USA > Maine > Cumberland County > Portland > A history of Peaks Island and its people : also a short history of House Island, Portland, Maine > Part 2
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number there.
Captain Davis said there were three or four hundred. She could not tell whether Baron Castin was with them or not, but said that there were several French- men in the party. The Indians were probably
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HISTORY OF PEAKS ISLAND.
the Norridgewocks, Canadas, and Penobscots, and their place of rendezvous was Palmer's, now Peaks, Island. They were there for a purpose. Mrs. Lee, after leaving Casco Bay, married Richard Jose, the sheriff of the prov- ince, and outlived him and married the fourth time, went across the ocean, and died on the Island of Jersey.
The Indians had' been assembling several days on Palmer's (Peaks) Island, preparing to attack Fort Loyal and the settlement on the Neck, now Portland. They probably had little rest in the night of Oct. 20th, as they must have been early astir. Peaks Island never saw another such a night as that. Hundreds of Indians in their war paint and feathers were preparing for a surprise. It was long before the dawn of day that they were quietly embarking in their canoes to make their attack on the rear of the town. They were armed with guns and were expert marksmen. Josselyn says several years before this that "it was a poor Indian that did not have two guns." They probably proceeded around Munjoy Hill into Back Cove, landed on its western shore, and were soon dis- covered by twelve camp fires, seen by the Bracketts, when they were preparing their
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HISTORY OF PEAKS ISLAND.
morning meal before making the attack. They proceeded to Brackett's, now the Deer- ing farm, and were there at dawn of day, when a battle was fought between Colonel Church's soldiers and the Indians, during which the latter were driven off and the town saved, to be destroyed the following year. John Palmer was wounded in this battle, but not seriously, as he attended a council of war in November.
This is the last record of the Indians occu- pying Peaks Island, but it must have been a place of common resort for them during the years that so many were about the bay, which is confirmed by the traditions.
There was an Indian battle on Jewells Island in September, 1676. A party of Indi- ans from Arrowsic attacked a party of settlers who had fled to that island, on which was a fortified house, for safety. The settlers, feel- ing secure, were surprised, but after a stub- born fight drove the Indians off, several being killed, while but three of the English lost their lives. Two women and two children were taken away by the Indians.
Those brave early settlers who stayed by their homes and their lands, and contested their right to occupy them for the purposes of
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HISTORY OF PEAKS ISLAND.
civilization, laid the foundation of our state. They must have been conscious of the service they were rendering to posterity or they would have abandoned those rude homes and lived in more secure places.
" All these scenes do I behold, These, and many left untold."
CHAPTER IV.
REVOLUTIONARY ALARM .- SHIPWRECK .- HARBOR FROZ- EN .- A HERMIT .- SOLDIERS OF THE REBELLION .- RELIGIOUS MEETINGS .- HOME OF THE ANCESTORS OF Two FAMOUS AMERICANS.
" Never mortal builder's hand This enduring fabric planned."
THE tradition that a company of sol- diers of the Revolution paraded on the island is probably true. When Capt. Henry Mowat, with his fleet of five vessels, arrived in our harbor, on the 16th of October, 1775, they anchored near the islands, which must have been in front of Peaks Island, in Hog Island Roads, between House and Hog Islands. This was in plain view of Benjamin Trott's and Thomas Brackett's houses. Three men de- serted from the fleet to Hog Island in a boat, and delivered themselves up to the militia with their boat. They were Charles Stuart, quartermaster, John Elliot and Daniel Sheet- land, foremastmen. The people of Falmouth Neck, now Portland, then supposed that the fleet had come for sheep and cattle for the
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HISTORY OF PEAKS ISLAND.
British forces in Boston. There were large stocks of cattle on the islands, and for their protection a large portion of Capt. Joseph Noyes' and Capt. Samuel Knights' companies, then stationed on the Neck, were quietly sent, at dusk, to guard the sheep, cattle, and hay there. The next day the wind was strong and the vessels warped up and anchored off the town. Late that afternoon the inhabitants of the Neck learned that their, then defenseless, town was to be destroyed. They had no means of defense, not a gun mounted, and were almost destitute of powder. The town could have been occupied without destroying it, but Mowat had secured orders to "burn, sink, and destroy," and proceeded to do it. He remem- bered the "Thompson War" of the May before. The burning of Falmouth Neck made patriots of all its inhabitants, and placed Mowat's name, to an American, among the cruel tyrants of history.
SHIPWRECK.
The saddest event that has happened on the island in the memory of those now living was the wreck of the schooner Helen Eliza, of Gloucester, Mass., Capt. Edward Millett, of Rockport, Mass., in the great gale of Sept.
