History of Cumberland Co., Maine, Part 43

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

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" Myself having command of a garrison in Falmouth for the de- fense of the same, a party of French from Canada, joined with a com- pany of Indians, to the number of betwixt four and five hundred French and Indians, set upon our fort. The 16th of May, 1690, about dawning, began our fight; the 20th, about three o'clock, after- noon, we were taken. They fought ns five days and four nights, in which time they killed and wounded the greatest part of our men,

burned all our houses, and at last we were forced to have a parley with them in order for surrender. . . . We demanded if there were any French among them, and if they would give us quarter. They answered that they were French, and that they would give us good quarter. They then required that the Governor of the French should hold up his band and swear by the great and ever-living God that the several articles should be performed. All which he did sol- emnly swear to perform ; but as soon as they had us in their custody they broke their articles, suffered our women and children and our men to be made captives in the hands of the heathen, to be cruelly murdered and destroyed, many of them, and especially our wounded men. Only the French kept myself and some three or four others and carried us to Canada."

They were twenty-four days marching through the wil- derness, and arrived at Quebec June 14th. lfe remained in Quebec four months, and was then exchanged.

Thus, a second time perished the rising settlement of Falmouth. The war continued till 1698, when the quar- rel between France and England having been adjusted by the treaty of Ryswick in 1697, and the French succor thereby withdrawn from the Indians, without which they could not sustain hostilities with hope of success, they en- tered into articles of agreement which were consummated by a treaty of peace executed at Mare Point, in Casco Bay, Jan. 7, 1699.

The town continued wholly unoccupied during the war, and although a few of the old settlers, with that unceasing yearning which ever haunts the exile, wandered back to their desolated homes after the peace, yet so unsettled was the state of affairs with the savages that the settlement was not renewed upon the Neck until after the peace of Utrecht, in 1713.

In 1715 there was but one solitary family upon the Neck, by the name of Ingersoll. Rev. Mr. Smith says, in his journal, " In 1716 one Ingersoll built a hut ou Falmouth Neck, where he lived some time alone, and was thence called Governor Ingersoll." It is thought that this must have been Elisha, son of John Ingersoll, of Kittery, who had been driven from here in the war of 1688. Whoever he was he was drowned in the Presumpscot River a few years afterwards.

Ingersoll could not have remained long as the solitary inhabitaut ; for in July, 1716, Maj. Moody, in a petition to the General Court for leave to fortify his house, which stood on King Street, represented that there were then on the Neck, commonly called Old Casco, fifteen men as iubab- itants, beside women and children .* Other settlers began to come in about the same time.

James Mills, from Lynn, built the second or third house in town, on what is now Middle Street, near the subsequent residence of Judge Freeman, where he obtained, in 1727, a grant of a house-lot, including one acre of ground.t It is supposed that his family came here in 1716, or very soon after. At Back Cove, Spurwink, and other places the abandoned farms were occupied a little sooner after the war.

Benjamin Skilling, Zechariah Brackett, and Dominicus Jordan, occupied the Brackett and Jordan farms, respect- ively at Back Cove and Spurwink, in 1715.

In 1716-17, Gilbert Winslow, otherwise called Dr. Wins-

Note to Smith's Journal, p. 19.

t Proprietor's Records.

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HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, MAINE.

low, built the first house at Purpooduck, and was the same year joined by Samuel Cobb, who built the second house there, but the next year removed to the Neck and built a house on Congress Street near the head of King Street. Mr. Cobb was a ship-carpenter by occupation. Ile was fol- lowed the next year by three brothers, Jonathan, Ebenezer, and Joseph, who settled at the Purpooduck.

Samuel Moody built his house fronting the beach below King Street, on the spot forming the corner of Fore and Hancock. For a number of years it was the principal house in town .*

Benjamin Larrabee built his house-a one-story building -on the corner of Middle and School Streets.

Richard Wilmot and John Wass, his son-in-law, built on Queen Street, near the entrance of Wilmot, which took its name from this early occupant.

Thomas Thomas built in Clay Cove; - Barbour in Middle Street near Court, on laud afterwards granted to him ; James Doughty built next below Barbour, and Sam- uel Proctor, who moved his family here from Lynn in 1718, built on Fore Street, near the entrance to Silver.

John Pritchard came from Boston, and settled here about the same time, and also Richard Collier, from the Old Col- ony, occupied a spot near Jordan's Point.

