Gazetteer of the state of Maine, Part 5

Author: Varney, George J
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Boston Russell
Number of Pages: 648

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In 1604, De Monts, a Frenchman, came to Passamaquoddy Bay, and settled his company of about eighty on an island in the St. Croix River, now known as "Neutral Island." He had a patent from Henry IV. of France to the region between the fortieth and forty-sixth degrees of latitude, with no western boundary but the Pacific Ocean. This extensive territory bore the name of Acadia ; but its southern limits first slipped back to the Kennebec River, then to the Penobscot, and finally it lingers only as a historic or fanciful title for the Provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. During the winter, thirty-five of De Mont's colonists died ; and after a voyage along the coast as far as Cape Cod, he returned, and, together with another ship with colonists, founded Port Royal (now Annapolis) in Nova Scotia.

The next year the English government sent a fine vessel-" The Archangel "-to the coast of Maine. She was under the command of George Weymouth; and her special mission seemed to be to take pos- session of the country in the name of the king. It is stated that he set up crosses at Monhegan, and at other extreme points of his explora- tions. Sailing westward to the mainland, he entered a fine haven, which he named Pentecost Harbor. Here they planted peas, barley and other seeds, which was the first English planting in Maine. De Monts, the same season, had sown grain on Neutral Island ; so that the French may claim the honor of early cultivation at the border.

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Weymouth remained on the coast about a month, during which time he explored a river variously claimed to be the Penobscot, St. George's and Kennebec, ascending about sixty miles, and carried on some social intercourse with Indians, as well as trade. He ended his operations on our coast by kidnapping five natives, not to make slaves of them, but Christians. On his return he appears to have discovered the fishing ground at George's Banks, not known before.

In 1606, the " North and South Virginia Company " was formed in England for the purpose of colonization. Soon after, the territory covered by their patent was divided, the London members of the com- pany taking the southern portion and the south of England members, under the name of the Plymouth Company, taking the northern portion. The London Company in the following year sent a colony to Virginia, and this was followed the same year by the Plymouth Company's colony under Sir George Popham at Sagadahock. Their two ships were named the " Mary and John " and " The Gift of God." The company consisted of 120 persons, but it is not clear whether this included the crews of the vessels. They built their log huts, a chapel, and a fort enclosing a storehouse on the peninsula of Sabino,-now a part of the town of Phipsburg. A strong fort of stone, built by our national government, now occupies a prominent point of the peninsula. Various misadventures with the savages, the sickness and death of their president so discouraged the colonists, that when one of their vessels arrived from England in the spring all left the place.

In 1613, a French colony of about 25 persons settled on Mount Desert, but before their slight fort was completed, they were captured or driven off by Captain Argal, of the Virginia colony. The next notable visit to our shores was that of the famous Captain John Smith; who, with two vessels, spent the season of 1614 upon the New England coast, of which he afterwards made a map. Thomas Hunt, the master of one of the vessels, lingered behind and stole 27 savages, whom he sold to the Spaniards at Malaga.

Soon after Smith's visit the Indians were afflicted with a plague which carried off great numbers of them. An educated physician, Richard Vines, with a small vessel of Sir Ferdinand Gorges, spent the winter of 1616-17 at the mouth of the Saco River, often ministering to the suffering natives. In 1619, the coast was hastily visited by Captain Dermer, also in the employ of Gorges, who came to make peace with the natives ; who were justly incensed at the outrages of nearly every English ship which had visited them.

In December, 1620, the Pilgrims settled at Plymouth in Massa- chusetts; and in 1623 there was a well-established colony on the Saco River, settled by Vines. There appear, also, to have been some irreg- ular settlements at Monhegan and Pemaquid at about the same time. The first Indian deed executed in America appears to have been that given by Samoset, a Maine chieftain, to John Brown in 1625. It comprised the present towns of Bristol and Damariscotta.

