USA > Maine > Knox County > Camden > History of Camden and Rockport, Maine > Part 4
USA > Maine > Knox County > Rockport > History of Camden and Rockport, Maine > Part 4
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" Changeless march the stars above, Changeless morn succeeds to even, And the everlasting hills Changeless watch the changeless heaven."
But the hour of change is at hand. The moment approaches which shall see the beginning of that awakening of the calm repose of nature that always accompanies the advent of the Anglo Saxon race into new lands; the race that waves its wand at the forests and they vanish, that touches the soil where they stood and it blossoms with fruitful harvests, that plants factories on the rivers, churches on the hilltops and school-houses in the valleys, that carries with it wherever it goes, culture, progress and civilization.
James Richards, a resident of Dover, New Hampshire, came with his family to Bristol, Maine, in 1767. The next year he came down to the wilderness of this township to cut ship timber ,
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1. Another tradition is to the effect that the island got its name from its being used by the Indians as a rendevous or camping place.
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THE FIRST SETTLERS
at Negunticook or Megunticook harbor. 1 Charmed with the place, as so many have been since his day, he erected a rude log cabin while here, with the determination to make the place his home. The following spring he put his family and household goods aboard a vessel and started for his future residence, arriving here May 8, 1769. As he approached the harbor, today sur- rounded by business structures, the homes of an independent population and the mansions of wealthy seekers after health and pleasure, we can imagine him standing upon the deck and point- ing out to his family the beauties of the country with its towering mountains, its giant forests coming down to the water's edge, its beautiful capes that enclose the harbor and its verdant island between them, calling attention, perhaps, to the Indian canoe scuttling away at the vessel's approach, and pointing to the higher land to the west where he had erected his cabin. As they passed the island at the entrance of the harbor, it is said that the African cook of the vessel, attracted by its beauty, exclaimed, "Dare, dat's my island !" from which incident it has ever since been
known as "Negro Island." Mr. Richards' cabin stood some- where on the land lying between Elm, Mechanic, Washington and Free streets, and one of his descendants fixes the site at a point just back of the Norwood house. He afterward obtained a permit to settle lot 28, but did not get his deed of it from the "Twenty Associates " until 1803. This lot contained mill privileges on Megunticook river and extended back in the Pearl street direction, and quite a considerable portion of it is even to this day owned by his descendants. When he came here a rem- nant of the brave red men still had a few wigwams on "Eaton's
Point," while a few others occupied Beauchamp Point. These Indians were Tarratines who, many years before, superseded the Wawenocks. As a pioneer Mr. Richards proceeded to fell the trees of the forest and kept at his cabin door a grindstone upon
1. In most of the older records and plans the word Negunticook is used. Later Megunticook seems to have been adopted and used altogether.
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HISTORY OF CAMDEN AND ROCKPORT
which to sharpen his axe. In his absence from home, the Indians used often to come and sharpen their knives and tomahawks on this stone, which action at first alarmed Mrs. Richards exceeding- ly, but as they always treated her with due respect, with the courage of true, self-reliant pioneer womanhood, she soon got over her nervousness and met the savages on friendly terms. Mrs. Richards, whose name was Elizabeth, and who was affection- ately called "Betty" by her friends, in her loneliness became much attached to the grand mountains of her new home. The one nearest her cabin she claimed as her own, and it soon began to be called Betty's or Batty's mountain and out of this circum- stance grew its present name of "Mt. Battie."
Mr. Richards, our first settler, was not, however, for a long time, the only settler, for the same year his two brothers, Joseph and Dodiphar, joined him, built log houses and formed a little neighborhood which soon began to grow and flourish. These three Richards brothers, were the progenitors of nearly all the numerous population of that name now living in Knox and Waldo counties.
In July, 1769, about two months after James Richards set- tled at the "Harbour," Robert Thorndike of Cape Elizabeth, a native of Beverly, Mass., came with his family of seven children, and settled at "Goose River," now Rockport village. Like Richards he had been here previously to cut timber. For two or three years prior to this time, he had brought his sloop to Goose River and carried away several cargoes of ash to be used in making vessels' blocks. During his stays here on those occasions he explored the country and decided to return at a future day and make the place his home. Like Richards he possessed the sturdy qualities that made up the characters of the successful pioneers of our early history and transmitted those qualities to his descendants, many of whom inhabit this region. Mr. Thorndike settled on his own land, for when he decided to come here he purchased (Nov. 9, 1768), of the "Twenty Associates" a tract of
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THE FIRST SETTLERS
land containing about 50 acres, and extending from the easterly shore of Goose Harbor 1 to the "Neck Pond" now known as Lily Pond. A portion of this tract is now covered by Rockport village. Thus, Mr. Thorndike became the first settler of Rock- port, and his log house stood near where the Rockport Methodist Episcopal church now stands. Later he built a frame house on almost the same spot, which was the first house of the kind at Goose River.
