USA > Maine > Knox County > Warren > Annals of the town of Warren; with the Early History of St. George's, Broad Bay and the Neighboring Settlements on the Waldo patent > Part 12
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* Mass. Arc. vol. 96. Co. Muster rolls.
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of which they shot or butchered. Though out of command, Bradbury was still in the fort at the time of this engage- ment .*
This active and conspicuous service of the Governor was not only applauded by the General Court in high terms, but Mr. Pitt also assured him, it had received the particular ap- probation of the King himself. The enemy afterwards made an attempt upon the fort at Medumcook, without being able to carry it ; though they killed, or took captive, eight men.
1759. The plan of operations, for the memorable year 1759, was nothing less than a universal attack upon the French, in every direction, with a determination to bring the contest to a final and speedy decision. Whilst the more important expeditions were being carried on against Quebec, Niagara, Crown Point and Ticonderoga, the interest of the eastern frontier was not disregarded. At the earnest recommendation of Gov. Pownal, an armament of 400 men was sent up the Penobscot to take posses- sion of that river and its neighborhood. Having examined sundry places and taken formal possession of the country, the Governor, who accompanied the expedition, selected a convenient spot in the present town of Prospect, and commenced the erection there of a strong and commo- dious fort, to be named Fort Pownal. As soon as the la- borers had begun work, the Governor, attended by Gen. Samuel Waldo, with a guard of 136 men, ascended the river near the head of tide waters, below the bend ; and May 23d, went ashore on the westerly side of the river. From this place he sent a message to the 'T'arratine tribe, giving them notice of the enterprise undertaken at Fort-Point, and assur- ing them, if they should fall upon the English and kill any of them, the whole tribe should be hunted and driven from the country. But, added he, " though we neither fear your resentment nor seek your favor, we pity your distresses ; and if you will become the subjects of his majesty, and live near the fort, you shall have our protection, and enjoy your plant- ing and hunting grounds without molestation."
Gen. Waldo took great interest in this expedition, expect- ing that the Muscongus, or Waldo patent, extended to some
Wm. Lermond. 2 Minot, p. 41. Smith's Journal, p. 177, says, "Aug. 30. We have been all in alarm by the advices of great firing at George's. One hundred and fifty men, mostly volunteers, are gone with Mr. Cox." " 31. Upon their return from Pemaquid, they brought news that the French and Indians had attacked George's, took and returned a woman, killed 60 cattle, and moved off."
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place near the spot then visited by them; and that he and his co-proprietors would derive essential advantage from the projected fortification. Withdrawing a few paces, he looked round, and exclaimed, " here are my bounds," -and instant- ly fell dead of an apoplexy. To commemorate the spot the Governor buried a leaden plate, bearing an inscription of the melancholly event. His body was carried to Fort Pownal .*
Gen. Waldo was a gentleman of great enterprise and worth ; and the conspicuous part he acted in the first capture of Louisburg will be long recollected with intermingled pleasure and praise. He was the son of Jonathan Waldo, a merchant of Boston, but was himself born in England ; possessed great activity and perseverance ; and, according to a family tradition, made no less than 15 voyages across the Atlantic. He was at the time of his death 63 years of age. According to the recollection of those who knew him in their youth, he was a tall, stout, portly man, of a dark complexion, and commanding appearance.f It is believed his military conduct was unexceptionable. With regard to that towards the settlers, though he seems to have been cau- tious and shrewd in making a bargain, we do not find that the Irish settlers, who had been in the country and knew what to expect, had any particular complaints to make. But the Scotch and Germans, who received his offers in their own country, and judged of them according to what they had there known of upland, meadow, tide waters, &c., werc wretchedly disappointed, and complained most bitterly of his deception and non-performance of conditions. It is said that one of the Germans, who had property or friends, went to Boston, commenced a suit, and recovered heavy damages ; and that nothing but their inability prevented some of the rest from doing the same. His sons, Samuel and Francis, and the husbands of his two daughters, Isaac Winslow and Thomas Fluker, were the testamentary executors of his large estate, much of which was in his eastern patent.
