USA > Maine > York County > Saco > History of Saco and Biddeford, with notices of other early settlements, and of proprietary governments, in Maine, including the provinces of New Somersetshire and Lygonia > Part 22
USA > Maine > York County > Biddeford > History of Saco and Biddeford, with notices of other early settlements, and of proprietary governments, in Maine, including the provinces of New Somersetshire and Lygonia > Part 22
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Thomas Emery built about the year 1730, a house now a part of that occupied by the widow of his son, the late Ebenezer Emnery, next below the lower meetinghouse, and in the vicinity of Church Point. The marriage of Mr. Emery to a daughter of deacon Hill 1731, has been mentioned. Their children were, James, late deacon, Jonab, Joshua, Ebenezer, Thomas and Nathaniel. There were several families of this name in town at that time ; on a tax list of 1738, for the support of Mr. Willard, we find the following names and assessments : Benj. Emery, £1 5s. 2d. ; Thomas Emery £1 4s. 3d ; Jonathan Eme- ry, 13s. 2d. ; John Emery 10s. 4d. Mr. B. Emery, was living 1750, in the upper part of the town, in the neighbor- hood of Capt. Thomas Bradbury, but how early he set- tled there we are not informed.
James Clarke lived on the brook which bears his name. In 1732, the town directed the treasurer to pay him "£13 for planking the bridge near his house, as soon as money comes to the treasurer by taxing the unimproved land." Clarke was taxed for the support of the minis- ter 1738, £1 4s. 2d. Edward Proctor £1 4s. 2d.
*It is difficult to decide where this house, described as near " Powder (salt) beef tree," was situated, no additional light having been thrown upon the subject in the progress of our inquiries,
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Wyatt Moore, 12s. 10d. John Murch, 13s. 8d. Matthew Patten, £1 6s. 4d. Simon Wingate, (afterwards deacon) 11s. 10d. Patten and Wingate lived above Thos. Eme- ry. The highest individual rates for the support of the minister that year, were the following ; Capt. S. Jordan £5 18s. 7d. Pendleton Fletcher £5 16s. 7. Samuel Cole £5 4s. 3d. Capt. Daniel Smith £4 19s. 8d. A- bout one half of the whole number of inhabitants were taxed less than one pound.
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CHAPTER V.
The settlement on the east side of the river, to which the name of Saco East was sometimes applied before its distinct incorporation, increased but slowly in business and, population for many years after the division of the Pro- prietors. The inhabitants continued to be chiefly located near the sea, at Old Orchard, and towards the mouth of the river, being for the most part descendants of the old families ; the Scammans, Edgecombs, Townsends, Youngs, Sharpes, Bankses, Sands, and Googins ; to whom were added the respectable Irish, or more properly Scottish, emigrants, already noticed. Until 1731, Capt. Scamman, and the persons employed in the sawmill, with their families, appear to have been all that were settled in the vicinity of the Falls. In the course of that year, Mr. Weare transferred three fourths of his right both in the mill and lands, to Richard Berry, John Elden, and John Sellea ; and not long after, one eighth to Thomas' Dearborn, and the remainder to Abraham Tyler and Jere. Moulton. With the exception of Tyler and Moulton, the purchasers became inhabitants of the town. In 1736, Sellea sold one half of the lot lying on the upper side of the way laid out by the proprietors, now Main street, to Jos. Hill, for £400, reserving "a place for burying, 20 feet square." The land is described in the following manner : "A certain parcel or tract of land situate, ly-
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ing and being in Biddeford, on the easterly side of the river commonly called Saco, alias Biddeford river, which said tract is one half of the lot where the said Sellea's and John Elden's houses now stand, the whole share be- ing about two miles in length, and forty rods in width, be it more or less, bounding easterly on a way, westerly upon land of H. Scamman, southerly partly on land left for a mill privilege," &c. The stores of Messrs. King, and Scamman & Cole, stand where Elden and Sellea lived. The burying ground, which is in a field on the lower side of Storer street, has been recently ploughed up, (horresco referens,) but a few solitary headstones remain to mark the spot. Dearborn sold out in part to James Berry 1737, and Tyler and Moulton to William Berry the year following. The Berrys all lived at the Falls. Richard married Abigail Smith, of Biddeford, 1736. He died 1765, aged fifty eight.
