History of Cumberland Co., Maine, Part 16

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 16

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).

Our soldiers sailed on the 18th of July in a transport sloop from Falmouth, commanded by Capt. William Me- Lellan, for Townsend, now Boothbay, the place of rendez- vous, where they remained a few days for the other forces. But notwithstanding the spirit with which the people en- gaged in this enterprise, and the ardent hopes entertained of its success, the result was very disastrons. The expedi- tion was hastily got up, and measures were concerted with- out sufficient prudence and caution. To increase the diffi- culties, on the arrival of the forces in the Penobscot, the commanders of the fleet and army disagreed in their plan of attack. It was, however, determined to make an assault upon the garrison, and take it if possible by storm. For this purpose the troops were landed on the north side of the promontory at sunrise, where they climbed a precipitous bluff amidst a heavy fire from the enemy's battery on the heiglit. Capt. Warren's company from Falmouth was the first that ascended the cliff and formed, when the enemy fled to their intrenchments.t They were closely pursned through a wood which covered this part of the hill; our

# History of Castine, p. 41, note.

+ In this assault about sixty of our troops were killed.

troops were eager to follow them to their intrenchments, but were ordered by the general to stop, and were moved back to the edge of the wood, where they threw up breast- works and made preparations for a regular siege. It was believed that had our soldiers not been checked in their first onset, they would have been able from their superior force to have entered and dislodged the enemy from their unfinished works ; such is believed to have been the opin- ion of Gen. Wadsworth, whose conduct in the whole course of the expedition merited unqualified approbation ; he was in the midst of every danger and suffering; and our sol- diers said if the chief command had been intrusted to him, success would have crowned our arms. Nothing of conse- quence towards reducing the place was accomplished after the first day; the enemy labored assiduously to strengthen their fortifications, and at the end of a fortnight, on the ap- proach of a large reinforcement to the British, our army hastily abandoned their lines in the night and embarked with their cannon and stores on board their transports, which immediately commenced moving up the Penob- scot River. The British pursued, and the whole fleet was abandoned and burnt. Gen. Wadsworth conducted the retreat with skill, and labored incessantly to keep his little army together after the disgraceful result. Our troops re- turned in scattered parties, making the best of their way home deeply mortified and disappointed.

On the 3d of September, Falmouth was thrown into great excitement by the appearance in the offing of three ships of war. The town was full of troops, Cols. Jackson's and Mitchell's regiments being in the place. No time was lost in making preparations for defense. Three batteries were occupied and manned,-one on the hill in Free Street, another at the foot of King Street, and a third on the brow of Munjoy's IFill. But the fears of the people were soon dispelled by the arrival of the American frigates " Boston" and " Dean" with a large prize-ship. The next day another prize arrived ; both were men-of-war.

In 1780 the British, feeling secure in their position on the Penobscot, began to commit depredations upon the in- habitants on each side of the bay. To counteract these the General Court ordered a regular force of seven hundred and fifty men, under the command of Gen. Wadsworth, to be stationed on the western side of the bay for the protection of the inhabitants. Two companies were also ordered to Machias. These troops were raised in Maine, but, not re- pairing to the place of rendezvous by the time appointed, Gen. Wadsworth came here from Camden to hasten the levy. He wrote to Brig .- Gen. Frost, of York County, April 27th, urging him, " in the name of publie virtue." to send forward his detachment without further delay. This letter had the desired effect of hastening on the troops. Of the regiment of six hundred men, three hundred were sta- tioned in Falmouth, two hundred were sent to Camden, and one hundred to Machias. The forts here were put in order, and preparations made for an effectual resistance. There were frequent alarms from the Penobscot during the remainder of the war, which often called out the troops, but nothing was seriously attempted, if anything was ever designed from that quarter. Nothing of importance took place on the Penobscot during the year 1780, and in the

HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, MAINE.

winter all the troops returned but a small guard, which re- mained at tien. Wadsworth's headquarters at Thomaston. The British, hearing by a spy the situation of the general, sent a party of twenty-five men, in February, 1781, to sur- prise him. They were guided to his quarters at night by an abandoned traitor, and seenred an entrance to the house before they were discovered. As soon as the alarm was given the general, who was in bed, seized his blunderbuss and two pistols, which he kept loaded by him, and defended himself resolutely in his chamber until he was disabled by a wound in his arm, when he surrendered and was taken to Bagaduce. His wife and two children, with a female friend, who formed his family, were left behind. The gen- eral was kept a close prisoner until he and Maj. Burton, another prisoner, ingeniously effected their escape in June following and returned to Falmouth.

