USA > Maine > Cumberland County > Harpswell > History of Brunswick, Topsham, and Harpswell, Maine, including the ancient territory known as Pejepscot > Part 28
USA > Maine > Cumberland County > Brunswick > History of Brunswick, Topsham, and Harpswell, Maine, including the ancient territory known as Pejepscot > Part 28
USA > Maine > Sagadahoc County > Topsham > History of Brunswick, Topsham, and Harpswell, Maine, including the ancient territory known as Pejepscot > Part 28
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when there was no justice of the peace, or other magistrate, to give sentence. Petty crimes, in which the damage did not exceed forty shillings, came under their cognizance. No account has been pre- served of any stocks or whipping-post in Topsham. The only refer- ence in regard to Harpswell is the indictment of that town, in the April term of the Court of Sessions for 1769, " for not being supplied with stocks against the Peace of the Lord, the King and the law of the Province." The selectmen appeared, and after a full hearing, the attorney for the king decided he would not further prosecute. Possi- bly the selectmen promised to provide these necessary instruments of correction thereafter.
Frequent allusion is, however, made to the stocks in the Brunswick records. In the latter town they are said to have stood a short dis- tance back of the old west meeting-house.
The whipping-post was about a foot square, sharpened at the top like a picket, and the sharpened part was painted red.
At the time stocks and whipping-posts were used, many towns had also a ducking-stool, and at one time all towns in Massachusetts were, by law, required to have one. No account, however, has been found of any in this vicinity. This implement of punishment consisted of an upright post, with a cross-piece, from which was suspended a seat. The arm could be swung out over the water, and the occupant of the seat could thus be easily ducked. It was used more especially for the punishment of scolding wives.
The following description of the stocks actually used in Brunswick is from the pen of a former minister of Harpswell : "They consisted of two upright posts of oak, set in foot-pieces of the same material, and strongly braced. Between them was secured a thick plank, set on one edge, rising up a short dis- tance from the ground. The posts above this were grooved, and in these another plank was inserted, which could be raised or lowered. In the lower edge of this were arched holes, just large enough to fit a per- son's legs above the ankle. In the top edge of this plank were hollows to receive the wrists, while another came down upon it to secure them. The criminal was made to sit on the ground and place his legs in the hollows of the lower plank, when the upper one was let down by the constable, and locked with a key, as a door. Sometimes this was the only punishment ; at other times both hands and feet were put in,
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when the officer, putting the key in his pocket, left the prisoner exposed to sun, wind, and rain." 1
The only person in this place known to have been punished by being put in the stocks was one Jenny Eaton. When Deacon Stanwood's house was torn down, Mr. James Dunning found an old document pur- porting to be a decision upon the trial of this individual. She had permitted the embrace of a man named Rogers, on the promise of some sugar, tea. and coffee. The man failed to keep his word, she averred, and she therefore entered a complaint against him, and the case was tried before Esquire Woodside. The plaintiff could not prove the charge, and the magistrate gave the following verdict : "That Jenny Eaton be stretched upon the public stocks and rotten eggs thrown at her by the passing spectators for abfaming the character of an innocent man." 2
Some time, probably between 1752 and 1770, one Anh Conner committed suicide by hanging herself from a pine-tree. The magis- trates ordered (old Roman law) that she be buried where four roads met, and a stake be driven through her body. It was done on the Harpswell road a little way south of the college. It is said that, although it was in force at that time, this was probably the only instance when the law was put into execution in this country.3
Cumberland County was set off from York County in 1760, and, as a matter of course, a new county court was soon established. The first grand jurors drawn for this county from Brunswick were Isaac Snow and John Orr ; from Harpswell, Thomas McGregor and John Hall.
At the June term of the Court of General Sessions of the Peace, held at Pownalborough in 1777, Mr. John Merrill, of Topsham, took his place on the bench as one of the justices. He officiated in that capacity as late as 1783, but no records of any cases tried before him have come to hand.
In 1783 James Hunter, Esquire, George White, John Reed, Wil- liam Malcom, all of Topsham, and John Lemont, Esquire, Samuel Lemont, Esquire, William Swanton, George Andrews, and Stephen Sampson, the two latter blacksmiths, all of Bath, were bound over to the court to answer to the charge of breaking open the jail at Pow- nalborough, and for rescuing two prisoners who were lawfully com- mitted. They were tried, and each sentenced to pay a fine of six shillings and costs.