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The lands and other property of Capt. Humphry Scamman were divided among his children 1736, in the following order : Humphry, the oldest son, received one third part of the share in the mills, and privilege, the first and second lots above and below the falls, and one half of the third lot above the falls; together with twelve acres of salt marsh at Goose fair, and nine rods in the upper checker. This was a double portion. A few years after, as stated above, Humphry transferred a part of his right to Robert Gray. Dominicus, the second son, received 200 acres, lying on the north west side of Moses Deering's lot, together with one third of the remaining two thirds in the mills, and other small lots. He married Rebecca, daughter of Capt. Daniel Smith, 1741, and lived near Mr. William Deering's, on the Fer- ry road ; but both died prematurely, of a malignant fever, 1745, leaving two children, Dominicus and Elizabeth. To James, the third son, were assigned 100 acres of land in Scarboro', with the mills and privilege at Dunston ; and also one half of the fifth lot above Saco falls, &c. He married about 1739, Hannah, a daughter of Col. Plaisted, of Berwick, and first occupied a house built by Pepperell where the Bartlett house now stands. He af- terwards purchased a part of Sellea's lot, and erected a
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house in the rear of the present Thornton house. He died 1753, aged thirty two, leaving two sons, the late Col. James, and Mr. Nathaniel Scaminan, and three daughters, Hannah, who married Thomas Donnell ; Bet- sy, who married deacon John Hill, of Berwick ; and Mary, whose first husband was Capt. Seth Mitchel. The widow married Maj. Ebenezer Ayer, from Haverhill, Mass., 1754, who occupied the house built by Mr. Scam- man, which he enlarged. They had several children, some of whom are now living. Nathaniel, the fourth son of Capt. Scamman, received 200 acres of the homestead at the lower ferry, a part of the mill, &c. He died un- married at Cape Breton. Benjamin, the fifth son, recei- ved the remaining 200 acres of the homestead, with the buildings and appurtenances, and the privilege of keeping the Ferry, &c. When 19 years of age, 1745, he joined the expedition to Cape Breton, with his brother Nathan- iel, and, it is said, came home sick of the prevailing fever the same year, and soon after died. The fatal disease was communicated to several families in town ; his brother Dominicus and wife fell victims to it. The next division was made to the heirs of Mrs. Hannah Brown, a deceased daughter of Capt. Scamman, who received the town grants made to him on Little river, 135 acres, also one half of the fifth lot above the Falls, and 323 rods in breadth in the upper division of Lewis and Bonython's pa- tent, next to Skinner's land, &c. Elizabeth, another daughter, wife of Capt. Ichabod Goodwin, of Berwick, received for her portion lands in Kittery, 81 acres in Saco, also one half of the fourth lot above the falls, and 35} rods in the upper checker. The late Maj. Gen. Ichabod Goodwin, formerly sheriff of the county of York, was their son. Mary Scamman, "who was in Canada," had assigned to her the sixth lot above the Falls, 632 rods wide, and also a breadth of 822 rods in the upper check- er ; now called "the Canada lots." These lands never came into the possession of Mary's heirs, although it is said that a daughter addressed a letter on the subject to her cousin, deacon Dominicus Goodwin, of Berwick, written in the French language ; but owing probably to the difficulty of communicating in a foreign tongue, and
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at so great a distance, the claim was neglected. At length 1802, a partition of the lots among the heirs of the other children of Capt. Scamman was ordered by the Court of Common Pleas, which accordingly took place. Sarah Scamman, the youngest daughter, who afterwards married Jos. Hanson, of Dover, received as her portion of the estate, a piece of land at Kittery point, a small lot of three acres with a house thereon on the west side of the lower ferry, 81 acres adjoining Domini- cus, one half of the fourth lot above the Falls, and ,31} rods breadth in the upper checker .* In the allotment to the widow, are mentioned two houses at the lower ferry, viz. the old homestead, and that assigned to Sarah ; a new house at the Falls on Humphry's first lot, soon after sold to Gray, and the mill house belonging to partners, "in which," say the commissioners, "Joshua Hooper now ·lives."
Robert Gray emigrated from Ireland, and first settled in Berwick. Soon after his purchase from H. Scam- man, 1744, of the house and 200 acres of land where the latter lived, he conveyed the premises to his son James, from whom he received a lease of the same dur- ing life. He died 1771, at the age of ninety one years. A few years after the division of Capt. Scamman's estate, the property at the lower ferry, in part, was purchased by the late deacon Amos Chase, who built the house now occupied by Simeon Holt, and kept the ferry several years. Deacon Chase came into this quarter from New- bury about 1741, when he married Sarah, daughter of Mr. Samuel Cole. He at first attempted a settlement in Buxton, on a right belonging to his father, and was the first person who went with a team into that town. The war of 1744 caused him to return to Newbury, from which place he came again to Saco river, and settled at the ferry 1753. He removed from the ferry 1763, to the estate two miles above, where he passed the remain- der of his long and active life.t
"The reader is desired to supply the omission in the names of Capt. Scamman's children, p. 213.
