USA > Maine > Cumberland County > Harpswell > History of Brunswick, Topsham, and Harpswell, Maine, including the ancient territory known as Pejepscot > Part 17
USA > Maine > Cumberland County > Brunswick > History of Brunswick, Topsham, and Harpswell, Maine, including the ancient territory known as Pejepscot > Part 17
USA > Maine > Sagadahoc County > Topsham > History of Brunswick, Topsham, and Harpswell, Maine, including the ancient territory known as Pejepscot > Part 17
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Captain John Snow, Paul Randall, and William Sylvester were chosen a Committee of Supply and Safety.
At a meeting held July 6th, Captain Nehemiah Curtis was selected to join with the committees of other towns in the county, for the pur- pose of distributing in the most important places the men who were stationed for a guard upon the sea-coast.
[1776.] At a meeting of the town held January 16, 1776, the selectmen were chosen a committee to embody in a petition to the General Court the necessity there was for an armed guard and a supply of ammunition in the town.
On March 4, William Sylvester, Nathaniel Purinton, Captain Nehe- miah Curtis, Captain John Snow, and Lieutenant Benjamin Dunning were chosen a Committee of Correspondence, Inspection, and Safety. At a meeting held May 6, the vote of the District in 1775, giving minute-men 2s. 8d. per week for meeting for military practice on three days in each week, for three hours each day, was rescinded. On July 30 it was voted that the selectmen should take charge of the ammunition and arms, receipt for the same, and then distribute them among the officers of the militia, who should be accountable for them. It was also voted to pay Nathaniel Purinton and the seven men who assisted him in bringing guns down the Kennebec River, 4s. each, for two days' labor. It was also voted to pay Deacon Isaac Snow 12s. for his expenses and charge in bringing twenty-five fire-arms from Falmouth. Andrew Dunning was, at this meeting, chosen to take recognizances in Harpswell. At a meeting held on December 20, the following resolutions were passed : -
" Voted the great & General Court or Assembly of this State Do Take up a Form of Government as Soon as they think Propper & that form that Shall tend most to Piety, Peace, Safety and Good Order in this State and agreeable to the Honourable Continental Congress -- the vote unanimus at a full Meeting.
" Voted the Selectmen Send to the General Court or Treasurer for Axes, Kittles, Canteens and Money to hire Waggons & Pay the Men that are Draughted their Milage to the Place of Destination."
[1777.] At the March meeting in 1777, Nathaniel Purinton, Captain John Snow, Captain Nehemiah Curtis, Ezekiel Curtis, and
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MUNICIPAL HISTORY OF HARPSWELL.
Andrew Dunning were chosen a Committee of Correspondence and Safety. It was also voted, "Not to Have a Hospetal Built in the County for an Enocolating Hospetal." It was also voted this year to pay Andrew Dunning 128. for superintending the delivery of pow- der and flints, and for recording the Declaration of Independence. On November 25, a committee was chosen to supply the families of soldiers with necessary articles.
[1778.] The entry of the May meeting in 1778 commences, " At a meeting of the Town of Harpswell." It is the first time that the records were thus commenced, heretofore the words "parish," "dis- trict," or " inhabitants" being used. Yet Harpswell must have been in ail respects a town prior to this, having in 1770 elected a represent- ative. At this meeting, Captain John Snow, Joseph Ewing, Benja- min Dunning, Ezekiel Curtis, Captain Thomas Merryman, Paul Randall, and Alexander Ewing were chosen a Committee of Inspec- tion, Safety, and Supply. It was voted to raise £420 " for the rein- forcement of nine men now to be raised, and proportioned as hereafter mentioned, viz. to four men for the militia one hundred dollars per man. To five men for the Continental Army two hundred dollars per man." The selectmen were instructed to hire the money to pay the above bounties, and also the mileage of the soldiers.
At a meeting, held June 24, the town voted to purchase some cloth- ing which had been provided for the soldiers and also to raise the sum of £56 for the four men who had that day enlisted. At another meeting, held on the third of August, it was voted that the selectmen should pro- vide the town's proportion of clothing for the army, in accordance with the order of the General Court, passed the previous June, and that each article of clothing should be of the same price as previously, if of as good quality, and that it should be valued by the same committees.
