History of Cumberland Co., Maine, Part 12

Author: Clayton, W. W. (W. Woodford)
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 780

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· Williamson, 2, 212.

+ Donglass Sum.

* " May 20, 1744, People are at work at North-Yarmouth ant this town about their garrisons Lo day. Not a very full meeting, people l'earing to conte." May 25, " All the talk and thought now is about war. People are everywhere garrisoning." -Sarthe's Journ.

Two hundred and seventy were stationed at George's Fort and Broad Bay, fifty at f'emuaqui l, andt fifty at Sheep-cot .-- t Doug., 381.

FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR OF 1744.

and take eaptives or destroy life : they became so desperate as even to come upon the Neck after spoil ; in August, one was discovered in Brackett's swamp. In the same month one of Mr. Proctor's family and two other persons were killed in Falmouth, and Philip Greeley in North Yarmouth, where about thirty Indians were discovered. The people here were kept in constant agitation during the season by these repeated depredations ; and the terror was more lively, as it was caused by an enemy who could not be confronted, and whose secret and sudden visitations were marked by desolation and blood.

" But this excitement was raised to the highest point of fearful apprehension in the latter part of September, not only here but along the whole coast, by an expected inva- sion from France. On the 10th of September a French fleet, consisting of eleven sail of the line, with frigates, fire- ships, and transports, under the command of the Duke d'Anville, containing over three thousand troops, arrived in Nova Scotia, with the avowed purpose of visiting the whole coast of New England with destruction. On the receipt of this news, the country was aroused to a sense of its dan- ger, fifteen thousand men were in one week, the last of Sep- tember, marched into Boston for the protection of that place, and the people of Salem, Marblehead, and other towns upon the coast in Massachusetts moved their effects into the country. The alarm extended to Falmouth, and a meeting of the inhabitants was called to consider the ex- pedieney of sending away the records, and to take other precautionary measures. It was voted to transport the town books to Newbury, and many people packed up their prin- cipal articles to send to a place of safety .* On the 16th of October a public fast was kept on account of the danger, to pray that it might be averted. But in the midst of this alarm and these preparations, news was received that an epidemic prevailed in the French fleet, that their admiral was dead, and that a violent gale of wind had dispersed the fleet and had destroyed some of the best ships. This was one of the most signal deliverances that New England had experienced. The French had sent out a powerful arma- ment, well appointed in all respects, breathing out threat- enings and slaughters upon the devoted colonies; and nothing, apparently, but a succession of the most disastrous circumstances to the enemy, prevented their entire destruc- tion. By an unaccountable remissness in the English gov- ernment, no naval force was sent after the French into these seas, so that the coast was left wholly unprotected by any human arm.

" The spring of 1747 witnessed the renewal of Indian hostilities and alarm ; in March the inhabitants of Fal- mouth put three swivels into the Rev. Mr. Smith's house, which was used as a garrison. The enemy appeared first in Scarborough, April 13th, where they killed one man, and the next day they were seen in several places ; at Sacea- rappa they took a man by the name of Knight and his two

sons, and in another part of the town, the same week, they killed a Mr. Elliot and his son, and took one captive. On the 21st of April a party attacked the family of Mr. Fos- ter, whom they killed, and carried away his wife and six children, and killed several cattle ; the people here pursued them, and reported that they were about fifty in number ; the next day Stephen Bailey was fired upon by a party of seven, near Long Creek.

" These numerous and aggravated attacks aroused the people in the neighborhood to adopt some measures of pro- tcetion. The government, although appealed to, had pro- vided but one company of fifty men for the defense of this frontier, and thirty of those were stationed at Topsham to guard government timber, while the Indians were hovering over every settlement from Topsham to Wells. In this emergency a company of twenty-six volunteers was imme- diately raised in Falmouth, who placed themselves under the command of Capt. Isaac Ilsley ; another was raised in Purpooduck, and another in North Yarmouth. Capt. Ilsley transported two whale-boats to the Sebago pond, for the purpose of pursuing them in that direction. These prompt measures had the effect of keeping the enemy at bay, although during the whole summer the settlements were in a state of feverish excitement.f In the latter part of August the arrival of a cartel from Canada with a num- ber of our soldiers intimidated the Indians, so that they re- treated from this quarter of the country, and were no more seen for that season. The next spring they reappeared, with an accession of numbers, at Brunswick and North Yarmouth, and waylaid the road even to New Casco: in which places they killed several persons, took a number of prisoners, and destroyed many buildings. But in the be- ginning of July the happy tidings of a suspension of arms in Europe, which resulted in the treaty of Aix-la-chapelle, put an end to the destructive warfare in this territory and relieved the people from further apprehension.