1 The Sophomores of Radcliffe. Kellogg.
8 Pejepscot Papers. McKeen, MSS. Lecture.
2 Pejepscot Papers.
COURTS AND TRIALS, CRIMES AND CRIMINALS, LAWYERS. 283
At the May term of the court for Cumberland County, the next year, Isaac Rolf, of Brunswick, was sentenced to pay a fine of £7 10s., and to receive fire stripes on his naked back, for stealing five sheep. If he returned any of the sheep, " the owner was to restore him back one fold, the fine being treble value of the property stolen."
In 1796 a Commissioner's Court was held in an old red school- house, which stood near the lower end of the Mall, in Brunswick. It was held to consider the respective claims of the Plymouth and Pejep- scot proprietors. Governor Sullivan and other distinguished persons were present. This building was afterwards moved away and placed on the bank of the cove, near the building where General A. B. Thompson afterwards had an office, and which is now a factory boarding-house. ·
In 1800 terms of the Court of Common Pleas for Lincoln County were appointed to be holden in Topsham, and on the ninth of Septem- ber of that year the court opened there for the first time.1 It is said that this first court was held in an unfinished house belonging to a Mr. Sprague, the Court House not being finished until some time the next year. Mr. James Wilson, father of the James Wilson now liv- ing. gave the land for it, for a term of years. Few cases of impor- tance, affecting the citizens of the three towns, were ever tried in it, but such as have been found will be given in the proper order.
December 24, 1822, a military court was held at Brunswick for the trial of Lieutenant-Colonel David Stanwood. It will be referred to hereafter, in another connection.
At the May term of the court, held in Portland in 1823, one Pat- rick Cole, of Brunswick, was convicted of manslaughter, and was sen- tenced to undergo six months of solitary imprisonment and four years at hard labor.
In 1824 the selectmen of Brunswick were authorized by the town to erect forthwith a House of Correction on the town lot in the village, and one hundred and fifty dollars was appropriated. This building, which to judge from its cost could have been nothing more than a lock- up, stood where the poorhouse used to be, back of the present residence of, Mr. Robert Bowker.
At the August term of the Court of Common Pleas, at Topsham, in 1825, Honorable John Dole, a justice of the Court of Sessions for Lin- coln County, was tried on a charge of slander against Samuel HI .. Clark, of Jefferson, the former having charged the latter with having com-
1 Jonathan Ellis's Diary.
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mitted adultery and other such crimes. Verdict for plaintiff. Dam- ages, $1,058.
In 1826 five persons were brought before Charles R. Porter, a jus- tice of the peace, of Topsham, on suspicion of having set fire to the barn of a Mr. Millet, of Bowdoin. Four of them were discharged, but the fifth, Reuben Jones, was bound over for trial before the Su- preme Judicial Court, to be held at Wiscasset.
This year a case was tried in the Court of Common Pleas, of Cum- berland County, of considerable interest. It was the First Parish of Brunswick rs. Joseph McKeen, on a plea of trespass. The First Par- ish had erected a fence from the meeting-house to the corner of what is now Cleaveland Street, claiming the land enclosed as belonging to the parish. Mr. McKeen caused the fence to be torn down, and the parish thereupon prosecuted him for trespass. His defence was that the Harpswell road was laid out in the rear of the church, and had always been used as such until fenced by the parish. On the other side, the parish claimed that the Harpswell road came out south of the church. The case was carried to the Supreme Judicial Court, and was there decided in favor of the defendant. Packard and Longfellow were the counsel for the plaintiffs, and Orr and Greenleaf for the defendants.
In 1827 a case was tried at Topsham which excited considerable local attention at the time, on account of the character and standing of the parties, and the questions involved. The case was that of General Samuel Veazie vs. Henry Jewell, both of Topsham. It was an action for damages on account of assault and battery, brought, in reality, to test the ownership of property.