[1779.] At the March meeting in 1779, Thomas Merryman, James Ridley, and Alexander Ewing were chosen a Committee of Cor- respondence, Inspection, Safety, and Supply. At a meeting, held July 2, it was voted that all the male inhabitants of Harpswell above the age of sixteen years should take the oath of allegiance to the United States. It was also voted to supply powder and balls from the town stock to such as might need them ; that the price of the powder should be £3, and of balls 15s. per pound. - each one being allowed half a pound of powder, and balls in proportion. It was also voted that Michael Curtis, Thomas Farr, Paul Randall, and John Blake should be a committee " to wait on the Justice to tender the oath of alle- giance to the United States," and that all males over the age of six-
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HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK, TOPSHAM, AND HARPSWELL."
teen years who refused to take that oath should be, disarmed. At a meeting held in August, it was voted to sell eight fire-arms, that had been recently purchased, at forty two and one half dollars each.
[1780.] At the March meeting in 1780, William Sylvester, Esquire, Captain Nehemiah Curtis, Paul Curtis, Thomas Farr, Cap- tain Isaac Snow, Lieutenant Anthony Coombs, and Simeon Hopkins were chosen a Committee of Correspondence, Inspection, and Safety. At the May meeting the town voted to raise £2,000 for expenses and £300 for support of the poor.
The proposed new constitution for the State of Massachusetts was read and considered article by article. It was amended "in Page 27th, last line, for the word Christian to have the word Protestant and in Page 33d - the House of Representatives to have a voice in the appointment of officer's for the Continental army." Thus amended, thirty voted in favor of, and one against it. At a meeting held in September, the town voted for governor, lieutenant-governor, and senator. John Hancock received fourteen votes as governor ; Sam- uel Adams eight, and James Bowdoin seven, as lieutenant-gov- ernor ; and John Lewis, fifteen as senator. This is the first record of a vote of this town for State officers.
At a meeting held October 23, a committee was chosen to procure beef for the army.
[1781.] On January 11, 1781, a committee was chosen to procure soldiers for the Continental army, and on the thirtieth of the month the town voted " to give Sixty Pounds L. M. Paid in the Old Way in hard money, Stock, Produce or Equal in other things as shall be agreed on by the Town and Persons Engageing."
At a subsequent meeting, held the third of February, the town voted that the above-named sum should be given as a bounty to each man that should enlist for three years as a soldier, and that it should be paid " by the tenth Day of May next, or as Many Midling Cows & Calfs as shall amount to the Sum at five Pounds for each Cow & Calf or Intrest for the same till Paid."
At a meeting held in March, the town voted that " the Pools [polls] & estates in the Town be Divided into ten classes as Near as may be to Pay the Bounty Given the ten Continental soldiers, the Assess- ors to assess the Inhabitants & Each Class to collect their Part & Pay to the Agents for the Soldiers according to Agreement." And that " the whole sum contained in the Notes Given the Soldiers be assessed except the Cows that were Promised at the three years end, the Town to be assessed for the money."
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MUNICIPAL HISTORY OF HARPSWELL.
At a meeting held in April, a Committee of Correspondence, Inspec- tion, and Safety was chosen as usual.
At a June meeting it was voted to raise thirty-five pounds for cur- rent expenses and fifteen pounds for the support of the poor, the money to be reckoned in silver dollars at six shillings each, or in other currency equivalent to silver.
In July the town voted to raise £50 in silver, or its equivalent, for the purchase of the beef called for by the General Court in its requisition of June 22.
On December 5, the town voted to pay twenty-two shillings per hundred-weight for the beef needed to fill the second and third requisi- tions, and to raise £16 for that purpose.
[1782.] In May, 1782, the town voted to relieve the tax collector of all responsibility for the counterfeit money he had received prior to July, 1781, upon his making oath to the facts. The usual Commit- tee of Correspondence, etc., was chosen this year.
[1783.] In March, of this year, the town voted to build two pounds, one to be erected on the neck and the other on the island.
In May, Nathaniel Purinton, Esquire, Lieutenant Anthony Coombs, Deacon Andrew Dunning, Benjamin Dunning, and Lieutenant Michael Curtis were chosen a Committee of Inspection, "on account of the Return of the Absentees."
[1785.] In March, 1785, the town voted to rent a workhouse, also to pay for labor on the highways the following rates : 4s. per day per man, 2s. for oxen, 8d. for a cart, and 1s. for a plough.
