USA > Maine > York County > Kennebunkport > History of Kennebunk Port, from its first discovery by Bartholomew Gosnold, May 14, 1602, to A. D. 1837 > Part 2
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16
HISTORY OF
[FROM 1607
observation of the latitude, or the printed account of it, must have been erroneous."*
On account of the reformation and civil wars in Europe, there were no vigorous exertions made to establish a colony in North America, till 1607, the year after James I. granted the North and South Vir- ginia patent, when Christopher Newport began the colony at Jamestown, and George Popham commenced a settlement at Kennebec. The North Virginia com- pany, which consisted of Lord John Popham, Chief Justice of England, the Earl of Arundel, Sir Ferdinan- do Gorges, and others, prepared two vessels, one of which was commanded by George Popham, and the other by Raleigh Gilbert, with one hundred and eight emigrants besides sailors, to form a settlement. They landed at the mouth of the Kennebec river, and called the settlement the Sagadahock colony, that being the Indian name of the river. Forty-five colonists remain- ed there during the winter ; but the weather being extremely cold, and having quarrelled with the Indians who had received them kindly, they returned the next season and the establishment was given up. The coast, however, was never deserted for any considerable time after this period.
Gorges, who was one of the most active and enter- prising members of the North Virginia company, fitted out a vessel at his own expense, under the command of Richard Vines, to keep possession of the country against the French. Vines pursued this course several years, fishing and trading with the natives at Saco. Maine was also visited by many others for the purpose of traffic ; amongst whom were Samuel Argal, after- wards governor of South Virginia ; Sir George Somers, who gave his name to the Bermuda Islands ; and Ed- ward Harlow, who was the first to kidnap the Indians in New England and sell them for slaves.t This nefa- rious business was afterwards carried on to considerable extent, a great many Indians being carried to Malaga and sold.
While the English were thus inactive, or provoking the enmity of the Indians, the French were conciliating
"It was probably the Penobscot.
t Williamson's Hist. Me
17
KENNEBUNK PORT.
To 1620.]
them and making settlements to the eastward on land claimed by the English, which caused frequent skir- mishes between them. The French were, however, finally driven off in 1613.
The celebrated John Smith, whose life was saved by Pocahontas six or seven years before, made a trading voyage to Maine in 1614. He prepared several boats to survey the coast from Penobscot to Cape Cod .* During this survey he visited Cape Porpoise, t to which he gave its present name, and Kennebunk river. He formed a map of the coast, and compiled a history of the country, which prince Charles, afterwards Charles I., called New England.
A most destructive war commenced the following year [1615] amongst the Indians, which lasted two or three years. Some of the western tribes had been treacherous towards the eastern Indians, which caused this war, in which the Bashaba or the chief, who resi- ded near Penobscot, was killed, and the western In- dians almost annihilated.
Immediately after this war, the plague, as it was called, nearly depopulated the country of Indians, but did not affect the whites. This fatal disorder was by some thought to be the small pox, but by others the yellow fever. Richard Vines and others wintered at Saco river while this pestilence raged, not one of whom was affected by it.
The New England patent was granted in 1620, which
*Since the suppression of the monasteries in Spain, several manu- scripts have been found, which it is said prove conclusively, that the navigators of that country, not only visited the shores of New England, but surveyed the coast sometime previous to Captain Smith's survey. If such charts exist, they were probably prepar- ed prior to 1560, at the time when the English had deserted North America, and were seeking a North-east passage to India.
tCapt. Smith probably gave the name of Cape Porpoise to that Cape in consequence of seeing a shoal of porpoises in its neighbor- bood. This fish, from its resemblance to the hog, is frequently called the sea-hog, or puffing-pig. The word was originally written porcus piscis, from the latin words, porcus-a hog, and piscis-a fish ; but at the time Capt. Smith named the Cape, he spelt it Porkpiscis. The orthography of the word gradually changed to Porpisces,-Porpisse,-Porpesse,-Porpess, and, at the time of the incorporation of the town in 1653, to Porpus. It was first written Porpoise, on the county records, in 1672.
B B
1
18
HISTORY OF
[FROM 1620)
gave to Sir Ferdinando Gorges and thirty-nine others, power to appoint governors and other officers, to. establish laws, and to administer justice: They had the exclusive right to trade and fish within their terri- tory, to import seven years free of duty, and to expel intruders.