The facts in the case seem to be as follows : Messrs. Henry Jewell, Stephen Jewell, Gardner Green, Samuel Perkins, and Nahum Perkins owned the " Great Mills " and the ground under the same. Four undi- vided fourteenth parts of the land (a bed of rocks) was within twenty- four feet of this mill, on the south side below the dam, which was owned by Gardner Green, Ezekiel. Thompson, James Thompson, and Mary Thompson, the three last being heirs of Brigadier Thompson. General Veazie, without permission from Green or the Thompsons, and against their wish, attempted to lay the foundation of a saw-mill, and collected several sticks of timber and placed them under the floor of a mill-shed on the premises claimed by Green and others. Thereupon Jewell, by direction of Green and the Thompsons, in order to compel him to desist and to leave the premises, threw slabs, and afterwards emptied buckets of water upon Veazie and his workmen. Veazie defended himself with an axe-haft and a pitchfork, and for a while a serious
COURTS AND TRIALS, CRIMES AND CRIMINALS, LAWYERS. 285
quarrel was threatened. Veazie at length desisted from his attempt. and this suit was ultimately brought to test the respective rights of the two parties to the bed of rocks. Veazie had purchased the right to it from some of the heirs of Brigadier Thompson, but not from those mentioned. The case was decided against Veazie. This deci- sion, though undoubtedly a just one, in all probability was a cause of depriving the towns of Brunswick and Topsham of the services of one who afterwards did so much for the manufacturing interests of Bangor and the neighboring towns upon the Penobscot. The above-mentioned affray occurred February 5, 1827.
. In November, 1829, one Patrick Kincaid, of Brunswick, was fined by the Supreme Judicial Court $1,100 and costs, for breach of prom- ise to a young lady whom he had engaged to wed, - a warning, it doubtless proved, to all bachelors, hereabouts, of inconstant minds.
In 1843 occurred the trial, at Portland, of Thomas Thorn and Mrs. Lois Wilson, for the murder of Mr. Elisha Wilson, of Harpswell. The facts of this case were as follows : -
In 1840, Thomas Thorn came to Great Island, Harpswell, from New York, to visit his sister, the Widow Dyer. He remained in Harpswell during the summer, and while there he made the acquaint- ance of a young lady named Lois Alexander, with whom he became quite intimate. He, however, left town and did not return until early in the winter of 1842-43, In the mean time, Miss Alexander had married Elisha Wilson, and Mrs. Dyer had married Elisha's brother Benjamin. On his return, Thorn went to Elisha Wilson's, where he remained. On the morning of the fifth of February, 1843, between the hours of three and four, Mr. Samuel Toothaker was aroused by Thorn, who told him that Elisha had fallen out of his bed in the night, in a fit, and was dead. Toothaker immediately repaired to the house, and found Wilson dead, and to all appearances as if he had been so for some hours. Some bedclothes, which had been washed and car- ried up stairs wet, at once aroused suspicion of foul play. An inquest was held, and Thorn and Mrs. Wilson were apprehended, and bound over to the April terin of the Supreme Court, at Portland, at which time they were indicted for the murder by the grand jury, and were tried. Mrs. Wilson was acquitted, but Thorn was convicted and sen- tenced to be hung. His sentence was afterwards commuted to imprisonment for life. Ile was taken to the State prison, where he remained for over thirty years. A few years ago, on account of his good behavior while in prison and his failing health, he was pardoned, and returned to New York, where he was recently living. The fol-
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lowing letter, which had been passed to Thorn wrapped up in a piece of tobacco, was produced at the trial : -
" poor lois i pity you and my hart akes for you and you must mind when you Come to Cort and clear me if you dont tha will hang nie and you must mind how you talk i will wright to you once in fore days i whant to see you once more and then if you dont clear me i shall be willing to dy fore you i want you to write back."
This letter, with the piece of tobacco, are, it is said, on file in the clerk of court's office in Portland.
In 1847, Topsham ceased to be a half-shire town, and Mr. Jonah Morrow was appointed by the court a committee to sell the Topsham Court House. He did so, and reported the amount received for the building to be nine hundred and ten dollars ; and for the furniture, eleven dollars and forty-seven cents. The bell was reserved to be afterwards disposed of as might be directed by the county commis- sioners.
The state of morals among the young in Brunswick must have been rather low about this time, as the town in 1849 passed the following resolution : -
" Whereas it is currently reported that boys and other persons are in the habit of visiting the mills and other places near the water on the Sabbath, for the purpose of gambling, voted, that the selectmen employ a suitable person to see that the Sabbath and the laws of the State are not violated ; also, to stop the playing at ball or flying of kites in the streets."
In 1850 the legislature passed an Act, approved August 28, entitled " An Act to establish a Municipal Court in the town of Brunswick, in the county of Cumberland." At a meeting of the town subsequent to the passage of this Act, it was voted to accept its provisions and to establish such a court.
In April, 1855, Charles Crips, of Topsham, was indicted before the grand jury at Bath for the murder of his wife in the fall of the previous year. He caused her death by beating her with a club. He was tried before the Supreme Judicial Court at Bath, in the September follow- ing, and was convicted of manslaughter, and was sentenced to the State prison for life. He was pardoned by the governor before the expiration of his sentence.