During this and other visits to the eastern country, Gov. Pownal often visited St. George's; where, from his energetic conduct towards the savages, and his readily accommodating himself to the free and blunt manners of the settlers, he became very popular. He used to salute the commander of
* 2 Will. His. p. 338. Whipple's Acadie, p. 88. Smith's Journal, p. 179.
+ Mrs. Montgomery. A. Kelloch, 1st, &c. Williamson says he was of a light complexion, note to p. 388, vol. 2,
10
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the block-house, Thomas Kilpatrick, whose name was a terror to the Indians, as "Tom-kill-the-devil ;" and, in allusion to his own energetic measures against them, was hailed in return, "Tom-pound-the-devil." His pleasant and facetious conversation was as agreeable to the people here, as distaste- ful to the sons of the puritans in Massachusetts. One of his bonmots has been handed down. To some of the settlers who were great sticklers for the honor of Ireland, he started the question whether in the great temptation on the mount, all the kingdoms of the world were really shown. Pow- nal maintained the negative; and on being pressed for his reasons, answered that Satan had from time immemorial always kept Ireland under his thumb.
The erection of the fort beforementioned, the taking of Quebec, and other important victories which distinguished this year, gave as much joy and exultation to the English, as dismay, and distress to the Indians. Unassisted by the French, they gave very little farther trouble of a serious nature to the settlers in this quarter; although straggling parties continued to lurk about for opportunities of private revenge, exciting frequent alarms. A force of 160 men, however, was employed on the eastern frontier during the winter, of which 84 were posted at fort Pownal, and 13 at St. George's ; Fort Frederick, at Pemaquid, having been dismantled the preceding year. The ship King George was
also kept cruising off the coast .*
During this war, the settlers found the greatest difficulty in preserving their cattle, as they must of course stray in search of subsistence. They endeavored to keep them as near the fort as possible ; and fewer were killed than might have been expected, as the beasts soon caught the contagious fear of their masters, and fled precipitately at the sight of an Indian. This made it necessary to kill them with shot only, which could not be done without raising an alarm. Some of the cattle got lost in the woods, and were found on the restoration of peace after an absence of three years.t Fewer cattle were destroyed at Broad Bay ; as there were not many in the settlement. Great hardships were endured and some distress occasioned by the want of provisions.
* 2 Will. His. p. 342.
+ In 1758, John McIntyre administered upon the estate of his father, Wm. McIntyre, of St. George's. In his account of adminis- tration, rendered in 1760, he charged 11 days spent in looking up the stock which ran wild in the woods. - York Records.
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Those who were able to do soldier's duty, for the most part, drew pay as soldiers in the garrison, or in companies em- ployed as scouts. Lermond had a Lieutenant's commission in Freeman's company as beforementioned, and in 1758 was appointed to the same office in the militia under Kilpatrick. Being good with a broad axe, he was much employed about the fort, and found no difficulty in supplying his family. Others found means to get out wood and staves, sometimes by working under protection of a guard, and sometimes by hauling oaks across the flats on the ice, and making them up into staves beneath the walls of the fort. Cord-wood, at this time, if we may trust the memory of those who were then young, brought about 58 cents at the shore; tea, 42 cents a pound ; a day's work, and, except in seasons of scarcity, a bushel of corn, 50 cents ; which prices did not materially vary for several years after, down to the revolu- tionary war. Those who could afford it, used tea or coffee at breakfast. Bean or barley broth was a substitute with others. Some attention was paid to education ; temporary schools being provided, even during the war. Dr. Robinson, in the block-house, devoted all his leisure time, and particu- larly the Sabbath, to the instruction of the children. After this year the inhabitants worked on their farms in company, a day for one and a day for another, keeping a watch ; and on any intimation of danger, an alarm gun was fired at the fort, when all hands returned for safety. Some, who pos- sessed valuable furniture, had never taken it from the fort since the former war. Samuel Boggs the 1st, fearless him- self and anxious to prosecute his business as a farmer, re- mained in his dwelling on his farm, though it was the most distant of any on the river. His wife having died the first year after going into garrison, his daughter, who kept his house, felt uneasy at their exposed situation, and, as some supposed, set fire to the house, in order to compel her father to remove to the fort. She was the only person at home when it was burnt, and succeeded in saving all the property in the house except a large trough of soap in the cellar, which she was unable to get out .*
1760. In 1760, the Indians began to make proposals for peace ; and so little was there to fear from them, that the inhabitants mostly left the garrison, and went on to their farms, still leaving their most valuable furniture, and occasion-
* Mrs. I. Fuller.
