History of Cumberland Co., Maine, Part 13

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

USA > Maine > Cumberland County > History of Cumberland Co., Maine > Part 13

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

+ Ticonnet is at the junction of the Sebasticook and Kennebec Rivers, in the town of Winslow ; Cashnoe is now Augustu.

# The eunoes of the Indians were hauled up on the bank where the custom-house now stands, the ledge being then entirely covered with earth. The place was subsequently used as a ship-yard, which broke the ground, and the soil has since been ail washed away.

that the village on the Neck, where all the parade was ex- hibited, contained but one hundred and forty or one hun- dred and fifty families, making a population of about one thousand, and that the high officers of government were then invested by public opinion with vastly more reverence and splendor than at present exists. There were few houses in town which could give suitable accommodations to such visitors, and those must have been necessarily crowded. Mr. Smith says, in anticipation of the event, 'we have been paint- ing and fitting np our house for the treaty which is approach- ing,' and June 28th, he says, 'yesterday and to-day we had a vast concourse dined with us, at our expense.'S

"Notwithstanding the precautions of the previous year, the commencement of 1755 found all the colonies from Virginia to the St. Lawrence engaged in a war with the Indians, and with the French of the neighboring provinces. As early as April the Indians appeared in Gorham and killed several persons, and all the frontier towns were har- assed and sustained injury in the lives and property of their inhabitants. The whole country was alarmed by these attacks and by the appearance of a French fleet upon the coast. The government was making great exertions to prosecute the war with vigor; but these were spent rather for distant and brilliant operations than for securing the people from the marauding attacks of the savages. Two thousand New England troops sailed from Boston in May, 1755, to subdue the French in Nova Scotia, and achieved a signal victory in June.

"In May, 1756, a report having been brought to Falmouth that a body of one hundred and twenty Indians were coming upon the frontier and were about spreading themselves from Brunswick to Saco, four companies of volunteers were in- mediately raised from among our people, and under the command of Captains Milk, Ilsley, Skillings, and Berry, went out in pursuit of them. Capt. Skillings marched in the direction of Windham, and succeeded in saving the people and property of that place ; he arrived in season to put the enemy to flight soon after they had commenced an attack upon the inhabitants, in which one was killed and one wounded and scalped. The Indians left five packs, a bow, a bunch of arrows, and several other articles. Ou another occasion the same year, when a report reached here that the fort at St. Georges was attacked, a number of our young men procceded without delay to offer their assist- ance | In April, 1757, Joseph Cox and Mr. Bayley, of this town, fitted out a small expedition, on pricate account, against the Penobscot Indians, and returned early in June, bringing with them two canoes, a quantity of oil, fish, and feathers, and the scalps of two men whom they had killed. The war in our part of the country was carried on in this desultory manner on both sides; the out-settlements were kept in continual alarm by small divisions of the enemy scattered over the province, and lighting, like the wary

¿ Mr. Smith was, however, compensated at the close of this scene, for he says, July 28th, " Capt. Osborne sailed for Boston, having paid me one hundred pounds for my house."

: The next year, in September, an alarm having been given of a great firing at Georges, and it being supposed that the fort there was attacked, one hundred and fifty men, mostly volunteers, immediately hastened by water to its relief. - Smith's Journ.

FRENCHI AND INDIAN WAR OF 1744.

hawk, wherever spoil was easy to be obtained ; no regular efforts were made by either party.