This town, notwithstanding its serious loss at the cour- meneement of hostilities, contributed its full proportion of men and supplies to support the war, and it is believed more than any other town in Maine. In 1780 its propor- tion of beef for the army was twelve thousand three hun- dred and sixty pounds, and in 1781 nine thousand seven hundred and ninety-six pounds, and the same year it was required to furnish forty-one shirts and as many pairs of shoes and stockings, and one hundred and thirteen blankets. They also raised a committee of nine in that year to pro- cure thirty men to serve during the war, and voted to each man who would enlist twenty dollars in silver bounty and ten dollars a month pay. It may safely be affirmed that no town in the State suffered more or contributed more in - proportion to its means than did Falmouth.

After the attack upon New London and Groton by Ar- nold, in September of this year, some uneasiness was felt Jest he should extend his visit to this place; but all fears were soon turned to the brightest hopes by the arrival of a large French fleet in the Chesapeake, which gave a pre- ponderating influence to our arms. Public expectations centred on the movements in Virginia, and every rumor from that quarter was eagerly caught. On the .1th of Oc- tober news was brought to town by hand-bills struck off in Boston of the surrender of Cornwallis, fifteen days before that auspicious event took place, which occasioned great re- joicing. On the 27th of the same month an express arrived with the joyful and veritable tidings of the great victory at Yorktown, which elevated the spirits of the people and scattered all the shadows which the correction of the late premature information had cast upon them. On the next day, which was Sunday. the ministers improved the occasion by suitable discourses, and Monday was spent in public rejoicing.

CHAPTER XIL

ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY. Vivit Divisions-Early Courts-Court Houses and Jails-Capital Trials.

CIVIL DIVISIONS.

The whole territory of Maine formed but one county until Nov. 1, 1760, when the counties of Cumberland and Lincoln were erected. The former embraced the present

county of Cumberland, and part of Oxford and Andro- scoggin, and the latter all the country east of them.

Of the early civil divisions of the county of Cumberland, live towns were incorporated prior to the separation from York County, viz. : Scarborough, incorporated in 1658; Falmouth, in 1658; re-incorporated in 1718: North Yar- mouth, incorporated in 1680; Brunswick, in 1738; and Harpswell, in 1758. The county now contains twenty-five towns, in addition to the city of Portland. Windham was incorporated in 1762, Gorham in 1764, Cape Elizabeth in 1765, New Gloucester in 1771, Gray in 1778, Standish in 1785, Portland in 1786 (incorporated as a city in 1832), Freeport in 1789, Durham in 1789, Bridgton in 1794, Poland in 1795, Otisfield in 1798, Baldwin in 1802, Minot in 1802, Danville in 1802, Raymond in 1803, Harrison in 1805, Pownal in 1808, Westbrook in 1814, Cumberland in 1821, Sebago in 1826, Naples in 1834, Casco in 1841, Auburn in 1842, Yarmouth in 1849, and Deering in 1871.

The above towns, with the exception of Durham, Po- land, Minot, Danville, and Auburn, still constitute the civil divisions of Cumberland County ; the latter, except Dan- ville, which has entirely disappeared from the list, became portions of Androseoggin upon the erection of that county, March 18, 1824. By reference to the civil list, their rep- resentation in the Legislature up to that period will be seen.

The boundaries, description, and histories of the several towns now embraced in the county will be given in a sepa- rate department of this work, wherein their early settlement, institutions, and chief industries will be treated of, and biographical sketches furnished of some of the leading citi- zens.