In 1718, when Samuel Cobb moved from Purpooduck, there were settled on the Neck thirteen families besides his own.+

From this time the population increased more rapidly. May 3, 1726, 7 persons were admitted as inhabitants ; August 17th, 23 were admitted, they paying £10 each for the right of admission, and September 18th, 5 persons. We might thus go on at considerable length from Mr. Smith's journal, but it is unnecessary. In 1826 there seems to have been an influx of population not very desirable, for Mr. Smith says, " This spring came into town one Savage, and also one Stimson and his family, whom the selectmen immediately warned out of town, as they did several others just about the making of the peace. This summer (peace having been concluded) there came from Cape Ann one Davis, a pretty troublesome spark, with his family. Also, one of his wife's brothers, no better than he, and a little after another family, who were also warned out of town." Mr. Smith also notes the arrival of several others, "who were sober and forehanded men." And " this weck," he adds, " we had a town-meeting to consider the petition of 10 likely men to be admitted as inhabitants, and the matter was left to the selectmen."

April 5, 1726, 26 vessels were reported in the harbor. This year the first grist-mill was built by Messrs. Sawyer & York, the people before this having sent their corn to Bos- ton to be ground.} This mill stood at Lawrence Cove, in Cape Elizabeth, opposite Portland. " A saw-mill was also built upon the same stream."'§

* Maj. Fuml. Moody died in 1729, The following is the inscription on his gravestone in the graveyard at Portland : " Here lies interred ye body of Samuel Moody, Esq., one of His Majesty's Justices of ye Pence and a Justice of ye Superior Court of Common Pleas in ye County of York, and formerly Major of His Majesty's forces in ye eastern province, who deceased April, 1729, in ye 52d year of his age."

t Smith's Church Record.

+ Smith's Journal, p. 19. ¿ Ibid.

The winter of 1728 was the "cold winter" and the deep snow, when many of the animals perished.

The great Indian council held here in July, 1732, so exhausted the provisions of the place, that Mr. Smith says " They left us quite bare, and nothing of the country's pro- duce left only three bushels of corn and some small things." There were 100 of the Penobscot tribe present, besides several vessels containing the Governor and counselors, and " many prominent gentlemen from all parts of the country." The Indians had their quarters on Hog Island, and the confer- ence was held under a great tent on Muujoy Itill.

Hard times prevailed in 1737. Mr. Smith writes under date of April 21 : " All the talk is,-no corn, no hay, and there is not a peck of potatoes to cat in all the eastern country."

In October, 17-46, the town was in great excitement over a contemplated attack from a French fleet which had been sent over to destroy the settlements on the coast of New England, and Boston and Falmouth in particular. "The town held a meeting and voted that the selectmen apply to Capt. Moses Pearson for the use of his tico great guns, to be placed on Spring Point, and to get four barrels of pow- der, balls, and flints for the use of the town." Thus, while Boston was mustering her troops and fortifying the east end of Long Wharf, as a protection against French cannon and bombshells, the Neck was also vigorously preparing to de- fend herself against the invaders. But a storm wrecked the fleet off Cape Sable, and the colonies were spared de- struction.

The bombardment and destruction of the town by order of the British naval commander during the Revolution will be found in the history of that period, in the general de- partment of this work, and therefore need not be repeated here. On the 16th of October, 1775, Capt. Henry Mow- att, with three armed vessels, attacked the town. The people fled in terror from their homes, taking with them what they could of their household goods. All the compact part of the town was destroyed, embracing 414 buildings, the whole loss being estimated at £55,000. Only 100 dwelling-houses were left standing, many of which were much damaged. The place was again deserted, many of the inhabitants removing to the country, and the few who remained among the ruins suffering great privations. Thus, for the third time, was Falmouth desolated, and by a blow that would seem ahnost utterly crushing to any hopes of her future recovery.

But, with the establishment of our national independ- ence, new hopes and energies were awakened, and the close of the war gave a fresh impulse to business. In 1784 there were built on the Neck 41 dwelling-houses, 10 stores, and 7 shops. In 1785 the first brick house in town was commenced, and the same year appeared the first newspaper, - The Falmouth Gazette,-published by Benjamin Tit- comb and Thomas B. Wait. In 1786 the town was di- vided, and the Neck, with the name of Portland, started upon an independent career, with a population of 2000. In 1793 wharves were extended into the harbor. In 1795, Nathaniel Deering built the first brick store. In 1799 the first bank was incorporated. Trade advanced westward from the old sites at the foot of India Street, and in 1800

ALITTLE

RESIDENCES OF ISRAEL T. DANA, M.D., GEORGE T. FRENCH, M.D., FRANCIS K. SWAN, ESQ., AND L. D. M. SWEAT, ESQ., STATE STREET PADMED AF PAMADECE DADTI AMA ME

165

CITY OF PORTLAND.