The next settler at the Harbor was Maj. Wm. Minot of Boston, who in 1771 purchased land and water power of the "Twenty Associates " near the mouth of Megunticook river and erected a grist-mill and saw-mill near where the mill of the Camden Grist Mill Co. now stands. He also built the first frame house in Camden, which stood just back of the house now occupied by Wm. H. Thorndike on Chestnut street. Maj. Minot did not live many years after settling in Camden, for in 1785 we find a record of Stephen Minot deeding to Joseph Eaton "a point of land on the northeast side of Negunticook harbor, that falls within the bounds of the Lincolnshire Co. supposed to contain 7 or 8 acres being the same Land which was granted to Wm. Minot by said Company, A. D. 1771. Also one half of the grist-mill, the same that came to said Stephen as father and heir of said Wm. Minot." 2
The next settler, it is supposed, was Abraham Ogier 3 who
1. Lincoln Records of Knox Co. Vol 2, p. 384. The name " Goose Harbor," etc., is said to have been derived from the following circumstance: One of the early settlers finding the nest of a wild goose in a tuft of grass on a ledge in the pond now known as "Lake Hosmer," gave it the name of "Goose Pond." This pond being the source of the little river that flows into Rockport harbor, the name of Goose River and Goose Harbor were naturally applied to them. The village also was known as "Goose River" until 1852, when it was officially changed to Rockport, by the P. O. Department.
2. Lincoln Records of Knox Co. Vol. 1, p. 483.
3. Mr. Locke in his " Sketches" and other writers on ancient Camden history, say it was Lewis Ogier who settled in Camden. This is an error, and we are informed by Mr. Joseph W. Ogier and other descendants of the first Camden Ogier, that it was Lewis' father, Abraham Ogier, who was the first
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HISTORY OF CAMDEN AND ROCKPORT
came from Quebec. He was the son of Peter Ogier, a French Huguenot, who fled from France to England to avoid the persecu- tions then inflicted in France upon the people of his faith. He established a business house in London, and his son, Abraham, went to Quebec to take charge of a branch of the business. From there he came to Camden. As we have already seen, he took up a lot running from the shore on Ogier's Point, over Ogier's Hill to the Lily Pond, being lot 33 of the Fales survey. He built his house on the point near the shore about where the "Hardy cot- tage" now stands, and traces of the old cellar exist there today.
Paul Thorndike, brother of Robert, next came to Goose River and at the same time came James Simonton, and later John Harkness, Peter Ott, John Ballard and others. Mr. Ballard took up a lot of 100 acres on the westerly side of "Goose Harbor." A part of this lot is where "Ballard Park " is now located, on the shore.
About this time William Gregory, William Porterfield, William Upham, David Nutt and Barak Bucklin settled in the vicinity of Clam Cove, now known as Glen Cove, while Robert and Alexander Jameson settled on Jameson's Point. Thus the town had a gradual growth for a period of some six or seven years, when the Revolutionary War broke out, during which emigration to the township ceased and the population fell off to some degree.
During these pioneer days the settlers, while clearing the forest, lived largely by fishing and hunting. After getting a clearing they planted their seed and soon had a supply of corn
settler, although he brought with him his son, Lewis, then a lad of abont eleven years of age. This is corroborated by the " permit " from the " Twenty Associates " recorded in the preceding chapter and a deed found recorded in Vol. 2, p. 386 of the Lincoln Records of Knox Co. under the date of July 2, 1793, wherein Abraham Ogier deeds to his son, Lewis, one hundred acres of land running from the shore of the harbor to the pond, being lot 33, in con- sideration of "a cow wintered and summered so long as I and my wife liveth and sixteen dollars per year paid yearly, and to summer a calf when wanted."