As early as 1733, the inconvenience of attending court at York by people in this part of the country was so severely felt, that the towns authorized their selectmen to petition to the General Court to divide the county, or have the courts held farther east, and it was in consequence of this effort that a term of the Inferior Court and " Court of General Sessions of the Peace" were extended to Falmouth, for one session a year, in June, 1735, and the first term of these courts was held here in October, 1736, by Chief Justice William l'ep- perell, of Kittery. Both courts were held at the same time and place. The judges were Samuel Came, Timothy Ger- rish, Joseph Moody, and Jeremiah Moulton ; John Leigh- ton was sheriff. They all resided west of the Saco River. The Inferior Court consisted of four judges; the sessions was composed of all the justices in the county, and they were " empowered to hear and determine all matters relating to the conservation of the peace and punishment of offenders, grant licenses, lay out highways," ete. This court con- tinued till 1808, when it was abolished. and a court con- sisting of five justices was established in its stead. The In- ferior Court was established in 1699, and was continued until 1811, when it yieldled to the circuit system, by which the commonwealth was divided into six circuits, of which the counties of York, Cumberland, and Oxford formed one. This continued till after the separation from Massa- chusetts, when the Court of Common Pleas was estab- lished.

ORGANIZATION OF THE COUNTY.

On the division of the county, in 1760, a term of the Superior Court was first granted to Cumberland, and held in Falmouth in June, 1761, for the counties of Cumberland and Lincoln, but the records of the court were still kept in Boston. At this time the court was composed of Thomas Hutchinson, then Lieutenant-Governor of Massachusetts, Benjamin Lynde, John Cushing, and Peter Oliver. Mr. Hutchinson was appointed chief justice in 1761, as suc- cessor to Stephen Sewell, who died in September, 1760. He was succeeded by Peter Oliver in 1769. The judges of this court, until 1792, appeared on the bench in robes and wigs. In summer the robes were of black silk, in winter of scarlet, with black trimmings. The occasion of leaving them off was the appointment of Judge Dawes to the bench, who not having been called to the degree of barrister before his appointment, the other judges on that account dispensed with their robes. The court at that time consisted of Francis Dana, chief justice ; Increase Sumner, Robert T. Paine, and Nathan Cushing.

A term of the Superior Court was first established in Maine in 1699, and was held at Kittery until 1743, when it was removed to York. In 1761 a term was held in this county, and in 1786 a term was granted to Lincoln County to be held the week after its sitting in Falmouth, which was in June. The number of judges was five until 1800, when it was increased to seven, rendered necessary by the accumulation of business and the burthensome system which required the courts to consist of a majority of the judges for the trial of all causes. In 1805, this change not remedying the difficulty, it was reduced to its original number, and the only effectual cure applied, the introduc- tion of the nisi prius system, by which the issues are tried by a single judge .*

During the existence of the Inferior Court the judges were all paid by fees, and of course their compensation depended on the quantity of business. The following notes of the allowances and amount of business during several years, we quote from Willis :

" In 1762 they were allowed 58, 4d. for each entry, and 18. for ao appeal. The fees varied at different times; in 1776 they were allowed for an entry, 28 .; io 1779, 48 .; in 1783, 38. 6d. ; and on a jury trial, 68. At the October term in 1777, in this county, the whole comipen- sation received by the justices was 58. 6d. each ; there were eleven entries. At the March term of the same court in 1778 there were the same number of entries, and the three justices who attended re- ceived 188. Sd. each. In October of the same year there were but seven entries and two jury trials, and tho amount of fees divided by the three justices was £8 118. On the division of the county, John Minot, Ezekiel Cushing, of Cape Elizabeth, Enoch Freeman, of Fal- mouth, and Edward Milliken, of Scarborough, were appointed justices. t In February, 1763, Jeremiah Powell, of North Yarmouth, was ap- pointed first justice. The first officers of the court were Moses Pear- . son, Sheriff ; Stephen Longfellow, Clerk ; and Joshua Freeman, Crier. There were hut two terms a year till after the Revolution, and the number of entries was small. In 1776 they were but nine; in 1781, . they had advanced to forty-nine, and continued to increase ootit 1785, when they were one hundred and ninety-six. They then began to decrease in consequence of the depression of trade and a great ex- citement and prejudice which now were displayed against the pro- fession. In 1788 there were but fifty-two entries; from this time there was a regular increase, with the exception of one or two years, until 1807, when they had attained the onexampled number of two

Willis' llistory of Portland.

+ See list of civil and judicial officers. chapter xxii.

thousand four hundred and twenty-two entries for the year, being higher than they have ever since been. The great number of failures at that period gave rise to a vast multitude of suits."

In 1790 three terms of the Inferior Court were estab- lished, all held in Portland, but iu 1791 one of these terms was removed to New Gloucester, and continued to be held there until 1805, when it was restored to Portland, where the courts have ever since been held.

