History of Penobscot County, Maine; with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 13

Author: Williams, Chase & Co., Cleveland (Ohio)
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Cleveland, Williams, Chase & Co.
Number of Pages: 1100

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More than three hours were consumed in these ceremonies, which were succeeded by a feast already preparing. Two fat oxen, slaugh- tered and severed into pieces, were roasting; rice, beans, and garden vegetables were boiling; and bread-loaves and crackers were abundant. If the cooking, neatness, and order were unworthy of modern imita- tion, the defects were counterbalanced by the hearty invitations and welcomes with which all the visitants, equally with the natives, were urged to become partakers, both of the repast and; of the festive scenes. The regularities of the day relaxed to rude dances and wild sports in the evening, which were by no means free from extravagance and excess.

In 1838 Atteon and Neptune were deposed by the tribe, and the resultant troubles were such that the legis- lature of the State intervened, and passed an act that an election should be held by the tribe every two years. This law has been modified since, as will be seen here- after. This Atteon died in May, 1858, having had real or nominal jurisdiction over the tribe from 1816 to that time-forty-two years. The later chiefs or "governors" were Tomer Socklexis, John Neptune, father of the Lieutenant-Governor of the same name; Joseph Lolon, father of the well-known Captain Francis; John Atteon, grandson of the former Sagamore John; and Joseph Atteon, son of the last John. Some others have suc- ceeded him for longer or shorter terms.

THE PENOBSCOT "IN POLITICS."

The Penobscots at Oldtown, having lost their sa- chem, undertook the 'election of another in 1816. It was usual to elect promptly a near relative of the deceased Sagamore; but in this case a delay of several months occurred before a successor could be agreed upon; and at length the factional spirit becoming unreasonably high and intemperate their priest, a Roman Catholic, interposed his authority, and virtually compelled them to abandon the previous candidates and elect John Atteon, who was reputed, as we have noticed, to be a descendant of the Baron de St. Castine. The new chief was inducted into office September 19, 1816, when John Neptune was chosen his lieutenant, and two chief captains were con- firmed, one of whom was Captain Francis. This is the same Captain Francis, "a man of good understading," who gave the historian Williamson the information before cited concerning the relationship of all the Indian tribes of Maine.

A brief but interesting sketch of the "political his- tory" of the tribe, such as it is, is thus given by Agent Dillingham, in his report for 1875:

Prior to 1835, or thereabouts, as I am informed, no elections of dele- gate to the Legislature were held in the tribe. The Governor and Lieutenant-Governor had been chosen for life, and such delegates re- ceived their appointment from the Governor of the tribe. John Attian and John Neptune were holding the respective offices of Governor and Lieutenant-Governor at that time, when, either by resignation, impeachment, or from some cause, those offices were declared vacant, and a meeting for a new election called; at which time Tomer Sock- lexis and Attian Orson were chosen to fill the vacancies. The result was not acquiesced in by a part of the tribe, who claimed that those offices could not be vacated during the life of the occupants, and still considered Attian and Neptune their legally constituted officers. An- other portion of the tribe held that the election was valid, and refused

HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

longer to recognize Attian and Neptune as officers. Since that time the portion claiming Attian as Governor has been called the "Old Party," and that portion claiming Socklexis as Governor, the "New Party."

This state of affairs continued until 1850, when an agreement was entered into and signed by the officers and principal members of the two parties, providing "that as John Attian and John Neptune were chosen according to the ancient usages of the tribe into their respec- tive offices for life, that they should remain in said offices during the remainder of their lives, and on the decrease of one or both, the vacancy should be filled by majority vote of the male members of the tribe of twenty-one years of age and upwards, in meeting duly called by the Agent. Said officers to continue for two years, and that an election should be held every year to choose one member of the tribe to repre- sent the tribe before the Legislature and the Governor and Council." This agreement was not, as I learn, very sacredly kept, or even much regarded by either party, but each continued to claim and recognize the same officers as before.

On the deceased of Governor John Attian, the old party immediately declared his son, Joseph Attian, his successor, and he was duly inaugu- rated by them, according to ancient custom, for life. Elections were · held annually for choice of delegate. Party spirit ran high, and there existed much ill-feeling, which manifested itselt in individual quarrels during the year, and usually at elections terminated in a general fight. The question of term of office of Governor and Lieutenant Governor continued an unsettled issue; discussions and quarrels interfered seri- ously with their general avocations; for several weeks prior to the an- nual election they would congregate at Oldtown from various distant localities, consuming much time and money in addition to ordinary travelling expenses.