" The war was not formally declared by the English until May, 1756, although hostilities in America had commeneed two years before; the king in his declaration states that ever since the treaty of Aix-la-chapelle, the French had been making eneroachments upon his American subjects, and had, in 1754, without any previous notice, broke out into acts of open hostility and seized an English fort on the Ohio .* All attempts to procure reparation having been unavailing, the last resort of injured nations was applied. The first three years of the war had been generally unsue- cessful; it had been conducted at great expense and with- out much system. But in 1758, under the vigorous ad- ministration of the elder Pitt, English affairs, both in Europe and America, assumed a new aspect, and her arms became triumphant. In pursuance of a recommendation from Mr. Pitt, the General Court resolved to raise seven thousand men for au expedition against Canada; this was the largest foree ever raised by the province, but the hope of conquering Canada and driving from their neighborhood an enemy by whom they were exposed to continual fear and loss, stimulated theru to an extraordinary effort. About six hundred men of this force were raised in Maine, and sailed for Kittery to join the army on the 21st of May. The result of the campaign was very unfavorable; the principal object of the expedition, the capture of Tieonde- roga, failed, and our army of about fifteen thousand men disgracefully abandoned the siege, and retreated with loss of men and munitions of war before an inferior foree. The ill suecess may be attributed partly to the fall of the aeeom- plished Lord Howe, at the commencement of the attack. The effect of this disaster was somewhat diminished by the capture of Louisbourg, which capitulated to our arms July 26th ; the siege had been carried on with great spirit, and the garrison did not surreuder until they had lost fifteen hundred men, and the town was a heap of ruins.t The number of prisoners was five thousand six hundred and thirty-seven. The arrival of this intelligence at Falmouth on the 17th of August occasioned great joy, and the people spent the afternoon and most of the night in rejoicing.} The next year, the war was pursued with larger preparations and a more determined spirit on the part of the mother- country. The provinces also partaking of the zeal which animated the ministry at home, raised large supplies of men to co-operate in the favorite design upon Canada. Massa- chusetts raised six thousand eight hundred men, of whom two thousand five hundred served in the garrison at Louis- bourg, several hundred in the navy, three hundred joined General Wolfe before Quebec,S and the remainder served under General Amherst, who entered Canada by Lake Champlain, with a triumphal progress, capturing in his eourse the forts at Ticonderoga, Crown Point, and Niagara.

" It was one of the conditions imposed by the General Court in voting the last division of this large enlistment of soldiers, that four hundred men of the levy should be em- ployed under the direction of the Governor, to erect a fort at the mouth of Penobscot River. In pursuance of this plan, Governor Pownal went to Penobscot in May! and eonstructed upon a point in the town of Prospect, since ealled Fort Point, one of the most substantial and well- appointed fortifications that had ever been erected in Maine. Governor Pownal was accompanied in this expedition by Brig .- Gen. Waldo, who, being a large proprietor in the Waldo patent, on which the fort was laid out, was deeply interested in the result of the enterprise.

" But while Gen. Waldo was pointing out to the Gov- ernor the limit of his territory in or near Bangor, the bounds of his own life were fixed; he suddenly fell, and expired in a few moments of an apopleetic fit .** The fort was placed under the command of Capt. Jedediah Preble, of this town, on his return from Canada in 1759.tt

" The campaign of 1759 was crowned with complete sue- cess by the capture of Quebec, on the 17th of September. No event could have produced greater joy in the colonies than this. It had been the place from which, for a long series of years, had issued the decrees that had armed and let loose upon our frontiers a merciless and remorseless euemy. Various unsuccessful attempts had been made in the previous sixty years, at an immense cost and an extrav- agant waste of life, to drive this power from the continent. Now that the object of the most ardent wishes of the colo- nists was accomplished, public feeling swelled to the highest note of joy. Mr. Smith, in his journal, says, ' The country is all in extasy upon the sarprising news of the conquest of Quebee.' Information of the battle on the plains of Abra- ham, September 13th, in which the opposing generals, Wolfe and Montcalm, were killed, reached here October 14th. On the 15th and 16th the cannon at the fort were fired. MIr. Mayo's house was illuminated and small-arms were fired in the evening.## The next evening three mast ships in the

| He touched in here May 4th, and remained antil the 8th.

" It was called Fort Pownal, in compliment to the Governor, and cost five thousand pounds, which was repaid by England.

## Williamson, 2, 338. Gen. Waldo was son of Jonathan Waldo, a respectable merchant in Boston, who died in 1731, leaving a large estate to his five children. He was interested in eastern lands, and bis son. Samuel, was connected with him in these speculations. On bis death, Samuel came into possession of large tracts here and farther east. The general was the largest proprietor of land in this town for many years, having purchased the rights of old proprietors previous to 1730. In 1730 he booght eight hundred acres of the proprietors" committee, and seized every opportunity to extendl his interest here. He was an active, intelligent, and persevering man, and spent much time in town. lle died at the age of sixty-three, leaving two sons, Samuel and Francis, who lived in this towa, and daughters, flannah, married to Isaac Winslow, of Roxbury, and Luey, married to Thomas Flucker, of Boston, who were the parents of the late Gen. Knox's wife ; a third son, Ralph, died young. Gen. Wahlo went to England in 1729 to defend the interest of the Lincoln proprietors, and pub- lished a pamphlet in vindication of their rights.

tt Mr. Preble had the command of a company of provincial troops in the experlition against Canada, was in the battle ou the plains of Abraham, before the city of Quebec, and near Gen, Wolfe when he fell. He was subsequently promoted.