Anciently, when but one court was held in Falmouth, the commencement of the term, upon the arrival of the judges, was ushered in by the discharge of cannon at a fort on the west side of Stroudwater bridge. The court, as now, was opened by prayer, and on the first day of the term, the court, bar, and minister dined together. In 1765, Mr. Smith and Mr. Deane both neglecting to attend to make the prayer, Judge Powell sharply reprimanded Mr. Deane for the omission.}

At the May term, 1785, an action was brought before the court and no lawyer was present. The court heard the parties, examined the witnesses, and committed the cause to the jury, without the intervention of any attorney ; they brought in their verdict to the general satisfaction of the people.§

At the October term, 1790, there were but four jury trials in civil cases ; after the jury were dismissed and were receiving their pay, it was discovered that one of them had answered during the term to another man's name; ou being asked his reason for this reprehensible conduct, he said "that his neighbor Pinkham, who had been drawn, was sick at home, and had got him to come in his room."

Says Willis, "The administration of justice was exceed- ingly loose both before and immediately after the Revolu- tion ; the public mind was not corrected and enlightened as it has since been by the press and the general diffusion of information ; the country was new, population thin, and that delicate regard of publie and private rights was not so strictly observed as it is at this day. We have frequently found in the examination of the papers of individuals in- stances of persons having gone before magistrates and privately confessing themselves guilty of violations of law, been discharged on the payment of a small fine.

" We have scen the record of many confessions made before Enoch Freeman, who was for many years an active magistrate in Falmouth, for profane swearing, where a fine of five or six shillings was imposed. In one case of' forni- cation the woman on confession was fined six shillings and discharged. 'John Lowther, physician, confessed that he broke the peace by striking Sam'l Graffam, cordwainer, the 22d inst., at Brunswick, being highly provoked, and paid a fine of 4s. to the king.' Persons were frequently fined for absenting themselves from meeting, as late as the times of Rev. Mr. Deane. In 1757, 'Johu Hanes confessed he swore one profane oath ye 12th inst., fined 4s.' '1754, Col. Jedediah Preble is convicted of uttering one profane oath in my hearing and Deacon Wm. Cotton's, at Mr. Joshua Freeman's.' But the most singular instance of con- fession and of extra-judicial punishment that we have met

¿ Oct. 6, 1747, Mr. Smith says, "I prayed with the court P. M. Justice came drunk all day."

¿ Fal. Gaz., June 22, 1785.

IHISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, MAINE.

with took place in 1785, of which notice was publicly given in the following advertisement :

". FALMOUTH. Aug. 20, 1785. 1, the subscriber, being left to the in- sinuation of the devil, have stolen and carried away from the store of Jabez Jones, of New Casco, a part of a side of sole leather, contrary lo the law of God and man and the peace of this Commonwealth. t henrtily nsk forgiveness for the offense done to God and the public, and submit myself to be publicly whipped in New Casco, at school- trouso hill, 15 stripes on my naked back as a warning to others.

"' ISAAC ROFF, ; his mark.

“* Attest :

"' JOSEPH WORMELL, "'W'M. BLACKSTONE.

". The above stripes were decently laid on by Samuel Bueknam, constable.' "

At the time courts first began to sit in Falmouth there was no court-house, nor was there any regular place for holding the courts before the Revolution. They were gen- erally held at the town-house, at the foot of Middle Street, sometimes at the meeting-house, at others in one of the taverns; but they were always, with one exception, held upon the Neck. Smith's Journal, Oct. 4, 1743, says, " The court this year is kept at Purpooduck, on pretence of no tavern this side." In 1776, Alice Greele charged ten shillings six pence for a room for the use of the court, aud in 1777 her bill for the same was two pounds eight shillings.

A large and handsome court-house was commenced by the county in 1774, on the site where the town-house had stood, which had been moved to Congress Street to make room for it. This building was fifty-four by fifty feet, and erowned with a belfry. Its erection was superintended by Stephen Longfellow, Esq., then clerk of the courts. This building was nearly completed when Mowatt set fire to the town and it perished in the conflagration.