Finally the Legislature, evidently considering it for the best interest of the tribe, enacted a law in 1866, which provided "that the Penob- scot Tribe of Indians be allowed hereafter to elect by ballot their Governor, Lieutenant-Governor and Representative to the Legislature, on the second Tuesday of September, annually, (changed in 1873 to first Wednesday in November), and that the old and new party, so called, shall be allowed to select from their respective parties, candi- dates for said offices, alternately, commencing with the old party for the year 1867; and the new party shall have no voice in the selection of candidates for said offices, and shall not vote in their election in those years when the old party is entitled to them; and the old party shall have no voice in the selection of candidates for said offices, and no vote in their election, in those years when the new party is entitled to them ; and it shall be the duty of the Agent to preside at such elec- tions." Since which time their elections have been held in accordance with that act, without objection being made thereto until lately. Each party has now held five elections of delegate, and at each have also voted for Governor and Lieutenant-Governor, abandoning the old idea of life term. Such elections have been perfectly quiet and orderly, and, so far as I have been able to judge, satisfactory to those partici- pating.

Within a few years about fifteen of the dissatisfied members from each of the two before named parties have united, calling themselves "Third Party," or "Outsiders," and have claimed the same rights that have been granted to the old and new parties; that is, among other privileges, the right to hold elections one-third of the time. At the last election held by the old party (November, 1874), they having failed to agree on the nominations made as usual in caucus, two sets of can- didates were voted for; the defeated portion then joined the "third party " in petitioning the Legislature the following winter for repeal of the law of 1866, and to change the manner of conducting their elec- tions, and to allow the tribe to vote together and the person having the majority of votes to be declared elected, as was their former cus- tom, as they claim. The old party had then held five elections under the law of 1866; the new party had held but four. These two parties then united in presenting a remonstrance against any such proposed change in the law affecting their elections. The petitioners were, after hearing, granted leave to withdraw, without attempting to indicate what may be a peaceful solution of this vexed question. I merely give the above facts to be taken and used for what they are worth.

At the annual election of the tribe, held on the first Tuesday of October, 1880, Stephen Stanislaus was chosen Governor, Samuel Neptune Lieutenant-Governor, and Joseph Nicolar, Superintendent of Farming, was elected Delegate of the tribe to the State Legislature.

THE INDIAN LANDS.

The first formal cession of their territory by the Tar- ratine or Penobscot Indians seems to have been effected at a conference and treaty of alliance held at the truck- house near Mt. Hope, a little below the Penjejawock stream, in Kenduskeag, now Bangor, in September, 1775. There were present the chiefs of the Penobscot and St. John's tribes, and on the part of the whites Generals Ben- jamin Lincoln and Rufus Putnam, and Dr. Thomas Rice. A treaty was here made and signed, by which the red men relinquished a tract six miles wide on each side of the river, and retained, as now, the islands in the river above Oldtown, and in addition two islands in the Bay and the lands along the branches on the west side of the Penobscot. This treaty the head-men of the tribe sub- sequently repudiated, and new treaties had to be made. The story is well told by the Hon. Lorenzo Sabine, a res- ident of Bangor in his childhood, in an elaborate article on the Penobscots, in Volume XII. of the Christian Examiner :

