USA > Maine > Cumberland County > Harpswell > History of Brunswick, Topsham, and Harpswell, Maine, including the ancient territory known as Pejepscot > Part 18
USA > Maine > Cumberland County > Brunswick > History of Brunswick, Topsham, and Harpswell, Maine, including the ancient territory known as Pejepscot > Part 18
USA > Maine > Sagadahoc County > Topsham > History of Brunswick, Topsham, and Harpswell, Maine, including the ancient territory known as Pejepscot > Part 18
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83 | Part 84 | Part 85 | Part 86 | Part 87 | Part 88 | Part 89 | Part 90
178 HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK, TOPSIIAM, AND HARPSWELL.
and also to build a chimney and procure a stove, and to have the building shingled. At a meeting held June 3d, the town voted unani- mously in favor of an Act of the legislature for the suppression of drinking-houses and tippling-shops.
[1869.] At the annual meeting this year it was voted to buy a town farm, and L. H. Stover, William C. Eaton, and S. S. Toothaker were chosen a committee to get proposals, and were instructed to report at a meeting to be called for the purpose. The committee reported on the twenty-fourth of April, and the town voted to raise $3,000 by loan to purchase a farm, and the selectmen were instructed (if in their judgment the interests of the town required the purchase of a town farm) to purchase such a farm as they should think proper, and make the necessary repairs on the same.
[1870.] At the annual meeting in 1870, the town voted to leave the care of the poor with the overseers, and also to raise $1,500 for their support. The town also voted " that the treasurer be instructed to keep the State bonds arising from equalization in his own house."
[1871.] On January 14, 1871, the town voted that the selectmen and overseers of the poor " be and are hereby instructed to build a new barn for James Alexander in place of the one destroyed by fire, and that they furnish him with hay and sufficient farming tools, using their discretion in the matter."
The town also passed the following resolve : -
" That in our candid judgment the burning of the barn of James Alexander, 2d, and the maiming of his cattle in the night-time by some person or persons unknown, is an outrage upon a peaceable com- munity which demands the most vigorous efforts to detect and convict the perpetrator, as no person is safe in his person or property in a community containing at large such a person.
" Therefore, Resolved, That, the selectmen be authorized and in- structed and are hereby required to make diligent search to appre- hend and convict the offender, using their discretion as to the methods to be taken to produce that result."
The selectmen were also instructed to oppose the repeal of the Porgie Law, before the Committee on Fisheries at Augusta.
At a meeting held February 6th, the following preamble and resolu- tion were passed by unanimous vote : -
" Whereas the location of our town of Harpswell is so isolated and is so far removed from any town not entitled to a representative, that it would be very inconvenient, and of no benefit to have it classed for representation.
179
MUNICIPAL HISTORY OF HARPSWELL.
" Therefore, Resolved, That we in our corporate capacity, agreeable to the requirements of the constitution of Maine, do hereby determine against a classification with any other town or plantation, and we do hereby instruct the town clerk to forward a copy of this resolution to the speaker of the House of Representatives, praying that the legisla- ture may authorize the town of Harpswell to elect a representative for such portion of time and such periods as shall be equal to its por- tion of representation."
The prayer was not granted, however, and Harpswell still continues to be a classed town.
At the annual meeting this year, the town voted that the selectmen " be authorized to purchase a town farm the present year and to hire money for the purpose." This vote, however, was never carried into effect.
[1873.] At a meeting held in October, 1873, the town voted to exempt from taxation for six years the property located and the capi- tal invested in Harpswell, of S. F. Perley and twenty-five others, who were associated for the manufacture of superphosphates, bone, plaster, fertilizers, and acids.
The important doings of the town not already mentioned will be found incorporated in other chapters.
180
HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK, TOPSHAM, AND HARPSWELL.
CHAPTER IV.
MUNICIPAL HISTORY OF TOPSHAM.
THE town of Topsham first received its name, legally, in the year 1717, when a vote passed in the House of Representatives of the Com- monwealth of Massachusetts, "That the other Town Plotted In a square of a Mile to ye eastward of Androscoggin River fronting to Merrimeeting Bay be allowed and accepted by the name of Topsham and be Plotted & Laid out the quantity of Six miles Square as the Land will allow." 1 . This tract of land was mainly settled by English emigrants, the greater number of whom are supposed to have come from the town of Topsham, England, and to have named the place in memory of their former home. The situation of the place on the bank of a river may possibly have given it, to the minds of its founders, a fancied resemblance to its English namesake.
The settlement of the town under the Pejepscot proprietors has already been given in previous chapters. No records of any municipal doings of the inhabitants previous to the incorporation of the town have been preserved, if, indeed, there ever were such.