Hubbard, in his History of New England, in speak -- ing of Cape Porpoise and several other places on the' coast of Maine, says " no colony was ever settled in any of these places till the year 1620." If this be correct, which however is very doubtful, Cape Por- poise must have been settled either the summer before, or very early in the spring after Plymouth was first settled. As the first settlers in Maine were fishermen. and traders, they would not have been likely to make a voyage to this country before the middle of March, at which time the year then ended ;* and it is therefore probable, if this account be true, that they came over the previous summer.
If not at this time, it is not positively known when this town was first settled. It was probably visited every summer by fishermen and traders, after its discovery by Gosnold in 1602. They built small huts for their summer residence, but usually returned to Europe in the winter. Folsom says, " the settlement on Cape Porpoise was probably made about the same time as at Winter Harbor. It presented great advan- tages for fishermen, many of whom made it a place of resort, and perhaps of abode, as early, probably, as any other point of the coast."+
The most active members of the Plymouth corpora- tion, were Gorges and Mason. In order to form a government satisfactory to themselves, they obtained a grant of the Province of Laconia from the company .. Laconia extended. from the Kennebec to the Merri- mac, and was represented as a very flourishing country. ¿ Permanent settlements were made at sev- eral places, but the voyagers to Laconia wantonly in- sulted the natives and burned entire forests.
Francis West, Admiral of New England, attempted
*Old Style. +Hist. Saco and Biddeford.
#Williamson's Hist. Maine, vol. i. p. 227 ...
1
19
KENNEBUNK PORT.
To 1623.]
to prevent unlicensed persons from fishing and trading, in order to stop these evils ; but on his return to Eng- land, the mariners complained to Parliament of his attempts to restrain them in their rightful employ- ments, and requested an order to make the fishery entirely free. Gorges was called to the bar of the House, and ordered to deliver up his patent ; but he made so able a defence, the King refused to recall it. These trials and difficulties, however, prevented the Council from prosecuting their designs.
Gorges, notwithstanding these obstacles, determined to plant a colony at his own expense ; and he sent a company of emigrants to settle at Agamenticus or York. It is stated in Prince's Annals, that there were, at this time, several settlements in Maine ; and *Wil- liamson says, " as early as 1623, a permanent settle- ment was commenced at Saco,"-" and Vines, if not Oldham, in fact lived here" at that time. If, as Fol- som says, Cape Porpoise was settled as early as Win- ter Harbor, the settlement of this town might be dated as early as 1623 or '24. Folsom, however, dates the settlement of Saco, six or seven years later. +Mr. Williamson says, " upon the whole, I wish I had, in my History of Maine, put Saco down as settled in 1624, instead of 1623, although I am still inclined to think 1623 may be correct."#
*Hist. Me. vol. i. page 227. t Manuscript letter.
#The following extract from Judge Williamson's letter, to the Compiler, contains his reasons for coming to this conclusion :
" Richard Vines: visited Saco in 1609, and 1616, passed the win ter 1616-17 at Winter Harbor, (1. Hist. Me. 206, 216-17, 226 ) Prince's Annals, page 139, says hither comes 'the expected ship Ann, July 1623.' John Farmer, in his Genealogies, says John Oldham arrived in the ' ship Ann in July 1623,' lived, short peri- ods, at Plymouth, Nantasket, Cape Ann, and settled at Watertown, admitted freeman, May 1631, and represented the latter place in the first General Court, Mass. May 1634. He was killed, Aug. 1636, by the Indians. (Winthrope's Journal, 103.)
" The earliest grant by the Council, including any part of Maine, was in 1622, to Gorges and Mason, extending from Mer- rimac to Kennebec. (Folsom, 25.) Gorges, in his History, cited by Folsom, p. 24, speaks of a settlement by Vinea not far from Ag- amenticus, as commenced, even prior to 1623. As Gorges had- Maine in view, and Mason had New Hampshire, why is it not probable the former was promoting a settlement at Saco, and then
20
HISTORY OF
[FROM 1629
The Plymouth Company granted a patent, in 1629, to John Dye, Thomas Impe, Grace Harding, and John Roach, of London, of a tract of land forty miles square, extending from Cape Porpoise to Casco. They attempted to make a settlement under this patent, called the Lygonia patent, but failed. They came over in a vessel of sixty tons, called the Plough ; and, on account of their failure, this territory acquired the name of the Plough Patent.
February 12th, the company also granted a patent to John Oldham and Richard Vines, of a tract of land four miles in breadth on the sea shore, and extending eight miles into the country, on the west side of Saco river. Vines took legal possession of this territory, June 25th, and several families that came over with him, settled near Little River within the limits of this town.
