USA > Maine > Cumberland County > Gorham > History of Gorham, Me. > 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).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81 | Part 82 | Part 83
On the other hand, the opponents of the measure, among whom were also to be found many men holding office, claimed that the people of Maine were ungrateful, that they had always received the best of care and many and great favors from the State Government, and that the power and force necessary to protect the District would be greatly weakened, if not altogether destroyed, by a separation at this time.
On Sept. 17, 1785, the Falmouth Gazette printed the following which, although lacking date or signature, was accompanied by a written request for its publication signed, as Mr. Willis says, by the most respectable men on the Neck : -
" Agreeably to a request signed by a large number of respectable gentlemen, and presented to the printers of this Gazette, the inhab- itants in the counties of York, Cumberland and Lincoln are hereby notified, that as many of them as can conveniently attend, are requested to meet at the Rev. Messrs. Smith's and Deane's meeting- house in Falmouth, on Wednesday the 5th day of October ensuing, to join in a Conference, upon the proposal of having these counties erected into a Separate government ; and, if thought best, to form a plan for collecting the sentiments of the people upon the subject, and pursue some peaceable and proper method for carrying the same into effect."
163
SEPARATION OF MAINE AND MASSACHUSETTS.
Thirty-three delegates, from twenty of the principal towns, met in Falmouth on the appointed date. Gorham sent as its representatives William Gorham, Esq., Stephen Longfellow, Jr., Esq. and Col. Edmund Phinney. On the organization of the delegates into a Convention, William Gorham was chosen president, and Stephen Longfellow, Jr., secretary. After discussing the object of a separation, a committee of seven members, with Gen. Peleg Wadsworth as its chairman and Messrs. Gorham and Longfellow as two of its members, was appointed to draw up a circular to be sent to each of the towns and plantations in the District, requesting them to choose delegates to another Convention to be holden at the same place on the first Wednesday in January of the coming year to consider whether it was expedient that the eastern Counties should be formed into a separate State, and if so, the best method by which in a regular and orderly way to carry the measure into effect.
At the opening of the General Court on the 20th of October, both the Governor and House expressed themselves strongly against " dismembering the Commonwealth."
Many of the towns addressed in this circular refused to send any delegates, as requested ; but the town of Gorham, at a town meeting held December 5, 1785,
" Voted, That it is the Opinion of this Town, that it would be for the interest of the Counties of York, Cumberland and Lincoln to be incorporated into a Separate State," and they chose Edmund Phinney, Esq", Mr. Stephen Longfellow, Jun', and the Honble Wm. Gorham, Esq' their representatives to the Convention.
The Convention met Jan. 4, 1786, and, after having chosen the same officers to preside over it as served the former Convention, proceeded to choose a committee to draw up a statement of the grievances experienced by the three eastern counties, and also to estimate the expense of a separate government. This committee on the next day reported as follows :
I. The interests of these three counties are different from those of Massachusetts, and therefore, they can never be fully understood by her, nor will they for the same reason ever be duly attended to and promoted, during the present connection. In fact their advance- ment and importance are checked and debased, to a degree prejudi- cial even to the United States at large.
2 & 3. The seat of government is at a distance, the General Court large, and its business multifarious and perplexing ; so that the petitioners and suitors in their journeys, as well as in delays, have
164
HISTORY OF GORHAM.
to suffer many and great inconveniencies, expenses and discourage- ments.
4. Public Justice cannot, according to the Constitution, be ' admin- istered promptly and without delay' by the Supreme Judicial Court, throughout this extensive Commonwealth. Most assuredly so long as the Clerk's office, and the records of all that is done by that Court, within these Counties, are kept in Boston, legal process and lawsuits must be attended with additional costs, perplexities and delays of justice.
5. The present regulations of trade operate unequally and unjustly towards these Counties; for they tend to depress the price of lumber and discourage and injure those employed in getting it, - thus contributing proportionably to the special emolument of traders and men in other parts of the State.
6. A great portion of the inhabitants in these Counties are deprived of a representation in the popular branch of the Legislature, where all money-bills originate; - a grievance, from which there appears at present no prospect of relief.
7. The present system of taxation upon polls and estates is unequal and unjust ; because the eastern inhabitants and their stocks cannot be employed to the same advantage, nor their lands improved with the same profit, as in other, or older parts of the Commonwealth.