This year there were numerous burglaries committed in Topsliam, but the perpetrators of them were not discovered.
On Monday night, November 9, of this year, Eliphalet Berry, of Topsham, was murdered near Perkins's lumber-shed on " the island."
COURTS AND TRIALS, CRIMES AND CRIMINALS, LAWYERS. 287
He and several others had been to Brunswick and were returning home, intoxicated, with a jug of rum. A difficulty arose between Berry and David Y. Dudley in regard to the possession of the jug. They both disappeared for a few minutes, and Dudley returned alone. Berry was soon found a short distance off in a dying condition, having been stabbed to the heart. Dudley was tried before the Supreme Judicial Court at Bath in 1858, and on September 4, the jury in the case brought in a verdict of manslaughter, and he was sentenced to five years of hard labor in the State prison. He was pardoned for good behavior before the expiration of his term of service.
In 1875, John Miller, of Birch Island, opposite Mair Point, was con- victed of manslaughter and sentenced to the State prison for life. Miller was abusing his wife. His son interfered and his father shot him. Miller is a descendant of Reverend John Miller, a former minister of the First Parish in Brunswick.
It will be seen from the foregoing accounts that Topsham suffers from rather an unenviable reputation, for so small a town, on account of the number of persons it has had of marked homicidal proclivities. Besides those already mentioned, two other persons from this town, a Mr. Clough and Henry Richards, have suffered the penalty of the law for murders committed by them elsewhere. Notwithstanding this unpleasant fact, it is believed that the integrity of its business men and the general character of its citizens for morality, justness, and tem- perance will compare favorably with that of other similar communities of even a larger population.
Of late years but few trials, except of minor importance, of any of the citizens of either of the three towns, have been had, and but few crimes of importance have occurred here.
MEMBERS OF THE BAR.
The earliest lawyer in Brunswick is said to have been a man by the name of HOBBS, who is described as a shrewd, smart man, but not very well educated. Next to him came PETER O. ALDEN, who was admitted to the Cumberland bar in.1797. He was the only lawyer in town for the remainder of that century and for several years in the present one. He continued to practise his profession until his death in 1843, but his business was very small for many years previous to his death.1
After Alden came HENRY PUTNAM, who practised law in Brunswick
1 See Biography.
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HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK, TOPSHAM, AND HARPSWELL.
from 1806 to 1823, or thereabouts. His practice was not extensive. From 1807, ISAAC GATES, for a few years only, practised law in this town.
DAVID STANWOOD, of the class of 1808, Bowdoin College, studied law for one year with Peter O. Alden, then with Benjamin Hasey for one year, and afterwards one year with Samuel Thatcher. He was admitted to the bar in 1811, and removed from Brunswick in 1833.
EBENEZER EVERETT commenced the practice of his profession in Brunswick in 1817, from which time to 1828 he was also cashier of the Union Bank. He afterwards devoted his whole time to his pro- fession until 1858, when the infirmities of age compelled him to retire from its active duties. He had a large practice and was deemed a very excellent counsellor.1.
ROBERT P. DUNLAP1 was in practice from 1818 until about 1830, when he entered into politics and gave up his law business.
BENJAMIN ORRI moved to Brunswick from Topsham about 1822, and continued in practice until his death, in 1828. He was one of the most eminent lawyers in the State.
CHARLES PACKARD 1 had a remunerative practice in town between the years 1825 and 1834, at which latter date he entered upon a course of study for the ministry.
PHINEAS BARNES practised law in town between 1839 and 1841. He was likewise a cashier of one of the banks at the time.
LEONARD P. MERRILL 1 was in the practice of the law, for a few years, about 1845.
WILLIAM G. BARROWS, now judge of the Supreme Judicial Court of Maine, practised law in Brunswick from 1842 to 1863.
HENRY ORR commenced the practice of his profession in town in 1850, and has pursued it up to the present time. In 1853 he was appointed by Governor Crosby a judge of the Municipal Court.
J. D. SIMMONS also practised here from 1850 to 1870.
From 1859 until 1861, George Barron and Edward Thompson, the latter of the class of 1856, Bowdoin College, followed the practice of law in partnership. Mr. Thompson entered the army in 1861, and since then Mr. Barron has practised alone. Since 1871, Mr. Weston Thompson has been a practising lawyer in town.