In 1622 the Plymouth Company granted to Gorges and Mason, under the name " Laconia," the territories extending from the Kennebec to the Merrimac River, and westward to the great lakes. Of this, Gorges took the section north of the Piscataqua River for his portion ; and in this manner was originated the southern boundary of Maine, In 1627, the patent of the Massachusett's Bay Company was granted to a com-

THE STATE OF MAINE.

pany who proved to be rank Puritans. In 1629, The Plymouth Com- pany granted to the New Plymouth colony a tract of land 15 miles wide on each side of the Kennebec River, and extending from Swan Island to the great bend in the river near Norridgewock. In the same year grants were also made to the settlers on the Saco River. One patent was issued to Richard Vines and John Oldham, of a tract of 4 miles on the shore and 8 miles back from the river, on the southerly side ; and another to Thomas Lewis and John Bonython of a similar tract on the northerly side.

In 1630 the Lygonia Patent, sometimes called the " Plough Patent " was granted to a company who proposed to devote their energies to agriculture. The patent appears to have been granted under a mis- conception, as it interfered with the rights of Gorges and was the cause of much strife in the early years of the settlements. The terri- tory purporting to be conveyed, was 40 miles square, extending on the coast from the Kennebunk to Royal's River. In the same year the territory between Muscongus Bay and Medomac River was granted to some persons who had trading houses there. This was the Muscon- gus Patent, which, nearly a hundred years later, passed into the pos- session of the Waldo family, and thus became known as the " Waldo Patent." The Pemaquid Patent, issued in 1631, was the last issue by the Plymouth Company in Maine. It included the territories lying between the Medomac and Damariscotta rivers. West of this was the "Sheepscot plantation " in what is now the town of Newcastle.

In 1632 commenced the troubles with the French, which continued until the fall of Quebec, in 1759. The first act of hostility was the plunder of the Pilgrim's trading station on the Penobscot by a party of French fishermen who thought themselves excused from punishment for the outrage by the French claim to the territory. Another was the plunder of the trading vessel of Dixy Bull ; and this misfortune caused Bull to turn plunderer also. After robbing several small ves- sels he made an attack, in 1632, upon Pemaquid, but was beaten off without having secured much plunder. A force of four vessels from Massachusetts Bay and Piscataqua River was sent in pursuit of the marauder; but he had left the coast. He was subsequently executed in England.

In 1635 the Plymouth or New England Company was dissolved, and its territory was divided into twelve provinces, four of which fell within the present limits of Maine. The first, including the region between the Penobscot and St. Croix, was assigned to Sir William Alexander, and was named the County of Canada; the second lay between the Penobscot and Kennebec, and was given to the Duke of York, who soon named it the County of Cornwall ; the third embraced the territory between the Kennebec and Androscoggin ; the fourth division extended from the Androscoggin to the Pascataqua. Both the last were given to Sir Ferdinando Gorges, who named his province "New Somersetshire." In 1636 Gorges, nephew, William Gorges, came over as Governor; but he soon returned to England. Three years later, Gorges procured a charter from the King, giving him rights of government in his province. Its name he now changed to Maine,-whence we obtain the name of our State. In 1642 Gorges planned the capital city of his province, locating it on the York River. It had been known as the plantation of Agamenticus, but he now

GAZETTEER OF MAINE.

changed it to Gorgeana, extending its corporate jurisdiction over a tract of twenty-one square miles. It never had over three hundred inhabitants, and ten years later, it was changed to the town of York. Before long there were conflicts of title and of authority in Maine among so many different claimants. The French made good their claim to the territory east of the Penobscot by holding possession of it; and un dages' death those holding their territory under the Lygonia Patent contended with those who held under the several pitents of Gorges. The government of Cromwell during its sway, favore.l Rigby, the holder of the Lygonia Patent-and a Puritan- against Gorges, who was attached to the Church of England and the royal line. The Massachusetts Bay Government was frequently called upon for protection and adjudication of rights in Maine; and, on re- examining their charter, and making a new survey, the authorities found they could make a plausible claim of jurisdiction over New Hampshire and Maine as far as the Penobscot. This territory was therefore adopted as a part of the commonwealth, under the name of Yorkshire. In 1652, commissioners appointed by Massachusetts came into Maine, and set up her government with very little opposition. The militia of Maine was organized by the General Court, and magis- trates appointed; the people were admitted to suffrage, having the privilege of sending two delegates to the General Court.