This perhaps might be considered the first perma- nent settlement in the town, it being a matter of uncer- tainty whether any person ever resided here, through the
at Agamenticus, while the latter was establishing one at Strawber- ry-bank, Portsmouth ?- both under the Charter or Grant of 1622.
" Prince, page 134, after speaking of the settlement begun in 1623, " at a place called Piscataquack,' adds, 'this year there are also some scattering beginnings made at Monhiggon and some other places by sundry others.' But 'about Piscataqua River, there seem not many other' (than the first) ' buildings erected, till after 1631." Ibid. Their attention was next probably turned to Saco and Agamenticus, inasmuch as Gorges and Mason were coadjutors. Capt. Robert Gorges, son of Sir Ferdinando, came over 1623. Emigrants probably came with him.
" The Charter to Vines and Oldham, Feb. 12th, 1629, (new style, Feb. 1, 1630,) says Oldham, and ' others, his servants, have for these six years now last past lived in New England,-transport- ed thither and planted there divers persons ;'-and said Oldham and Vines, &c. ' have undertaken at their own cost and charge, to transport fifty persons thither in the space of 7 years next ensu- ing, to plant and inhabit there,' (Folsom, p. 318,) and therefore the patent on the Saco was granted to them.
" Now where were the divers persons planted, as mentioned in the preamble, if not at Saco ? Was not this the very place, which all the parties had in their eye, when the patent was obtained ? Where, on our shores, did Vines ever live except at Winter Har- bor ? Where had he resided between 1623 and 1630, if not there ? He was no small man, being a physician of skill. In a word, is it not a fair inference, deducible from facts, that the settlement at Saco was commenced as early as 1623?"
21
KENNEBUNK PORT.
TO 1632]
winter, previous to this time. The settlement, howev- er, known as the Cape Porpus plantation or the village of Cape Porpus, was entirely independent of that of Vines and Oldham ; and had no connection with that at Little River. The places where the fishermen cured their fish, were called fishing stages ; and Stage Island, which gives name to the eastern harbor of Cape Por- poise, was probably so called on account of its being an early fishing stage. It was here, undoubtedly, that the first settlement was made, as they could more easily defend themselves against the attacks of the Indians, or more readily escape from them when on an island than when on the main land. The burying place on that island, now no longer distinguishable, was, more than a century ago, known as the " old burying ground," in contradistinction to the " new burying ground," now considered ancient, in front of Mr. Israel Stone's dwelling-house.
The settlers probably were men of too little note to draw upon themselves other than the occasional notice of the writers of that period ; and the settlement slowly and silently made its way, without leaving any distinct traces of its commencement, or its first progress. It is not unreasonable to suppose that the settlement com- menced even earlier than that at Winter Harbor, for Winthrope speaks of Cape Porpoise as a well-known land mark, in 1630 ; and Savage, who transcribed Win- thrope's Journal, remarks, upon what is said relative to Jenkins's murder, that " perhaps the settlement of that portion of Maine, which is now called Arundel, would not be known to have been made so early, [1632] without this sentence of our text."
During the time of these attempts to increase the number of settlements in Lygonia, the whites, in their intercourse with the natives, were guilty of great in- justice, making immense profits out of them. This course exceedingly irritated the Indians, and they began to show signs of hostility. They murdered some whites who had cheated them, and the whites retaliated. At this time *" One Jenkins, late an inhab- itant at Dorchester, and now removed to Cape Por-
*Winthropo.
22
HISTORY OF
[FROM 1632
pus, went with an Indian up into the country with store of goods to truck, and being asleep in a wigwam with one of Passaconamy's men, was killed in the night by an Indian dwelling near the Mohawk country, who made away with his goods, but was fetched back by Passaconamy's company."-Savage says, " nothing more of Jenkins is known to me than here inserted, of the manner of his death."
Although so many people were emigrating to Amer- ica, that the King ordered the vessels to stop, yet on account of the troubles with the Indians and the diffi- culty of procuring bread stuff, there being no mills nearer than Boston, the population of Lygonia in- creased but slowly. The English merchants and adven- turers [*1634] being discouraged by their repeated fail- ures and troubles, assigned their whole interest to Gorges and Mason, who appointed Francis Williams their deputy governor.
