USA > Maine > Cumberland County > Harpswell > History of Brunswick, Topsham, and Harpswell, Maine, including the ancient territory known as Pejepscot > Part 5
USA > Maine > Cumberland County > Brunswick > History of Brunswick, Topsham, and Harpswell, Maine, including the ancient territory known as Pejepscot > Part 5
USA > Maine > Sagadahoc County > Topsham > History of Brunswick, Topsham, and Harpswell, Maine, including the ancient territory known as Pejepscot > Part 5
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66 %
Jany
16th 1737
5
0
0
8 John Gyles Esqr
100
Sept
6th 1738
5
0
0
9
Jacob Eaton .
100 Topsham
March 24th 1739
5
0
0
10
Henry Gibbs
95 & 115 poles
May
20th 1740
25
0
0
11
Jonathan Sayward
200
June
19th 1740
1 Quit claim as an beir to Parker.
12
John Barrows
100
.July
15th 1740
25
0
0
13
John Adams .
135
July
28th 1741
25
0
0
14 John Barrows
100
Octo.
16th 1741
25
0
0
15
Saml Clarke.
200
May
19th 1742
32
0
0
16
David Given .
100
Nov
8 1742
16
0
0
17
William Dunning.
200
May
21st 1742
10
0
0
18
Benjamin Thompson
100
Nov
3d 1742
25
0
0
1 Pejepscot Papers. 2 Ibid.
3 McKeen, MSS. Lecture.
4 Brunswick Records in Pejepscot Collection.
5 Extracted from York County Records of Deeds, etc., Jan. 9, 1749, by Daniel Moul-
ton, Reg.
Jany
16th 1737
5
0
()
7 John Malcome
100
39
PEJEPSCOT PROPRIETORS. SETTLEMENTS UNDER THEM.
Names of the Persons to whom Benj. Larabee Esq atty &c. sold.
Quantity of acres sold.
The time when sold.
The consid- eration.
19 James Hervey .
103
Octo
24th 1741
£16 0
0
20
James McFarland.
200
May
28th 1739
10
0
0
21
James McFarland
206
June
23d 1742
10
0
0
22
James McFarland.
206
June
23d 1742
10
0
0
23
John Adams
100
Nov
3d 1742
25
0
0
24
Charles Casedy
100
May
7th 1742
25
0
0
25
Thomas Skolfield.
103
May
26th 1742
25
0
0
26
Benj Bunker.
115
Jany
12th 1740
25
0
0
27
Eben Stanwood
206
May
19th 1742
30
0 0
28
Isaac Snow
100
Nov
3d 1742
25
0.0
29
Jacob Eaton.
100
Nov
28th 1737
25
0
0
30
Jacob Eaton.
74 & 40 rods more or less being Lot No 9 at N. Meadows.
Nov
3d 1742
25 0 0
31 Saml Clarke Jacobs' Admr.
400
April 14th 1742
Old tenor
32
Patrick Drummond
100
April
7th 1738
25 0 0
33
Benj Bunker
63 & 112 rods
Jany
10th 1740
25 0 0
34 Alex Tyler. .
200
Octo
20th 1740
50
0 0
35
Saml Hinkley.
....
200
May
21 1742
50
0 0
36
Lemuel Gowen.
100
Feby
25
1740
50
0 0
£828 0 0
On July 25, 1743, William Woodside, who had lived for some time at Maquoit, received a deed from the First Church in Boston, conveyed by its deacons, of three hundred and fifty acres of land at the westernmost end of Maquoit, " beginning at mouth of Puggy- muggy River." The price paid was £50.1 Although there was a considerable number of settlers in the town at this time, they must have been quite scattered ; for in 1747, according to the statement of Joshua Filbrook, there were but two houses to be seen from Fort George.2
June 19, 1751, Benjamin Thompson, of Georgetown, bought of Rebecca Morely, of Dorchester, Mass., " daughter of Thomas Ste- phens, formerly of the eastward parts now called Stephens' Carrying place, or near a place called the Head of Stephens's River," etc., all her interest in her father's lands, "being one sixth part of his estate." 3
In 1752 there were, according to a map of the Plymouth Company of that date, but twenty dwelling-houses in Brunswick. For the location of these houses the reader is referred to the accompanying map, which is reduced from the original : -
1 York County Records, 26, p. 256.
2 .Journal of James Curtis in Library of the Maine Historical Society.