" The most considerable event of this war, and indeed the greatest achievement which had taken place at any previous time in the colonies, was the capture of Louisbourg, in the Island of Cape Breton, June 17, 1745. This was the strongest fortification upon the continent, and was particularly obnoxious to the people of Massachusetts by the refuge it afforded to those who sought every occasion to disturb their fisheries and interrupt their commerce. The con- quest was accomplished by the New England militia. con- sisting of three thousand six hundred men, assisted by an English and provincial fleet, and aided by a combination of fortunate circumstances beyond the anticipation of the most sanguine adventurer. The enterprise was a very popular one, and soldiers were easily enlisted; the number from Falmouth was about fifty, besides those who entered the service and were stationed at other places .;

" The news of the capture was received here as in other parts of the colonies with the utmost enthusiasm ; Mr. Smith says, 'we fired our cannon five times and spent the

# In case of attack by his Christian Majesty's fleet our little village did not mean to surrender without firing a gun, for the town votod on this occasion that the "selectmen apply to Capt. Moses Pearson for the use of his tico great guns, to he placed on Spring Point, and tu get four barrels of powder, balls, and flints for the use of the town !"

+ The Indians this summer were accompanied by some Frenchmen. į Feb. 22, 1745, Mr. Smith says, "All the talk is about the expe- dition to Louisbourg. There is n marvelous zeat and concurrence through the whole country with respect to it, such as the like was never seen in this part of the world."

HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, MAINE.

afternoon at the fort rejoicing ;' and again the next day, which was Sunday, he says, ' our people were again all day rejoicing, and extravagantly blew off a vast quantity of powder.' The soldiers in the neighborhood who survived the expedition petitioned the government for a township of land as a remuneration for their services and sufferings, which was granted in 1750, and now forms part of the town of Standish; which, until its incorporation in 1785, bore the name of Pearsontown.$. Mr. Pearson commanded a company raised principally in Falmouth in the expedition, t and after the surrender of the city he was appointed agent for Sir William Pepperell's regiment, and treasurer of the nine regiments employed in the siege, to receive and dis- tribute the spoils of the victory. The amount of booty divided among the officers and soldiers of the several com- panies was .£3578 5s. 5d. old tenor, principally in specifie articles, besides about 818,000, the proceeds of the sales of captured property. C'apt. Pearson remained at Louisbourg the remainder of the year 1745 and part of 1746, superin- tending the construction of barracks and a hospital, and the re- pair of the fortifications, and in the spring he was sent home by Governor Shirley with a plan to procure a frame for ad- ditional barracks, and lumber to complete the works.

* " The names of these survivors may be foun I subscribed to the petition, which was as follows :

" To the Hon. Spencer Phips, Esq., Lieutenant Governor and Com- mander in-Chief in and over His Majesty's Province of the Mas- sachusetts Bay, in New England, and to the Honorable the Council, and House of Representatives, in General Court assembled, Jan- uary. A.D. 17 19.

" The petition of us, the subscribers, humbly sheweth, That where- as we were in the expedition against Louisbourg and the settlement adjacent, then under the command of the French King, being in said service, not only until but for some considerable time after the reduc- tion thereof, to the obedience of the King of Great Britain, and some of us detained there for the defense of Louisbourg until relieved by his Majesty's troops from Gibraltar, being about sixteen months from the time of entrance int > said service to our arrival at our respective homes; the fatigue of said service your Excellency and Honours are well knowing to, and our wages but low while in said service, and as (many of us) were put out of our usual way of business, it termi- nated very detrimental to us, and as many of us have no lands for set- tlement nor wherewith to purchase any, Therefore we pray your honours to grant us a township, of the contents of six miles square, of some of the unappropriated lands of said Province, somewhere in the county of York, to be settled by your petitioners in such time and under such restrictions as your Excellency and Honours, in your known wisdom, shall see meet to enjoin us, and as your petitioners in duty bound will ever pray.