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THE FIRST SETTLERS
and other crops. Prior to the building of Minot's grist-mill, the settlers had to carry their corn on their backs twelve miles through the forest to the mill at Warren, to get it ground. There was no path and they were guided by spotted trees. On one occasion Dodiphar Richards started with his grist for Warren. Darkness coming on he arrived at an isolated cabin and asked for shelter for the night. The master of the house being absent, and his wife alone, she felt timid about admitting the stranger and refused his request. Being obliged to continue his journey he stumbled along through the woods in the darkness until 9 o'clock, when he heard in the distance the howling of wolves. Securing a stout club, he backed up to a large tree and awaited their approach. He had not long to wait before a pack of some thirty yelping beasts surrounded him. As they leaped at him he would strike them with his club, when they would spring back, at which his small dog would jump at them and bark. Then they would come back at him and the dog with renewed howls, to which others in the surrounding forest responded, and the pack grad- ually increased in numbers until at midnight a hundred hungry, snarling, but cowardly beasts surrounded him and his brave dog. At one time, being harder pressed than usual, he threw his dog at the beasts, but they seemed to fear to attack it, and the little animal ran back and crouched at his master's feet. Not having the heart to repeat the experiment, the stalwart settler fought the wolves off with his club until dawn, when one by one they slunk away and left him to continue his journey in safety. After get- ting his meal he returned to his cabin none the worse for his disagreeable experience, but in relating the incident afterwards to his friends he said, "I should rather have been at home in my log hut than out in the woods fighting those cussed varmints."
The necessity of carrying corn so far, ceased when the mill was built at the Harbor, and customers came to it from all the sur- rounding settlements, even as far away as Belfast, whence they came in boats. There is a story of Robert Miller of Belfast,
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HISTORY OF CAMDEN AND ROCKPORT
coming to Camden with grist and on his return stopping at a cabin at "Duck Trap," which was the only house then in Northport, to get his dinner prepared. He found the family sick and desti- tute, having had nothing to eat but clams for several days. Returning to his boat he brought back and supplied them with half his bag of meal, prepared a repast, of which he partook with them, and went on to his home, happy in the knowledge that "it is more blessed to give than to receive." Thus helping one another the early settlers scattered throughout the wilderness, lived their homely but happy lives close to Nature's heart. With all their cares and hardships, they did not forget the scriptural injunction to "multiply and replenish the earth," and soon children began to come to brighten their rude homes of logs. Local historians have disagreed as to who were the first white children, male and female, born within the limits of the old town of Camden. Locke says that Robert Thorndike, born at Goose River, Sept. 17, 1773, was the first white male child born in town and that his sister, Betsey, born subsequently, was the first white female child ; 1 while Eaton claims the distinction of being the first white child born in town, for Josiah Gregory, son of William Gregory of Clam Cove, who was born May 5, 1771, and says Bridget Richards, daughter of James Richards, whose birth pre- ceded his, was the first white female child born here. 2 We find, however, that neither of these authorities are altogether correct. It is very probable that Josiah Gregory was the first white male child born here, but there seems to be no question that Mehitable Thorndike, daughter of Robert Thorndike, born April 8, 1770, was the first child of European descent born in Camden. Her sister, Betsey, was born Oct. 4, 1771, 3 while two of the Rich- ards children, Bridget, born May 8, 1771, and Jacob, born June
1. See Locke's Sketches, p. 31.
2. See Eaton's History of Thomaston, Rockland and So. Thomaston Vol. I, p. 84.
3. See First Town Record Book of Births and Deaths.
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THE FIRST SETTLERS
8, 1773, 1 preceded Robert Thorndike. Bridget and Jacob Richards then were the first white children to see the light within the limits of the present town of Camden.
It is interesting to note one remarkable characteristic of these earliest settlers of our town and their families, and that is their wonderful longevity. James Richards died at the age of 78, his son, James, Jr., at the age of 94, and his grandson, James, third of the name, also at the age of 94, while many others of his descend- ants lived to be very old. Robert Thorndike lived to be more than 100 years old, and his descendants have been remarkable for their longevity. Among them were the late Alexander Thorndike of Camden, who died a few years ago aged 90 years, and his two sisters, Mrs. Sarah Stetson and Mrs. Clementine Philbrook, who died recently at the ages of 91 and 94 years respectively. The same is also true of the Gregorys. William Gregory died at the age of 93, and one of his sons, Capt. John Gregory lived to the age of 99. Lewis Ogier also lived to be over 88. It is evident that the material of which these old pioneers were made was of the most hardy fibre, and what is true of them applies equally to those who immediately followed them to the wilds of Camden. And what can be said of their physical, can also, as a rule, be said of their mental and moral characteristics. That such should be the character of the founders of our town must necessarily be true. To face the vicissitudes, dangers and hardships of the frontier wilderness required a strength, bravery and fortitude, not possessed by ordinary mortals. Sturdy men ! Brave women ! We, their progeny and successors, do well to honor their memories, for they put civilization behind them and came to these grand soli- tudes, to help build up a great state in the wilderness, with no one to welcome them to their new abode but the untutored savages, the beasts of the forests and the wild birds of the mountains.