[1787.] On January 8, 1787, the town voted in favor of the three eastern counties being made a separate State, and Captain Isaac Snow was elected to represent the town at the convention to be held at Portland on the last Wednesday in January.
On December 10, Captain Isaac Snow was elected a delegate to attend the convention to be held at Boston on the second Wednesday of the succeeding January, and a committee was chosen to give liim instructions. On the twenty-eighth of the month the town met to hear the instructions which the committee had prepared, and it was at this meeting voted to "except [accept] the federal Constitution with Amendments." This vote explains the object of the convention for which the town had chosen a delegate.
[1792.] The town appears to have been very undecided as to the utility of a separation of the eastern counties from Massachusetts. In January it voted in favor of it and in May against it.
[1794 ] On August 11, 1794, it was voted " to give the men that
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HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK, TOPSHAM, AND HARPSWELL.
shall go on this detachment five dollars as a bounty if they are called for into service. Voted to make up to the men that shall List with the Continental Pay, twelve dollars per month for three months if they should be called into actual service." The object for which a detachment was made from the Harpswell company of militia has not been ascertained. It is evident, however, from the above vote, that it was of a national character.
In November of this year, Stephen Purinton, Johnson Stover, and Benjamin Dunning were chosen to make a survey and plan of the town, in accordance with the provisions of an Act of the General Court passed the preceding eighteenth of June.
[1795.] This year the town voted - thirty-eight to twelve - against a revision of the Constitution.
[1796.] In May of this year the town voted "That if any let his Ram go at Large between the first day of September and the Tenth Day of November he shall forfeit the Ram."
[1797.] On May 10, 1797. the town again voted against a sepa- ration of the District of Maine from the State of Massachusetts.
[1708.] At a meeting held October 15, 1798, the town voted against " the formation of a new county to be composed of the towns of Brunswick, Harpswell, Durham, Georgetown, Bath, Topsham, Bow- doin, Bowdoinham, Little River, Litchfield, Green, Lewiston, Wales, and Littleborough."
[1803.] In 1803 the town offered a bounty of four cents for each crow killed during that year.
[1805.] In 1805 it was voted that "if the Treasurer shall receive any bank bills that will not pass that the town will receipt for the same." This was a singular way to discountenance the counterfeiting of money.
[1810.] This town seems to have been remarkably lenient towards those who had been imposed upon by counterfeit, or bad money, for this year it was voted " to receive a three dollar bill of the Widow Sarah Haskell, on Vermont State Bank, said not to be good, and give her good money in lieu of the same, and voted that Paul Raymond have the bill and make sale of it to the best advantage."
[1812.] At the annual meeting in 1812, the town voted "that Peter Birthright [and his family] live on the premises where they are and the Selectmen supply them with necessarys."
A present of ten dollars was also voted to Samuel Clark. At a special meeting, held August 24th, Stephen Purinton and John Curtis were elected delegates to a County Convention to be held at Gray " to take
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MUNICIPAL HISTORY OF HARPSWELL.
measures to alleviate the miseries of war, and bring about a speedy and lasting peace." The selectmen, with Stephen Purinton and Marl- borough Sylvester, were chosen a Committee of Safety and Correspond- ence.
[1814.] At a meeting held July 25th, the town chose Stephen Purinton as an agent to go to Boston to receive Harpswell's quota of the State stock of arms and ammunition, provided that he could get them at the expense of the State and without cost to the town.
At a town meeting held the seventh of November, the selectmen were chosen a committee to receive into their care the arms and equipments for the town, and were authorized to dispose of the arms, one to a person, on sufficient security that those who received them would deliver them up when called for.
[1816.] In May, 1816, the town again voted against a separation from Massachusetts, and in September also, by a still stronger vote. At this latter meeting Reverend Samuel Eaton was chosen as delegate to the convention to be held at Brunswick on the last Monday in September.
[1817.] In 1817 the collectorship of taxes on the Great Island was struck off at auction to John Reed at five and a quarter cents, and that on the Neck to David Orr at four and a half cents on the dollar.
[1819.] In July, 1819, the town again voted against the separation of Maine, but at a meeting held in September, Stephen Purinton was elected delegate to the Portland convention, and on the sixth of December the town voted in favor of accepting the Constitution prepared by that convention.
UNDER STATE OF MAINE.