UNDER THE COMMONWEALTH OF MASSACHUSETTS.
[1764.] The municipal history of the town commences, therefore, with its incorporation in January, 1764. The petition for an Act of Incorporation was as follows : - 1
" PROVINCE OF THE MASSA BAY.
" TO HIS EXCELLENCY FRANCIS BARNARD ESQ GOVR & COMMANDER IN CHIEF OF SAID PROVINCE, THE HONBLK HIS MAJESTYS COUNCILL AND THE HONBLE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES IN GENERAL COURT ASSEM- BLED, DEC. 21, 1763.
"THE PETITION OF THE INHABITANTS OF THE SETTLEMENT OF TOPSHAM IN THE COUNTY OF LINCOLN.
MOST HUMBLY SHEWETH.
" That from the Year 1715 under the Sanction & approbation of this Honoured court the Settlement of said Place was projected at the
1 Massachusetts Records, 1717.
181
MUNICIPAL HISTORY OF TOPSHIAM.
Desire & Expense of the Pejepscot Proprietors under whose Right the said Inhabitants originally settled & so continue to this present time : That we always have been and still are an Exposed Frontier & have greatly suffered by the Indian Enemy Nevertheless by the Divine Favour have maintained said Settlement under the Protection of this Goverment and there are at this time to the number of thirty five families who are desirous of being incorporated that so they may be enabled to have the Gospell setled among them having already erected a Frame for the Meeting house in said Place ; also that they may be qualified to transact their Affairs among themselves necessary to their better Settlement in Town Order the said Inhabitants having laboured under many Inconveniences on these Accounts and by their Situation have been Subjected to be taxed by the Town of Brunswick on which account they have had Just Cause to think themselves no so fairly treated by them.
" Therefore your Petitioners most humbly entreat this Honourd Court would be pleased to incorporate them into a Township or District that they may be entitled to the Advantages & Priviledges other Towns enjoy by virtue of the Royall Charter and that the said present Settlement may thrive & flourish under the encouragement & Protection of this Hond Court, And your Petitioners as in Duty bound shall ever pray.
" ADAM HUNTER
WILLIAM THORNE JAMES BEVERIDGE
EZRA RANDALL WILLIAM REED JUNR
CHARLES ROBINSON JOHN REED WILLIAM REED DAVID REED JOHN ORR
JOIIN PATTEN
SAM" WINCHELL
SAM" STAPLES
JOHN WINCHELL
STEPHEN STAPLES
JOSEPH GRAVES
JOHNSON GRAVES
SAMUEL GRAVES
ARCHIBALD MOFFATT GOWEN FULTON
JAMES MUSTARD
JAMES WORK
EBEN' WORK
JAMES HUNTER W. HUNTER JAMES FULTON
ROBERT FULTON JOHN FULTON W* PATTEN " 1
1 Pejepscot Papers.
182
HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK, TOPSHAM, AND HARPSWELL.
In accordance with this petition, Topsham was duly incorporated in 1764. The following is a copy of the Act of Incorporation : -
"ANNO REGNI REGIS . GEORGII III TERTIO QUARTO, 1764.
"TOPSHAM A TOWNSHIP.
"AN ACT
for erecting a Town in the County of Lincoln by the Name of Topsham.
" WHEREAS the Inhabitants settled on a Tract of Land sit- uate on the easterly Side of Androscoggin River, lying convenient for a Town, hitherto culied und known by the name of Topsham, within the County of Lincoln, have Preamble.
humbly petitioned this Court, that for the Reasons there- in mentioned, they may be Incorporated into a Town, and vested with the Powers and Authorities belonging to other Towns.
Therefore for the Encouragement of said Settlement :
"BE IT ENACTED BY HIS EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR, Bounds of COUNCIL AND HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES IN GENERAL Topsham.
COURT ASSEMBLED.
" That the Said Tract of Land described as follows, viz. to begin upon the Southerly Line of the Town of Bowdoinhum, where Said Line strikes the Water, and from thence to run a West Northwest Course upon said Bowdoinham Line, as far as it goes, and from thence on the same Streight Course to Little River so called, which is about eight Miles from the Water aforesaid, and from thence South- wardly down said Little River to Androscoggin River, and down said Androscoggin River to Merry-meeting Bay, and from thence to the Line of Bowdoinham aforesaid, including several small Islands or Islets lying in said Androscoggin River, between the Said Little River and the Falls at Brunswick Fort, be, and hereby is erected into a Town to be called Topsham, and the Inhabitants thereof shall have and enjoy all such Immunities and Priviledges as other Towns in this Province have and do by Law enjoy.