## Ebenezer Mayo : his house steel on the west side of King Street. near the corner of Newbury Street. He was a respectable merehaut,

# This was Fort Du Quesne, now Pittsburgh.

+ There were found in this fortress two hundred and twenty-one pieces of cannon, eighteen mortars, and a large quantity of stores and ammunition.

# Smith's Journal, Aug. 17, 1758.

¿ Among the persons from Falmouth who served in Wolfe's army Brig. Preble, then a captain. John Waite, afterwards a colonel, and William M'Lellan.

HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, MAINE.

harbor were illuminated. The 25th of the same month was observed as a day of public thanksgiving for the brilliant successes of the campaign.

" The French power in this country having been thus broken, the Indians, who had fought under it, immediately sought safety by submission to the conqueror. In the spring of 1760 the Penobscots, the St. John's, and Passamaquoddy Indians, and those of Nova Scotia, finding they could not, unaided by French power and influence, resist the English arms, entered into a treaty of peace, and from that time for- ever ceased to become formidable in the northern colonies. The conquest of Canada was completed Sept. 8, 1760, by the surrender of Montreal, the other posts of the French having previously capitulated; but in Europe the war was not terminatad until February, 1763. News of the surren- der of Montreal and the total extinguishment of French hopes on this continent was received in town Sept. 20, 1760, and caused a renewal of the rejoicing of the preceding year. On the evening of September 22d, Rev. Mr. Smith's house and several others on the Neck were illuminated, and a public thanksgiving was kept for the reduction of Canada.

" By the treaty of peace, which was signed at Paris, the French ceded all Canada to Great Britain and Louisiana to Spain, and thus took leave of the North American couti- nent, since which they have never had foothold upon it, save the short period, in the reign of Napoleon, that they held Louisiana. When it is considered how much blood had been shed, how much suffering, desolation, and sorrow had been brought upon the English colonies by the arms and the influence of the French over the Indians, their ever- faithful allies, from 1688, we cannot be surprised at the deep and well-founded satisfaction with which they viewed the removal of all fear of future alarm and depredation from that quarter."

CHAPTER X.

PERIOD OF THE REVOLUTION.

Preliminary Stages-Committees of Safety and Correspondence-The Stamp-Act-Burning of Stamps in Falmouth-Rejoicing upon the Repeal of the Act-Other Oppressive Measures The Non-Impor- tation Agreement-Falmouth acting promptly with Boston-Dec- laration of the County Convention.

AT the time of the breaking out of the Revolutionary war the settlements in the province of Maine were chiefly upon the seaboard. In this county the settlements were mainly upon Casco Bay, extending from New Meadows River, on the east, to l'ine Point, on the west, and includ- ing the two extremes of Harpswell and Scarborough. The only interior towns in the county at that time were Gorham, Windham, and New Gloucester. In what are now Bald- win, Bridgton, Gray, Raymond, and Standish, there were small settlements, but they were included in the territory of the other incorporated towns. The towns in the order of their relative importance, on the basis of population and

and came here from Postom. He left three children,-Apphin, Sim- ron, and Ebenezer, the last of whom was born in 1764.

commercial enterprise, were at this time Falmouth, North Yarmouth, Brunswick, Scarborough, and Cape Elizabeth.

Falmouth was at this period the most important seaport of the province, and the chief centre of those civie and military operations which characterized this portion of the country during the Revolution.

It is not our purpose in this place to enter upon a gen- cral history of the war, nor of the causes which led to it ; it is enough for our present purpose if we can put upon record some of the memorable acts of the people of this county, and of some of the more important towns compos- ing it, in a struggle which changed our country from colonial servitude to independence, and our people from de- pendence on a foreign government to the sovereign rights and liberties of citizenship.