[1821.] At a meeting held February 25, 1821, the town voted to send a representative to the legislature for their proportionate part of the time, but objected to being classed for representation with any other town. At this meeting the town also voted against being set off from the county of Cumberland, and also against the formation of a new county. At a meeting held in May, it was voted " that Joseph Eaton shall purchase locks and hinges for the town chest, at the expense of the town."
[1822.] In 1822 the town's poor were, according to custom, set at vendue, but a vote was passed that those who bid them off should fur- nish them with suitable food and with tobacco, but should provide no clothing without the consent of the overseers of the poor. At a meeting of the town, held on December 21, a committee was chosen
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HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK, TOPSHAM, AND HARPSWELL.
to present to the legislature a remonstrance against the proposed division of Cumberland County. At this meeting the selectmen were instructed to remonstrate to the legislature "against the now extended limits of the jail yard in this county."1 The town also voted that the selectmen and town clerk should "instruct the repre- sentative in future events."
[1823.] In 1823 the town voted in favor of allowing the inhabi- tants of Great Island to be set off as a separate town.
[1825.] At the annual fall meeting this year, " it was motioned and seconded to take the minds of the people whether to send a rep- resentative or not, and the vote was not to send. The presiding selectman then told the people if there were any who wished to bring in their votes he should receive them." The result was that John Curtis had twenty-two votes, Paul Randall thirteen, and Peleg Curtis one vote.
[1826.] At the September meeting, in 1826, the town voted that the militia should be furnished with one quarter of a pound of powder for each man - made into blank cartridges - and that the commanders of companies should cause it to be expended in teaching the men pre- cision in firing. Luther Dana was, in November of this year, licensed " as a retailer of strong liquors to be spent out of his shop." This is the first license of the kind recorded in the town records.
[1827.] In 1827 the town voted to let the powder remain in the magazine, and to pay the militia money instead of rations ; also, to deliver to each non-commissioned officer and private - at the review inspection - one quarter of a pound of powder to be made into blank cartridges.
[1829.] In 1829 the town voted that the selectmen should grant licenses to sell intoxicating liquors to all suitable persons, who were vietuallers or retailers, that should apply for a license agreeably to the provisions of an Act passed in March of that year.
[1831.] On January 3, 1831, the town voted unanimously against the formation of a new county, if Harpswell was to be included in it.
On January 25, it was voted to petition the legislature not to class Harpswell with any other town for representation, but for it to author- ize the town to elect a representative for such a portion of time and at such period as should be equal to their portion of representation. The request was not granted.
1 Was this an exquisite bit of satire, implying that the jail was so insecure that the prisoners roamed all over the county ?
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MUNICIPAL HISTORY OF IIARPSWELL.
[1832.] On July 7, 1832, a law of March, 1832, relating to vacci- nation was read, and the town then voted to make no provision for vaccinating the inhabitants, and to raise no money for such a purpose. Peleg Curtis. Joseph Eaton, Levi L. Totman, Stephen Snow, and David Johnson, 2d, were chosen a Health Committee, and were instructed to use all reasonable means to prevent the introduction and spread of the cholera in that town.
[1834.] On February 15, 1834, the town voted, for a fourth time, against the formation of a new county, and still again at a meeting in September. It was also voted this year that no licenses should be granted to retailers, permitting them to sell liquor to be drank in their stores. The selectinen were authorized to grant permits for the taking of lobsters, and the next year (1835), they were instructed to grant a license to Captain John Smith, of Waterford, Connecticut, and com- pany, to take lobsters, - he not to employ more than six smacks, - and to none others, for the sum of one hundred dollars per year until the town ordered otherwise.
[1836.] An article in the warrant for the annual meeting of the town in 1836, for purchasing one or more hearses, was " passed over," and until the year 1877 there was no hearse in town.
[1837.] In March of this year the representative was instructed to favor the passage of an Act so that the town might receive its pro- portion of the surplus revenue. At a meeting, held the next April, Benjamin Randall was chosen an agent to receive the town's propor- tion of the surplus revenue, and it was voted to have this money loaned to the citizens, and a committee was chosen to superintend the loan. It was also, at this meeting, voted that the overseers of the poor should try to remove all negroes from the town. This action inay have been due to antipathy against the race, but it was more probably because the negroes were all paupers. The town, also, this year, voted almost unanimously against an amendment to the State Constitution relative to bail.
[1838.] This year the town voted that the surplus revenue money should be divided among the citizens, per capita, as soon as it could be collected. Paul Randall was chosen an agent to collect and distrib- ute it, and he was authorized to collect it " in Union Bank bills and small change."
