History of Cumberland Co., Maine, Part 9

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

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The Indians proceeded with their captives from Fal- mouth to the Kennebec River. On the 14th of August the war began in that quarter, in the first scenes of which the Indians of this locality were probably not engaged. Richard Hammond's house was attacked on that day, and he and Samuel Smith and Joshua Grant were killed. The Indians then divided ; cleven went up the river and cap- tured Francis Card and his family, while the remainder went to Arrowsic Island, now Georgetown, took the fort by surprise, killed Capt. Thomas Lake, one of the chief proprietors, with many others, and wounded several, among whom was Capt. Silvanus Davis, afterwards a prominent inhabitant of Falmouth. Here they were joined by the Indians from Falmouth and those who went up the river and laid plans for future depredations. On this occasion

# Salem town records, quoted by Willis.

IHISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, MAINE.

Anthony Brackett and his family escaped out of their hands by means of an old birch canve which his wife repaired with a needle and thread found in a deserted house. Hub- bard says,-

" In that old canoe they crossed a water eight or nine miles broad, and when they came on the south side of the bay, they might have been in as much danger of other Indians that had lately been about Black Point and had taken it; but they were newly gone ; so things on all sides thus concurring to help forward their deliverance, they came safely to Black Point, where also they met with a vessel boundt for Piscataqua, that came into that harbor but a few hours before they came thither, by which means they arrived safe in Piscataqua River soon after."

On the 230 of September, a number of those persons who had been driven from Casco and the vicinity, being forced by the distress which their families were suffering for the necessaries of life, ventured to go upon Munjoy's Island* to procure provisions, there being a number of sheep there. They had scarcely landed (six or seven men) when the Indians fell suddenly upon them, and although they defended themselves with desperate cour- age from the ruins of a stone house to which they had retreated, yet they were all destroyed. George Felt was one of them, and was much lamented. He was a useful and enterprising man, and had been more active against the Indians than any other in the vicinity. Ile left a family who moved to Chelsea, in which neighbor- hood his descendants are yet living. Ilis wife was a daughter of Jane Maeworth, by whom he had three sous, George, Samuel, and Jonathan.

As soon as news of hostilities reached the government of Massachusetts, measures were taken to afford protection and assistance to the inhabitants. The government dis- patched one hundred and thirty English and forty friendly Indians, under command of Capts. Hawthorn, Sill, and Hunting, who were to be joined by such forces as could be raised in the province. They proceeded by the coast to Falmouth, where the headquarters of the enemy were supposed to be. They arrived at Casco Bay on the 20th of September, and although every plantation west of it had suffered depredations from the enemy, they met with but two Indians on their march. One they killed, and the other escaped at Fahnouth to Back Cove and warned his comrades of the approach of the forces. They had been heard a short time before threshing in Anthony Brackett's barn, but they had all disappeared. This expedition effected no permanent advantage; wherever the troops appeared the enemy fled from their presence.

The forces left this part of the country about the begin- ning of October, and about a week afterwards the Indians rallied one hundred strong, and on the 12th of October made an assault upon Black Point. The inhabitants had collected in the garrison of Henry Jocelyn, who endeavored to negotiate a treaty with Mugg for their safe retreat. But when he returned from this service to the garrison, he found that the inhabitants had all fled, and carried their property with them, so that he was left alone with his family and servants, and was obliged to surrender at dis- cretion.

They next proceeded to Richmond's Island. A vessel

" Now Peak's Island.

was lying here belonging to Mr. Fryer, of Portsmouth, which had been sent, by the solicitation of Walter Gendall, to preserve the property upon the island. While they were engaged in this duty they were attacked by a multi- tudle of the enemy. Owing to the unfavorable state of the wind, they were unable to get their vessel out of the harbor. The enemy seized the advantage and proceeded to cut the cable of the vessel, while part of them stood ready to shoot down every man who appeared on her deck to render any assistance. Under these circumstances the vessel was driven on shore, and the crew, consisting of eleven persons, were taken prisoners. Among them was James Fryer, son of the owner, a respectable young man of Portsmouth, who afterwards died of wounds received in that engagement; also Walter Gendall, who became of service to the enemy as interpreter and messenger.