" AND BE IT FURTHER ENACTED, That Aaron Hinkley, First meeting Esq. be and hereby is empowered to issue his Warrant how to be called. to some principal Inhabitant of the said Town of Topsham, requiring him in his Majesty's Name to warn and notify the said Inhabitants
183
MUNICIPAL HISTORY OF TOPSHAM.
qualified to vote in Town Affairs, to meet together at such Time and Place in Said Town as shall be appointed in said Warrant, to chuse such Officers as the Law directs and may be necessary to manage the Affairs of Said Town ; and the Inhabitants being so met shall be and hereby are impowered to Chuse such Officers accordingly."1
The first town meeting was held May 9, 1764. In accordance with the Act of Incorporation, the warrant for this meeting was issued by Aaron Hinkley, of Brunswick, a justice of the peace, and was addressed to Adam Hunter. The following officers were elected at this meeting, viz. : -
Gowen Fulton, moderator ; William Thorne, clerk ; Adam Hunter, treasurer ; John Fulton, John Read, and John Merrill, selectmen ; Hugh Wilson, constable ; David Reed, Paul Randall, and Samuel Wilson, surveyors of highways; James Work and Thomas Wilson, tithing-men ; Ezra Randall and William Wilson, fence-viewers ; Robert Gore, sealer of leather ; James Beverage and William Alexan- der, hog constables : Stephen Staples and John Winchell, surveyors of boards, at Cathance ; John Merrill and William Wilson, surveyors of boards ; Samuel Staples, pound-keeper ; James Mustard, field-driver ; James Hendry (? ), surveyor of staves, shingles, and hoop poles ; Adam Hunter, sealer of weights and measures ; James Hunter and Robert Gore, wardens.
At a meeting, held June 2, Thomas Wilson, Adam Hunter, John Reed. John Fulton, and John Merrill were chosen a committee to lay out the highways and roads through the town. The town at this meeting voted to raise £34 138. 4d. as a contingent fund. There is no record to be found of any meetings of the town in 1765.
[1766.] At a meeting of the town, held May 8, 1766, Mr. Wil- liam Patten was chosen to prefer a petition to the General Court "in order to get Kate Hance Point annexed to Topsham, and likewise all the islands in Brunswick River, below the falls."
[1767.] The above-mentioned petition was presented to the House of Representatives, and in 1767 the committee to which it was referred reported in favor of its dismissal, and it was dismissed.2
At a town meeting, held in July of this year, it was voted to allow men 38. per day for work on the highways, and 2s. per day for each yoke of oxen.
[1769.] In 1769 Messrs. John Patten, William Patten, Robert
1 Topsham Town Records.
2 Massachusetts Records, Vol. 26, 1767, p. 49.
184
HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK, TOPSHAM, AND HARPSWELL.
Fulton, and Robert Patten, inhabitants of Cathance Point in the town of Bowdoinham, presented a petition to the General Court, asking to be set off from Bowdoinham and annexed to Topsham. The petition was considered by the General Court, and an order issued that the petitioners should notify the town of Bowdoinham that they might show cause at the next session of the Court why the prayer of the petitioners should not be granted.1
At the March meeting of the town, this year, James Potter, Jr., was chosen " to go to the General Court to get Cow Island, together with all the islands in the Narrows, annexed to Topsham."
[1771.] On the petition from Topsham it was ordered, in 1771, that the petitioners should notify the town of Brunswick that their petition was revived, in order that the agents of that town might be on hand at the next session of the Court.2
At the May meeting, this year, the town requested Mr. John Merrill to draw up a memorial to the General Court, asking to have the line determined between Brunswick and Topsham.
[1774.] At a meeting of the town, held November 19, 1774, it was unanimously voted that the town would stand by what the Continental and Provincial Congresses had done.
[1775.] At a town meeting, held April 30, 1775, Robert Gower and William Randall were chosen a committee to meet the committees of other towns at Pownalborough on the second of May, to represent the town of Topsham, as to the matter of provisions and ammuni- tion, and to consider the method of furnishing the same.
The selectmen having petitioned the General Court for a supply of powder, that body passed a resolve to the effect that Topsham, being a seaport place in the eastern part of the colony, and much exposed to the attacks of the Indians, therefore it was recommended to the select- men of Wrentham, Massachusetts, to furnish the town with one half barrel of gunpowder at the expense of the colony.3
[1776.] The town, at its March meeting this year, instructed the selectmen to petition the General Court to take off the provincial tax, "till the trade is opened." At this meeting James Potter, Junior, David Reed, James Fulton, John Merrill, and Robert Hunter were chosen a Committee of Inspection, Safety, and Correspondence.