Sir Ferdinando, being again assailed with the charge of monopoly of trade, stated to the House of Commons that he had spent £20,000, and thirty years of his life, in endeavoring to people New England, without any advantage to himself. In fact his discouragements had been great, and his prospects at this time were ex- tremely gloomy. His agents were unfaithful, the French were encroaching upon his possessions, and a civil war had commenced in England.
The Council of Plymouth, [1635] in order to give a new impulse to their settlements, resigned their patent, which they had held for fifteen years, and took new ones. Gorges took a patent of his territory, in- cluding Lygonia, Saco, and Agamenticus or York, and changed its name to New Somersetshire. He was then appointed Governor General over the whole of New England. The man-of-war, that was to bring him over, met with an accident in launching, and the enterprise was given up. Mason soon afterwards died, which threw upon Gorges increased trouble and ex- pense. He however sent over his nephew, William Gorges, as Governor, who commenced his duties at
*By an act of the government of Massachusetts, passed in 1734, musket balls passed for farthings.
23
KENNEBUNK PORT.
TO 1636]
Saco, [1636] and remained in this country two years. Saco was one of the oldest and most flourishing places in New Somersetshire, having been well regulated for several years. Gorges opened a Court, March 18th, it being the first organized government in Maine. At this Court, William Scadlock brought an action of debt against Morgan Howell. Both of these persons were inhabitants of Cape Porpoise. Scadlock was also presented for getting drunk.
There was no part of America to which there were so many conflicting claims, grounded on different grants from European powers, as to that portion in which Cape Porpoise is included. In 1493, it was granted by the Pope, in common with the whole coun- try, to the Kings of Spain and Portugal. Henry VII. of England granted it to Cabot in 1495. Francis, King of France, claimed the northern part of America under the name of New France, and sent Verrazzana to take possession of it. In 1583, Elizabeth conveyed it to Sir Humphrey Gilbert ; and the year following to Sir Walter Raleigh. It was called Arcadia by Henry IV. of France, and was granted to De Monts in 1603.
All these grants, however, were considered nugatory, and James I. of England, in 1606, granted the country from the 34th to the 45th degree of North latitude to English merchants, under the name of North and South Virginia. In 1620, the country from the 40th to the 48th degree of North latitude was granted to forty noblemen knights, and gentlemen, who were denomina- ted, " The Council established at Plymouth in the County of Devon, for planting, ruling and governing New England in America." This Council, in 1622, granted to Gorges and Mason, two of its members, all the country between the Kennebec and Merrimac rivers, which they called the Province of Laconia. They also granted to John Dye and others, in 1630, a tract of land forty miles square, bounded on the West by Cape Porpoise, called Lygonia. This grant was transferred to Sir Alexander Rigby.
The Council likewise granted to Vines and Oldham, four miles on the West side of Saco river. This pa- tent was sold to Dr. Robert Child, in 1645, who con- veyed it to John Beex & Co. London, and + was
24
HISTORY OF
[FROM 1636
afterwards purchased by Major Phillips. In 1635, the Council of Plymouth divided their territory into twelve divisions. The third and fourth divisions, between the Kennebec and Piscataqua rivers, were granted to Gorges, by the name of New Somersetshire. This charter was revoked, and Charles I. granted the same extent of territory again to Gorges, and named it the " Province or County of Maine." In 1644, the colony of Massachusetts Bay claimed Maine and Lygonia as being included in their patent, and, in 1692, the charter of William and Mary placed them under that govern- ment.
There were probably other grants by European powers, besides many from different Indians of this territory, which involved the early settlers in constant litigation.
CHAPTER II.
Pequot war .... Maine .... New-Somersetshire .... General Court .... William Scadlock presented .... West India business com- mences .... Rigby .... Maine and Lygonia divided .... Sir Ferdi- nando Gorges .... Court of Assistants .... Massachusetts claims Maine .... Cape Porpus submits .... Is incorporated July 5th .... Howell prosecutes Baker .... Road located .... Persons not church members allowed to vote .... Commissioners appoint- ed to take a census .... Edward Rigby and Gorges's heirs claim Lygonia .... Dispute between Wells and Cape Porpoise .... Kennebunk river the dividing line .... Line between Saco and Cape Porpoise run .... Town meeting.
ONE of the Pequot Indians, in 1637, murdered John Oldham, a patentee of Saco, which caused a war, in which the whole tribe was destroyed. The colonies, however, had now begun to prosper, and religious persecution in England caused many to emigrate. Oliver Cromwell intended to embark for this country but was stopped by orders of the King.