At the Revolution, the ungranted lands of Maine held by the British crown, as well as large tracts held by Loyalists, or Tories, became vested in Massachusetts; and at the close of the struggle the attention of gentlemen of that State, and of adventurers elsewhere, was directed to them as a sure means to increase or acquire fortunes. The documents of the time show indeed that, for ten or fifteen years after the peace, the mania for "Eastern lands" was quite as intense as that which pre- vailed within a very recent period. The pine forests and mill-sites of the Penobscots were of great value, and were wanted by the "opera- tors" of the day. Accordingly, in 1784, commissioners were ap- pointed by Massachusetts to negotiate a cession. The result was the purchase, in 1786, for 350 blankets and 200 pounds of powder, and a quantity of shot and flints, of the country on the Penobscot River to the Piscataquis stream on the one bank, and to the Metawamkeag on the other, save the waters between the falls at Oldtown and the mouths of these tributaries. This, as far as we have been able to discover, was the first actual cession, and these paltry presents was the first pre- tended equivalent. But the country below Bangor, on both banks of the river and bay, had passed from their possession. On the westerly side, the grant known in later times as the "Waldo Patent" embraced the whole, while easterly, the colonial government had seized and ap- propriated every acre of the mainland and all the islands, two of con- siderable size only excepted. Thus the Penobscots had lost a large part of their domain before the new masters they had offered to serve set their covetous eyes on the territory above the head of the tide-waters. There remained to the Indians, then, after the bargain in 1786 was con- cluded, two islands near the sea, the islands just mentioned, and the tract above Piscataquis and Metawamkeag, and northerly from them without defined limits; and these were guaranteed in quiet possession, as the chiefs supposed, forever. The words of the treaty are that all the lands on the Penobscot River above the two streams named in the tract, should lie as hunting-grounds for the Indians, and should not be laid out or settled by the State or engrossed by individuals. But the government of Massachusetts understood the matter differently, and difficulties soon arose between the contracting parties, which, increasing until 1796, were adjusted, as then appeared, by a new treaty. In this second convention the Penobscots ceded the mainland on both sides of the river for a distance of thirty miles, commencing at a designated rock in Eddington; but retained the river islands and the territory above the thirty-mile line so drawn, northerly and indefinitely. The consideration for the cession was 400 pounds of shot, too pounds of powder, 100 bushels of corn, 13 bushels of salt, 36 hats, and a barrel of rum, in hand, with an annuity of 300 bushels of corn, 50 pounds of powder, 200 pounds of shot, and 75 yards of blue cloth. This annuity is about equal to $600. This tract was surveyed into nine townships and offered to purchasers in quarter-townships at a price the acre, which, if received, placed in the treasury upwards of $180,000! Such was the dealings of Christians with the helpless Indians in the year 1796.

In 1818, owing to various causes, the Penobscots had become poor; and well do we remember their distress and sympathy of individuals in

HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

behalf of their women and children. In the poverty of the tribe, sales of pine timber were made by their chiefs, on the lands which they re- served in the last treaty, much to the displeasure of Massachusetts, on the ground that the fee was in the State, and that the mere right to oc- cupy, to fish, and to hunt was all that could be enjoyed by the Indians, unless, indeed, they might embrace an agricultural life, of which there could have been no hope, for then the keenest Anglo-Saxon eye saw nothing in Maine east of the Kennebec but pine-trees and water-power to saw them into marketable shapes.

In this position of affairs a commission was created to open a third negotiation. Early in 1819, a convention was ratified by which the Com- monwealth obtained the whole of the remaining country, excepting four townships of mainland, six miles square, and the islands so often men- tioned in the Penobscot River. We have no room to record the various articles which were to be delivered to the chiefs annually as payment for this cession; but we state with pleasure that the quantities of food, cloth, and ammunition were considerably more than in 1796, and that provision was made for the repair of the Indian church and for the em- ployment of a teacher in husbandry, while, beside, the women and maidens were presented with several hundred yards of calico and rib- bon. In fine, there is a spirit of liberality in this treaty which was manifested on no other occasion.

But yet Massachusetts has little reason to plume herself on her course toward the Penobscots, while they were under her guardianship. The Indian domain, though worth a million at the periods of cession, and several millions now, cost her at most less than $35,000, as she herself estimated, when, at the separation, an arrangement was sug- gested by which Maine was to assume the payment of the annuities stipulated in the treaties to which we have referred. Maine, on becom_ ing an independent State, in 1820, assumed the control of Indian af- fairs within her borders; and, in 1833, appointed commissioners to dis- pose of the four townships reserved by the Penobscots in the conven- tion of 1819. The purchase-money, amounting to some $55,000, was invested under the direction of the State, and remains entire. The in- terest of this fund is divided annually in equal shares ; and in addition the annuities under the treaties with Massachusetts are continued, and cannot be withheld, if good faith be observed, while the Penobscots shall exist as a nation. These two sources of income, with the islands, constitute now the only public or common property of the tribe. The islands, to rely upon our own count in 1852, are twenty-seven or twenty-eight in number. Some are low, small, and of little value ; but others are beautiful in surface and situation, and sufficient in size and in richness of soil for the support of one hundred more families.

