USA > Maine > Hancock County > Swans Island > A history of Swan's Island, Maine > Part 3
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Seldom has there been a pauper to call for public charity, and the town is without debt.
We of the present day, who now occupy comfortable homes, with all these advantages, with mails and steam- boats that daily connect us with the neighboring towns, can scarcely realize the great changes which have taken place for the better within this century.
LAND TITLES.
As we have already seen, the commonwealth of Massachusetts agreed to sell to James Swan the twenty- five islands included in the Burnt Coat group, which were estimated to contain 12,800 acres, at three shillings per acre, which amounted to £1,920. This Swan paid on March 19, 1785, and he was to receive a deed as soon as the islands could be surveyed. By actual measurement this group was found to contain only 9,623 acres, and the difference which Swan overpaid between the estimated and real measure of this group was returned to him Jan-
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uary 19, 1789. The deed of this group was given to Swan by the commonwealth on July 7, 1786. On Octo- ber 28, 1790, James Swan, late of Boston, by his at- torneys, Henry Jackson and Benjamin Hitchborn, sold to Joseph Prince, resident of Burn Coat, for the sum of £300 "and divers other good causes" Burn Coat Island and all other islands within three miles of said Burn Coat. (1-28) * 1378353
After Prince's purchase he followed Swan's agree- ment with the settlers, by giving a bond to each occupant of the land that he would give him a deed of his prop- erty at the end of seven years. To Joseph Toothaker he gave a bond of $100 for the one hundred acres extending from the Carrying Place around the Cove, dated April 26, 1792 (3-208), and to Joshua Grindle for the same amount of land extending from Moses Staples, to the Carrying Place, dated May 1, 1794 (3-245). On June 29, 1795, Joseph Prince and wife Joanna sold to Henry Jackson, of Boston, for £300, the same purchase ; on July 16, 1795, (3-256) Jackson also bought of Bartolomy DeGregoire land on Mt. Desert for which he paid £1,247. He also bought Bartlett's island, Cranberry island and Duck island, and also a tract near Stinson's Neck, Deer Isle.
On September 28, 1796, Henry Jackson sold the Burnt Coat group back to Swan in consideration of the 1 sum of £300 (4-206). He also gave Swan a quit-claim deed of these islands and improvments on the same; also
* The figures refer to Hancock registry, volume and page, where these records were obtained.
1
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land in Suffolk and Norfolk counties for £5,000 (4-207). On December 6, 1796, Swan mortgaged this property to Henry Jackson to secure the payment of £2,333 (4-203). On July 13, 1798, Swan gave the same security to Stephen Higginson and Samuel G. Perkins, of Boston, as security for $30,000 (5-541). Swan mortgaged this property to other parties at different times to secure payment of loans, all of which were promptly paid.
On February 28, 1798, Swan gave to Joseph Prince, of Swan's Island (formerly Burnt Coat), power of attor- ney to sell and convey to the settlers the land which they had occupied, and to such other fishermen as might settle, on the conditions which are stated elsewhere. He also gave Prince power to sell a lot of land on "Island of Holt" which Swan had bought of Nathaniel Shelden in 1796. This power of attorney is recorded in (5-481 ) Han- cock registry.
We find no further record that any property here was bought or sold for some fifteen years. During all this time the settlers selected whatever property they choose, and no one disputed their claim. The agreement by which Swan promised the settlers a deed of the property that they occupied at the end of seven years was not carried out by him or by the other parties into whose hands this property fell. It may have been for the reason that when the seven years had expired Swan was in France and had no one here to attend to his business. So the failure may have been due to neglect, or perhaps the set- tlers did not fulfill the conditions of the contract. How-
37
ever, the settlers did not seem to care much about the title to land that they possessed, which was of very little value. Their log cabins and boats comprised the greater part of their possessions, so if they were ousted their loss would not be very great; besides they considered they had a moral right to the land they occupied, according to Swan's agreement.