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HISTORY OF PEAKS ISLAND.
8, 1869. She parted her cables and was driven ashore in the darkness on to the rocks on the outside of the island. The crew took to the waves, but of the twelve aboard, only one, Charles Jordan, of Rockport, succeeded in reaching the shore alive. Ten of the bodies were recovered. The captain's body was found in a cove on the harbor side of the island. The vessel was ground to pieces on the rocks and strewed along the shore. Long- fellow in his poem, "The Wreck of the Hes- perus," describes vividly this wreck on Peaks Island.
"Down came the storm, and smote amain The vessel in its strength; She shuddered and paused like a frightened steed, Then leaped her cable's length.
"The breakers were right beneath her bows, She drifted a dreary wreck, And a whooping billow swept the crew Like icicles from her deck."
HARBOR FROZEN.
The harbor is seldom frozen hard enough for persons to cross the ice to the city. The writer crossed on the ice from the city and returned the same way, Feb. 15, 1875. That day a sleigh with two persons went from the city and returned with safety. William T. Jones then said that the last team he remem-
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HISTORY OF PEAKS ISLAND.
bered coming to the island was about 1845, about thirty years before.
A HERMIT.
Solomon Bartlett, an old but a robust man, lived a hermit's life on the Waite land, back in the woods, about fifty years ago. He was a squatter. After he had lived there nearly twenty years, nearly long enough to establish a claim to the land, the young men of the island, while he was away at one time, took up his house bodily and placed it on a barren ledge, where he found it on his return. This had the desired effect and he left the island.
SOLDIERS OF THE REBELLION.
In the War of the Rebellion the following young men of the island entered the service of their country : James W. Brackett, Wesley Scott, and Andrew Fisher served in the gal- lant First Maine Cavalry Regiment. Wesley Scott was captured by the enemy and died in Salisbury Prison, Jan. 2, 1865, aged 19 years, 6 months, and 22 days, and a monument was erected to his memory in the Brackett Ceme- Gilman L. Brackett served in the Coast Guards and John T. Sterling served on the steamboat Greyhound on the James River.
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HISTORY OF PEAKS ISLAND.
RELICS. 1235093
A few years ago Wilber F. Ricker found on the shore on the outside of the island two cannon balls which were badly rust eaten. One was about the size of a twelve-pound solid shot and the other was egg shaped, with a ruffle on the largest diameter. How they came there is a matter of conjecture, but they evidently had laid in the water many years. One was added to the collection of war relics of the Fifth Maine Regiment Association and the other is in possession of the finder.
REGIMENTAL BUILDINGS.
The regimental buildings, on the shore opposite White Head, are of no particular historic interest in themselves, but they have been built by the survivors of two of Maine's bravest regiments in the Rebellion. Those men have made good history for our state, and "they have dared to walk with death" that we might have a united country.
The Fifth Maine Regiment was known as a fighting one, and no place was too hot for them. All that is necessary to say of their bravery is that they were one of the twelve picked regiments in the "Bloody Angle" at Spottsylvania, which was said to have been
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HISTORY OF PEAKS ISLAND.
the bloodiest conflict of the war. They took more prisoners during their service than they ever had names on their rolls, and captured six battle flags on line of battle in a hand-to- hand fight with the enemy. In their building they have one of the best collections of war relics in this part of the country.
The Eighth Maine Regiment bows to none for valor shown on the battle field. The sur- vivors can tell of the bombardment of Port Royal and Charleston, how they raised their flag over Fort Pulaski, what they did at Drury's Bluff, Cold Harbor, Petersburg, and how they, under General Sheridan, helped chase Lee's army to their surrender at Appo- mattox. Their tattered battle flags are now silent witnesses that are proudly treasured by our state. Neither of these regiments lost a flag.
RELIGIOUS MEETINGS.
Up to 1832 the religious services were held in a hall that was used for all other pur- poses. That year the first school-house was built on Peaks Island, and for eighteen years served also for a meeting-house. The Rev. Stephen Bennett was the pioneer minister. He used to row every other Sunday from Chebeague Island to preach to the people in
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HISTORY OF PEAKS ISLAND.
the school-house. He was an eccentric and earnest man who was interested in the good of his fellow-man. He was outspoken in his remarks, frank in conversation, and had the respect and esteem of all. He married, in 1854, Mrs. Mary A. W. Winship, of Portland, where, it is said, he finally moved and died.