8 York County Records, 29, p. 120.
$ 56 0 0
Merry Westing Bay
Topsham
66 --
53
12 roa road
RUM
29
3a
133
47
2
middle Bay
maricongag
4500
135
Fort
Brunswick
Meadows River
Maqueit Bay
CE
33
PEJEPSCOT PROPRIETORS. SETTLEMENTS UNDER TIIEM.
41
REFERENCES TO THE FOREGOING MAP.
Topsham.
1. Gowan Fulton (1749).
2. Mr. Reed.
3. Samuel Beveridge.
4. Charles Robinson.
5. William Vincent.
6. William Thoms.
7. Jacob Eaton.
8. Robert Lithgow.
9. William Malcom.
10. William Thoms, Jr.
11. Lieut. Hunter.
12. Captain Willson.
Brunswick.
13. Speer.
14. Meeting-house.
15. Finney.
16. James Dunning.
17. Woodside.
18. Mill.
19. Stanwood.
20. Mill.
21. Smart.
22. V. Woodside.
23. Mill.
24. Captain Minot.
25. Beverage.
26. J. Orr (1742).
27. Camp.
28. Giveen.
Harpswell Neck.
29. Widow Adams.
30. McNess.
31. McGregory.
32. Willson.
33. Whelan.
34. Dyer.
35. Hays.
36. A negro.
37. Pinkham.
38. Do.
39. Widow McCraw.
40. Pinkham.
41. Webber.
42. Do.
43. Do.
44. Stover.
45. Toothaker.
46. Allen.
47. Warren.
48. Watts.
49. Mill.
Brunswick.
50. Starbord.
51. Skolfield.
52. Hall (on Sebascodegan Island).
53. Snow.
54. Mill.
55. Coombs.
56 Mills.
57. Deacon Hinkley.
58. Captain Thompson.
59. Smitlı.
In an estate bill for this year forty-five new names are to be found, but probably many of them are those of the children of parties who had previously settled in town, while some, undoubtedly, were of those who had purchased lots of previous settlers. Some whose names appear on this bill may have resided elsewhere.
The town continued to increase in population, however, and about 1760 a number of new citizens moved in, among whom were the families of Stone, Pennell, Melcher, Harding, Weston, Gross, Curtis, and perhaps others.1
1 McKeen, MSS. Lecture.
·
42
HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK, TOPSHAM, AND HARPSWELL.
In 1771 Robert Goddard moved into town, and Batcheldor Ring settled a little southwest of him, but also in Brunswick. The house of the latter was shortly afterwards burned, and he rebuilt a little far- ther west, and in the town of Durham. Owing to this fact, Bruns- wick lost a small portion of her territory when the line between that town and Durham was run.1
A year or two later several Quakers settled in town, near the west- ern line. Some of them had previously been living in Harpswell. Among these new-comers were the families of Jones and Hacker.2
The first settlers on the Topsham side of the river all left their homes before the formation of the Pejepscot Company.
Between 1717 and 1722, however, thirty-three persons took up lots in Topsham, thoughi many of them, doubtless, not fulfilling the condi- tions required by the proprietors, forfeited their claims. It appears from an entry made in 1717 by the proprietors' clerk, that the second island going out of Merrymeeting Bay into the Pejepscot River was deeded by Messrs. Minot and Watts to the Reverend Mr. Baxter of Medfield, Mass., and was thereafter to be known as Baxter's Island.3 Three years later the proprietors granted to Mr. Baxter " the Island over against Topsham of about twentythree acres," upon condition that lie would build two houses on it, and settle two families there who should be able to provide their own subsistence.