At a meeting held June 12th, the selectmen were authorized to hire £30, lawful money, to furnish the town with a stock of powder. In
1 Massachusetts Records, Vol. 28, 1769, p. 144.
2 Massachusetts Records, Vol. 29, 1771, p. 257.
8 Massachusetts Records, Vol. 31, 1775, p. 212.
185
MUNICIPAL HISTORY OF TOPSHAM.
December, the town voted to keep this powder at Captain James Mustard's and at Captain Actor Patten's.
[1777.] At the annual meeting of the town in March, 1777, a new Committee of Safety, etc., was chosen, consisting of Joseph Graves, David Robinson, Joseph Foster, James Purinton, and Pelatiah Haley. At another meeting, held the latter part of this same month, it was voted to petition the General Court for anthority to collect the " Province Taxes" for 1776. Also, to send an agent to meet with other committees in other towns of the county, to regulate the prices of goods, etc.
[1778.] At the May meeting in 1778, the number voting against the constitution of the government, as it then was, was nineteen. and there were none in favor of it. The small number voting may possibly be due to a bad state of the weather and a consequently thin attendance, rather than to indifference. This vote was in reference to the ratification of the first Constitution of Massachusetts. 1
A good deal of doubt was felt in town about this time in regard to the legality of a number of previous meetings. in consequence of there having been a neglect on the part of the constables to make a regular return on the warrants for holding these meetings. The matter was laid before the General Court in a petition. The General Court accordingly passed a resolve this year, " That none of the proceedings of said meetings or of any town meetings since March, 1776, shall be considered as invalid on account of the irregularity of the said returns, or neglect in recording the same." 2
[1779.] In March, 1779, the town requested John Merrill, Esquire, to furnish a plan of the whole township. At a meeting held in July, the town voted to procure the number of shoes, stockings, and shirts which the General Court called for, for the use of the army.
[1780.] At the annual meeting in 1780, the town voted to give fifty dollars a pair for the shoes referred to above, sixty dollars a pair for the shirts, and forty dollars a pair for the stockings. The town at this meeting appropriated £1,600 for highways, and voted to pay twenty dollars per day for work on the same. £1,000 was also appro- priated for current expenses.
At a meeting of the town held November 20, the seleetmen were instructed to inform the General Court that the beef called for by them 3 could not be obtained without great difficulty.
1 Bancroft, History of United States, 9, p 260.
2 Massachusetts Records Vol 38, 1778, p. 674.
8 Each town was required to furnish its proportion of beef, etc , for the support of the Massachusetts army.
186
HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK, TOPSHAM, AND HARPSWELL.
[1781.] At a special meeting, held February 6, 1781, the town voted to postpone getting the beef referred to above, " until further orders." At this meeting a committee was chosen to procure the enlistment of seven men for the army, as required by the General Court. At the April meeting, Actor Patten, Lieutenant David Reed, and John Rogers were chosen a Committee of Correspondence and Safety. At a meeting held in May, the selectmen were directed to purchase the cows " promised to the Continental soldiers." The town also, at this meeting, voted that if the General Court had released or would release this county from sending its quota of men to the Con- tinental Army, in that case the selectmen would "settle with the soldiers for this town as they think proper." The town also voted to raise £486, hard money, or cows with calf or with calves by their side, - cows to be reckoned equivalent to eight pounds each,-or £3,000 in paper-money.
At a meeting held the July following, it was voted to petition the General Court to release the town from providing the beef called for by them.
[1782.] At a meeting held January 14, 1782, the town voted to petition the General Court in regard to the difficulty they experienced in paying their taxes, and to employ William Lithgow, Esquire, of Boston, to speak in favor of the petition. In March, John Merrill and William Wilson were chosen a committee to petition the General Court in regard to the people at Little River settlement refusing to pay their taxes. Probably the settlement at Little River was an " adjacent " of Topsham.
At a meeting of the town, held on the last day of August, Captain George White was chosen delegate to a convention to be held at Wiscasset, to consider the question of a separation of the District of Maine from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.
[1783.] At the March meeting in 1783 it was voted to rate the islands below the Falls to the town of Topsham. The wolves must have been committing depredations about this time, as at this meet- ing a bounty of 40s. per head was offered for all that were killed. At a meeting held in May, the town voted to comply with the resolve of the town of Boston, in regard to permitting absent refugees to return. Captain David Reed, John Winchell, and Robert Alexander were chosen a Committee of Correspondence and Safety, this year.