In 1850 a new school-house was built, which also served for the meetings. It was dedicated by proper services and Rev. Benja- min Freeman preached the dedicatory sermon. In 1860 Rev. W. N. Richardson, a Methodist, was appointed pastor, and Nov. 15th a Meth- odist Episcopal Church was organized. The present church was soon built, and dedicated July 25, 1861. Rev. C. C. Cone, the Presiding Elder, preached the sermon at the dedication. Rev. C. W. Blackman was appointed pastor in 1862 and remained two years. Rev. Joseph Hawkes followed him in 1864, and in 1865 Rev. B. Freeman was the preacher and re- mained three years. He was an earnest and faithful man, who was much interested in the welfare of the people. In 1868 Rev. Asbury C. Trafton was the pastor and remained three years. In 1871 Rev. J. H. Trask was appointed and remained two years. Rev. John C. Perry followed him in 1873 and then the parsonage was built.
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The following pastors were subsequently appointed: Rev. Hezekiah Chase, 1876-78; Rev. True P. Adams, 1879-81; Rev. Charles S. Parsons, 1882-84, and then in 1885 followed Rev. J. B. Lapham, and after him came Rev. Kinsman Atkinson, Rev. John Collins, and then the Rev. Frank W. Smith, the present pastor. By the efforts of the members of the congregation a bell was purchased and put into the tower in 1886.
The Second Advent Society has held meetings in the town hall for several years under different preachers.
THE HOME OF THE ANCESTORS OF TWO FAMOUS AMERICANS.
Peaks Island can claim to have been the home of the ancestors of at least two famous Americans.
John Lothrop Motley, the historian and diplomat, the friend of Bismarck, who died in 1877, was the son of Thomas Motley, Jr., of the firm of noted merchants of Boston, Thomas and Edward Motley. He was the great-grand- son of Capt. John Waite, through his young- est daughter, Emma, who married Thomas Motley, senior, for her second husband.
The Hon. Thomas Brackett Reed, who, as
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HISTORY OF PEAKS ISLAND.
Speaker of the National House of Represent- atives, is next in power to the President, and who has demonstrated his fitness for the high- est office under our government, is a son of Peaks Island. It has been the home of his father, grandfather, and great-grandfather, and he is a descendant of George Cleeve, the first settler of Portland.
The rugged experiences of their ancestors laid the foundation of the lives of the success- ful men of Maine who have honored their old homes and the homes of their fathers.
"There is no place like the old place where you and I were born! Where we lifted first our eyelids on the splendors of the morn."
CHAPTER V.
STEAMBOAT LINES. - STEAMERS KENNEBEC, ANTELOPE, CASCO, GAZELLE, AND OTHERS.
"Honor to those whose words or deeds Thus helped us in our daily needs."
THE first attempt to run a steamboat to the islands was in the year 1822, by Capt. Seward Porter. This was one year before he brought the steamer Patent here. The steam- boat was called the Kennebec, but was nick- named the "Horned Hog." It was the old hull of a flat-bottomed craft with a small and imperfect engine in it.
It was a great novelty to go to the islands without sails or oars and drew crowds of passengers from the little town. It was no uncommon occurrence for the engine to refuse to drive the boat against the tide, and it had to be assisted by the passengers treading the paddle-wheels round, which was easily done as they were uncovered. The following couplet was written at the time by a local rhymster : "A fig for all your clumsy craft, Your pleasure boats and packets ; The steamboat lands you, safe and soon, At Mansfield's, Trott's, or Brackett's.
"And down below they keep the stuff, And everything is handy ; My jolly boys, I'll tell you what, That steamboat is a dandy."
MACKWORTH I.
GREAT
DIAMOND
ISLAND
PORTLAND
DIJAMONG
FORT
BREAKWATER
O THE REFUGE
FORT PREBLE
HOUSE I
PEAKS I
O STONE HOUSE
3 FORT
WHITE HEAD
CUSHINGS 1
CAPE ELIZABETH
BRAM I
PORTLAND LICHT
LONG ISLAND
AVE.
ISLAND
CENTRAL AVE.
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HISTORY OF PEAKS ISLAND.
Several years before any attempt was made to run a regular line to Peaks Island, a small steamboat came here from Saco and ran for a short time, one summer, for transient parties to the islands.
In 1850 Horatio G. Cook, a boat builder and machinist, who was born in Portland, in December, 1815, and whose father was of the same name, built the steamboat Antelope, to run to the islands. She was fifty-five feet long, eight feet wide, and the hull was thirty inches deep. She had a three-horse power engine, and could carry one hundred passen- gers. This steamer was a side-wheeler and ran two summers.