.
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ally returning on any alarm of danger. On one occasion, the wife of Mr. Lermond, the next morning after giving birth to a child, was carried in her bed to the river, and thence in a canoe to the fort for safety. One Sunday, during divine service, an Indian came into the fort with intelligence that his countrymen were coming to attack the settlement. He departed ; an alarm gun was fired ; and people came flocking in on all sides with their cattle and property. The Indians came, entered most of the more distant houses, but found little plunder. As they occasionally had intercourse with the fort, the commander like his predecessor was suspected of trading with them, which was looked upon as a grave offence by the people, although a treaty of peace had in fact been concluded with the Sagamores at Boston as early as the 13th of April. At this time the agriculture of the place was still confined to the raising of a few potatoes, peas, beans and a little English grain. There was no other road but the river, and a foot path from house to house on cach side of it. Carts, and probably ploughs, there were none. Wood and staves were cut and made near the river, and still hauled on hand-sleds in winter, or by horses and cars. At Broad Bay one German woman, usually known by the name of Great Mary, hauled out, on a hand-sled, two sloop loads of wood in one winter. Coasters from the south shore of Massachu- setts frequently came hither with provisions and groceries, which they exchanged for wood, bark and staves. One of these was commanded by a Capt. Roach, who became wealthy, but at last committed suicide for fear of coming to want. Another was commanded by one Capt. Boice, who, having amassed a considerable fortune in this business, set up a paper-mill in the town of Milton, which, being the only one in that vicinity still further augmented his wealth. One of his daughters had married Hugh McLean of this place, who, on the death of his father and brother, succeeded to their two lots at Andrews's Point. He had, at first, been employed by Boice, afterwards was taken into partnership with him, and, for many years was the principal coaster between George's River and Boston. His is one of the vessels mentioned by Capt. Freeman as guarded by him in 1757.
.
It was about this time that Mr. Boggs introduced the first sheep into the place, which he brought from Pemaquid by water. On this occasion the following anecdote is related. Sitting on the windlass with his flock on the deck, he became drowsy and began to nod, The father of the flock mistaking the nod for a menace, drew back, butted him over, and left
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him sprawling. Boggs in his rage, seized the assailant and threw him overboard. The rest, according to their custom, followed their leader, and in an instant the whole flock were floating in the ocean. There being no land near, the vessel hove to, and with difficulty he recovered his property. At this time his cattle amounted to more than 30 head .*
In the autumn of this year, 1760, Hatevil Libbey, the first of that name, who married a sister of the Watsons, came to the upper town, from Scarboro', and settled on the western side of the river on the lot now belonging to James Libbey. Being a tanner by trade, he soon after commenced that business and carried it on during his lifetime ; and his son and grandson have continued it down to the present day. His name will be mentioned again, as he sustained many offices, particularly in the militia, from that of Lieutenant to Major, was a respected citizen, and, we believe, carried out the precept given at his baptism hate evil. From him all the Libbeys of the town are descended.
In June, 1760, the County of York was divided and two new counties established. That of Cumberland extended to its present limits on the seaboard and thence to the northern limits of the State. All the territory eastward of Cumber- land was included in the County of Lincoln, of which the shire town was Pownalborough. John North, commander of the fort at St. George's, was appointed one of the four Judges of the Court of Common Pleas. This gentleman had pre- viously held a justice's commission at St. George's, but in that capacity it is said no action ever came to trial before him, as he made it a rule always to laugh or scold the parties into a settlement. There was no cost to pay where he sat as Judge.
" Enter but his door,
" Baulked were the courts, and contest was no more."t
About the same time Gov. Pownal, in the height of his popularity, solicited his recall, and, in August, Sir Francis Bernard arrived as his successor. In the following Decem- ber George the Third ascended the throne of England.