" Maxen Pearson, George Knight, Inanc Haley, Jacob Clifford, James Springer, Jeremiah Springer, Jeremiah Springer, jr., Gamaliel Pate, Nath'l. Ingersoll, Samuel Graves, Ebenezer Giustin, James Gilkey. David Darty, Braja, Smetzer, Jeremiah Pote, Samuel Mark, Thomas Brackett, Elinha Patr, Samuel Lant, jr., Jab Lant, Samuel Hodyskins, John Clark, John Anderson, Moses Hogdakiux, Joshna Bruckett, Phillip Husdyrkina, John Foarte, Jahn Robina, Richard Temple, Stephen Clerk, John Clark, Jacob True, Josiah Haniel, Samuel Lowell, Joka Owen, jr., Jacob Giraffam, Joshua Moody, Jahn Irish, William Reed, Abra- hom Siyer, John Roberts, Penivel Berton, George Williams, William Pitman, John Ayrı, Samuel Atruud."

George Knight was his heotenant. The company was raised in March, 175. Samuel Wullo was brigadier-general, and second in command of the land forces. The chief command was assigned to Win. Pepperell, who was knighted on the occasion of the success, It was highly creditable to Maine that the two highest officers in this brilliant expedition should have been taken from the only two regi- ments in oor territory, Pepperell's and Wallo's.

+ Moses Pearson was born in Newbury, in 1697, and was by trade

Several of the soldiers from Falmouth died at Louisbourg, after the surrender, of the camp fever, and others were killed at Menas in an attack on that place in January, 1747, by the French and Indians, among whom were Capt. JJones and Moses Gilman. Ebenezer IFall and Mr. Roberts died at Annapolis about the same time, and in the May follow- ing a number were killed and captured by Indians in an attack on the fort at Pemaquid.

" The pay of the troops in the expedition to Louisbourg was, for a captain, in old tenor bills, eighteen pounds a month ; lieutenant, twelve pounds; a soldier, five pounds ; the bounty for enlisting was four pounds, a month's wages in advance, and twenty shillings a week for subsistence. At the same time corn was thirty shillings a bushel, old tenor, or three shillings in silver, and flour ten pounds a hundred pounds, old tenor, equal to about nine dollars a barrel in our money. The expense of this expedition to Massachu- setts was one hundred and seventy-eight thousand pounds sterling, which was reimbursed by the English government. " The war had been very prejudicial to the people of the provinee in the loss of many lives, the interruption of the lumbering business,-the principal source of the prosperity of the inhabitants,-and the advance in price of all the articles of living. Capt. Pearson, in a letter to Governor Shirley, July 7, 1746, writes, --

"' I find the Indian enemy very busy and bold, so as to put the greater part of our lumbermen from their duty in Inmbering to their arms and scouting for the defense of their families, and others taken into the service for Cauuda.'

"The suspension of hostilities in Europe extended its beneficial influence on this side of the Atlantic, although its full fruits were not gathered until after the peace was concluded in October, 1748. As soon as intelligence of the ratification of the treaty reached Boston, Governor Shir- ley took measures to communicate with the Indians, and, finding thetu disposed to listen to an accommodation, com- missioners were appointed to meet them in Falmouth."§

The treaty was concluded on the IGth of October, upon the principles of Mr. Dummer's treaty of 1726, and was

a joiner. lle moved here in 1728 or 1729, and came at once into notice by the activity of his mind and the interest he took in the affairs of the town. Within the first ten years of his residence here, he filled the offices of a committeeman to adjust the difficulties between the old and new propriotors, towu clerk, seleetman, and town treasurer. In 1737, 1740, and 1719 he represented the town in the General Court. In 1760, on the establishment of the county of Cum- berland, he was appointed the first sheriff, and held the office until 1768; in 1770 he was appointed a justice of the Court of Common Pleas, the duties of which he continued to discharge until the Revolu- tion. About 1730 he purchased the land opposite the new custom- house, extending to Middle Street, of Daniel Ingersoll, and built n house there on Fore Street, in which he lived until it was destroyed in the fire of 1775; on his death the property descended to his heirs, in whose possession it now remains ; he was a large proprietor in this town and Standish. lle died in 1778, aged eighty-one. His children were Mary, Elizabeth, Sarah, Eunice, Anne, and Lois; he left no son to perpetuate his name. These married Benjamin Titeomb, Joseph Wise, Timothy Pike, Pr. Denne, Damel Dole, and Joshua Freeman.