[1784.] William Reed, Ezekiel Thompson, and John Rogers were chosen a Committee of Correspondence and Safety for 1784.
[1785.] William Randall, Actor Patten, and Joseph Berry were
--
187
MUNICIPAL HISTORY OF TOPSHAM.
the Committee of Correspondence, Inspection, and Safety for the year 1785. At a meeting held in November of this year, Samuel Thomp- son was chosen a delegate to a convention to be held at Falmouth, to consider as to the advisability of having the eastern counties made into a new State. The town at this time voted to petition the Gen- eral Court to relieve them, wholly or in part, of their taxes, then due, or about to become due, on account of " the great loss the town had sustained by the late great freshet." It was, also, at this meeting, resolved, " that the former petition sent to the General Court, with regard to the islands in the Androscoggin River being annexed to Topsham," was agreeable to the present wishes of the town.
The General Court this year, on the petition of the inhabitants of Topsham with regard to the islands before mentioned, ordered that the petitioners serve the town of Brunswick with an attested copy of their petition. and of this order, twenty days before the second Wednesday of the next session of the Court.1
On the petition for an abatement of taxes, the General Court so far granted the request as to direct the treasurer of the Commonwealth to credit the town of Topsham with the sum of £126 6s. 2d. on the sec -. ond tax set on the town in the year 1780.2
[1786.] At the annual town meeting in 1786, Samuel Thompson was chosen a delegate to the convention to be held at Falmouth on the first Wednesday of the following September. The question as to whether the District of Maine should be separated from Massachusetts was brought before the people in November, and this town voted in favor of a separation.
[1787.] At the annual meeting in 1787, the selectmen were directed to see that the town was provided with a stock of powder and ammunition, as provided by law. They were also directed to join in a petition of the people of Cathance in regard to having Cat- hance Neck annexed to Topsham. At this meeting a committee was chosen to take care of the fishery, agreeable to an act of the General Court in 1780, providing for its protection.3 At a meeting held Sep- tember 29, it was voted to petition the General Court " to consider us with regard to our deficiency in not [?] paying our taxes." At a meeting held the last day of the year, the town voted "against the constitution," and Samuel Thompson was chosen a delegate to a con- vention to be held at Boston. 4
1 Massachusetts Records, Vol 46, 1785, p. 97.
8 Massachusetts Records, Vol. 48, p. 472.
2 Ibid., p. 534.
4 See p. 132.
188
HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK, TOPSHAM, AND HARPSWELL.
[1788.] On March 29, 1788, the General Court decided, on the petition of John Patten and others, of Bowdoinham, and of the town of Topsham, that Patten's Point, so called, be set off from the town of Bowdoinham, and annexed to the town of Topsham.1
At the May meeting, 1788, the selectmen were instructed to employ some person as agent to discharge the beef tax then standing against the town, and to authorize him to draw the money out of the town treasury. The town at this meeting voted that an application should be made to the General Court for an act to stop the catching of sahnon by dip-nets and seines, and to prevent the building of weirs. Samuel Thompson was elected representative to the General Court, but was instructed not to attend its next session without orders from the selectmen. Another petition was also ordered to be sent to the General Court, in regard to the deficiency in taxes. At a meeting held in December the town gave its consent to the building of a boom from .Mason's Rock to Ferry Point,2 and fixed a scale of prices to be paid the owners of the boom, for stopping masts, bowsprits, logs, etc.
[1791.] In 1791 the representative was instructed not to attend the session of the General Court except so ordered by the authorities of the town, unless at his own expense. The town this year voted in favor of a separation of the District of Maine from Massachusetts. The town also voted against the proposed plan of cutting a canal from the Carrying-Place in Brunswick to Maquoit. But one person voted in favor of this project, while there were fifty voting in the negative. The town also voted to raise this year one half of the money allowed by the General Court for the damages caused by the great freshet of 1785. The excessive depreciation of the old paper currency at this time is shown by the instructions given to the selectmen, which were to the effect that they should take the paper-money belonging to the town and sell it as best they could, but not for a less price than seven dollars, current money, for $1,000 of the old.
[1792.] In 1792 the town voted to distribute, among the sufferers by the great freshet of 1785, one half of the money allowed by the General Court for this purpose. At the May meeting the town again voted in favor of a separation of the District from the Commonwealth. In November the town cast its vote in favor of Samuel Thompson · as a Presidential elector. In the list of votes for Presidential electors,
1 Massachusetts Special Laws, Vol. 1, p. 194.
2 Ferry Point, the point of lund at the Topsham end of the iron bridge. Before the toll-bridge was built, there was a ferry from this point to the landing in Brunswick below Mason's Rock, hence its name.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.