The affair at Richmond's Island was the last in this quarter during the war, and it may truly be said to have ceased here for the want of victims to feed upon. Mugg, who had led the Indians in the two last attacks, seemed now to be desirous of peace, and for that purpose went to Portsmouth on the Ist of November, taking James Fryer, and offered to enter into a treaty. The commanding officer there not being authorized to negotiate, sent him to Boston, where, on the 6th of November, articles of pacificatiou were entered into with the government by Mugg, in behalf of Madokawando and Cheberina, sacheuis of Penobscot. Mugg, as a pledge of his fidelity, consented to remain a hostage until the property and captives were restored.

There was great reluctance on the part of the Indians to comply with the treaty, and on one pretext and another they evaded the principal articles. The attempt at peace in the latter part of 1676 proved unsuccessful, and the war was continued through the next year, spending its force prin- cipally in the western part of the province. Simon, who com- menced the tragedy at Caseo, was not idle in its closing scenes. On the 16th of May a party under Mugg attacked the garrison at Black Point, which was resolutely defended for three days, in the latter of which the active leader of the besiegers having been killed, the siege was precipitately abandoned. This ill snecess was, however, avenged on the same spot in the following month, when a large force hav- ing been sent there without any experience in the kind of warfare, were drawn into an ambuscade and nearly all de- stroyed.

In the summer the enemy were checked near the seat of their power by the interference of Maj. Andros, Governor of New York, who sent a force to protect the interest of the Duke of York in his province. He established a strong garrison at Pemaquid, which overawed the Indians of that neighborhood, and the next spring they made pro- posals to the government for peace. The commissioners appointed to treat with them-Messrs. Shapleigh and Champeroon, of Kittery, and Fryer, of Portsmouth-pro- ceeded to Caseo, where they met the Indians, and mutually signed articles of peace on the 12th of April, 1678.

By this treaty the people were permitted to return to their habitations, and it was agreed that they should occupy them without molestation, paying annually to the Indians a tribute of one peck of corn for each family, except Maj.

FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR, 1688.

Pendleton, of Saco, who, having a large estate, was required to pay one bushel annually. The captives were all returned, and an end was put to a relentless war in which whole fam- ilies were sacrificed, human nature exposed to detestable eruelties, and property wantonly destroyed.

We give from " Willis' History" the following brief notice of some of the persons from Falmouth who were taken cap- tives :

" The wife of Anthony Brackett perished in the first year of her captivity. She was Mary, a daughter of Michael Mitton; her chil- dren were Joshua, who died in Greenland, and was father of Anthony and Joshua, who owued the large tract of land extending from Clark's Point across the Neck ta Back Cove. Her other children were Sarah, who married John Hill, of Portsmouth, and Mary, who married Christopher Mitchell, of Kittery. They did not return to Falmouth. James Ross and his family were restored, and afterwards lived in Fal- mouth. Walter Gendall was subsequently an inhabitant of Falmouth, and then of North Yarmouth, where he was killed. He had exposed himself to suspicion, while a prisoner among the enemy, of having betrayed the English, and was tried for the offense at Boston, in Sep- tember, 1677. The record is as follows:

"' Walter Gendall, ef or near Black Point, being presented and in- dieted by the grand jury, and left to trial, was brought to the bar and was indieted by the name of Walter Geodall, for not having the fear of God before his eyes, and being instigated by the devil, in the time of the war with the Indians, in a perfidious anl treacherous way, against the inhabitants of this colony's peace and safety, sought to betray them ioto the enemy's hands hy his endeavour and counsel, contrary to the peace of our sovereign lord the king, his crown, aud dignity, and the law of this commonwealth-To which indictment he pleaded not guilty, and referred hiteself for his trial to the bench. The magistrates having duly weighed the indictment and the evi- dences in the ense produced against him, found him guilty of the in- dictment, and do therefore sentence him to run the guantelope through the military companies in Boston on the 10th inst., with a rope about his neck ; that he forfeit all his lands to the country, and be banished out of this jurisprudence, to be gone by the 6th day of October next on penalty of perpetual imprisonment if he return again, and dis- charging the costs and charges of this prosecution.'