Exchange (then called Fish) Street was the principal seat of business. The population by this time had increased to 3704, and in 1810 it had reached 7169. A desirable class of residents came in, bringing capital with them. The in- habitants, no longer contented with a coasting trade, engaged in foreign commerce. Lumber and fish continued to be the principal exports, but ships were also built and sent on freighting voyages.

From 1795 to 1805 the growth of the town in com- mercial business and general prosperity was unexampled in New England. Dr. Dwight, visiting the place in 1797, wrote, " No American town is more entirely com- mercial, and, of course, none is more sprightly." The ton- nage which, in 1789, amounted to 5000, in 1807 had reached 30,000. The duties collected at the custom-house increased from $8109, in 1790, to 8342,909, in 1806. Napoleon Bonaparte had thrown all Europe into war, and American bottoms, being declared neutrals, monopolized the carrying trade.

With the increase of wealth came more refinement and a more lavish style of living. In 1801 the rich merchants began to build for themselves large and elegant houses, some of which still remain, the square, old-fashioned mansions, of noble front, with wide halls running back and admitting in the rear to large and high-fenced gardens, where fruit- trees flourished. Of such is the stately Matthew Cobb house, which still stands at the corner of High and Tree Streets ; the mansion built by Ebenezer Storer, corner of High and Danforth Streets, now occupied by John Mussey. Esq., and that built by Joseph II. Ingraham, on State Street. These, and others like them, were the best houses in the State, and some which remain unaltered, like the fine old mansion on the corner of High and Spring Streets, long the residence of the late General Wingate, still give evidence of the architectural taste aud thorough work man- ship of the olden time.

During the decade from 1810 to 1820 the population increased only 1412. In March, 1820, the District of Maine was separated from Massachusetts and admitted into the Union as a State. Portland became the capital of the new State, and held that position till the removal of the seat of government to Augusta, in 1832.

In order to see the progress of the city it may be well to compare statistical statements made at different periods.

PORTLAND IN 1821.

The population at this date was 8581. " It contained a State· House, an elegant brick court-house, a large stone jail, a large three-story brick academy, a large three-story brick building belonging to the Bank of Portland, a like brick building formerly erected for an insurance office, but now owned by the Cumberland Bank, a custom house and other offices; 10 houses of public worship, viz. : 3 for Congregation- alists, 1 for Baptists, 1 for Episcopalians, 1 for Methodists, 1 for Union Society, 1 for Independent Methodists, 1 for Friends, and 1 for Universalists ; 5 school-houses, 700 dwell- ing-houses, in or adjoining which are 61 shops, 200 other shops, 306 barns, 66 warehouses, 11 bake-houses, 6 distil- leries, 7 tanneries, 7 slaughter-houses, 1 furnace and iron- works, 94 other buildings, a post-office, 15,583 tons of ves-

sels, 392,096 superficial feet of wharves, a library belonging to a number of persons associated for its support, containing 1200 volumes, an insurance-office, savings institution, 27 other institutions and societies, besides the religious socie- ties, 6 engines, 7 public schools, viz. : f masters and 3 mis- tresses schools, and 40 private schools."

Such, according to an inventory taken by Hon. Samuel Freeman, was Portland in 1821. In July, 1823, the first steamboat ever brought to Maine arrived in Portland har- bor. She was a vessel of about 100 tons burden, called the " Patent," owned by Capt. Seward Porter, who had bought her in New York to run as a passenger boat between Portland and Boston. In 1833 came the " Chancellor Liv- ingston," built under the direction of Robert Fulton, and the same year the Cumberland Steam Navigation Com- pany was formed, and, in opposition to the " Chancellor Liv- ingston," put on the line between Portland and Boston the steamer " Commodore MeDonough." The Portland Steam Packet Company was organized in 1844, and ever since its boats have run on the route with great regularity and snc- cess.

In 1832, Portland received a city charter, under which the government consists of a mayor, seven aldermen, and twenty-one common councilmen, for the election of whom the city is divided into seven wards. The progress of the city from 1840 and onward is shown by the follow- ing sketch, taken substantially from Mr. Elwell's popular work, " Portland and Vicinity."