On July 30, 1720, the proprietors granted to Captain John Gyles the " First Lott of Land in the Township of Topsham, in consideration that he build a suitable dwelling house thereon and by himself or some meet person Inhabit the same for the space of three years," also " Five hundred and fifteen acres lying on Cathance Point opposite thereto." Gyles probably did not comply with the conditions, as we find that in 1741, the old title to land in Topsham derived through Thomas Gyles was brought forward, and the proprietors, therefore, on July 21, of this year, " In consideration of five shillings current money of New England, to us in hand paid by John Gyles, Esq., of a place called St. Georges, in the County of York aforesaid, and in consideration of a quit claim for lands at a place called Topsham, in the County of York aforesaid, signed by said John Gyles and his brethren, baring date the 15th of August, A. D. 1727," transferred to the Gyles's " a Point of Land containing 60 acres " in Topsham, " bounded south- erly by Lott number one, easterly and Northerly by Merrymeeting
1 Mc Keen, MSS. Lecture.
3 Brunswick Records in Pejepscot Collection.
2 Ibid.
43
PEJEPSCOT PROPRIETORS. SETTLEMENTS UNDER THEM.
Bay, and westerly by the entrance or mouth of Muddy river"; also, another tract of land "lying Westerly from the former, bounded southerly by Lott Number one, westerly by Cathance River, Northerly by land belonging to us, and easterly by Merrymeeting Bay and the entrance of Muddy River . . . containing 515 acres." 1 This latter tract of land appears to be the same as that mentioned in the former deed.
On June 30, 1721, Samuel York, of Ipswich, relinquished all title to land in Topsham claimed by his father. Samuel York, deceased, by virtue of an Indian deed, etc., the proprietors granting him three hundred acres in lien thereof.
About 1731 quite a number of new settlers moved to Topsham. Some forty-three persons took up lots this year or a short time previ- ons. As many of the names of these persons do not appear in subse- quent lists of settlers, however, it is probable that they either forfeited or sold their lots. Between this date and 1738, some fourteen fam- ilies moved into town. The proprietors about this time especially encouraged settlements in Topsham, as that place was much behind Brunswick in the number of settlers. This was because Topsham was much more exposed to the incursions of the Indians, it having but few strong garrisons.2
[1746.] In 1746 it had only thirty-six settlers, and many of these were afterwards killed by the Indians. There are not more than ten or a dozen of these whose descendants have lived in Topsham during the present century. Some of these settlers removed and settled in the neighborhood of Boston.3
[1749.] The population of Topsham at this time was "about twenty-five inhabitants." 4
Owing to the attacks of the Indians during what is known as the Spanish, or Fifth Indian war, the settlement at this place became much reduced, so that in 1750 there were but eighteen families remaining.5
In 1752 the number of polls in the Topsham precinct was twenty- eight. The number of dwellings at this time can be seen by reference to the map on page 40.
In 1757 the population of Topsham had nearly doubled, the number of polls being at this time forty-nine.6 The whole number taxed in town in 1758 was forty-four.7
1 Pejepscut Records.
2 Pejepscot Papers.
8 Ibid 4 Brunswick Records in Pejepscot Collection.
b Massachusetts Historical Collection, 3, p. 142.
6 Pejepscot Papers. 7 Ibid.
44
HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK, TOPSHAM, AND HARPSWELL.
On November 11, 1763, the following named settlers near Cathance proposed to buy of the proprietors the amount of meadow land affixed to their names, and agreed to pay six shillings per acre. The propri- etors, however, limited the quantity to five acres each. This amount, it is to be presumed, they all purchased. The names and amounts desired were as follows : -
Hugh Wilson, six acres.
James Potter, Jr., eight acres.
James Mustard, five acres.
John Mallett, six acres.
Alexander Potter, six acres.
William Alexander, eight acres. Samuel Wilson, ten acres.
On June 17, 1766, David Jeffries, of Boston, clerk to the Kenne- bec proprietors, and James Bowdoin, of Roxbury, Mass., a grantee of the same proprietors, deeded to John and William Potter and Gowen Fulton, all of Topsham, all of the land in Bowdoinham claimed by them under their previous deeds from the Pejepscot proprietors. 1
[1768.] At a meeting of the Pejepscot proprietors, July 23, 1768, it was voted to allow John Merrill's claim to land bought of Henry Gibbs, in Topsham. The quantity of land which Merrill held was four hundred acres, which was forty acres more than the amount of his claim, and he was required to account for the overplus at a meet- ing held August 5; however, the proprietors gave him fifty acres in consideration of £39 due him from them.
A memorandum in the Pejepscot Records gives the dimensions of several log-houses built in Topsham, about 1738, as follows : " thirty feet long, eighteen feet wide and eight feet high."