"What was the nature of the offense for which this severe punishment was inflicted does not appear : that there was some misinformation to the court about it, may be inferred from the fact that he was soon after restored to the possession of his lands and to public confidence. Iu July, 1680, we find him acting as one of the commissioners of Fal- mouth ; in 1681, he was appointed hy President Danforth to regulate the settlement of North Yarmouth ; in 1683, Fort Loyal, in Caseo, was committed to his eare, und in 1684 he was a deputy to the Gen- eral Assembly of this province. Gendall's name occurs first in Fal- mouth as a juryman, in 1666; in 1669 he exchanged farms with Michael Madiver, of Black Point, and is then called . Planter dwell- ing in the town of Falmouth.' June 3, 1680, he bought of 'George Felt, Sr., of Casco, planter,' one hundred acres 'on the westward side of George Felt's ould house in Casco Bay ;' this tract adjoined Falmouth line, and was afterwards occupied by Gendall."

CHAPTER VII.

FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR, 1688.

Indian Allies of the French-Influence of the Missionaries and Agents -Efforts to Preteet the Settlements-Death of Walter Gendall- Pemaquidl Destroyed-Major Church and Two Vessels of War at Falmouth-Battle in Brackett's Orchard-Surprise and Slaughter of the English on Munjoy Hill-Fert Loyal taken-Destruction of Falmouth.

THE Indians of Maine, and particularly that portion of them east of the Kennebee River, were allies of the French. The English, although they had at first been received by every token of friendship on the part of the savages, in

many instances betrayed the confidence reposed in them, overreached them in trade, and by many acts of perfidy and injustice invoked their vengeance. It was no fault of the early settlers themselves, as a general rule, that they became the victims of savage cruelty, and that their homes were plundered and destroyed. The seeds which bore these natural fruits had been planted for them by the first Eng- lish navigators on the coast of New England. To add to this feeling of hostility, which was perpetuated by tradition among the Indians, and awakened by every fresh outrage perpetrated upon them by venal and unscrupulous traders, the French agents and missionaries lost no opportunity to excite in their minds the deepest hatred and animosity towards their English neighbors. " The French," says Mr. Willis, " were more hostile to the English than the savages themselves, and, although they could not impart to their savage allies the same jealousies and the same motives of action, yet they could stimulate them by the hope of plunder, the love of revenge, and religious prejudices, to stain their tomahawks in the blood of an inoffensive popu- lation." The French missionaries and other influential men of that nation residing among the Indians in the eastern part of Maine at this period had acquired an absolute in- fluence over their minds by addressing them through the terrors and hopes of religion, as well as by appealing to their temporal interests .*

At this time the Baron de St. Castine and the missionary Thury were residing on the Penobscot. C'astine had con- nected himself' by marriage with the chief sachem of that country, and had formed a strong alliance with the tribes. The English had plundered his property and claimed juris- diction over his estate. This was not merely a personal affront, but a national quarrel, inasmuch as the English and French were rival claimants of the territory occupied by the baron, and the cause of the latter was espoused not only in Canada, but in France itself. In this war, there- fore, the Indians may be regarded simply as the allies of the French. The missionary, in his zval for the Catholic faith and the extension of the dominiou of France, had taught his flock that by exterminating the whole English race from the soil they would be doing God's service, and they would thereby recover their ancient importance as masters and owners. It is not to be supposed that the In- dians were unwilling listeners to such preaching, or reluct- ant doers of the work which it commanded. The promised assistance from Canada rendered them bold and menacing, aud they entered the houses of the inhabitants in an inso- lent and offensive manner. " They gave out that they would make war upon the English, and that they were animated to do so by the French."t

The Indians commenced operations in August, 1688, by killing cattle on the eastern plantations and threatening the lives of the people. Attempts were made to allay the dis- turbance. In September, Capt. Tyng wrote from Fal-

# Bomazeen, a noted chief, told one of the Boston ministers that the French had taught the Indians that " the Lord Jesus Christ was of the French nation, that his mother, the Virgin Mary, was a French lady, aud that it was the English who had muurdered him."-Moth. May.

+ Hutchinson's Papers, Mass. Ilist. Society's Coll.