In the winter of 1851-2 Mr. Cook built the steamboat Casco, which was about seventy- five feet long, twelve feet wide, and the hull was four feet deep. She had a horizontal engine of two twelve-inch cylinders and a two- foot stroke. This steamer was also a side- wheeler, as were all of the steamboats Mr. Cook built, and could carry three hundred passengers. The Casco ran to Peaks and Cushing's Islands until the winter of 1860-1, when Mr. Cook built the steamboat Favorite. Cyrus F. Sands became a partner with Mr. Cook in this and the following boat. The
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HISTORY OF PEAKS ISLAND.
Favorite was about one hundred feet long, fourteen feet wide, and the hull was six feet deep. She had the same engines that were in the Casco, whose hull was then laid up. The engines were geared up three to one to increase the power. This boat could carry four hundred passengers. She ran two years and then went into the hands of the govern- ment and was used South during the war. Later this steamer was brought to Boston, where she was changed to a propeller and was finally destroyed by fire.
In 1863 an engine was put into the old hull of the Casco and she ran to the islands that summer. In the winter of 1863-4 Mr. Cook built the Gazelle, and the Casco went to Freeport and was finally cut up. The Gazelle was one hundred and five feet long, eighteen feet wide, and the hull was six feet deep. Her engine had a two-foot cylinder and four-foot stroke. She could then carry eight hundred passengers. This steamer ran to the islands several years, then was lengthened twenty feet, when she could carry one thou- sand passengers, although she was limited to six hundred. Her name was changed to the Forest City, and her last season was in 1895, since which she has been sold and went to
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HISTORY OF PEAKS ISLAND.
Baltimore. Messrs. Cook and Sands disposed of their interest in this boat in 1874.
Before 1860 there was a stern-wheel steam- boat named the Clinton that came here from the Kennebec River and ran as an opposition boat part of one summer. The stern-wheeler Teaser also ran one summer to Scott's Landing.
William Oxnard ran the steamer Island Queen two summers, when she was burned and he built the Gipsy Queen, using the same engines, but they were not large enough for the hull. This line landed at Brackett's Landing, opposite White Head, but did not run long. There have been other opposition boats that have been taken off after running a short time.
In 1871 the Peaks Island Steamboat Com- pany was formed and built the steamer Ex- press, which was placed in charge of Capt. A. S. Oliver. This company was composed mostly of people who lived on the island, and the object was to establish a line to run the entire year. The Express was a propeller and fitted for towing when not employed on the route. This was a successful enterprise as long as they confined themselves to this boat.
An opposition line was established by C. H. Knowlton, and he ran the propellers Tourist
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HISTORY OF PEAKS ISLAND.
and Minnehaha several years. These boats with the Express and the Forest City, with their rights and privileges, were all absorbed into one company, which is now represented by the Casco Bay Steamboat Company and is giving satisfactory service.
Capt. Alfred S. Oliver, the veteran of the island line, was born in Georgetown, Me., in 1832. He went to California in 1850 and commenced steamboating on the Sacramento River. He returned to Maine and went into the tow-boat business. Captain Oliver first ran to the islands in the steamer Lily, in 1870, and she was burned after running one season. He then became captain of the Express, in 1871, and has continued on the route under the successive companies since that time. He has always been a pleasant and courteous officer to the patrons of the several lines, and is remembered as the cap- tain who did his whole duty, with his boat, in the great steamboat fire of 1873.
For nearly twenty years the steamboats were run but about three months' time, from the middle of June until the middle of Sep- tember, but since 1871 there have been regu- lar trips run all the year round. For many years the steamers touched only at Peaks and
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HISTORY OF PEAKS ISLAND.
Cushing's Islands, but new lines have been put on until nearly every island of any con- siderable size in Casco Bay is now touched by some steamer during the season.
"A ship is a thing That you never can be quiet in, By wind or steam It's all the same, 'Twas so with me."
CHAPTER VI.
FAMILY HISTORIES. - BRACKETT, TROTT, WOODBURY, PARSONS, JONES, SKILLINGS, STERLING, TREFETHEN, SCOTT.
"There is history in all men's lives."
THE people of a locality make its history, and a history of the people is almost a his- tory of that locality. Those who settled early on Peaks Island were mostly hardy fisher- men's families or those that went down to the sea in ships. They were people who knew the secrets of the sea as only those can know who brave its dangers. They were the Waites, Bracketts, Trotts, Woodburys, Parsons, Ster- lings, Welchs, Jones, Trefethens, Skillings, Scotts, and others, who have come and gone, and each has done his part, humble or other- wise, in the battle of life.
It is fitting that the story of their lives should be preserved, that those who come after them may know who they were and what were the events in their lives that went to make up the history of the island while they lived. They were a settlement by themselves and shared each other's joys and sorrows. They saw the sun rise from out of the sea and the ocean was their highway.