8. The excise and impost acts operate a grievance upon the inhabitants of these Counties; - the eastern people being dispro- portionate consumers of foreign articles. Sheep cannot be kept by them without great difficulty and expense, owing to hazards from wolves and other beasts of prey, and the great severity and length of the winters; and in general, they have no products from their orchards, and few conveniences of life, as the fruits of husbandry among them.
9. The act imposing a duty on deeds, &c. operates unjustly upon us, by reason of the more frequent conveyances of real estate, and their smaller value in new, than in older settled countries.
As it was somewhat uncertain just what form a separate govern- ment might take, the Committee concluded to present no estimate upon its cost.
The Convention then voted to hold another convention, at the same place on the first Wednesday in September.
At the annual town meeting, held in Gorham on the 20th of March, 1786, it was
1
165
SEPARATION OF MAINE AND MASSACHUSETTS.
" Voted, To choose Delegates for the Proposed Convention, to be held at Falmouth in Sept. Next. 110 Voted for it, & but 2 against it. " Voted, That the Honble Wm. Gorham, Esqr., Edmund Phinney, Esqr. & Mr. Stephen Longfellow, Junr. be a Committee to meet in Convention at Falm°. on the first Wednesday of Sept. next to Con- sider of the Grievances the Inhabitants of the Counties of York, Cumberland & Lincoln Labour under. And with the other delegates who may then meet, to Adopt & pursue some orderly & peaceable measure to obtain relief."
This third Convention assembled in Falmouth Sept. 6, and organ- ized with the choice of the same officers as had served its two prede- cessors. The Convention then resolved that the list of grievances presented by the former Convention, excepting that in the fifth article, were as represented, and that the only remedy lay in their making their own laws. A committee was then chosen to draw up a petition to the General Court praying that they be set off into an independent State. The committee was also to prepare an address to be sent to the various towns and plantations throughout Maine, and the people requested to act upon the subject and make return of their votes to the Convention, when it should reassemble. The Con- vention met, after its adjournment, on Jan. 31, 1787, when it was found that of the votes returned, six hundred and forty-five were in favor of a separation and three hundred and fifty-nine were against it. The petition was not sent to the Legislature until the following year.
The mass of the inhabitants of Maine were not really in favor of a disunion of the two parts of Massachusetts; and the Convention, after adjourning from time to time, and finding that the Portland members and the officers were the only attendants of its meetings, and that its petition was a failure, expired in September, 1788, by having no meeting at its last adjournment.
Another attempt looking toward the same end was made in 1791 by the Senators and Representatives of the District, who attempted to revive the petition mentioned above; but as this was thought by many not to represent the minds of the people, the idea was aban- doned, and a request sent to the various towns ; - that in order to know the true sentiment of the voters, a vote be taken on the propriety of petitioning the General Court, at its next session, for its consent to a separation and the formation of a new State.
Jan., 1792, the Maine Senators and Representatives prayed the Leg- islature that an order might be passed for a general vote of the
.
166
HISTORY OF GORHAM.
people upon the subject, so that the true state of public opinion con- cerning the matter might be made clear. After some days debate, the order was granted and the first Monday in May, 1792, set apart for the test. In accordance with this order, at a town meeting held on that date, Gorham voted, seventy-five to sixteen, in favor of "The Counties of York, Cumberland, Lincoln, Hancock and Washington being formed into a Separate Government." The result of the total vote in the District, being a plurality of four hundred and fifty votes against the measure, was a great surprise to its advocates ; but in the October of the year following it was decided to hold another Con- vention in December, as it was thought to be a good time to revive the subject, on account of the revision at this time of the Constitution. On Dec. 16, Gorham " Voted, That Mr. Stephen Longfellow, Honble Josiah Thacher, Esqr & Mr. Cary Mclellan be delegates for the town of Gorham to meet with, & Join the Convention in Portland the last Tuesday in Decr Inst. to Consider the expediency of the 5 Eastern Counties being Erected into an Independent Government." This Convention did nothing, but recommended that another Con- vention be held in the following June to consider whether it would not be better to form the new State from York, Cumberland and Lincoln Counties, and exclude Hancock and Washington, which were strongly opposed to separation from the Mother-State.