"The ocean eagle soared
From his nest by the white wave's foam, And the rocking pines of the forest roared ; This was their welcome home."
1. See Genealogy of Richards Family, p. 188.
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HISTORY OF CAMDEN AND ROCKPORT
CHAPTER VII.
THE REVOLUTION.
Sturdy as were the early settlers in their physical and moral characteristics, they were no less sturdy in their patriotism. The rule that "mountaineers are always freemen," did not find an exception in the case of the Camden forefathers. Their natures were cast in the same mould as the rugged mountains among which they lived, and the free air of their forest-environed homes bred in them a love of liberty and a spirit of resistance to the tyranny of the despotic rulers across the sea. When the fire of the Revolution, long smouldering, had burst into flame at Lexington, and the "embattled farmers " at Concord "fired the shot heard round the world," its echoes reverberated among the hills of Camden, and awakened our first settlers to the gravity of the situation and found them ready to do their utmost to repel the invader should he land upon their shore or to shoulder the flint- lock and march to the front if called to do so; and during the whole course of the war the men of Camden, with few exceptions, were among its most earnest supporters. Camden was not the scene of any great battle, and on account of its then isolated situation it did not at once feel the effects of the contest being carried on in the older part of the colony, but it was not long before parties of British and their tory sympathizers began to make excursions to our shores, to steal the settlers' sheep, cattle, and other property and often to destroy what they could not carry away. When on these looting expeditions the British came in
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THE REVOLUTION
barges which were called "shaving mills," and their depredations aroused the righteous wrath of our early settlers, who often proved too much for the robbers. There are several stories, often related in the old days, which illustrate these plundering raids of the enemy, as well as the fearlessness and uncompromising character of the Camden forefathers. They relate to that period of the Revolution before any troops were stationed at Camden, and the settlers had to depend upon themselves to defend their property from marauders, and some of them are of sufficient interest to be recorded here.
Robert Jameson when a boy, had a schoolmate by the name of Pomeroy, who, in later years, had also gone to sea with him. When the Revolutionary struggle commenced, Pomeroy, then living at Friendship, became a tory, and knowing Jameson to be a strenuous patriot, undertook to guide a "shaving mill" to Clam Cove to depredate his property. The barge, guided by Pomeroy, reached Jameson's Point late in the forenoon, and landed a force of nineteen men near Mr. Jameson's log house, seized him as he was mowing in his field, and carried him aboard the barge. Some of the company went into his house and brought away two guns, two firkins of butter and other things of value. Another party shot his oxen and killed his pigs which they dragged to the shore, quartered without taking off the hides, and carried them on board their barge. They then told Jameson that he was free to go home. Under those circumstances most men would have hurried away as soon as possible. Not so Jameson ! His heart, which knew no fear, was burning with rage at the loss and indignity he had suf- fered, and with a determination to get revenge if possible. His seaman's eye had detected an American privateer in the fog near Owl's Head, and thinking that an opportunity to avenge himself was at hand, he resolutely refused to leave the barge. The priva- teer approached within two miles of Clam Cove, when Jameson, notwithstanding he was ordered to hold his tongue, loudly hailed it, but the increasing density of the fog prevented the privateer's
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HISTORY OF CAMDEN AND ROCKPORT
attention being attracted. The British then offered to take him with them if he would join in their predatory expedition, which offer he contemptuously rejected and said he hoped the privateer would take them that he might wreak his vengeance upon them. Deciding that he was a dangerous man to have with them, they peremptorily ordered him to go ashore, which he as peremptorily refused to do. They then brought his wife aboard the barge to persuade him to go ashore peaceably, but he persistently adhered to his determination to remain aboard as long as there was a chance of the privateer returning to the place. As night was approaching they decided to remain in the Cove until morn- ing and allow their unwelcome guest to stay on board. The morning's light showed no traces of the privateer, and seeing no hope of immediate redress, Jameson strode ashore declaring, as the barge sailed away, that his wrath would be forcibly visited upon the head of the base Pomeroy, when next they met. The story is not complete without the sequel which took place a few years