On October 3, 1812, "James Swan, of Boston, at present residing in Paris, mortgaged to Michael O'Maley, a merchant of Baltimore," a part of this group of islands. Swan was indebted to O'Maley for the sum of 43,080 francs as appears by a bill of exchange drawn at Harve in 1808. Swan paid on this 6,663 francs with interest, leaving the balance due O'Maley on September 1, 1813, of 36,417 francs. As security Swan mortgaged to O'Maley thirteen islands of this group, viz .: Swan's Island, Marshall's island, Black island, Hat island, Great and Little Placentia islands, Long island " and five others the name not recollected", " containing in all about 12,000 acres, together with the grist and the sawmills, farms, stores, mansion-house, timber lands, waters and fish- eries". This mortgage was executed at Paris in the Greffe of the prison of St. Pelagie, where Swan was then imprisoned, and acknowledged before David Bailey Warden, United States consul at Paris, October 3, 1812 (33-226). In this transfer it is noticed that only thirteen of the twenty-five islands included in the Burnt Coat group were conveyed. After this there seems to have been no claimants for this property, either mortgagor or
38
mortgagee, until 1817. During all this time settlers con- tinued to come in and select whatever lots they choose to occupy, unmolested by anyone.
On March 10, 1817, Rufus B. Allyn, of Belfast, as attorney for O'Maley, entered and took peaceable posses- sion of the premises named for the purpose of foreclosing the mortgage. He notified the settlers that in O'Maley's name he should take possession of all this property. He brought as witnesses of this seizure Jesse Holbrook and Paul Giles.
On August 29, 1821, a power of attorney was given by O'Maley to Daniel Webster to transact the business connected with the thirteen islands of the Burnt Coat group, as well as his other transactions with Swan. This was signed by O'Maley in Boston. A power of attorney was given by Swan to William Sullivan (son-in-law) to act jointly with Daniel Webster, they to have the power of substitution, to sell all the islands in this group and exe- cute deeds in their names, and Swan and O'Maley agreed to confirm all acts so transacted. This was dated Sep- tember 13, 1821.
On June 13, 1823, Daniel Webster, attorney for O'Maley, and William Sullivan, attorney for Swan, sub- stituted Rufus B. Allyn to act jointly for both parties (43-168), and whatever deeds were given afterwards were in Swan and O'Maley's name. As to the mortgage of Swan to O'Maley, it is believed that it was given to a friend to protect the property from other debtors. Swan had considerable property in Boston and vicinity which
39
was conveyed in somewhat the same manner. It is strange that if O'Maley claimed anything under this mort- gage he should have waited several years before assert- ing his claim.
The year after Allyn's appointment he came to these islands and demanded payment of all the settlers for the land which they occupied. He gave to each occupant a deed of the property he occupied, and took a mortgage to secure payment. Both the deeds and mortgages, which are recorded in Hancock registry, were executed between the years 1823 and 1839. The following were given at that time :
Moses Bridges, of Sedgwick, bought Eastern Calf island, containing 162 acres, for $400, May 24, 1823. Mort- gage was paid December 5, 1839 (43-509).
Peter Powers bought Western Calf island, containing 256 acres, for $750, September 21, 1822 (43-521).
John Finney bought the place on which he lives October I, 1823, for $147 (44-238).
Levi Torrey paid $160 for the land which he occupied, on October 16, 1823. Deed was witnessed by John Cook (44-239) .
Ebenezer Joyce paid $130.27 for 68 acres of land on which he lives, October 3, 1823.
Abel E. Staples paid $175 for land which he occupied I823.
James Joyce bought of Rufus B. Allyn the place on which he lived for $146.51 on May 27, 1824.
Francis T. Gilley, of Placentia, paid $237. This mort- gage was paid December 25, 1839.
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Robert Mitchell paid $210 for land on Placentia May 24,
1824. This mortgage was paid October 27, 1828.
Benjamin Smith bought for $365.50 the farm on which he lived, May 18, 1824.
Moses Staples' land amounted to $83.37. Recorded May 20, 1824.
Benjamin Stinson's was valued at $200.
John Staples, a lot near Mackerel Cove, for $60.75. May 17, 1824.
Benjamin F. Staples' lot valued at $42.13. Deed given May 18, 1824.
Moses Staples, jr., bought his lot for $158.16 May 17, 1824.
Daniel Hamblen, for part of Placentia, $140.30, 93 acres, 1825.
Israel B. Lunt, unincorporated place called Long island. His tract of land contained 1, 132 acres, for which he was to pay $600. Date of mortgage June 30, 1835. O'Maley at present in Paris, kingdom of France, sold to Thomas Colomey for $200 a lot near Seal Cove, executed by Rufus B. Allyn on July 1, 1835 (60-424).