Gorham sent Hon. William Gorham, Esq., Edmund Phinney, Esq. and George Lewis, Esq. as its delegates to this Convention, which organized by choosing William Gorham, president ; it then adjourned to the second Tuesday of October, 1794; when having met, thirteen resolutions were passed, stating that the District was able to support a separate government, setting forth the reasons why the present union was inconvenient, and that a "total separation " was alone consistent with its prosperity.
At the adjournment of this meeting, held in January, 1795, an address was prepared, signed by William Gorham as president, requesting the people to vote again upon this subject, and at a town meeting held in Gorham on the 6th of May there were cast forty-six ballots in favor of revising the constitution, and twenty-nine against it ; fifty-one ballots for the separation of York, Cumberland and Lincoln Counties, and seven against such action.
Notwithstanding the rebuffs and discouragements experienced, in January, 1797, petitions were sent up to the General Court praying that the votes of the inhabitants of the District might be given on the subject. This request was granted, and a vote appointed to be taken
167
SEPARATION OF MAINE AND MASSACHUSETTS.
in May on the question whether application should be made to the General Court for its consent to a separation and the making of the District into a State. On this question, Gorham voted twenty-six in favor, and thirty against it. This effort being found to be a failure, the subject was allowed to rest, with only a slight attempt at revival in 1806-7, until 1815, when at the close of the war it became again · one of the questions of the day. Feb. 10, 1816, the General Court directed that on the 20th of May the votes of all the towns and plantations in the District should be taken on the question, " Shall the Legislature be requested to give its consent to the separation of the District of Maine from Massachusetts, and the erection of said District into a separate State?" Upon the result of this vote, the Maine Senators, and most of the Representatives, petitioned the Legislature for its consent to form a new State out of the District. On June 20th, a law was passed authorizing a vote to be taken on "Is it expedient that the District of Maine be separated from Massachusetts, and become an Independent State?" Each town at the same time was to choose as many delegates as it might have Representatives in the Legislature. The voting was to take place on the first Monday in September, and on the last Monday of the same month these delegates were to meet in convention at Brunswick, and if it was found that a majority of five to four of the votes were in favor of a separation, the Convention was to form a State Constitu- tion. Gorham voted one hundred and twenty-seven for separation, and one hundred and eighty against it, and chose as delegates to the Convention, Hon. Lothrop Lewis, David Harding, Jr. and Samuel Stephenson. The Convention met, when it was found that the five- ninths of the vote, necessary for the success of the measure, had not been received. About two-thirds of the Convention being ardent supporters of an independent State, it was endeavored to escape. defeat by accepting the ingenious report of a committee, which said, " That the whole aggregate majority of yeas over the nays, in the towns and plantations in favor, was six thousand and thirty-one ; - the whole aggregate majority of nays over the yeas, in the towns and plantations opposed, was four thousand eight hundred and twenty- five ; then as five is to four so is six thousand and thirty-one to four thousand, eight hundred and twenty-five. The General Court, however, would not hear of this construction, and dissolved the Convention.
A final effort to accomplish this long desired object was made in 1819, when the Legislature, being presented with petitions from
168
HISTORY OF GORHAM.
about seventy towns, passed a law on the 19th of June consenting to a separation, provided a majority of fifteen hundred votes were cast in its favor. This vote was to be taken on the fourth Monday in July, and the returns made to the Governor and Council, when if the necessary majority was found, each corporate town was to choose delegates, who were to meet in Portland, form a Constitution, and make application to Congress to be admitted into the Union as a State.
· Gorham this time voted in favor of separation, one hundred and eighty-three, and against it, ninety-five. Of the total vote, a majority of nearly ten thousand was in favor of forming a new State, and it was so declared by the Governor. Gorham then chose as its delegates to the Portland Convention Lothrop Lewis, Esq., Gen. James Irish and Joseph Adams, Esq. The Convention met at Portland on Oct. II, and framed a Constitution, which was signed on the 29th of the month, and the first Monday in December appointed for submitting it to the people for their adoption or rejection. A large majority of the people by their votes in December, ratified the Constitution ; Gorham voting ninety-four to one in its favor.