Under the Puritan rule in England, the New England colonies, with the assistance of a few vessels and men sent by Cromwell, recov- ered from France the whole of Acadia,-by which term the French at this time designated eastern Maine, New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. In 1664, Charles II., who had now been called to the throne of Great Britain, made his brother, the Duke of York, Viceroy of New England. The Duke also induced his brother to give the portion of Maine lying between St. Croix and the Penobscot, in addition to that between the latter river and the Kennebec, which he held before. At the request of the Duke, the King appointed three commissioners to assist the deputy-governor, Colonel Richard Nichols, in settling the affairs of New England. When they appeared in Boston, the General Court rejected their authority. They then went to Maine, where in 1665, they overthrew the government of Massachusetts and set up one of their own. The King recalled the commissioners in the following year, and when Governor Nichols returned to England in 1668, Massachu- setts immediately took steps to revive her authority. In 1773, the Dutch recaptured New York, and Governor Lovelace, who had suc- ceeded Nichols, returned to England. There being now no superior authority to oppose, the authority of Massachusetts quickly changed the province of Maine back to the county of York and made the county of Cornwall into the county of Devonshire; and now Maine had three representatives in the General Court.

Then for a short time the settlements were peaceful and flourishing ; so that in the beginning of the year 1675, there were thirteen towns and plantations within the present limits of Maine, while the inhabitants numbered between five and six thousand souls. The Indian popula- tion at this time numbered about twelve thousand. In July 1675, King Philip's war broke out in Massachusetts ; and in September the tribes of Maine commenced hostilities. Their first warlike act was at the plantation of Thomas Purchas, in Pejepscot (Brunswick), which they

THE STATE OF MAINE.

plundered. They next fell upon the settlers at Falmouth, burning their buildings, and slaughtering the inhabitants with horrible barbarity. At Biddeford, houses were burned and Major Philip's garrison house, in which the inhabitants had taken refuge, was besieged ; but all succeeded in escaping to the settlement at Winter Harbor. Sixteen men from South Berwick on the way to succor the inhabitants on Saco River, were attacked by a large number of savages, and nine men from Winter Harbor who sought to join their friends, were ambushed and every man shot down. During this time, another band of savages attacked Newichawannock, secreting themselves in the vicinity several days, and effecting much slaughter upon incautious persons, and the armed parties who sought them. The hostilities of the first season lasted about three months, during which time eighty persons were killed by the savages, and several small settlements destroyed. The settlers now organized a considerable force for an attack upon the Indians in their winter quarters ; upon which a number of the sagamores appeared and made a treaty of peace with the English, and promised to restore captives. The winter wore on, but few captives were brought in; and fears of a renewal of the hostilities increased. There was good reason for it. Major Waldron, one of the Indian commissioners, was so imprudent as to issue general warrants by which any man holding the warrant could seize any Indian who might be accused of killing a white man. Several ship-masters secured warrants, and seized many Indians along the coast ; and carrying them to a foreign port, sold them for slaves. To pacify the Indians, Abraham Shurte and Captain Davis met the chiefs in council at Teconnet : The first was the noble and venerable chief magistrate at Pemaquid ; and such was the respect of the Indians for him, and such the good treatment they received from the settlers in his jurisdiction that not a hamlet was attacked during the first year of the war. At the council, the chiefs demanded that their brothers who had been stolen away, should be restored to them, and that the English should sell them food and ammunition for their hunting. These were reasonable requests, but the agents were unable to comply with them ; and the council broke up without profit. The death of King Philip, in August, 1676, which ended the war in Massachusetts, only increased the violence of the savages in Maine. The hostilities commenced by an attack upon Falmouth at about the time of Philip's death ; and this was followed in a few days by an attack upon Arrowsic. In a short time all the settlements east of Falmouth were swept away. The savages then swarmed about the few remaining settlements between Falmouth and Piscataqua, killing and burning whenever they found opportunity. As before, when the cold weather came on, the Indians retired to their winter quarters ; and as before, the settlers prepared to attack them ; but on marching against them, not an Indian could be found. In November, a noted Penobscot sagamore, named Mugg, came to Piscataqua, and desired to make a treaty. He promised that all acts of hostility should cease, that all English captives, vessels and goods should be restored, and that his tribe should buy ammunition only of those whom the governor should appoint, and that the Indians of Penobscot should take up arms against the Androscoggins and other eastern natives, if they persisted in the war. The only performance was the buying of ammunition when they could get it, and the restoration of some eighteen or twenty prisoners ; though the tribes must have had