Scarcely anything was paid on the above mortgages, but no action seems to have been taken by Allyn to en- force payment. Afterwards ex-Governor Edward Kent was said to have been employed by O'Maley to bring suit against the settlers to recover possession of the islands, and to have prosecuted these claims for several years. Some of the settlers paid something, as we have noticed above, while others absolutely refused to pay. In the end
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Governor Kent could not find his clients and returned to the islanders what money he had collected from them. It is probable that Swan's heirs took this method to get some- thing out of the islands, but, finding the matter likely to be hotly contested, gave up the contest.
No further claim was ever made by O'Maley or his heirs. Nothing more was done until after Col. Swan's death, when Charles J. Abbott, of Castine, was appointed administrator of the estate of James Swan, late of France, in April, 1837. Swan's just debts were $142,995.49. There not being personal property enough to pay, some of these islands were appraised by Thomas Cobb, John B. Redman and Benjamin Rea in December, 1837, as follows :
ISLAND.
ACRES®
AMOUNT.
Little Marshall
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$63
W
IO
IO
A
2I
B
4
4
C
44
.
66
D
I6
80
F
20
30
G
33
49
K
5
6
N
23
46
P
I6
I6
I
6
5
John's
20
50
U
I7
I7
V
3
3
$466
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This took in the islands that had few or no settlers. How Mr. Abbott settled with the Swan heirs I do not know. He afterwards claimed title to some of the islands.
Up to 1834 the settlers on Swan's Island had no title to their lands except such as they could hold by posses- sion. Neither O'Maley nor Swan ever made any claim after Mr. Abbott sold the outlying islands. We do not know what became of O'Maley. He was last heard from in Paris in 1837, where it is said that he died. A diligent search of the records of Baltimore reveals no account of him or his heirs.
In 1834 Swan's Island was organized as a plantation, when all the property was taxed. In the plantation records of 1839 we find the following land taxed to Michael O'Maley : Seven hundred acres in the south- eastern part of the island, and one lot of one hundred and fifty acres bounded by the land of Benjamin Stinson and Benjamin Smith. O'Maley's tax remained unpaid, and in Hancock registry (85-33) is the following : Benjamin F. Staples, treasurer of plantation of Swan's Island, hereby certifies that real estate assessed in the year 1843 to Michael O'Maley, or unknown, on which a tax of $13.44 remains unpaid at the end of five years, said property was taken possession of by said plantation ; dated July 7, 1848.
In the year 1847 John Dodge made a survey of all unappropriated lands on Swan's Island, and it was divided into lots of fifty acres each, which were numbered and divided into first, second and third class, according to their value. Some of the better lots were sold at public auction.
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Many of the other lots, which were of no income to the plantation, were given to settlers. They would choose what land they wished to own, make a record of the boundaries in the book of the plantation clerk, and pay the taxes on the land so occupied. I do not know that the plantation ever gave a deed to the occupants of these lots ; all of them have now become the property of private individuals.
CHAPTER III.
A SKETCH OF THE LIFE OF COL. JAMES SWAN.
James Swan was the original purchaser of the twer- ty-five islands included in the Burnt Coat group. The largest of these islands, which contains this town, was named for him-Swan's Island. He was born in Fife- shire, Scotland, in 1754, and came to this country about the year 1765. Although a small boy, he was unusually active and intelligent, and soon found employment in Bos- ton. As a boy he was studious, devoting all his spare time to his books, and in this way secured an excellent education.
Even in his younger years, Swan had a varied expe- rience. Before his twenty-second year he had been mer- chant, politician, soldier and author. When only eighteen years of age, while yet but a clerk in a counting-house, which was situated next to Ellis Gray's, opposite the east end of Faneuil hall, he wrote and published a work on the African slave trade. This book was published in 1772, and was entitled : "A Dissuasion of Great Britain and Her Colonies from the Slave Trade." A copy of this work is said to be in the Boston public library.
He served as an apprentice for several years with Thaxter & Son, and while there he formed an intimate friendship with several other clerks, who, in after years, became widely known. Among these were Benjamin
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Thompson, afterwards made Count Rumford by the king of Bavaria ; and Henry Knox, who was a clerk, probably in the same store, and afterwards became the bookseller on Cornhill, and later a general in the Continental army.
While young Swan was here employed, he boarded on Hanover street. This was at the time of the birth of the Boston Tea Party. Swan had taken a great interest in the stirring events which were transpiring just previous to the Revolutionary war, and all his sympathies were awakened in behalf of the Americans, who were manfully resisting the tyrannical laws by which Great Britain was trying to enslave the colonists.