Sir Ferdinando Gorges was again appointed Govern-
25
KENNEBUNK PORT.
To 1641.]
or General of New England, but being a royalist, he lost his influence and never came to this country. He obtained from the King, however, a charter of New Somersetshire, who gave it the name of the " Province or County of Maine," a name which it has ever since borne. By reason of the great number of islands in this neighborhood, the coast was commonly called the main ; for this reason, and in compliment to Queen Henrietta who had a province of that name in France, it received its name.
The powers granted by this charter were greater than were ever granted by the crown to any other individual. He appointed a standing Council, Chan- cellor, Provost Marshall, Treasurer, Admiral, Master of Ordnance, and Keeper of Province seal, who were obliged to take oath " to be faithful servants to Sir Ferdinando Gorges, knight, my Lord of the Province of Maine." The articles of faith and form of church government were those of the Church of England.
The first General Court under this charter, was opened on the 25th of June, 1640, and the records of the County of York have been kept regularly ever since.
Thomas Gorges arrived in the summer, commission- ed Deputy Governor, and took possession of the Prov- ince. It was divided into two districts or counties by the " Kennibonke" river ; the western one acquired the name of York, and the eastern one that of New Somersetshire. County courts were holden at York and Saco, but the General Court was holden at Saco, on the western side of the river, in that part of the town since called Biddeford. The second term of the court was holden in September, at which time " Wil- liam Scadlock was presented by the grand inquest, for the misdemeanor of allowing Thomas Heard to get drunk at his house, and was fined twenty shillings by the court, which upon his humble petition was remitted."
The Commons in England [1641] had now gained the ascendency, and emigration entirely ceased. Busi- ness became dull, and many returned to England. The West India trade, however, commenced this year, and lumber was exchanged for the produce of these islands. C
26
HISTORY OF
[FROM 1643
The success of republicanism in England caused the proprietors of the Lygonia or Plough patent to revive their claim, [1643] and Sir Alexander Rigby pur- chased it. Rigby was a lawyer, and a republican. He commissioned George Cleaves his Deputy Presi- dent, and directed him to take upon himself the administration of his affairs. William and Thomas Gorges, agents for Sir Ferdinando, disputed Rigby's title, and called a court at Saco,* [1644] while Cleaves called one at Casco. They referred their quarrel to the Massachusetts magistrates, who, having determined to take possession of Maine themselves, refused to decide the case. The contest was not ended till March 1646, when the Governor General and Commis- sioners of the American plantations decided in favor of Rigby. By this decision Gorges was deprived of near- ly the whole of his province, leaving him only the territory between the Piscataqua river and Cape Por- pus plantation,t to which Maine was restricted.
Sir Ferdinando had probably done more towards colonizing Maine than any other individual. He was a firm royalist and episcopalian, which made him unpop- ular in Massachusetts, and also in England after the republicans had gained the ascendency.
Although more than seventy years of age, he joined the army of the King in the civil wars, and was taken prisoner at the siege of Bristol. He died about two years before Charles was beheaded. He was of Span- ish extraction, a descendant of an ancient and respectable family. He betrayed the secret of the conspiracy of Essex against Queen Elizabeth. He was never wealthy, but obtained many marks of royal favor.
The Province of Maine was less in extent than Ly- gonia, as confined by the late decision. Rigby being a republican, his government soon became popular. A
*At this court, " ordered that every town provide a sufficient payre of Bilbowes within three months."
tWilliamson, vol. i. page 302, says, " according to this decision, the river Kennebunk proved to be the divisional line between the two provinces." But there was nothing in their report, as cited by Sullivan, page 114, to warrant this conclusion. They merely a- warded Rigby a tract 40 miles square, without defining the limits.
27
KENNEBUNK PORT.
To 1653.]
Court of Assistants was formed at Saco, [1650] and Morgan Howell of Cape Porpus was one of the assist- ants. Sir Alexander Rigby died in August much regretted. He was a colonel in the army, had a seat in Parliament, and had been knighted.
After Rigby's death, [1651] Massachusetts most unjustly laid claim to the western part of Maine, as be- longing to her jurisdiction, and sent commissioners to compel the inhabitants to submit to her authority. Al- though their claim was at first opposed both by Lygo- nia and Maine, yet they finally prevailed, and York and Kittery submitted in November 1652. Maine was erected into a county by the name of Yorkshire, and the courts were to be holden alternately in York and Kittery.
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