For several years preceding the actual commencement of hostilities, the danger of a conflict between the colonies and the mother-country had been anticipated, and Committees of Safety and Correspondence established in most of the towns. As to what particular acts were done by these committees but little is known, as the records which have been preserved of them are very meagre. It is known, however, that they kept up a correspondence with similiar committees of the other towns, more especially with Bos- ton and the larger places, and were thus made seasonably acquainted with the condition of affairs over the whole country. Delegates were also sent to the General Court and Provincial Congress, and to other important bodies in Bos- ton and elsewhere, and were active in devising measures of defense and in shaping the general policy of the colonies during the preliminary period of the struggle. In the fall of 1765, Col. Samuel Waldo was elected by the people of Falmouth to represent that town in the General Court which commenced on the 23d of October of that year, and was instructed to use his utmost exertions to prevent the execution of the stamp-aet in the province of Maine. Ile was, however, unfriendly to the " party of liberty," which at this time constituted a majority of his constituents, and was never again elected .* The House at this session, by a strong majority, expressed its disapprobation of the stamp- act, and was about to pass a resolution instructing the offi- eers of the courts and custom-houses to proceed to business as usual without the use of stamped papers, when it was prorogned by the Governor. Notwithstanding this action, many of the courts were opened as usual, and the custom- house officers in Boston granted clearances without being stamped. In this county the same spirit of defiance to the obnoxious act prevailed. The Inferior Court assembled at Falmouth on the 1st of January, 1766, and proceeded to business as usual, without stamped papers.+ It seems that the custom-house officers here were disposed to enforce the act, for on the Sth of January a mob assembled and threatened the custom-house ; and on the 25th another mob assembled and burned some stamped clearances which had that day been brought by a brig from Halifax and deposited with the officer of customs. As soon as the inhabitants had notice of the fact, they assembled and marched in a

Josiah Preble, a staunch Whig, was chosen without opposition as his successor.

t Denne's Diary, Jan. 1, 1766.

PERIOD OF THE REVOLUTION.

body to the custom-house and demanded to have the stamps given to them immediately, demanding that " an article so odious to all America" should not be kept there .* After receiving them they were carried through the town on the end of a pole, and then committed to a fire prepared for that purpose, amidst the acclamations of a great concourse of people.t

The odious stamp-act was repealed in March, 1766, and the demonstration at Falmouth, on the reception of the news, is thus deseribed in the Boston Evening Post of the 2d of June :

" On Sunday noon an express was received from Portsmouth, with the confirmation of the great and glorious news, which seemed to change the countenances of all ranks of people, and every friend of liberty was filled with pleasure and satisfaction,-on which occasion an anthem was sung after service at church. The morning following was ushered in with every demonstration of loyalty and joy that could possibly be expressed, such as ringing of bells, firing of cannon at the fort and on board the shipping in the harbor, having all their colors displayed, heating of drums, etc., when many loyal toasts were drunk, viz., The Queen-The Royal Family-The great Pitt-Con- any-Burre, etc., etc. ; and on Tuesday the same noble spirit ap- peared. In the evening the houses of the town were beautifully illuminated, fire-works played off, bonfires erected, etc. The whole concluded with so much order and decorum that it did great honor to the town."

But, although the stamp-aet was repealed, Parliament continued to levy a tax on the chief articles imported into the colonies. Falmouth was not long behind Boston in resisting this by a most peculiar and effective method. Boston resolved not to use the taxed articles, and, on the 4th of December, 1767, the people of Falmonth " voted that this town highly approves of the measures of the town of Boston, to encourage home manufactures, and that this town will at all times endeavor to suppress the use of foreign ones and encourage industry and economy, agree- ably to the plan proposed by the town of Boston."}

In September, 1768, when a convention had been called at Faneuil Hall to protest against the order of the British to send a body of troops to Boston to put down the revolt against the taxes, Falmouth elected and sent Gen. I'reble as a delegate, with instructions to use every landable means within his power to bring about a redress of grievances. The troops were brought from England and quartered in Boston, and were a source of great vexation to the people till March 5, 1770, when they fired upon the citizens and killed five men. Then the Yankee vengeance was aroused, and the troops had to be removed ; the soldiers and officers who fired upon the citizens were committed for trial; the tax upon tea and other articles was also modified, but not in a manner to give the colonies the relief required.

On the 24th of December, 1772, a meeting of the inhabitants of Falmouth was held, at which " a large and respectable committee" was chosen to consider what is convenient to be done in order to redress publie grievances, in answer to a committee of the town of Boston. The committee consisted of Enoch Freeman, Stephen Long- fellow, David Wyer, Jr., Theophilus Bradbury, Stephen

Waite, William Slemons, Benjamin Titeomb, Richard Cod- man, John Waite, Moses Pearson, Benjamin Musscy, and Enoch Ilsley.