The new State was admitted to the Union by Congress, March 4, 1820, and as, by the Act of June 19, 1819, March 15 was to terminate the union of the District and the Mother-State, Maine on the 16th of March, 1820, became an independent State.
CHAPTER IX.
MEETING HOUSES AND MINISTERS OF THE STANDING ORDER.
.Our old ancestors thought well of building meeting houses, and settling ministers. With them it was as much a part of their duty as it was to build their own residences. By law it was made a part of the contract with all proprietors of townships for settlement, that as soon as they were able, or a sufficient number of settlers came in, they should build a meeting house, and settle a "learned, Orthodox minister." If this contract was not perfected in a reasonable time, they forfeited their title to the land.
Our ancestors were not backward, but held squarely to their obligations ; and we find, that at the first proprietors' meeting of which we have any record, held in Gorhamtown, at the house of Mr. John Phinney, Nov. 24, 1741, at which time there were probably about eight families in town, the meeting, after choosing a clerk, was adjourned to meet at the house of Mr. Moses Pearson, in Falmouth, ' Nov. 26, 1741 ; where the second vote passed was, "That a Meeting House be built for the public worship of God in said town (Gorham) ; forty feet one way, and thirty the other ; twenty foot shed with suitable roof," and "That fifty shillings on a right be raised by each Proprietor in order to erect a Meeting House, and clear a suitable tract of land to set the same on." And a committee was chosen to determine where the house should stand, and to build the same. This meeting was then adjourned to meet the next Monday : this came in December, 1741, when it was voted "That twenty rods square be cleared on the westerly side of the way called King Street, in order for to build a Meeting House for the public worship of God ; partly on the Minister's and Ministerial lots, adjoining to the above said way, to lie common forever for the use of ye Inhabitants." A committee was chosen, consisting of John Phinney, William Pote, Hugh Mclellan and Ebenezer Hall, to cut and clear the "twenty rods square," in order to "set the Meeting House; " (eighty feet square of which was to be cut within six inches of the ground) within fourteen days, for which they were to have eight pounds. Feb. 16, 1742/3, it was "voted to pay John Gorham and Daniel Mosher £25-o-o, old tenor, for clearing and burning the stuff from the
170
HISTORY OF GORHAM.
Meeting House lot, twenty rods square; they having till ye last of May to do ye same in." This would bring the preparations for the building up to the last of May, 1743, and probably the house was built that, summer (1743). It was certainly built before February, 1744, for at that time a notice was published for " all Proprietors to pay up their taxes for building the meeting house." It is said to have been constructed of logs, which is probably true, for nothing · better could have been had at that time. Boards were not here, nor were there roads over which to haul them, or mills to saw them. The location above described would place this first meeting house on the top of Fort Hill, near where the old town house formerly stood, but that is probably not the exact spot where it was built, for reliable tradition fixes the site on the westerly side of the hill, a little south of the burying ground, near where the locust trees now stand. The first log house of Capt. John Phinney was on the opposite side of the road, a little farther south. In the Indian war of 1745 this meeting house was burned by the savages, at the same time that the first mill was destroyed, and none was built to replace it on Fort Hill. For several years the inhabitants held their meetings in the fort.
On July 25, 1750, at a Proprietors' meeting held at the fort in Gorhamtown, it was "Voted that eighteen pence on each share be raised, and paid into the hands of the Treasurer, for repairing the south-east flanker of the fort, for public worship," and Capt. John Phinney was appointed to have the repairs made, so far as the money would go. This was two months previous to the giving the Rev. Solomon Lombard his call to preach. In August, 1751, I find another vote to make further repairs on the south-east bastion to fit it for public worship. In 1756, April 2d, we find £4 voted to make repairs on fort and meeting house (bastion).
The Proprietors, by their contract with the settlers, were bound to furnish a meeting house; the people had been a long time without one. Though they were all proprietors, some of the out-of-town proprietors were much the largest land-holders, and would have to pay largely. A movement was started amongst the settlers to have a meeting house, and in a more convenient location than the fort. A meeting was called to take the subject into consideration.