The earliest transfer of land in Harpswell, after the formation of the Pejepscot Company, of which we have found any record, was in 1720. On May 20, of this year, Nicholas Cole and Samuel Little- field, of Wells, deeded to Samuel Boone, of Kingston, Rhode Island, one half of Merriconeag Neck, one half of Great Chebeag Island, and,one half of Great Island, being the land formerly owned by Nicho- las Cole, Senior, and John Purrington.2 Boone is not, however, known to have settled in Harpswell.
In the year 1727 several new families moved to Harpswell and settled upon the Neck. On the twenty-sixth of May of this year, Thomas Westbrook, one of the Pejepscot proprietors, deeded to
1 Original deed in our possession.
2 Pejepscot Papers.
45
PEJEPSCOT PROPRIETORS. SETTLEMENTS UNDER THIEM.
Colonel Johnson Harmon, formerly of York, one twenty-fourth part of two thousand acres of land on Merriconeag Neck. 1
In October of the same year, Colonel Harmon leased of the Pejepscot proprietors, for seven years, " that farm or tract of land called Merri- coneage Neck in Casco Bay, and so running up to the upper carrying place including ye whole breadth of ye sd neck." The proprietors, however, retained the right to settle one or more families on the Neck, without opposition from Harmon.2
The authorities of Harvard College, however, though defeated in their appeal to the legislature, as stated in the preceding chapter, had not given up their claim to the land, and in January, 1732, they insti- tuted a suit of ejectment against Harmon, in the Court of Common Pleas of the County of York. In October, 1733, a verdict was ren- dered in favor of Harmon. The plaintiffs appealed the case to the Superior Court, which was held in 1737, and it was eventually decided again in favor of Harmon, or rather of the proprietors from whom he leased. Having been four times defeated, Harvard College made no further attempt to recover this property.3
In Dec. 21, 1741, Colonel Harmon deeded all the foregoing land (excepting fifty acres which he had previously sold to John Stover) to his son, Joseph Harmon, of York, together with his dwelling- house, barn, and all other buildings and appurtenances. The price paid was £70 in bills of credit.4
On May 17, 1731, Moses Gatchell leased of the Pejepscot propri- etors, for two years, the land on Merriconeag Neck, between the Carrying-Place and the land then occupied by Colonel Harmon.5
At the same date Gideon Conner, then residing on the Neck, leased of the proprietors, for two years, a tract of land having the same bounds as Gatchell's,6 and it is probable that the two men leased the land together, but each was held by a separate lease. It is possible, however, that Conner was the " Iresh Neighbour " referred to in the following letter : -
'. MERECONEAG June 25, 1731.
Ilond : Colo! sr : I am still in your posession on ye : upor end of ye neck but I have there an Iresh Neighbour which pretends to hold pos! : for mr. Porenton by a Leas under his hand as I am sr in yours by Colo !! Westbrook And I hope by your cosent : I am Redy and will" to sarve your intrust : and desier your Counsel and asistance from time to time : and sr if you will plese to send me ¿ Barrel of Molases
1 Pejepscot Papers. 2 Ibid. 8 Ibid. 4 Ibid. 5 Ibid.
6 Ibid.
46
HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK, TOPSHAM, AND HARPSWELL.