later after peace was declared, when Pomeroy went as pilot to Bangor on board a Waldoboro vessel commanded by Paul Jameson, Robert's brother. On the return trip down river with a cargo of lumber, the vessel put into Clam Cove. While there Robert learned that Pomeroy was on board and told his brother, the captain, that he proposed to have satisfaction, before he left, for the loss and insults he had received. His brother's efforts to dissuade him were of no avail. His injury had rankled in his breast too long and he would not forego his long contemplated revenge. Taking his musket, loaded and with fixed bayonet, he went on board in the absence of the captain, and finding Pomeroy, told him the purpose of his visit. Pomeroy in great fear begged his forgiveness, but regardless of his entreaties, Jameson pitched into him with his fists and lay him unconscious upon the deck and would doubtless have made an end of him but for the inter- ference of others. When leaving to go on shore Jameson gave his fallen enemy a thrust with his bayonet to ascertain if he were
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THE REVOLUTION
dead. He proved to be alive, however, and the captain hearing of the trouble went on board his vessel and hurriedly sailed away. The people of Camden held Pomeroy in so great contempt, and were so indignant at his unforgotten treachery and treason, that no notice was taken of the assault, and the matter ended.
The British took possession of Castine or Majorbiguyduce, as it was then called, on June 12, 1779. During that year, according to the old tradition recorded by Locke in his sketches of the history of Camden, an English vessel approached Megunti- cook harbor from the direction of Castine, evidently on a maraud- ing trip. She was seen by two residents of the harbor, Leonard Metcalf and Andrew Wells, who undertook to prevent by strategem the landing of the enemy. Wells took his drum to the shore and began lustily to beat the "roll call," while Metcalf in a commanding voice, proceeded to give out military orders to an imaginary company of soldiers. This action of the two patriots only resulted, however, in alarming the approaching British, who sent on shore a larger force than they had intended, to dislodge the supposed company of "rebels" in the woods. They landed on the west shore of the harbor, near Wm. Minot's house, dressed in the red uniform of the British soldiers, and charged up the bank where they saw Metcalf and Wells and fired at them. Met- calf returned the fire, and ran, loading his musket as he did so, and not paying proper heed to his steps, fell over a log, when one of the Englishman cried, "There's one of the d- Yankees dead." Metcalf, however, was far from being dead, for rising to his feet he fired at his pursurers again and retorting, "That's a lie," disappeared into the thicket with his comrade and both hur- ried to Goose River to spread the alarm. The marauders then turned their attention to Maj. Minot's house, which they burned to the ground, and then visited Abraham Ogier's cabin on Ogier's Point. Mrs. Ogier, being at home alone, and seeing them approaching from the direction of Minot's flaming house, took to her bed and feigned sickness. The soldiers entered and roughly
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HISTORY OF CAMDEN AND ROCKPORT
ordered her to get up and leave, as they were going to burn the house. With a feeble voice she told them that it would be death for her to leave her bed and begged them not to disturb her. Believing her story they spared the house and proceeded back to the Harbor where they burned several houses, among them that of James Richards. They also burned several hay-stacks and destroyed Wm. Minot's saw-mill. They then set fire to his grist-mill, which was saved, according to Eaton's Annals of Warren and Williamson's History of Belfast, by Leonard Metcalf. Mr. Locke, however, claims this to be an error, and gives the following ver- sion of the the saving of the mill, which was told by Robert Thorndike, who remembered the circumstance. Belfast had previously been evacuated and many of its settlers had come to Camden and stored their goods in this grist-mill; therefore when the British set it on fire, a cripple from Belfast by the name of Dow, anxious to save his own and his neighbors' property, extin- guished the flames. Again it was set on fire and again Dow put it out and persisted in so doing, notwithstanding that he was roughly handled and threatened with personal violence by the soldiers. At last they relinquished their attempts, saying, "Well, we'll let it alone, as the d- rebels will die if we burn their mill." So the valor of the cripple saved the mill. In the meantime, Mrs. Richards and her children and the other residents of the Harbor had fled to the woods, and with sorrowful hearts saw arising the smoke of their blazing homes. At last the invaders started to return to their boats, and on their way, like their fellows on their retreat from Lexington, they were pursued and hastened by the bullets of the ambushed settlers.
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