1761-2. The years 1761 and 1762 were distinguished for a remarkable and early drought, accompanied, in many places, by distressing fires ; but so little did the people of this river depend on their agriculture at that time, that no
* Mrs. Montgomery. A. Kelloch, 1st. A. Lermond. J. and R. B. Copeland. J. Boggs. L. Parsons, &c. + Samuel Boggs, 3d, &c.
10*
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memorial has been handed down of a drought which, early in June of the former year had withered the herbage and was not relieved by rain until the 20th of August. At this time the country was still full of wild game ; the bears and wolves were very destructive to small cattle; but the moose and deer supplied the loss, affording the inhabitants plenty of food whenever they could venture to pursue them. Great numbers of moose resorted to the Neck, between the present towns of Thomaston and St. George, for ground juniper which grew there in abundance. In 1762 a deep snow and crust obstructed their flight, and no less than seventy of these animals were taken. They were never found in such plenty afterwards .*
After the death of the General, Col. Samuel Waldo, who as his eldest son inherited a double share, or two-fifths, of the Patent, occasionally came hither from Falmouth, to look after the estate and fulfil any subsisting contracts with the settlers. In the original grant to Beauchamp and Leverett, the boundaries were so obscurely and incoherently describ- ed as to render it difficult to ascertain the true intent thereof, and locate the same so as to avoid controversy. Waldo claimed on both sides of the Penobscot; but as this claim was not recognized by the Province, the subject was referred to the General Court and on the 23d of Feb. 1762, it was agreed to extend the Patent six miles farther north in consid- eration of a relinquishment by the proprietors of their claims east of the Penobscot. The papers were accordingly made out, but, from some cause, were not executed, and nothing farther was done till 1785. In 1765 Col. Waldo transferred his two shares to Thomas Fluker, Esq., who about the same time we believe, became the sole owner of most of the pro- prietary claims on this river. The Middle-Neck in Thomas- ton was sold by Francis Waldo in England, and, after several mean conveyances at length passed into the hands of Vaughan of Hallowell, by whom an arrangement was made with the settlers upon it since the separation of the State.+
In 1762 the plantations on this river were for the first time included in the county tax. Of the £132 1s. assessed upon the county, St. George's upper town, now Warren and part of Thomaston, paid &4 5s. 8d., St. George's lower town, now Cushing, St. George and a part of Thomaston, paid £4 10s. Broad Bay, now Waldoboro', £4 5s. 8d., and Medumcook
* L. Parsons. M. Copeland, Esq.
+ Journal of the House.
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now Friendship, £2 13s. 8d. But these proportions were materially changed the following year, when, whilst the lower town remained the same, the upper town was assessed &6, Broad Bay £8, and Medumcook £4, out of ££152 on the whole county. See table IV. appended. Capt. Kilpatrick and Hugh McLean, tradition says, were the first assessors chosen in the upper plantation, who, in executing their trust, assigned one pistareen each to the ablest inhabitants till a sufficient sum was obtained, and exempted all the rest .*
Very little recourse was had to law in those days, as the greater part of the people lived too much like a band of brothers to contend in civil matters ; and the few cases of criminal conduct that occurred were discountenanced by their frowns, or, perhaps, punished in extreme cases by what has since been denominated Lynch law. It is said one woman in the upper town for adultery underwent a public whipping, from no other authority than the popular will ; and some years later a man for abusing his wife and family was ridden upon a rail. But disorders of this kind were not frequent, and were kept within the bounds of justice by the more sober and aged part of the community. The Germans at Broad Bay managed very well much in the same manner, except now and then when a quarrel and fight occurred. On these occasions the worsted party used sometimes to repair to Damariscotta for legal redress before a justice of the peace, and it was not uncommon for half the settlement to be over there at the trial, either as witnesses or spectators. In another respect the Germans were more exemplary than their neighbors at St. George's. Though destitute of a regular clergyman, they had, from the first, constantly met for public worship on the Sabbath. In these meetings John Ulmer had taken the lead, and was indeed paid by Waldo as a clergyman, until, on the expedition to Louisburg, the settlement was broken up. After their return he continued to labor in the same vocation, and, after the death of Leistner, seems to have acted as priest, prince, and military commander. Visiting Pemaquid towards the close of the war, and hailing the people in the dusk of evening to set him across the river, in answer to the inquiry who he was, he gave his name with such a string of Dutch titles, that they expected to find a large number of persons ; and were much disappointed when they found all these honors
* Rec. Court of Sessions, Wis. Capt. R. Hall, Ist.