and one Sythe you will greatly oblige me : and I will indever to pay you ye next faul who am yours to Cd
"MOSES GATCHEL." 1
There had been but two houses at the upper part of Merriconeag Neck previous to 1741, as will be seen by the following testimony : -
" Hannah Smith Testifyeth & Saith yt she with her late Husband James Smith lived at ye upper end of Mereconege Neck where her late Husband & her Father Moses Gatchel Built a House & lived there from June 1731 to 1735 at which Coll Westbrook told us yt if we liked any place on said Neck better we might Remove to it upon which my late Husband [Smith] & Father [Gatchel] Removed about 1} mile loer down on sd neck & Built a House there where we lived till 1741, as Tennants to Sª Westbrook & Compy & Built Houses in both Places & further that when her Father Gatchell Removed from the upper House on Sª neck he Lett it to Nath" Barnes who lived there 22 years from 1735 & paid my Father Rent for the Same for Sª West- brook & Compy the Sª Barnes Removing away to Topsham left sd House in the Posession of Wm McNess for ye Sª Westbrook & Compy - and no persons whatsoever lived on the upper half of Sª Neck but my Father & My Husband & owre Familys while we lived there & there was no sign of any other habitation nor improve- ment but where we first lived." 2
The proprietors, notwithstanding their devotion to the interests of the settlers, were men who knew how to look out for their own phys- ical wants and how to enjoy good living. It appears that on the 8th of August, 1733, the proprietors leased to William Cady and his associates, for seven years, the " island called Sebasco Deggin," with liberty to use and occupy it; and they also agreed to deliver to Cady the frame of a house, then in the possession of Colonel Ilarmon, and to furnish Cady with four thousand feet of boards, and with nails sufficient for finishing the house, which Cady was to set up and finish. The proprietors reserved to themselves the right of " improving any mine or mineral," which might be discovered on the island, and also the right " to settle a fishery there," or to make other settlements there, which should not, however, interfere with the improvements of Cady and his associates.
Cady agreed to erect and finish, forthwith, at least one dwelling- house on the island, and occupy it before the next winter, and that before the next summer he would settle, at least, three other families
1 Pejepscot Papers.
2 Ibid.
47
PEJEPSCOT PROPRIETORS. SETTLEMENTS UNDER TIIEM.
besides his own on the island, and keep off all intruders from settling without leave, in writing, from the proprietors, and from cutting wood or grass there. He further agreed to clear the fresh meadows, and to clear and break up and bring to tillage and English grass as much of the land upon the island as he and his associates could (the proprietors finding grass-seed), and to endeavor to raise a nursery of fruit trees and an orchard ; and as an annual rental he agreed to pay to Adam Winthrop, or his heirs in Boston, " for the use of him and the rest of the Lessors twenty good fut geese, or in failure thereof £5 per annum, in bills of credit on this Province."1 Although his name is not mentioned in this deed, there is little doubt that William Condy was one of Cady's "associates," as a blank form of a deed in the Pejepscot papers mentions Condy's name in connection with that of Cady. The harbor known as " Cundy's " was undoubtedly named for William Condy.
It will be noticed that this lease reserves the right to the proprie- tors to allow other settlers on the island. And in 1737 or 1738 some twenty families were settled there.
An attempt was made to re-settle the island for the purpose of building a fishing-town. Mr. Nathaniel Donnel, of York, selected a spot which was to be divided into small lots of an acre each, for the convenience of dwelling-houses, with a convenient harbor adjacent. The project was abandoned on account of the increased hostility of the Indians. The harbor referred to was probably Condy's, as the land on the western shore of that harbor is well calculated for the site of a village.2
Dec. 23, 1742, Joseph and Clement Orr, of Pemaquid, turners by trade, bought of Henry Gibbs, of Boston, a tract of land at the northerly end of Merriconeag Neck, containing one hundred and twenty-two acres.3 The next day they received from the same party another tract of sixty-nine acres near the former, 4 and the " southeast prong" of Merriconeag Neck, containing, by estimation, two hundred acres."5
In 1743 Richard Jaques, of North Yarmouth, bought one hundred acres of land, on Little Sebascodegin (Orr's) Island.6
He is believed, therefore, to have been the first purchaser of land on this island, though tradition has it that a man by the name of Fitzgerald was the first occupant of the island. What disposition he
1 Pejepscot Papers. 2 Mc.Keen, in Harpswell Banner.
8 York County Records, 26, p. 201.
+ Ibid., 26 p., 202. 5 Ibid., 28, p. 99. 6 Ibid., 25, p. 112.
48
HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK, TOPSHAM, AND HARPSWELL.
made of this property is unknown, but the whole island afterwards came into the possession of Honorable William Tailer, of Dorchester, Mass., and of Honorable Elisha Cook, of Boston, whose heirs sold it in 1748 to Joseph Orr.1 Joseph Orr had previously been living on Merriconeag Neck, but after he purchased the island he, with his brother Clement and sons, moved on to it and erected a garrison- house. The island has since gone by his name.