" About 1840 the city began to experience a depression in busi- ness, caused by the revolution in tra le centres brought about by the introduction of railroads. Boston, by the extension of her railroads, had seized upon the trade of Vermont, which had formerly come to Portland, through the Noteb in the White Mountains, In 1542 the Portland, Saco and Portsmouth Railroad was opened, and that also took business from the city. . . . From 1540 to 1816 there was scarcely any increase in the population, . . . and it became evident to our business men that it was necessary to seize the weapon which was being wielded against them, and turn it to their own advantage. . . . For this purpose a company was formed, and a charter obtained to construet a railroad to Canada. . . . With the hour came the man in the person of John A. Poor, by whose far- reaching foresight, broad grasp of possibilities, and untiring energy, the project of a railroad to Canada was set on foot. The conception was a grand one, but tho undertaking svemed overwhelming to a little city of 16,000 inhahi- tants. Montreal was three hundred miles away, through mountain ranges, through waste spaces, through sparsely populated regions, deeply encumbered with the snowsof winter. Whence was the capital to come? Ilow was a railroad to be built in the face of such physical obstacles? Mr. Poor and William Pitt Pieble drove over the route in a sleigh in midwinter, to prove the possibility of getting through. Our merchants and business men took up the enterprise with enthu- siasi, and ull classes of cit zens joined heartily in the endeavor. . . . The city loaned its credit in bonds to the amount of $2,000,000. Eleven miles of the Atlantic and St. Lawrence Railroad were opened in 1848, and in 1853 it was finished to its junction with the Canada Road from Montreal, a distance from Portland of one hundred and forty-nine miles. The Grand Trunk Railroad brought the city into connection not only with the towns and cities of Canada, but with the vast, grain-growing regions of the West. Following its comple- tion as necessary ndjunets, a winter line of steamers to Liverpool, and the construction of a new business avenue along the whole water front of the city,-a mile long and one hundred feet wide,-leaving high and dry old Fore Street, so long the water street, the local.ty of slop-shops and sailors' boarding-houses. This new street, -- uppro- priately called Commercial,-is the scene of a heavy wholesale trade in flour, grain, and groceries, while it also affords raihoad communi- cation across the front of the city, and with the numerous wharves.

166

HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, MAINE.

Then enme the building of that systero of railroads opening to the trade of Portland all parts of State, and now consolidated under the name of the Maine Central. Our merchants also opened connection with the eastern part of the State and the lower provinces by means of steamboat lines, and thus secured much of the trade which had formerly gone to Boston. Manofacturing establishments-like tho Portland Company's Works and Brown's Sugar House-also sprang up and gave employment to hundreds.

"The city passed through the panic of 1857-58 without serious disaster, and trade was reviving again when the war of the Rebellion came in 1861. Business then gave way to the demands of patriotism. The Ist Maine Regiment, Col. Jackson (six companies of which were raised here), was speedily organized, though the measles prevented its being the first in the field. In response to later calls for volunteers our people were active in raising other regiments, especially the 5th, 9th, 10th, 12th, 13th, 17th, and 25th, the latter a nine months' regi- ment of Portland boys, led by Col. Francis Fessenden. Other regi- roents followed, Portland contributing 5000 Dien, to whom she paid. a bounty of $428,970, and of whom 421 lost their lives in battle or by disease. Large contributions were made in aid of the Sanitary and Christian Commissions, and many noble men gave their services in nursing the sick and wounded. . . . The city came out of the war withoot great loss, though its commercial progress had been checked by the transfer of much of its shipping to the British flag. The war, however, had given employment to many, money was flush, and the eity was again entering on a prosperous career when, for the fourth time in its history, it was laid in ashes and made desolate."

THE GREAT FIRE OF 1866.