HISTORY OF CUMBERLAND COUNTY, MAINE.

mouth that he was engaged in a treaty with the Indians, but feared that Casco would be the centre of trouble. The magistrates in Saco seized sixteen or twenty of those who had been the chief actors in that quarter during the last war, with a view of bringing their followers to a treaty and preventing the dreaded catastrophe. The leaders were sent under a guard to Falmouth. The Indians retaliated, rob- bing the English and taking prisoners. Mr. Stoughton, one of the Governor's council, came on to Falmouth with troops, hoping to compromise and prevent the effusion of blood, but was unsuccessful in this pacific purpose. The prisoners were ordered to Boston, and the inhabitants to protect themselves in garrisons. To carry out this latter order, Capt. Walter Gendall proceeded to North Yarmouth with a company of solliers, in September, to construct stockades on both sides of Royal River, for the defense of that place. While there he was attacked by seventy or eighty Indians, and after a severe conflict, succeeded in chasing them away, with the loss of several lives on both sides. This was the first blood spilt in the war. In the evening Capt. Gendall and his servant crossed over the river and were both killed in an ambuscade. John Royall and another person were taken prisoners, but Royall was ran- somed by Baron St. Castine.

Gov. Andros, hoping by mild measures to avert the impending calamity, released the Indians who had been arrested, and restored to them their arms without any con- dition as to the prisoners and property which had been taken in retaliation. On the 20th of October, he issued a proclamation requiring them to deliver up their captives and surrender for trial those persons who had been con- cerned in the murder of the English. The measures of conciliation and the proclamation were alike ineffectual ; and early in November the Governor raised a force of about seven hundred men and marched through the country as far east as Pemaquid. Here he established a garrison of thirty-six men of the standing force under command of Capt. Anthony Brackett and Licut. Weems, and left two new companies of sixty men, each under command of Capts. Tyng and Minot, for its defense. Ile also stationed garrisons at each of the settlements on the coast. The gar- rison at Falmouth consisted of sixty men under command of Capt. George Lockhart. The whole number of troops disposed of in this manner in Maine, and the province east of the Kennebec, was five hundred and sixty-eight,-a force sufficient to have protected the frontier, had it been per- mitted to occupy the stations wherein it had been dis- turbed. But the expedition was fruitless of any other good consequences, and in April, 1689, the authority of Gov. Andros was subverted by a popular excitement, which the people afterwards had canse to regret, for the new govern- ment was weak and irresolute.

In April, 1689, the Indians renewed their hostilities at Saco, but without doing much injury. In June Dover was surprised and Major Wakfron cruelly murdered with several other inhabitants. In the course of the summer the Indians on the Penobscot were joined by the French, and systematic operations commeneed on the settlements cast of Casco Bay. Pemaquid was taken, and all the inhabitants in that region driven from their homes. They sought protection under

the fort at Falmouth. The fort was very insufficiently provided for both in respect to ammunition and provisions, and an appeal was made to the government by Messrs. Brackett, Townsend, and Ingersoll, which had the effect of aronsing it from its lethargy ; and in August, Major Swain was sent by land with seven or eight companies, to protect the eastern towns. Also, in September, Major Benjamin Church, who had done effective service in the Plymouth Colony in King Philip's war, arrived at Falmouth by water, having raised a force among his old soldiers, with some volunteer troops and friendly Indians. The instrue- tions to Major Church were signed by P'resident Danforth, who had been restored to his government June 28th, and by the commissioners of the united colonies, Sept. IS, 1680, and indicated that earnest work was intended. Two men-of-war and other small vessels for transportation ac- companied the expedition. It was agreed that the sokliers should " have the benefit of the captives and all lawful plunder, and a reward of £8 per head for every fighting Indian man taken by them, over and above their stated wages."