In his purchase of half of the island from the heirs of William Tailer, Orr did not secure the signature to his deed of one of the daughters, the wife of Reverend Matthew Byles, of Boston, who accordingly put in her claim to a share. In consequence of this claim, on July 22, 1760, Orr set off and released to her one tenth part of the island, and received a quitclaim of the remainder.2 On October 16th of this year, Joseph Orr deeded the whole of his property on this island to his brother Clement as a life estate, and to his. heirs after him. In case of the death of Clement's heirs it was to revert to the heirs of Joseph.3
In 1755 there were on Sebascodegan Island, sixteen persons, and on Merriconeag Neck, six persons, who, living north of the Yar- mouth line, were taxed in Brunswick.
The number of settlers in these three towns, during the first half of the last century, is so large as to prevent a mention of their names in this connection, and a list of these settlers is therefore given in the Appendix. The doings of the proprietors, which are not given in this, will be found in their appropriate connection in other chapters.
1 York County Records, 35, pp. 31, 32.
2 Ibid., p. 232.
8 Original deed, in possession of S. Purinton.
49
PERIOD OF THE INDIAN WARS, 1675-1760.
CHAPTER IV.
PERIOD OF THE INDIAN WARS, 1675-1760.
IN the earliest years of the Pejepscot settlement the whites were few in number, and although they oftentimes, doubtless, excited the jealousy and even the personal animosity of the natives, still, on the whole, they conducted themselves with sufficient caution to prevent any outbreak. For a few years previous to 1675 the ill-feeling and jealousy on the part of the Indians had been increasing and was par- ticularly directed against Thomas Purchase, who was thought by them to have charged unfair prices, and otherwise to have overreached them in trade. The custom of the English at this time was, as is said by an early writer, " first to make them [the Indians], or suffer them to make themselves, drunk with liquors, and then to trade with them, when they may easily be cheated both in what they bring to trade, and in the liquor itself, being one half or more nothing but spring water, which made one of the Androscoggin Indians once com- plain that he had given an hundred pound for water drawn out of Mr. P. his well." 1
KING PHILIP'S WAR. 1675-1678.
The animosity of the natives culminated in an outbreak in 1675. The war commenced in the Plymouth Colony, June 24, 1675. By September the fourth or fifth, hostilities commenced at Pejepscot. On that day, a party of about twenty Indians went to Purchase's house and pretended to his wife that they wished to trade. Discover- ing, however, that her husband and son were both absent, they gave up all further disguise, and proceeded to rob the house. They took what weapons, powder, and liquor they could find, ripped up the feather- beds for the sake of the ticking, killed a calf and several sheep, and proceeded to make merry. Purchase's son returned home while this was going on, and being discovered by the party, was obliged to
1 Drake, Hubbard's Indian Wars, p. 256.
4
50
HISTORY OF BRUNSWICK, TOPSHAM, AND HARPSWEI.L.
flce for his life. He was followed for some distance by an Indian with a gun, but succeeded in making good his escape. The party offered no violence to any one in the house, but told them that " others would soon come and treat them worse." Some few days later, a party of twenty-five settlers, having collected for the purpose, went in a sloop and two boats to the New Meadows River, near to the house of Mr. Purchase, to gather and secure the growing crops, and also to recon- noitre. Here they found a number of Indians pillaging the neighbor- ing houses. In attempting to get between the Indians and the woods, they came upon three of their spies. One of these, attempting to reach the river, they shot. The second was wounded, but escaped across a stream to a canoe. The third escaped and gave the alarm. The Indians, however, remained concealed until the corn was all gath- ercd and the boats loaded, when they suddenly gave their war-whoop, rushed upon them, wounded several, and carried off the boat-loads of corn in triumph.1 Some time the next year Purchase's house was burned and he was compelled to leave.2
The war now having fairly opened, the settlers were all obliged to flee, and the Indians, emboldened by their success, " sought trophies for the tomahawk and scalping-knife in every direction, at the door of every plantation " throughout the Province of Maine.
The Androscoggin Indians were the most active of all the tribes, and it was thought, in 1676, that if a treaty could be cffected with them there would be a general peace with the Eastern tribes.3 This could not be accomplished this year, however, and so the General Court, in 1677, ordered Majors Waldron and Frost, with one hundred and fifty men, sixty of whom were Natick Indians, to the Kennebec, with instructions " to subdue the Indians in those parts, and deliver the English captives detained in their hands."
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