Some additional details concerning the arrangement of 1795 are thus supplied by Mr. Williamson :

A serious controversy had lately arisen between the inhabitants upon the Penobscot and the Tarratine Indians. By the treaty of 1785 the Government supposed the tribe had nothing remaining but the islands in the river; whereas, the chiefs insisted that the territory from the head of the tide, six miles in width, on each side of the river upwards, indefinitely, was theirs; and they determined not to relinquish it with- out being paid a consideration. To settle, therefore, the question of controverted claims, three commissioners, William Shepherd of West- field, Nathan Dane of Beverly, and Daniel Davis of Portland, met the chiefs at Bangor, August 1, 1796, and concluded a treaty with them, by which the Indians agreed to resign all their rights to lands from Nichols's rock, in Eddington, thirty miles up the river, excepting Oldtown Island, and those in the river above it. For this relinquish- ment, the Government delivered to the tribe 150 yards of blue woolens, -400 pounds shot,-100 pounds powder,-100 bushels of corn,-13 bushels salt,-36 hats,-and a barrel of rum; and agreed to pay them, so long as they should continue a tribe, a certain stipend every year, at the mouth of the Kenduskeag, consisting of 300 bushels of Indian corn,-50 pounds of powder,-200 pounds of shot,-and 75 yards of blue woollen, fit for garments. The ratification of this treaty consisted in its execution by the seals and signatures of the commissioners and seven chiefs, and its acknowledgement before Jonathan Eddy, esq. It was supposed this tribe, once so numerous and powerful, was now reduced to 350 souls. In 1803, the Government appointed an agent to superintend their interests and take care of their lands.

The territory relinquished by the treaty was subsequently surveyed into nine townships, and found to contain 189,426 acres. Already there were thirty-two settlers, who were presently quieted upon their lots; and in 1798 the residue was offered for sale in quarter-townships at a dollar by the acre. Exclusive of this tract so relinquished, is Marsh island of five thousand acres and of an excellent soil, which the

Government, in a good mood, confirmed to John Marsh, the first settler, for a small consideration, he exhibiting a pretended purchase from the Indians.

THE TRUST FUND,

held in the State treasury for the benefit of the Indians consists mainly of fifty thousand dollars paid by the State in 1833, as part of the consideration for the four town- ships of land purchased of the tribe. It was stipulated that this sum should rest forever in the hands of the State, but that a yearly interest thereon should be paid to the Penobscots. Drafts were made on it, however, from time to time, when over-expenditures were incurred by the agents; but the sums taken were afterwards restored from the interest fund. January 1, 1864, the fund amounted to fifty-two thousand four hundred and thirty-eight dollars and forty-four cents, and additions were made to it year by year from various sources, but chiefly from rents derived from leases of the shores of islands belonging to the reservation. In 1875 the trust fund had mounted to seventy-three thousand eight hun- dred and twenty-eight dollars and forty-eight cents, and the annual revenues from it constituted a very import- ant part of the means for keeping the members of the tribe from want and discontent. For some years after the act of February 11, 1873, the shore rents were not added to the fund, but have been distributed directly to the Indians-a plan which, said Agent Dillingham, in - his report of 1875, "has been very satisfactorily received, and has been of very great advantage to the tribe, in relieving their necessities and enabling them to live through these hard times, when all, even the prudent whites, find it so necessary to carefully husband their resources."

The amount derived from the Indian trust fund, for each of the two years 1879-80, on interest account, was four thousand four hundred and twenty-nine dollars and seventy cents. The tribe also received an annuity of one thousand four hundred dollars (formerly one thousand eight hundred dollars), seven hundred dollars per an- num for their agriculture, besides four hundred and fifty dollars bounty on crops, and special appropriations for schools and school-houses, repair of chapel, and salaries of agent, superintendent of farming, priest (one hundred dollars per year), governor (fifty dollars), and lieutenant governor (thirty dollars). The total amounts in the two years, respectively, were eight thousand and twenty-four dollars and seventy cents, and eight thousand three hun- dred and ninety-four dollars and seventy cents. The shore rents added four thousand three hundred and sixty-one dollars and twenty-five cents to this in 1879, and two thousand one hundred and fifty-four dol- lars the next year, the decrease being caused by the falling off of the lumber trade, the destruction of import- ant mills, and other reasons.