Church, on his arrival, immediately concocted with the chief men a plan of operations. The Indians were in con- siderable force in the vicinity of Falmouth .* At dawn of day, September 21st, they made their appearance upon An- thony Brackett's farm at Back Cove,f aud upon Capt. llall's company hastening forward an engagement took place in Brackett's orchard. Capt. Hall was soon sup- ported by the remainder of the English force stationed on the side of the creek, who galled the enemy by firing over the heads of Hall's soldiers. After maintaining the fight for some time in this manner, Church determined to attack the enemy in the rear, and, having communicated his plan to Capt. IIall, proceeded up the creek to the bridge which then crossed it, probably in the same place where one now stands. The enemy perceiving his object immediately re- treated, and he, supposing they had made for the bridge, or sought some other passage into the town, returned to the bridge, and finding no trace of them there, hastened across the neck to the south side by Clark's Point, where, finding the cattle feeding quietly in Lieut. Clark's field, and perceiving no trace of the enemy, he hastily retraced his steps, and, " passing over the burnt land and through the brush," formed a junction with Capt. Hall's company, which had borne the brunt of the battle. He now gave orders for the whole army to pursue the enemy ; but, learn- ing that most of the ammunition that was suitable for the guns was spent, he gave up his design and returned with the dead and wounded to the fort. The engagement had continued about six hours. Of Capt. Hall's sohliers six were killed, viz., Thomas Burton, Edward Ebens, Thomas Faxter, Thomas Berry, John Mason, and David Holmes ; of Capt. Davis' company, two, viz., Giles Rowe and An- drew Alger, belonging to the garrison ; one Indian, a negro belonging to Col. Tyng, and Capt. Brackett, either killed or taken prisoners,-eleven in all. The wounded were, of Capt. Davis' company, James Freeze, Mr. Bramhall, Thomas Brown, and Mr. Palmer, inhabitants of Falmouth,

# Judged to be three or four hundred strong.

# The farm lately owned by Jam 's Deering.

FRENCH AND INDIAN WAR, 1688.

and six friendly Indians, making a total of twenty-one killed and wounded. Freeze, Bramhall, and one Indian died of their wounds after the battle. The loss of the In- dians is not known. They fled precipitately, and left be- hind them "evidences of having sustained considerable damage."* Willis says, " The enemy met with so warm a reception at Falmouth, and found the country so well pro- tected, that they retreated into their forests and committed no further depredations during the year."

Hostilities, however, were only suspended till the next spring (1690), when they were participated in more largely by the French. In the quaint language of Cotton Mather, they were " half one and half t'other, half Indianized French and half Frenchified Indians." In February they had marched from Canada on the ice of Lake Champlain, and made a descent upon Schenectady, New York, destroying that place and killing about sixty persons .; " On the 18th of March, another party commanded by Artel, a Frenchman, and Hopchood, " that memorable tygre," destroyed the settlement at Salmon Falls " with fire and sword."

" Capt. Willard, an experienced officer from Salem, who had been stationed in Falmouth, was ordered in February to pursue the enemy to their headquarters ; on his departure the command of the fort devolved upon Capt. Davis. It does not appear that there were any regular troops left here, and the defense of the place depended upon the courage and exertions of the inhabitants. While they were in this situation, a party of the French, some of whom had assisted in the affair at Schenectady, formed a junction with the eastern Indians, under Madokawando, and were discovered in the beginning of May passing in a large fleet of canoes across Casco Bay. From the direction of their course the people of Falmouth entertained hopes that their destination was to a more remote part of the country ; but in this they were disappointed. In a few days they were discovered lurking in this vicinity, and Robert Greason, a Scotchman, one of the inhabitants who lived upon the Presumpscot River, fell into their hands. As soon as it was known that they were in the neighborhood, strict orders were given for the people to confine themselves to their garrisons, and to keep constant watch to prevent surprise. There were then in addition to Fort Loyal, four garrison houses in this part of the town, whose local situation we have not the means of accurately determining ; one was ou Munjoy Hill, near the burying-ground, at the stone house of Capt. Lawrence. Sullivan says another stood ' where Dearing's house now stands ;' this was at the foot of Exchange Street, and was probably the house of Lieut. George Ingersoll, which oc- cupied that spot ; he says another stood on the rocky ground south of where the first meeting-house stands. lle cites no authority for determining these localities, and probably derived them from tradition, which we have found a most unsafe guide in inquiries of this nature. It would seem

entirely unnecessary to have so many garrisons in the im- mediate vicinity of the fort, and we have thought some of these defenses may have been in the more remote parts of the town for the protection of the inhabitants there. Elihu Gullison's house was established by the council of war in November preceding as a principal garrison house, but we cannot determine its situation.

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History of Cumberland Co., Maine, Part 9

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