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more than fifty. In February, 1677, majors Waldron and Frost with a hundred and fifty men made a voyage along the coast as far as Penob- scot, to see what the Indians were about, to obtain captives, and obtain renewed pledges. The expedition proved of no advantage. In March the savages began their destructions again, by killing nine of a party of English who visited Arrowsic for the purpose of burying the dead bodies of their countrymen of that place, killed the autumn before. Some of the Indians employed themselves in capturing the fishing vessels and islands, while others attacked at various times, nearly or quite all of the five settlements remaining in Maine-York, Wells, Kittery, Newichawannock and Winter Harbor. In the month of July the savages captured about twenty fishing vessels. When this warfare became known, a large armed vessel was sent to recapture them. Such as they found were abandoned, the Indians not having been able to manage them. The English now had more men in service, they had learned the Indian methods of fighting, and in several engage- ments the savages suffered severely ; in one, their great leader, Mugg, was killed. Discouraged by the failure of the naval project of capturing Boston, by their defeats, the loss of their leader, and their own exhaustion, the Indians now wished to close the war. Accordingly the next spring the Commissioners of Massachusetts and the sagamores of the Sokokis, Androscoggins and Canibas met at Casco (Portland) and made a treaty, whose terms were that all captives should be restored without ransom, and that the inhabitants should possess their lands on condition of paying to the natives a peck of corn annually for each family. In this war two hundred and sixty inhabitants of Maine were known to have been killed, or carried into captivity from which they never returned ; while more than half the settlements were laid waste.

In 1677 the Massachusetts Colony purchased the Province of Maine from the heirs of Gorges for the sum of £1,250 sterling. In 1680, a government was organized for the Province in conformity with the pro- visions of the charter. This government consisted of a Provincial President, chosen annually by the Massachusetts Board of Assistants, a standing Council of eight members, and a House of Deputies chosen by towns as in Massachusetts. The Council, appointed by the Board of Assistants, were the judges constituting the Supreme Court. The first president was Thomas Danforth, at that time Deputy Gover- nor of Massachusetts.

In 1687, Sir Edmund Andros, previously governor of New York, was appointed Governor of New England also. In making an eastern trip he visited and plundered the establishment of Baron Cas- tine at Biguyduce (now Castine), and bestowed liberal gifts upon the Indians whom he met to secure their good-will. Two months later the Indians commenced the hostilities of the first French and Indian war. The settlements destroyed in the first Indian war, but since re- occupied, were now assailed again, and much havoc was effected. Yet the inhabitants were now better prepared for the foe, many having dogs which gave notice of their approach, while the houses were more gen- erally constructed with a view to defense. Governor Andros still en- deavored to propitiate the tribes, but utterly failing of success he took another turn, and in November sent eight hundred men along the Maine coast. They suffered much, but were forced to return without seeing a single Indian. In the spring the Massachusetts people heard of the

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revolution in England, and seizing Andros, sent him home. With the warmer weather came also the renewed atrocities of the war; the de- structive raids of the French and their savage allies being now ex- tended along the whole interior line of New England settlements. In 1690, an expedition was sent against the French in Acadia, under Sir William Phips. Phips was a native of Woolwich in Maine, who by his good parts had risen to eminence. The expedition was entirely successful ; and another expedition being sent against Quebec, the French mostly withdrew from Maine. The Quebec expedition was unfortunate, and returned unsuccessful. The great expense induced the Massachusetts government for the first time to issue paper money for relief. Every town in Maine east of Wells had now been destroyed. While the Quebec expedition was in progress, Major Church, of Mas- sachusets, with a small force of militia, landed at Brunswick, and marching up the Androscoggin, captured the Indian fort at the great falls at Lewiston. There were few attacks from the Indians during the remainder of the season ; and at the last of November six Saga- mores met the Massachusetts Commissioners at Sagadahoc, surrendered a few prisoners and signed a truce. The latter was to be succeeded in May by a treaty; but instead, the savages were found to be preparing to renew the war. The French not coming to their aid they kept up through the season a skulking warfare about the settlements, destroy- ing cattle, burning buildings, and killing or taking captive lone indi- viduals-men, women and children. The next year the French joined them again ; and hostilities were resumed in a sudden attack upon York by two or three hundred savages led by Frenchmen. But the enemy could not prevail as formerly.