Wm. Tyng was representative in 1772 and 1773, he was also sheriff of the county ; he was a prerogative man, but probably had not taken the decided stand against popular opinion which he afterwards did, and which obliged him to fly. The instructions to Mr. Tyng were as follows :

"SIR,-Whereas we are sensible there is reason to complaio of in- fringements on the liberties of the people of this province, and, as you are a representative for this town, we would offer a few things for your consideration on transacting the very important business that may lay before the General Court at the next session. We are not aboot to enumerate any grievances particularly, as we doubt not the wisdom of the General Court is amply sufficient to investigate, not only every grievance, but every inconvenience the province at present labors under; all we mean is to suggest some metbod whereby all grievances may be redressed. And considering the singular abilities and good disposition of the present Governor, together with his family, being embarked on the same bottom with ourselves, we know of no expe- dient more effectual than for the members of the General Court, by a rational and liberal behavior, to conciliate the affections of bis ex- celleney. The particular mode of doing this, we must leave to their wisdom and prudence, which on this important occasion they will un- doubtedly exert, only beg leave to observe that could his excellency be prevailed upon to join the other branches of the Legislature in supplicating the throne for redress of any of our grievances ; it ap- pears to us the most probable way of obtaining bis majesty's royal attention and relief."

Up to this time the people of the colonies had hardly en- tertained the idea of separation from the mother-country. The tone had been conservative, evincing a desire for mode- rate and conciliatory measures, hoping that these might finally prevail with the king and Parliament in securing the redress which the country demanded. Especially was this the state of feeling in places remote from Boston, where the inhabitants had not been wrought up to the same pitch of excitement. It continued so till after the destruction of the tea in Boston harbor, and the passage by Parliament of cer- tain arbitrary and oppressive acts, which no longer left the colonies in doubt as to the tyrannical intentions of the Eng- lish government.

" Their whole displeasure was poured out upon Massa- chusetts. On the 31st of March the Boston port bill was passed, by which the officers of the customs were removed from Boston, and all trade interdicted with that place. This was followed by an aet for ' the better regulating the government of Massachusetts Bay,' by which the appoint- ment of all civil officers of the colony was taken from the people and vested in the crown. And a third act, nomi- nally ' for the impartial administration of justice,' author- ized the removal of persons indieted for any capital offense committed in the support of publie authority, to England or some other colony for trial. These acts passed both houses of Parliament by overwhelming majorities.

" The effect of these severe laws was to unite at once all parts of the continent in measures of resistance. The several towns in the province promptly expressed their sympathy towards the people of Boston, their readiness to assist them, and their firm determination to aid them in the great cause of American liberty. On the 14th of June, the day on which the harbor of Boston was shut, the bell in Falmouth was muffled and tolled all day without cessa-

* Willis' Ilistory of Portland.

+ Boston Evening Gazette, Feb. 3, 1766.

¿ Willis, Ilist. Portland.

HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, MAINE.

tion, from sunrise until nine w'elock in the evening,* and the 29th was observed in town as a day of fast, on account of the gloomy state of affairs. The next day a meeting of the inhabitants was held to take into consideration the alarming state of this province, and of the other provinces, when it was voted that the Committee of Correspondence be directed to write a letter of sympathy to the inhabitants of Boston, and assure them of the encouragement and support of this town as far as their abilities extended. They also voted to write to the principal towns in Massachusetts to ascertain their views in relation to the non-importation agreement. Hopes were still entertained that this engine, which had operated so powerfully upon the stamp-act, might again be used with success. With this view endeavors were made to bring about a union on this point, in which the people of the several colonies heartily concurred. A public meeting in New York, held in July, expressed the opinion ' that a non-importation agreement faithfully observed would prove the most efficacious means to procure a redress of grievances.' On the 23d of July, Falmouth voted to ob- serve the non-importation agreement, and the same meeting recommended that a contribution should be taken in the several parishes for the relief of the poor in Boston.t On the 25th of August another meeting was held, on occasion of a circular from Boston, in anticipation of the arrival of the two acts of Parliament altering the course of justice and annihilating the constitution of the province. The meeting expressed a firm opposition to these obnoxious measures, their trust that some method of redress would be adopted by the approaching Congress, and their ardent wish that harmony with the mother-country might be again restored. The town at the same time recommended that a convention should be held of delegates from all the towns in the county for the purpose of effecting a concert of action in relation to the nou-importation agreement and other measures of general interest, and appointed a committee to attend the convention and correspond with other towns on the subject .; In pursuance of this recommendation, a con- vention of delegates from the several towns in the county assembled at Falmouth September 21st. A large collection of people came to town the same day to compel Sheriff Tyng to refuse compliance with the aet of Parliament regulating civil government in the province."

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Cumberland Co., Maine, Part 13

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