It is thus seen that the tribe, considering its limited numbers, is remarkably well provided for. The sums paid to its members are expended under the direction of the agent, mainly in supporting the very poor and infirm, supplying medicine and medical attendance, paying funeral expenses, and providing for a distribution in the

HISTORY OF PENOBSCOT COUNTY, MAINE.

spring, to all the tribe, of corn, flour, pork, and molasses. Wood is also purchased, as needed by these people. Schools for the Indian children are maintained on Old- town, Mattanawcook, and Olamon islands, the latter two in charge of the school committees of Greenbush and Lincoln, respectively, and the first now taught by the Sisters of Mercy, with great acceptability and success. A new building was put up for this school, at the north end of the village, in the summer of 1880, at a cost of about five hundred dollars.

THE INDIAN VILLAGES.

It is altogether probable, from the number of arrow- heads, axes, and other Indian antiquities found in places, that the Tarratines had at least temporary camping grounds on all the tributaries of the Penobscot. But three sites in particular furnished them places of rendez- vous-Mattawamkeag, Passadumkeag, and the Falls of the Penobscot. At the latter two points it is believed there were French forts, as well as Indian villages. One of these was destroyed by Colonel Westbrook in 1723, the inhabitants retiring up the river to Mattawamkeag. The other was burned by Captain Heath about two years afterwards. There is at this time no mention of a village at Oldtown, but that undoubtedly became soon after- wards the chief seat of the tribe, and has since retained its pre-eminence. Mr. David Norton, author of Sketches of Oldtown, believes that the present name corresponds to an Indian name meaning the same, and given to the same village-that is, the Indian settlement on the lower part of Oldtown island.

Governor Washburne says, in his address at the Orono Centennial :

There was also a village on the tongue of land that extends eastward from this hall [the Town Hall in Orono] to the Penobscot river at Ayres' Falls, as they are now termed, bounded on the north by the Stillwater river and on the south by the basin. The Indians called the place Arumsumhungan. For many years after the settlement of the town by the white men, the vestiges of cornfields and of habitations were plain and unmistakable; and until comparatively a recent period, stone weapons and implements of agriculture were occasionally turned up wherever the plough was driven, some of which I have seen in the possession of the late John Bennoch, jr., esq., and Col. Eben Webster, jr. I think it not improbable that the point of land at the confluence of the Stillwater and Penobscot rivers, may have been the site of the ancient "Lett" of the Indians.

The Governor remarked also the presence of an In- dian village at Nicola's Island, near Passadumkeag, and the probable fact that the fort and village destroyed by Colonel Westbrook in 1723 was on this island. The In- dians there, with some French families, settled, he says, at Fort Hill, near the head of the tide, and built a vil- lage of cottages and wigwams, with a Catholic chapel, which was shortly deserted by its inhabitants, on the ap- proach of Captain Heath with his invading force, who gave the village to the flames. The Penobscots there- after concentrated at Oldtown.

THE INDIAN CENSUS.

It is supposed that the Tarratines numbered about two thousand four hundred when they first became known to Europeans. They declined rapidly, however, after King William's war. In 1736 the French reckoned

two hundred warriors on the Penobscot as available allies to the Government of New France. In 1754 the tribe counted about eight hundred, all told; but the ravages of famine, disease, and other causes of decrease, left them six years afterwards but seventy-three warriors and about four hundred others. In 1764 the governor reported that they could muster sixty fighting men; but his esti- mate is believed too small. Mr. Sabine thinks there were then, probably, seven hundred persons in the tribe, but that at the close of the century there were only half as many, although the tribe had begun to increase some- what, from the encouragement given to early marriages by the Jesuit missionaries. The number of the Penob- scot Indian families in 1811 was but fifty-seven, and of individuals two hundred and forty-one. In 1820, all of them being then clustered at Oldtown, they numbered two hundred and seventy-seven souls, an increase as- cribed by Dr. Jedediah Morse, in his report of 1820, upon Indian affairs, to the Secretary of War, to "an obligation imposed by the chiefs on the young peo- ple to marry early." The St. Johns and Passamaquoddy tribes are mentioned by Dr. Morse in connection with the Penobscots, and he says further :

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History of Penobscot County, Maine; with illustrations and biographical sketches, Part 13

Author: Williams, Chase & Co., Cleveland (Ohio) Publication date: 1882 Publisher: Cleveland, Williams, Chase & Co. Number of Pages: 1100

Author: Williams, Chase & Co., Cleveland (Ohio)
Publication date: 1882
Publisher: Cleveland, Williams, Chase & Co.
Number of Pages: 1100