[1839.] The town this year voted against a proposed amendment to the State Constitution, relating to the tenure of judicial officers.
[1840.] At the regular meeting this year a committee was appointed to consider and report concerning the annual value of the
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HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK, TOPSHAM, AND HARPSWELL.
lobster privilege. They reported that it was worth one hundred and ten dollars per year, and the town voted to lease it at that price.
[1841.] The town, this year, voted in favor of a resolve of the legislature, passed in April, which reduced the number of repre- sentatives to one hundred and fifty-one. Also, in favor of diminish- ing the number of representatives when they reached two hundred. The town, this year, again petitioned the legislature not to class Harpswell with any other town, but to assign its proportion of rep- resentation.
[1843.] A committee was chosen, this year, to ascertain where land could be purchased for an almshouse.
[1844.] The town, in 1844, voted very strongly against a resolve of the legislature for amending the Constitution, which was passed March 19, and it also voted unanimously against an Act to estab- lish town courts, which was passed by the legislature, March 22.
[1845.] In February, 1845, a committee was chosen to petition the legislature for a separate representation. Several meetings were held in the winter and spring of this year, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Samuel Mayall, the representative to the legisla- ture. There was no choice, as this town voted each time for a Harpswell man instead of one from Gray, the town with which it was classed in representation. The town this year purchased land and built a house - which it still owns -on Lamboe's Point, for Thomas J. Pennell and family, who had lately removed from Gray. Pennell was a poor man, but able-bodied, and the town furnished this assist- ance as a precautionary measure to keep him from becoming a pauper.
[1846.] This year the town had the same trouble as the year before in regard to electing a representative.
[1847.] The town in 1847 voted against a resolve of the legisla- ture which provided for the election of representatives to the legislature by a plurality vote ; also, against an Act pledging the credit of the State and creating a State debt.
[1851.] In 1851 the town again petitioned for a separate repre- sentation in the State legislature.
[1852.] In 1852 the selectmen were instructed to appoint an agent to sell liquors.
[1853.] At a special meeting, held on February 26, 1853, the town was found to be unanimously opposed to Harpswell being set off' from Cumberland and annexed to another county, and it was voted to remonstrate against all petitions for new counties that in- cluded Harpswell.
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MUNICIPAL HISTORY OF HIARPSWELL.
[1855.] In March of this year the town voted not to dispense with a liquor agency, but that if the selectmen should appoint an agent they should buy the liquor and pay him a reasonable compensa- tion for selling it, the town receiving the profits thereof. In September the town voted against certain proposed amendments to the State Constitution, by which judges of probate, registers of probate, sher- iffs, municipal and police judges, land-agent, attorney-general, and adjutant-general should be elected by the people.
[1856.] In March, 1856, the selectmen were instructed to see if the old meeting-house could be obtained of the proprietors, and in September the town voted to buy it for a town-house, for one hundred dollars, the price being that fixed by the proprietors.
[1857.] The selectmen were instructed in 1857 to remove the body pews in the town-house, build a chimney, provide wood, etc.
[1858.] At a special meeting, held in May of this year, the town voted unanimously in favor of the prohibitory law ; fifty-nine votes being cast.
[1859.] The town in 1859 voted against State aid to the " Aroos- took Railroad Company." It was also voted that the selectmen should take counsel in reference to some disputed islands adjacent to Harpswell, and should report as to the probability of the town's being able to deny them. The representative to the legislature was instructed to use all means in his power to reduce the expenses of the State government.
[1861.] In 1861 the town voted to petition the legislature for a separate representation for the term of ten years. The request was not granted.
The town records, subsequently to the last date, contain nothing of general interest, except what relates to the enlistment of volunteers and the support of their families, which will be mentioned in another connection, until 1865.
[1865.] At a meeting. held April 8, of this year, it was voted to raise $2,500 to purchase a town farm. Charles Stover, Paul C. Alexander, and Paul A. Durgan were chosen to hire the money and were instructed to hire it on town bonds, running fifteen years. This vote, however, was evidently never carried into effect.
[1866.] At the annual meeting in 1866 the town voted to leave the poor in the care of the overseers. It was also voted to raise $1,500 for the support of the poor.
[1867.] In 1867 the selectmen were authorized and instructed to have a room finished in the gallery of the town-house for an office, 12
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