In 1760, Feb. 26th, we find the last vote we have in relation to the old Fort Meeting house. And it is as follows : "Voted, that Capt. John Waite, Moses Pearson, Esq., and Mr. John Cotton be a Committee to repair to the Fort in Gorhamtown : View the Flanker that is used for Public Worship : Consider of building a Meeting House : Where to
171
MEETING HOUSES.
set said house, and how big to build the same." Also, "Voted, There be raised and assessed on the several rights in said township toward building a Meeting House, Sixty-six pounds, thirteen shillings, and four pence (£66-13-4)". Up to this time the old Orthodox Congregationalist Society had worshipped on Fort Hill, though the population had spread south much faster than north. Quite a village had grown up at Gorham Corner, and down the Portland road. Many did not like the going to Fort Hill to meeting. Moreover, a large number, including some of the most influential men of the town, were much dissatisfied with Mr. Lombard, and would not attend his meetings. Consequently, a society was formed at the village, of the disaffected and others. They built a meeting house, and settled a Mr. Ebenezer Townsend to preach to them, and called themselves Orthodox; - tried to get the Ministerial lands for their minister, but the Court decided that they had not settled "a learned, Orthodox minister," and they lost their case. This house was a small two-story meeting house, nearly, if not quite, square, with a four-sided roof, which sloped up, from each side, to the centre. It was built with gallery pews, and stood facing High St. (now so called), on the north-westerly corner of what was then Bryant Morton's lot, and is now called the old Parish lot. The lot extended northerly to what is now the southerly side of Church St., and included the lot now owned by Simon E. Mclellan.
About this time Mr. Lombard virtually ceased to preach. Religious matters being in rather an unsettled state, he filled his pulpit mostly by exchange. Transient preachers would be occasionally employed to preach on the Hill, till the death of Mr. Townsend, which occurred in 1762. In the mean time, the old Society had been moving, and procuring materials for building their new house. The death of Mr. Townsend, and the willingness of Mr. Lombard to take his dismissal, seemed to open a chance for a reconciliation. Accordingly, a nego- tiation was entered into for the purchase of the new meeting house at the Corner, by the Proprietors, for the use of the town (old Society). The result of the negotiation will be seen in the following report.
REPORT OF COMMITTEE ON MEETING HOUSE. .
"The Committee appointed to confer with the owners of the Meeting House at Gorham to see on what terms they can purchase the same, Report as follows, that they have conferred with the owners of said Meeting House who are willing to sell the same to the Pro- prietors, with a quarter of an acre of land, whereon it stands and conveniently adjoining, for £180, lawful money, and oblige themselves
172
HISTORY OF GORHAM.
to glaze it forthwith. Which the Committee think best to be done, provided the inhabitants discharge the Proprietors from any further expense concerning a Meeting House for public Worship."
Signed by Enoch Freeman, Alexander Ross, Stephen Longfellow, William Cotton and Josiah Noyes.
Dated, Gorham, Feb. 18, 1765.
" We the subscribers, a Committee of the owners of the Meeting House above mentioned, agree to all the above, and promise to exe- cute a deed for said house and land, to said Proprietors, on demand."
Signed by Bryant Morton, Edmund Phinney, Nathaniel Whitney, John Sawyer and Samuel Crockett.
Dated, Feb. 18, 1765.
And the timber for the new house was returned to Jacob Hamblen, Solomon Lombard and John Harding, who had procured it, together with £6-13-4, to be proportionally divided between them, with which they professed themselves satisfied.
The deed from Bryant Morton, Edmund Phinney, John Sawyer, Nathaniel Whitney and Samuel Crockett to Moses Pearson, for and in behalf of the Proprietors, of the meeting house and land for the use of the town (First Parish) was duly executed, March 4th, A. D. 1765 ; and the Societies were again united - and the old Orthodox Congregational Society took up its headquarters at Gorham Corner ; dedicating their church, June 5, 1765.
It appears that previous to October, 1769, the meeting house had no pews ; and a vote was passed in town meeting to choose a commit- tee of seven men ; Samuel Crockett, Joseph Cates, Benjamin Skillings, Amos Whitney, William McLellan, Jacob Hamblen and Joseph Brown, " to rank, and finish, and appraise the (pews in the) Meeting-house, and that the pews shall finish the Meeting-house. And that the Pro- prietors pay into the committee one half of what their Pew privileges amount to in 1770, and the other half in 1771, or else perfect their Pews 1771, Nov. 22.
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.