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HISTORY OF PEAKS ISLAND.
It is a story of the fathers who have passed beyond or are stepping one side for the younger generation to assume the respon- sibilities of life. All is not told and never will be, as much that would now interest us died with them.
BRACKETT.
The Brackett family is the most promi- nent one in the history of Peaks Island. It was known as Brackett's Island for many years. The family are descendants of George Cleeve, the first settler of Portland, and as a family have been modest, unassuming, and honorable. They have sealed their right to Cleeve's land by their own blood.
The two first settlers of the name at Falmouth were killed by the Indians while defending their homes. Bracketts served through the French and Indian Wars, were at the siege of Louisburg in 1745, and several from Old Falmouth served in the Revolution- ary Army. The long list of their names on the rolls of our state in the late Rebellion shows that the spirit of patriotism has not departed from the family.
The emigrant ancestor was Anthony Brackett, who came to Boston from Scotland
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HISTORY OF PEAKS ISLAND.
about 1629 and was called "the Selectman." He was at Portsmouth, N. H., in 1640. His sons, Anthony and Thomas, came to Fal- mouth probably before 1662. Anthony mar- ried Anne Mitton, and Thomas, her sister Mary, daughters of Michael Mitton, whose wife was Elizabeth Cleeve, a daughter of George Cleeve, who with Richard Tucker settled Portland in 1633. After the death of Mitton, his widow married a Harvey. Her other children were Elizabeth, who married Thaddeus Clark, and Martha, wife of John Graves.
Thomas Brackett was killed at Clark's Point, where the Gas House now is, by the Indians, Aug. 11, 1676, and his wife, Mary Mitton, and her children were carried off by the Indians and she died within a year. Her children returned to the Piscataqua River, now Portsmouth, N. H. Thomas' son Joshua, who was about two years of age at the time of his capture, was the father of Joshua, Jr., and Anthony, of whom the Bracketts and Trotts of Peaks Island are descendants. The same day that Thomas Brackett was killed, his brother Anthony and wife, Anne Mitton, were captured with their children on their farm, now the Deering farm, and carried away
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HISTORY OF PEAKS ISLAND.
by the Indians. Her brother, Nathaniel Mit- ton, resisted and was killed. He was the last of the family name here. The escape of Anthony Brackett and his family in an old canoe is a matter of history. It is said it was through her penetration and fortitude that the escape was effected, and as Willis says "places her in the rank of heroic women." They went to the Piscataqua River, his father's home, but returned to Falmouth in 1679. He became a selectman, captain of a company, and was killed in the battle on his farm in October, 1689. He has descendants living in the vicinity of Portland.
Joshua Brackett, Jr., grandson of Thomas, was born at Greenland, N. H., in 1701, came to Falmouth before 1728, and lived in a log house about where Gray Street now is, where by industry and frugality he improved his condition, and then built a frame house about opposite the head of High Street, on Con- gress, where he lived and died in March, 1794, aged 93 years. His fifth child, Abigail, born in 1737, married, in 1761, Benjamin Trott and soon moved to Peaks Island. They are the ancestors of the family of that name there and from whom their land on the island was inherited.
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HISTORY OF PEAKS ISLAND.
Anthony Brackett, brother to Joshua, Jr., born in 1707, probably came to Falmouth before 1728. He married, first, Sarah Knight, in 1733, and second, in 1756, Widow Keren- happuck (Proctor) Hicks, who died in 1822, at Gorham, aged 93 years. He lived near the corner of Brackett and Danforth Streets, where he died Sept. 10, 1784, aged 77 years, and was buried on his farm, but his body was taken up, about 1850, and removed to Peaks Island, where he was laid near his descend- ants in the Brackett Cemetery. He owned all the land on the southeast side of Congress Street from about Oak to Vaughan Streets, and his brother Joshua owned all the land on the northwest side of Congress Street from below Casco to Stroudwater Bridge. Anthony had ten children, John, Thomas, James, Mary, Joshua, Elizabeth, Kezia, Samuel, Nathaniel, and Sarah. The oldest son was Capt. John Brackett, of Col. Edmund Phinney's regiment, who died in the army in September, 1775. The second son, Thomas, born in 1744, is the ances- tor of all the Bracketts of Peaks Island. He married, in 1762, Jane Hall, from Narraguagus, now Cherryfield, Me., and probably moved to the island before the Revolutionary War. They were living there in 1782, when his
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HISTORY OF PEAKS ISLAND.
father transferred to him all his interest in Peaks Island. His wife, Jane, died in 1810, aged 70 years, and Thomas Brackett died in 1815, aged 71 years.
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