¿ They were Thomas Hutchinson, John Choate, Israel Williams, and James Otis, from Massachusetts, and John Downing and Theo. dore Atkinson, from New Hampshire. The Rev. William Welstead accompanied them us chaplain, and Colonel Cotton ns clerk. Sir William Pepperell had been appointed at the head of the commission, but hud sailed for Englan H before the treaty took place.

FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR OF 1744.

signed by six chiefs of the Wawenock tribe, eight of the Norridgewock, and five of the Penobscot tribe.

In less than two months after this an affray took place at Wiscasset between the English and Indians, in which one of the latter was killed and two wounded. This un- happy affair produced a strong sensation throughout the province. One of the Englishmen-Albec-was tried at York and acquitted ; the other was arrested, but not tried. This created a dissatisfaction among the Indians which no overtures of conciliation on the part of the government could allay, and which the French availed themselves of the occasion to foster and encourage.

In August, 1750, the Penobscot tribe was in arms, and the French were discovered furnishing them with supplies. The next month they were joined by Indians from Canada, and a general alarm prevailed at the threatening aspect of affairs.

" Within a few days parties of the enemy were seen in Gorham, Windham, and Falmouth ; one hundred men were raised here and in Scarborough to scout from Saco to Geor- ges, and Capt. Ilsley, ready to take the lead on occasions of this sort, marched the first company of scouts into the woods in September. These prompt measures had the effect of protecting our settlements for that season, but early the next spring the enemy was found lurking again in our vicinity, which, accompanied by the sudden revolution in the circulating medium of the country occasioned by calling in the paper, and a severe epidemie which was raging violently in this province, produced incalculable distress among our people .* The inhabitants of this town suffered but little from the Indians this season, although they ap- peared at different points of our territory during the spring and summer. One man only, Job Burnell, was killed at New Casco. The regiment commanded by Col. Ezekiel Cushing, of Cape Elizabeth, furnished fifty men for the service, and in the course of the summer, the government having made arrangements to enter into negotiations with the Indians, a new draft of one hundred men was made from the same regiment to escort and protect the commis- sioners.t The peace of 1749 was confirmed at St. Georges Aug. 3, 1751, by some of the tribes, and a temporary ces- sation of hostilities followed. Conferences were also held in 1752 and 1753 with the Indians, who continued in a very unquiet state. At the conference in 1753 at St. Georges, the Indians admitted that they had received a let- ter from the French missionary stimulating them to adopt some measures in defense of their rights and their territory.

WAR OF 1754-59.

" After the peace of 1748, the two great European powers who were struggling for supremacy in North America, hav- ing perceived the growing importance of the immense do-

minions they possessed on this side the Atlantic, cach turned its attention to secure its power and to prepare for future difficulties. Commissioners had been appointed in 1749 by France and England to adjust the boundaries between their respective possessions, who, after numerous sessions and elaborate discussions at Paris, were unable to arrive at any satisfactory result. The French claimed the Kennebec River as the western boundary of their province of Acadia, and erected forts in that province to secure a passage over- land to Quebec. They also strengthened their positions in the rear of the English settlements, and erected new forts even upon the territory of the English Colonies. Their design was to connect their provinees of Louisiana and Canada, by a chain of forts which might enable them to keep up a communication, and while they secured them from invasion to be ready to seize any favorable opportunity to pursue offensive operations against their ancient enemy. It may easily be imagined that these hostile manifestations could not be viewed with indifference by a nation so jealous as the English, and loud complaints of these encroachments were made on both sides of the Atlantic. But the French, although they amused the English a while with the hope of giving them satisfaction, yet their object being solely to gain time, no reparation was made or intended. It was therefore evident that resort must be had to arms. To meet this emergency the British government recommended a convention of delegates from the several colonies with a view to produce unity of action and a more powerful com- bination of their forces. The meeting took place at Al- bany, June 19, 1754, and was one of the most respect- able assemblies, and, as the prototype of those of the Revolution, the most important in its consequences, of any which had been convened on this continent. It was one objeet of this meeting to conciliate the western Indians, on whom the French had long been practicing their seductions, but although large presents were distributed, the measure entirely failed ; the French had secured an influence over the wandering tribes which could not be dissolved by any art which the English were able to use.