By the charter of William and Mary, Massachusetts, Plymouth, Sagadahoc and the Province of Maine, were united in one, under the name of "The Royal Province of Massachusetts Bay," and Sir William Phips was appointed its Governor by the King. Having an at- tachment to his native region, Phips determined to defend it; and during the season of 1692 he built a stone fort at Pemaquid. While this was in progress Church ascended the Penobscot to attack the Indian villages, but the savages retired from them before his arrival. Later, he ascended the Kenebec as far as Teconnet, having skirmishes with the savages at the latter place and near Swan Island. In the autumn, Iberville, the new French commander in Acadia, came to Pema- quid with a body of French and Indians, but when he saw the strength of the new fort he retired without making an attack. In the following spring Captain Converse, of Maine, was put in command of three hun- dred and fifty men. He built a stone fort at Saco, hunted the Indians of western Maine to the mountains, and in the other direction, scouted as far as Penobscot. Threatened by the Indians about the lakes, the French now withdrew their men to Canada; and early in August, 1693, thirteen Sagamores, representing all the tribes from the Saco to the St. Croix, came to Pemaquid and made a treaty of peace. French influence, however, prevented them from fulfilling the conditions ; and within a few weeks the war was in full tide again, in which the French now joined. In July, 1696, Iberville, with three ships of war, two companies of French soldiers, and two hundred and fifty Indians in canoes came against Pemaquid. He was now sup- plied with mortars and heavy guns; and the fort was finally obliged

GAZETTEER OF MAINE.

to capitulate. In the following month Church made an expedition to the Bay of Fundy (where the French were in power again), then as- cended the Penobscot; gaining nothing but a small spoil. The next year Major March was sent eastward with five hundred men, and had a fight with the Indians at Damariscotta.

Peace having been made between England and France by the treaty of Ryswick, a treaty was made with the Indians in 1699, at Mare (Sea) Point, in Brunswick. The war had lasted above ten years, and in that time about four hundred and fifty English had fallen, and two hundred and fifty been carried into captivity. It was during the early part of this war that the witchcraft delusion prevailed in Massachusetts; but Maine did not fall under this affliction.

Governor Phips died in 1694, and was succeeded by the Earl of Bellamont, who also died in 1703, and was succeeded by Joseph Dud- ley. Another war had now arisen between France and England, and Governor Dudley, to prevent the Indians from yielding to the influ- ence of the French, met the tribes at Falmouth in June, 1703. He was attended by several members of the legislature, and a guard of soldiers ; and the chiefs were attended by large numbers of their warriors, in their paint and feathers. The most impressive assurances of good will and peaceful purpose were made by the Indians; but before two months these same Indians with others fell suddenly upon the settle- ments in western Maine.

Their attack was unexpected, and resulted in great loss to the Eng- lish, three settlements being utterly destroyed. The savages, however, were at several places repulsed with heavy loss ; and late in the season Captain March, with three hundred men, made an attack upon the In- dians' stronghold at Pequaket (Fryeburg). Smaller parties also kept up the warfare on the enemy through the winter; and in the spring Colonel Church was sent along the coast eastward with five hundred men in transports. Church captured whatever French people he found on the Penobscot and at Passamaquoddy Bay, but Port Royal proved too strong for him, and he returned with about one hundred prisoners and much spoil. This expedition frightened the Indians back to their fastnesses about the heads of the rivers, and freed the settlements from their attacks, but not from the fear of them.

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Gazetteer of the state of Maine, Part 5

Author: Varney, George J Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Boston Russell Number of Pages: 648

Author: Varney, George J
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Boston Russell
Number of Pages: 648