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borne by a single individual. Matthias Remilly, beforemen- tioned, was, however, the first militia Captain commissioned by the Governor .*
In 1762 John Martin Schaeffer, of the German Lutheran church, came from New York to Boston, where he was invited by some of the inhabitants of Broad Bay to become their minister. He agreed with them on condition of having a lot of land as a settlement, and ££3 old tenor and two days' work yearly from each settler. He was a smart preacher and great singer, and was thought to be a man of learning ; but from the want of proper judges, it is difficult to determine what his literary acquirements were. His moral character seems to have been less equivocal, being made up of selfish- ness and a destitution of all virtuous principles. He had left a wife in Germany, seduced the wife of another, a woman of great beauty, and brought her and his own daughter to America. Not satisfied with his income as a minister, he practised as a physician also, and gained much fame as well as wealth by letting blood, inspecting urine, and dealing out medicine. He was applied to by numbers from the neigh- boring towns, and was considered by the common people as having no equal. He had made the Germans believe it was necessary to be bled every spring, for which he received a regular fee of fifty cents for each inhabitant. He is said, also, to have charged a stated fee for every funeral, every marriage, and every baptism, which he was careful to have paid down before performing the rite. These emoluments, with such advantages as his property, influence, and superior education to those around him, enabled him to take in making bargains, soon rendered him opulent ; he engaged in naviga- tion ; took the lumber and wood of the illiterate Germans, always taking out his own demands from the proceeds, and liquidating the accounts in his own way. Many a poor man had to work a week for him, to pay for the annual loss of blood in himself and family ; and when any considerable sickness occurred, a sloop's hold full of wood went to pay the doctor's bill. As wealth increased, restraint was thrown off, and his vices appeared without a blush. He was very pro- fane, grew intemperate, and though a stirring preacher, grad- ually lost all influence as a minister ; which gave him little or no trouble. His preaching being wholly in German, and his people of the Lutheran church, he had little or no intercourse
* Jos. Ludwig, Esq. Capt. Sproul.
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with the other settlements in religious matters. The Rev. Alexander McLean, a man of education both clerical and medical, who was ten years later settled at Pemaquid, con- sidered him an ignoramus and a quack. He used to excuse his improper behavior by saying " when I have my plack coat on, den I am a minister, and you must do as I say ; but when I have my green coat on, den I am a toctor." We shall have occasion to speak of him again in the course of this work .*
In 1762 the saw-mill at Mill River was re-built by Hugh McLean, who had been up to this time one of the inhabitants of the upper town. After the peace he erected a house where that of S. Andrews now stands, and moved his family down, intending to continue his abode here ; but his wife, accustomed to wealth and the comforts of the older settle- ments in Massachusetts, could not reconcile herself to the pri- vations of a new country, the gloom of the surrounding forest, and the neighborhood of the still dreaded savages. She accordingly returned in the same vessel, without ever landing her furniture. Her husband continued to carry on business, supplying the inhabitants with groceries in exchange for their wood and bark. He also commenced shipbuilding about this time, at his, now Andrews's, Point ; but, business becoming dull and discouraging, he abandoned it after setting up the frame of one vessel, which remained on the stocks till it went to decay. His house was occupied first by Samuel Gilchrist who removed to the lower town, and secondly by Alexander Kelloch who lived there twelve years. The latter in 1764 took out license and sold liquor there, being the first licensed retailer within the limits of the town of Warren, as John McIntyre, licensed the same year, was the first innholder. McLean was an active man of business, and kept a sharp lookout for his own interest. At the same time he was ready to encourage others provided they showed any capacity for the acquisition of property. He strove hard to persuade his nephew, John Spear, who had now returned to the settlement and occupied the lot of his father Robert Spear, to join him in the erection of mills at the lower ripplings ; a measure which, had it been adopted, would have essentially varied the present features of the town of Warren. But he could not induce the cautious nephew to engage in so formidable an undertaking. Being always ready to trust, the less prudent
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