" While this course was being pursued to engage the alliance of the western Indians, Governor Shirley was en- deavoring to secure the favor of those in the east, and at the same time to take such steps as in case of failure would protect the frontier from their incursions. It had been rumored that the French had established a settlement between the Kennebec and Chaudière Rivers, with a view to secure the passes from Quebec to Maine, and to facilitate the march of their forces into New England. This report, although it afterwards appeared to have been unfounded, created great alarm in Massachusetts and Maine, and the government immediately ordered a body of eight hundred men to be raised to break up the supposed settlement and, by suitable fortifications in that part of the country, to prevent the inroads of the enemy. Governor Shirley took the immediate command of the expedition, and, to avoid giving offense or alarm to the Indians, he invited them to a conference to be hell at Fahnouth, in June, and, in the mean time, vigorously prosecuted his preparations for the ulterior purposes of the enterprise.

"On the 21st of June forty-two Indians of the Norridge-

* Mr. Smith's Journal notices these facts as follows : " 1731, April 24, It is a melancholy time as ever the country knew, Ist on account of the great convulsion and perplexities relating to a medium, some towns not having raised any money for public taxes, nor chosen ofli- cers; 2d, with respect to a war with the Indians; 3d, the epidemic fever; 4th, the coldness and wetness of the spring."

The fever prevailed throughout this town, and a unmber of persons, especially children, died of it in October and November, 1750. f Smith's Journal.

HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, MAINE.

trock tribe, punctual to their engagement, arrived here : the Governor, with a quorum of the Council and a number of representatives, arrived on the 26th, and were received with great attention .* On the day after their arrival a public dinner was given to them in the court-house: the town was filled with people. The transports, with eight hundred troops, had arrived a day or two before, under the command of General Winslow, and had formed a camp on Bangs' Island, and it is probable that the soldiery contrib- uted to swell the crowd and magnify the parade. The con- ference was held on the 28th of June. The Governor asked the consent of the Indians to build a fort at Tieonnet and another at Cushnoc Falls, fand proposed to them the ratifi- eation of former treaties. They took time to consider these propositions, and, on the 1st day of July, they gave their answer assenting to the peace, but refusing to grant permis- sion to creet the forts. The treaty was, notwithstanding, signed on the 2d of July, and on the 3d it was ratified, when their usual dance took place. The Indians left town on the same day, three of their young men going to Boston, the remainder returned home .¿ On the 5th, twenty-five Indians of the Penobscot tribe arrived, and the Governor inet them the same day in the meeting-house, and on the next closed a treaty, in which they bound themselves to remain at peace should hostilities with the French take place. The Governor continued in this neighborhood until July 30th, when he sailed for the Kennebec and proceeded to Ticonnet, where he marked out the site of a fort on a point formed by the junction of the Sebasticook with the Kennebec, which, when completed, was named Halifax. A part of the expedition proceeded up the river to the portage, and, secing no vestiges of French or Indians, they returned without having rendered service at all equivalent to the expense of the expedition. The Governor revisited this town on the 3d of September, and departed for Boston on the 8th.

" This was one of the busiest seasons that our inhabi- tants had ever witnessed. The town was kept in confusion the whole summer, and for many years after, it was com- mon to refer to the occasion as a measure of time, and the expression ' the year that Governor Shirley's treaty was made,' was as familiar before the Revolution as 'house- hold words.' Mr. Smith, after noticing in his journal the departure of the Governor, exclaims, ' Thus ended a sum- mer's scene of as much bluster as a Cambridge commence- ment, and now comes on a vacation when our house and the town seem quite solitary !' One can readily imagine what an excitement must have been produced in town by a collection of the dignitaries of government and the repre- sentatives of two dreaded Indian tribes, when he reflects

The Governor took lodgings at the house of Jabez Fox, Esq., who was a member of the Council; he lived on the west side of Exchange Street, in a house that had belonged to Phineas Jones. Among the gentlemen present were Messrs. Danforth, Oliver, Bourn, Hubbard, Lincoln, Wheelwright, Minot, and Huncork.

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History of Cumberland Co., Maine, Part 12

Author: Clayton, W. W. (W. Woodford) Publication date: 1880 Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck Number of Pages: 780

Author: Clayton, W. W. (W. Woodford)
Publication date: 1880
Publisher: Philadelphia, Everts & Peck
Number of Pages: 780