under this he established head quarters at Castine, where he built a Fort same as La Tour had done at St. John.
For several years appearances indicate much time devoted to factions and frequent war like opposition to one another, without interfering or molesting British operations or English traders along the Maine Coast. The feeling of rivalry between the two French explorers led both to court favors from the Governments of Massachusetts and Plym- outh, so that means and resources were made available to secure men and money to distroy each other. It seems that La Tour visited Boston in 1644 with special purpose of securing assistance against D'Aulney. During this visit he was first obliged by the government to make answer to the charge of seizing the property of Vines and killing two Eng- lishmen in the year previous ; the entire matter was carefully investigated by the Governor and Court of Assistants. His defense consisted principally in alleging 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; that the two men were killed by the acci- dental descharge of one of the guns in his mens hands. The explanations were satisfactory- and on his pledge to reimburse Vines for the loss, La Tour was acquitted.
It has been quite difficult to fix the location of the Vines Trading Post. One writer in peculiarly indefinite way loca- ted it on an 'Eligible sight above Cross Island on West bank of the river". There is no record of this and tradition fails to lend support; neither is there record or maps yet found to clearly establish the spot of land where it existed. Persons who have within fifty years past given time and thought to the question, taking into consideration the natural or geographical location of the river, bay and islands in the harbor, in conjunction with traditions of earliest
7
FIRST SETTLEMENT.
settlers, and unmistakable evidence of frequent Indian oc- cupancy of the shores, it might have been near the wharves at Machiasport or on the hill where the Congregational church stands, but with the stronger probability on Clark's Point, where forty years ago traces of the celebrated "picture rocks" or Indian hyerogliphics were plainly visible and not altogether obliterated at this time. Clark's Point had preference over any site mentioned or suggested, on account of being easily accessible by water, more cheaply and secure- ly defended from land or water attacks; besides both English and French explorers and commanders did not retain con- fidence in Indian professions and promises to the extent of causing them to locate far up the river or but short distance inland from the shore, relying on boats and vessels in which to escape in case of sudden attack.
The late Charles Gates, of Machiasport, who died an octogenarian many years ago, once said to the author, :- "I have heard my mother say that when a girl, 1785 '90, I counted over one hundred birch canoes drawn up on the beach and shore opposite Machiasport, while the Indians were in Camp Fires, phullabaloos and dances, in the forest growth and wood-lands on the East side and towards Holmes' Bay."
One historian relates and stories passed down the line give credence to his statement that, "Machias River, when first inhabited by white settlers was, and appeared to have been a long time back, a place of Rendezvous by the various tribes of Red men, who came in September of every year, from the East as far as St. John, and from the West as far as Penobscot, to associate in war dances and campfires. In-corroboration of this, consider the numerous heaps of clam shells at Looks Point in Jonesboro, the Indian implements found there in the last hundred years : the shell heaps on the shores of main and islands on Machias water, not omitting the greatest heap of all, the head of Western inlet of Holmes' Bay only two miles from the East shore of Machiasport, where on top of the heap is a spruce tree, two feet in diameter, with wide spread branches and roots pene-
8
HISTORY OF MACHIAS.
trating and deriving strength of growth from the shells?
W. Bartlett Smith in his book of 1863,-"The Centennial of Machias," says: "It will be seen that Machias hal a local habitation and a name in history as early as 1633 only thirteen years after the landing of the Pilgrims at Plym- outh-230 years ago-that it was a place well known at that time to adventurers on this coast, and was then the scene of violence and bloodshed occasioned more or less by the still unextinguished hatred, which for many centuries had existed between England and France."
It seems probable that in 1644 the French made an un- successful attempt to make a settlement on Machias river. At the time or a few years later there were prehaps a half dozen French families here.
in 1688 a census or an "account" was taken of the in- habitants scattered on the main shore and islands between Schoodic River and Castine inclusive by Governor 'Andros.
There were reported as living at Machias "Martel: John Breeton, wife and child of Jersey; Lattre, wife and three children. The same year there were "accounted for" only forty-five Europeans between Schoodic and Penobscot, nine of these at Machias. According to Colonial history all these persons were captured by the celebrated Captain Church in one of his "expeditions to the eastward" against French and Indians and carried off, their settlements and homes laid waste.
Machias river has the credit of having been visited in July, 1734 by Governor Belcher. He also visited other places between Quoddy and Castine, intending to negotiate with the settlers to ascertain their condition and wants. Rev. Mr. Prince, Pastor of the Old South Church, Boston, accompanied the Governor; also Edward Winslow, Sheriff of Suffolk County, and other prominent men of Boston. They passed one Sabbath in the Harbor but they found no inhabitants, nor evidence of settlement.
The whole section of country, Penobscot to Schoodic seemed to demand attention ; the visit of Governor Belcher no doubt contributing to arouse desire to know more of
9
FIRST SETTLEMENT.
this section of the Province of Maine, and efforts were put forth to encourage settlers
In 1753 the Governor of the State recommended the appointment of a Tribunal, for the pacification of Land Titles and the adoption of some measure that should prove efficient in drawing attention and inducing immigration.
Quite soon one Florentius Vassal, a resident of the island of Jamaica, offered., if the Government would transfer the Territory between Penobscot and Quoddy to him and his associates, they would settle there within a specified time, such number of inhabitants as would form an effective barrier to the inroads of the French and operate as a check on the various tribes of Indians. The Legislature or General Court assured Vassal that, if he would by 1758 obtain his majesty's approbation, introduce five thousand settlers, propor- tioniate number of Protestant ministers, and pacify the Indians in their claims, the immigrants should have all the land they should choose to occupy, and all the Islands with- in three miles of the coast. In a few years after Vassal's talk at or near the close of the old French war, another prop- osition was made to Massachusetts, by the Earl of Cather- bough and Francis Vassal, to settle the lands twelve miles in width on each side of Machias river, extending up the river from its mouth fifty miles, with six hundred Protestant families to number at least three thousand souls. These propositions did not materialize, as there is no evidence of any move to inaugurate emigration from any Colony or county and the schemes fell through.
King George about this time authorized the General Court to grant without money and without price, any lands which might be selected from the royal domain to those soldiers, who had then served in the French and Indian war: a Captain to receive three thousand acres, a subaltern two thousand and a private fifty acres. This provision en. couraged by the King probably operated as a reason, why the projects of Catherhough and Vassal fell through.
The comparatively few inhabitants were West of the Penobscot mostly near the lower shore and mouth of the
10
HISTORY OF MACHIAS.
Kennebec river, old Scarborough and York. The risk of life and property was too great for settlers owing to the devastation caused by the conflict between New England Colonists and the Eastern tribes and French. It seemed to be the pleasure of Divine Providence that other trials should await them aside from those of Indian warfare.
The year 1761 was one of unprecedented drouth, causing scarcity in food supply in all that part of Maine west of Kennebec river. This climatic misfortune was succeded by a fearful sickness visiting and decimating numerous fam- ilies, which contributed to the calamities of that precarious year. One early writer says of it-"The freshness and bloom common to June of other years, were shrouded in the habiliments of premature decay; and the husbandman in view of his withering fields had a sufficient reason for a deepening despondency of his hopes. These severe calamities were followed by devouring fires which did immense damage. The fires burst from the forests of New Hampshire, early in July of 1761. and burning with irresistable fury passed through Lebanon, being driven by the wind to the eastward entered Scarborough, Gorham and other Maine towns, ravaging the neighboring forests. until checked by a rain-fall, the 19th and 20th of August."
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