To resist more effectually these unjust laws, an asso- ciation was formed called the Sons of Liberty. Swan and the other apprentices joined the association, and he was present and took part in that act of disloyalty to the crown, which became a part of the world's history-the Boston Tea Party.
England, alarmed at the show of resistance which the colonists were making, repealed all the obnoxious laws except the tax on tea, but the colonists would not submit even to that tax. So an immense meeting was held in Faneuil hall to discuss this matter, and it was there de- cided that the tea in the ships then lying in Boston harbor should never be brought ashore. Accordingly, a party of the Sons of Liberty, disguised as Indians, went aboard the ships and emptied three hundred and forty-two chests of tea into the water.
History reveals that while these young men were on
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their way home from the Boston Tea Party, they passed the house at which Admiral Montague, a British officer, was spending the evening. This officer raised the window and cried out :
" Well, boys, you've had a fine night for your Indian caper. But, mind, you've got to pay the fiddler yet."
" O, never mind," replied one of the leaders, " never mind, squire ! Just come out here, if you please, and we'll settle the bill in two minutes."
The admiral thought best to let the bill stand, and quickly shut down the window.
When Swan and his companions returned to their boarding-place with tea in their shoes and smooched faces, they ran the gauntlet of the boarders at the next morning's breakfast. Among others who were in the Tea Party were Samuel Gore, who lived to the advanced age of nine- ty-eight years, George Robert, who died at the age of ninety-two, and Samuel Sprague, father of the poet.
Swan was engaged in the battle of Bunker Hill, where he was twice wounded. It is said that he was volunteer aid to Gen. Warren, but this is improbable, as all accounts of that battle show that Warren declined command, and was killed while fighting in the ranks with a musket. So it was not likely that he had an aid-de-camp.
Swan was afterwards promoted to captain in Craft's artillery. He was at the evacuation of Boston by the British on March 17, 1776. The next day he witnessed the entrance of Washington into Boston amid great rejoic- ing, as the inhabitants had been besieged for eleven
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months. Afterwards Swan became secretary of the Massachusetts board of war. He was elected a member of the legislature and adjutant-general of the state. At the close of the war he was major of a cavalry corps. Throughout the whole war, he occupied positions of trust, often requiring great courage and cool judgment, and the fidelity with which every duty was performed was shown by the honors conferred upon him after retiring to civil life.
Prior to the Revolutionary war, there was a man liv- ing in Boston named Barnaby Clark, who was a merchant and shipowner. He had two children, Samuel and Hep- zibah. The latter, in 1776, became the wife of James Swan.
There was also living in Boston at this time a wealthy Scot-an old bachelor-named William Dennie, who was connected in business with Barnaby Clark, and in whose employ Samuel Clark sailed as shipmaster. A strong friendship existed between Barnaby Clark and Wil- liam Dennie, and the latter, having no relatives in Amer- ica, often said he would divide his property between the two children of the former. When he died, however, he left his whole estate to James Swan, being instigated thereto, it was believed, by Swan's influence.
Samuel Clark, Swan's brother-in-law, was a Revolu- tionary soldier, and was a major in one of the Boston reg- iments which took part, under Gen. Sullivan, in the Rhode Island campaign, which failed on account of a great storm that prevented the co-operation of the French troops. In
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this storm Major Clark contracted a disease of which he died in Boston at the age of twenty-six years, leaving a widow and infant son-also Samuel Clark. (The latter was the father of my informant, Samuel C. Clark, who now resides in Marietta, Georgia, at the advanced age of ninety years. He was a neighbor of the Swan family in Boston, and an intimate friend. )
By Major Clark's will all his property was divided between his wife and son, and he made James Swan one of the executors of the will and guardian of the child. His will gave directions as to the investments and care of the estate, none of which was observed by Colonel Swan, and when Samuel Clark became of age, twenty years after, he was only able to obtain his property by a law- suit with Swan. Swan, by means of the large fortune willed to him, entered the mercantile business on a large scale, and became very wealthy.
At the beginning of the Revolution he was said to own about two and a half million acres of land in Mingo, Logan, Wyoming, and McDowell counties, in western Virginia ; Pike county, Kentucky, and Tazewell county, Virginia. He sold what he could of this land, and de- voted the proceeds to furthering the cause of American independence. In return for his services the state of Vir- ginia redeeded to him all the property he sold, and gave him much more lying west of the Alleghanies. He also bought much of the confiscated property of the Tories. Among others was the estate belonging to Governor Hutchinson, lying on Tremont street, between West and
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Boylston streets, Boston, which became very valuable property. There was also on the southerly side of Dudley street, near Dorchester, an estate of one Colonel Estes Hatch, who died, leaving it to his son Nathaniel, who was a Tory and who went to Halifax in 1776. The state confiscated the property of about sixty acres. It was purchased by Colonel Swan in 1780 for £18,000, and afterwards offered for sale to Governor Hancock for £40,000, but he would not pay the price Swan demanded.