The first lawyer to settle in the town of Topsham was BENJAMIN HASEY,1 Esquire. He commenced practice in June, 1794, and con- tinued it for many years, but abandoned its active duties for some
1 See Biography.
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time before his death. His office was at first in a small building which stood just south of the Bank building. It was afterwards removed to the northeast corner of Summer and Main Streets, where he continued to occupy it for many years. Still later his office was over the bank.
In 1801, BENJAMIN ORR commenced practice here. His office was over T. G. & N. Sandford's store, in the building where Mountford's shop is now. He removed to Brunswick about 1822, and was suc- ceeded by his brother, ROBERT ORR, who practised there until his death, in 1829.
During the latter year MOSES E. WOODMAN opened an office in the building formerly occupied by Nathaniel Green as a post-office and Registry of Deeds. He remained for a few years only.
In 1843, JOHN W. DAVIS was practising law in Topsham. When he first came, or how long he remained, has not been ascertained.
The town of Harpswell can boast of never having a professional lawyer settled within its limits. There were, of course, trial justices, but never any lawyers. The first justice of the peace in this town, that is now remembered, was Benjamin Dunning.
19
290
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CHAPTER VIII.
TAVERNS AND PUBLIC HALLS, NEWSPAPERS, ETC.
TAVERNS IN BRUNSWICK.
WITHOUT doubt, the first public house in this vicinity was established in the year 1740. On the twenty-ninth of October of that year, at a meeting of the Pejepscot proprietors, application having been pre- viously made for encouragement on the part of the proprietors to some suitable person to erect a house for the entertainment of travel- lers on Brunswick Plain, at the place where the North Yarmouth and several other roads met, it was voted, "That a tract of Land be granted to such person as shall be approved of by the Committee of the proprietors, he giving security for the faithfull and seasonable performance thereof." 1
This offer was undoubtedly accepted by some one, and there is reason to believe it was by Robert Spear, who kept a tavern a little west of the old meeting-house, between the years 1744 and 1760, perhaps later. This inn was also a garrison house, protected by a timber fortification, and soldiers were kept in it by the government, for the safety of travellers, as well as for the protection of the citi- zens. It was used as a public house after the Spanish or Fifth Indian War had terminated, in 1748. Town meetings were frequently held in this inn in cold weather, and here, on Sunday, the people were wont to congregate for lunch and grog.2
The next inn, in point of time, was the one kept, about 1750, by James Thompson.3 This was on the farm at New Meadows, where Bartlett Adams now lives. It was afterwards, it is said,4 kept by his son, Brigadier Thompson, until he removed to Topsham, about 1784. It was certainly kept either by the Brigadier or some one of that family as late as 1780.5 About 1762, Samuel Coombs was licensed as an innholder.6
1 Pejepscot Records. 2 McKeen, MSS. Lecture, and elsewhere.
8 McKeen, MSS. Lecture. He was licensed in 1761 by the Court of General Sessions for Lincoln County.
4 Peter Jordan. 5 Low's Almanac, 1780. 6 Court Records, Portland.
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In 17641 a man by the name of Ross kept a tavern, which tradition places near the site of the present dwelling of Mr. Rufus Jordan, on the Maquoit road, a short distance north of the Morse road. This inn was certainly kept as late as 1777.2
As early as 1767, Benjamin Stone kept a tavern in or near the fort, as is plainly shown by the following extract from the field-book of the company who made the survey of Bakerstown, now Minot, November, 1767. A part of the company, wishing to visit Brunswick, hired a boat, and on Wednesday, November 25, 1767, about " ten of the clock, started, and after rowing about three hours over a calm bay, covered with abundance of wild fowl (we) arrived at the head of Maquoit Bay at the house of Squire Woodside. . . . From Maquoit, we travelled three and a half miles to Brunswick Fort. which is founded on a rock. and built in an exact and regular manner, of stone and lime, in a four-square form, with two bastions on two of the cor- ners, defended by two wooden towers or watch-boxes. This day fair weather. Here we lodged this night, and a pretty good house of entertainment is kept by Benjamin Stone."
From the foregoing, it would appear that Mr. Stone was at this time keeping a public house inside the fort, where tradition says there was a comfortable, two-story house, but it is possible, though not probable, that this tavern was outside, but near the fort, and that the allusion in the foregoing extract to "Brunswick Fort" referred to the settlement around it as much as to the fortification itself. Stone is known to have kept tavern near the Brunswick Falls as late as 1799.3
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