"On the Fourth of July, 1866, a carelessly-thrown fire-cracker set fire to a boat-builder's shop, on Commercial, near the foot of lligh Street, and the sparks soon communicated with Brown's sugar-house, wrapping that great structure in flames, and spreading onward spite of all opposition, spreading out like a fan as it went diagonally aeross the city, glowing with a furnace heat, melting iron, erumbling stone, wiping out tho costliest ' fire-proof' structures, leaving desolation in its track ; sweeping away not only whole blocks, hut entire streets, massive warehouses, lofty churches, splendid mausions, ancestral homes ia the erowded and oldest parts of the city ; spreading terror, anguish, and dismay among the whole population, until at last, in the stoall hoors of the night. it burnt itself out amid the waste spaces at the foot of Munjoy Hill. That night of terror aod desolation will never be forgotten by the people of Portland. The morning saw fif- teen hundred buildings laid in ashes, fifty-eight streets and courts re- daced to a wilderness of chimneys, amidst which the most familiar inhabitant lost himself, ten thousand people made houseless and home- less, and $10,000,000 of property destroyed.

" For a moment only the energies of the people seemed paralyzed, and then began the great work of providing for the houseless and hungry. Whole villages of tents sprang up on Munjoy llill and else- where; barracks were built; generous contributions froio abroad flowed in; the work of rebuilding was begun,-advantage being taken of the opportunity to widen and straighten old streets and open new ones,-and now, after a lapse of but ten years, the city stands rebuilt far handsomer than before the fire.

" Menntime the work of railroad extension has gone on, enlarging the area tributary to the trade of the city and opening new routes of pleasure. In 1873 the Boston and Maine Railroad was extended from South Berwiek to Portland. . .. In 1875 the Portland and Rochester Railroad completed its connections with Nashua, N. II. ... and Worcester, Mass., thus opening a direct route to New York, and saving many miles of travel between Portland and that city. The same year the Portland and Ogdensburg Railroad, opening a new and shorter route to the West, and restoring some of the lost trade of Ver- mont, was completed through the Notch of the White Mountains; and commanding as it does some of the most noted summer resorts, has given a new impetus to pleasure-travel through Portland. Merchants of Portland now command the trade of a large portion of the State . to a considerable extent they sopply Northern New Hampshire and Vermont, and find customers in the maritime provinces and the Canadas.

" Various branches of manufacture, as the rolling of railroad iron, the making of carriages, shoes, matches, stoneware, and drain-pipes. have sprung up, and these products find a market all over the United States, and to some extent in foreign countries."

THE CITY IN 1879.

The city now occupies the entire area of the peninsula from the slopes of Munjoy Hill on the east to the brow of Bramhall Hill on the west. The area has been enlarged by a considerable amount of made land along Back Cove, and many elegant residences have been built within a few years past in what was onee " the swamp ward," at the west end. The lowest point now on the ridge, which separates the Harbor from Back Cove, is at the foot of Hampshire Street, 57 feet. The highest elevations within the city limits are Bramhall Hill, 175.50 feet ; Munjoy Hill, 161 feet. Along the entire central ridge of the peninsula on which the city is built, Congress Street extends from one extremity to the other, a distance of three miles. With the other parallel streets and cross streets, forming a net-work composed of two hundred and twenty-six different streets, lanes, and courts, the aggregate length is forty-eight miles, while twenty-nine wharves extend into the harbor and give ac- commodation to the commerce of the port. There are six avenues into the city on the land side, all of which are over substantial bridges except the old road from Stroudwater. All the bridges were at first supported by tolls, but they are now free. In addition to these streets and roads, there is projected and partially completed a marginal way run- ning around both sides of the city, nearly five miles in length and one hundred feet in width. Most of the streets are beautifully decorated with fine elms and other shade- trees. The views from the observatory on Munjoy Hill, both seaward and northward towards the mountains, are as fine as can be found in any locality.

The horse-cars of the Portland Railroad afford an easy transit along the whole length of Congress Street ; also from the Grand Trunk Depot, through Middle and Congress Streets, to Bramhall Hill; and from the head of Preble Street, in Market Square, through Preble, Portland, and Green Streets, and the villages of Deering Point and Wood- ford's Corner, to Evergreen Cemetery and Morrill's Corner, -a distance of three and a quarter miles.

The business streets of the city, as well as those devoted to private residences, are handsomely built, lighted with gas, well drained, and supplied with the purest water from Lake Sebago, which is brought in pipes a distance of seven- teen miles, from a fresh and inexhaustible source of supply .* The reservoir on Bramhall Hill has a capacity of 12,000,000 gallons. The number of hydrants set are as follows : post hydrants, 66; Lowery Steeet hydrants, 79; Lowery side- walk hydrants, 80; two-and-a-half inch hydrant, 1 ; total, 226. Whole number of reservoirs, 64. Of street gas lamps there are 442 in the city.

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History of Cumberland Co., Maine, Part 43

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