The frame of the second court-house was raised in Oc- tober, 1785, and the building was finished the next year. It was two stories high, with a belfry, and forty-eight by thirty-four feet in dimensions. Courts were held in the second story, the first being an open hall. This building was removed to Court Street in 1816, and the centre of the next court-house creeted on the site the same year. In 1831 two wings were added, cach about twenty feet in width, and projecting a little beyond the line of the front, to enlarge the publie offices and furnish jury-rooms and lobbies up-stairs. The building was of brick, two stories high ; the front finished by a pediment, supported by six columns and pilasters, and surmounted by a belfry, ou the spire of which was a nicely-adjusted pair of scales. The building, including the additions, cost twenty-three thou- sand dollars. The building committee consisted of Richard Hunnewell, Barrett Potter, and Albert Newhall.

This court-house was taken down in 1838 to make room for the present city government building, the west wing of which is occupied by the county offices and court-rooms. At the great fire of 1866 this fine building was all destroyed except the west wing; the records in the office of the reg- ister of probate were consumed, but the records in the office of the register of deeds, and those of the United States courts, which were transferred there for safety, were saved.

Before the Revolution, the jail stood on Middle Street, on the site of the old market-house. It was a small build- ing, eighteen by thirty-three feet, and was taken down in 1799, and the jailor's house removed to Federal Street, where it was occupied by Samuel Hale. Another jail was erected in 1799, under the superintendence of John Park, of Groton, Mass. It was a stone building, fifty by thirty- four feet, and two stories high, with rooms in the attic, and cost about eight thousand dollars. Samuel Freeman and Judge Gorham were the building committec.

There have been but few capital trials in this county. The first which ever took place here was in July, 1772, when a man named Goodwin was tried and convicted of murder. He was charged with having thrown a man over- board from a boat in Casco Bay. There existed some doubt of his guilt, and he was reprieved three times, but was afterwards finally executed on the 12th of November, 1772. A great concourse of people, excited by the novelty of the scene, was collected on the occasion,-said to have been the largest ever assembled in Falmouth. Rev. Mr. Clark, of Cape Elizabeth, preached a lecture to the multi- tude in the presence of the prisoner, and prayed at the gal- lows.

The next capital trial which took place here was that of George Pierce, of Otisfield, for the murder of John Mcln- tosh, of the same town, in 1789. He was tried in July, 1790, and convicted of manslaughter, it being satisfactorily proved to the court and jury that the killing was done in self-defense. It appeared that Mr. Pierce was at work upon a harrow when MeIntosh came up and wished him to go to his cornfield and see the damage done by his ( MeIntosh's) horse. Mr. Pierce declined going, and words ensued, ren- dered sharp by a previous quarrel, when McIntosh made towards Pierce with clenched fists, and Pierce, lifting up his hands to resist him, struck him a blow on the head with a mallet, which caused his death.

The next case of this nature was that of Thomas Bird and Hans Hansen, one an Englishman, the other a Swede, for murder and piracy. They had murdered the master of a sloop of about thirty tons' burthen, on the coast of Africa, in 1789, aud had come in her to this bay, where they com- menced a traffic with the inhabitants of Cape Elizabeth. Information having been given to the naval officer of this port that a foreign vessel was anchored in Cape Cove, he proceeded thither to seize her, but she put to sea before he could accomplish his object. Two vessels were then fitted out from Falmouth, manned by volunteers, which came up with her and brought her into port on the 28th of July.

An examination was had before the Supreme Court, then sitting here, and they were bound over for trial. Subse- quent to this the jurisdiction of marine causes having been yielded to the United States, the trial was had in the Dis- triet Court held in Falmouth in May, 1790. It was the first criminal trial which had taken place in that court, the court having been organized in 1789, by the appointment of David Sewell, District Judge ; Henry Dearborn, Mar- shal; William Lithgrow, District Attorney, and Henry Sewell, Clerk ; and the court had met for the first time in December, 1789. The prisoners were defended by John

PHYSICAL FEATURES.

Frothingham and William Symmes, Esqs., and to gratify public curiosity, which was much excited, the trial was con- ducted in the meeting-house of the first parish. At the close of the first day the jury brought in a verdict of guilty against Bird, but acquitted Hansen, who was a boy only nineteen years of age. Sentenee of death was impressively pronounced by Judge Sewell, and the unhappy man was executed on the 25th of June following. The execution took place on Bramhall Hill, at the meeting of the roads from Back Cove and Stroudwater, and was witnessed by three or four thousand people.

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 16

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