In 1784 Swan purchased the Burnt Coat group of islands. This was about the time that his friend Gen. Henry Knox came to Maine, and purchased a large tract of land in Thomaston, where he built a large mansion and spent much of the latter years of his life. Throughout their whole lives the friendship formed in their boyhood days subsisted between Colonel Swan and General Knox, and may have induced them to have taken up their resi- dences together in Maine.
After the war, Colonel Swan lived on the corner of West and Tremont streets. This place he afterwards sold, and it was converted into a garden theatre. He also owned a house on Dudley street, near Roxbury. The last was an old-fashioned mansion. He built in Dorches- ter an elegant summer residence, a part of which is stand- ing and apparently in good condition. During Swan's short residence in Boston he gave liberal entertainments, and among others who accepted his hospitality were the Marquis de Viomeuil, second under Count de Rocham-
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beau, Admiral d' Estaing, the Marquis de Lafayette, and Gen. Henry Knox.
Later Colonel Swan became deeply involved in debt from speculations which turned out badly. In 1787 he went to Paris, and through the influence of Lafayette and other men of influence, made a fortune through govern- ment contracts by supplying their army. Here he lived through all the dark days of the French Revolution. During this period he made every effort to colonize the proscribed French nobility on his lands in America. He had induced a number to immigrate and received on board his ships a vast quantity of their furniture and belongings, but before the owners could follow their furniture on board, the relentless guillotine had caught them in its hungry jaws. The laden ships put to sea and safely arrived in Boston. One of these ships was commanded by Capt. Stephen Clough, of Wiscasset, Maine. He was an eye-witness to the execution of the French queen, which fiendish act remained indelibly impressed upon his memory. He gave to his youngest daughter the name Antoinette in memory of her.
In these cargoes sent over by Colonel Swan was a great deal of elegant furniture, beautiful pieces of tapes- try, family plate, and fine paintings from royal palaces. These adorned the old Swan mansion in Dorchester. Some of these are still in the possession of his descend- ants, but many of them have long since been disposed of. A massive silver soup tureen was bought of the family by a gentleman in Boston. If its mate could have been pro-
51
cured it would readily have sold for $1,000. Compara- tively useless of itself, he eventually sent it to the East Indies, where it sold for $300. At a period long subse- quent its companion was disposed of in Boston. A pair of andirons of elegant and elaborate workmanship was sent here from Paris, that for a number of years enjoyed a "golden" reputation. Later they became the property of the late George Blake, and after his death they were discovered to be brass gilt.
Much of the furniture, including three or four side- boards, became the property of General Knox, who was then furnishing his mansion in Thomaston. Other arti- cles were added to the Knox mansion by James Swan, jr., who married General Knox's youngest daughter Caroline, who was the last of the family to occupy the old mansion, which for want of care and repairs went almost to ruin over her head.
These sideboards, which came into General Knox's possession, are still retained as relics in Knox county. One of them is now in Thomaston. It came into the pos- session of Hon. Hezekiah Prince, of Thomaston, in 1813, when he resided in the house at Mill River, built and fur- nished by Knox for his son Henry. The dwelling-house and many other portions of the Knox estates had passed into the hands of his creditors. This sideboard and other furniture of Henry, jr., remained in the house and was sold, and bought by Mr. Prince. It remained in the Prince family nearly a quarter of a century. It is now owned by Charles S. Coombs, of Thomaston. Another
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was bought by Samuel Fuller, of Thomaston, and sold to Boston parties.
Prince Talleyrand was conveyed to Boston by Colonel Swan, and sent to Montpelier, the home of Knox in Thom- aston, about 1794, where he was for some time the guest of the general.
Mrs. Swan accompanied her husband on several trips to Paris. But on his last trip Colonel Swan came to grief. He had contracted a debt in France claimed to be 2,000,- 000 francs. This indebtedness he denied, and refused to - pay it. He was caused to be arrested by the French government and confined in St. Pelagie, a debtors' prison, from the year 1808 to 1830-a period of twenty-two years.
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