iThe stately elins which adorn the late residence of the good dea-
- con, he carried to the spot and set out with his own hands, about the
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Pepperell alienated a very small part of his extensive interest in town ; a few house lots, in the vicinity of the mill, comprised all of which the conveyances now appear. It is said, however, that he granted one hundred acres, or more, to John Phillips, who settled in town about 1730. The statement is, that Phillips was a native of the west of England, and a cousin to Sir William ; and that on his coming over, the latter gave him a deed of the tract in question, but retained the instrument for safe keeping, which after the death of the baronet was either lost or destroyed. The story is not wholly improbable, the father of Sir William having emigrated in humble circum- stances from the county of Cornwall, in the southwest of England, and the latter having permitted Phillips to im- prove the land from the time of his settlement in town. " The lot is said to have extended in length from the pre- sent First Parish meetinghouse to Goose fair brook, on the lower side of the way, which divided Pepperell and . Weare. Phillips lived in a small house that stood where Jona. King Esq. now resides, whose valuable estate is a part of the tract claimed by the heirs. Their title was allowed to a certain extent by the agent of government, appointed for the sale of confiscated lands.
The decease of Sir William Pepperell, Baronet, took place 6 July, 1759. The following schedule of his lands now lying in the town of Saco, amounting to about 5500 acres, was drawn up at that time : 1. The mill right, from Gray's land to Main street in breadth, and two miles back, supposed to contain 300 acres. 2. A lot consis- ting of 300 acres, 100 rods distant from the former. 3. The great lot, Pepperell's half, 1200 acres. 4. Deep brook lot, 700 acres. 5. Guinea lot, 600 acres. 6. Ber- ry's lot, 350 acres. 7. Long Reach lot, 700 acres. 8. Old Orchard lot, 490 acres. 9. Interest in Foxwell's right, 870 acres. Sir William devised this valuable pro- perty to his grandson, William P. Sparhawk, a son of
time of his removal. It is gratifying to notice this exception to the general indifference of our inhabitants to the cultivation of ornamen- tal trees. The advice of Dumbiedikes to his son is oftener quoted than followed : "Jock, when ye hae naething else to do, ye may be aye sticking in a tree ; it will be growing, Jock, when ye're sleeping."
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Nathl. Sparhawk, Esq. whose wife was the only survi- ving child of the Baronet. Young Sparhawk, then a minor, was to take the name of William Pepperell, when he became of age.
The improvements made by Pepperell were not very extensive. Beside his part of the saw and gristmills, he had a wharf and store, or warehouse, as it was called, situated as the similar property now is below the Falls. He likewise built a small house on nearly the same spot where the Bartlett house stands, which was used at an early period for the accommodation of travellers. Mr. Richard Burke, an agent of the Pepperell family, after- wards occupied it. The Ferry was also in part the pro- perty of Pepperell. The Baronet was often in town, and his appearance is well remembered by several aged persons. He passed much time at the house of Rev. Mr. Morrill, and always attended meeting when here on Sunday. His dress was usually in the expensive style of those days, of scarlet cloth, trimmed' with gold lace. When strangers were present at meeting it was common to solicit a contribution, the avails of which were the perquisite of the minister. Pepperell, although tradition does not speak of him as distinguished for his liberality, would sometimes, it is said, throw a guinea into the box, in token of his friendship and regard for the worthy pas- tor. Few men have passed through life with so much success in their enterprises, whether of a public or pri- vate nature, as Sir William uniformly enjoyed. Even the reduction of Louisburg, the pillar of his fame, has been ascribed to a series of lucky accidents, or to the special interposition of Heaven, rather than to the military skill of the general. It is a homely tradition, that whatever he willed, was done. ' None thought it wise to dispute his wishes.
No regular Physician is known to have settled in town until a comparatively late period. Medical practice was chiefly in the possession of females, of acknowledged tact and experience, whose acquaintance with a few sim- ple remedies, and faithful care of their patients, supplied in a good degree the want of professional skill. In cases of great difficulty and danger, and those which required
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surgical aid, the physicians of the larger towns were usually employed. Dr. Packer, of Portsmouth, (who died 1728, at an advanced age,) extended his visits into this quarter ; as did the celebrated Dr. Clement Jackson, and Dr. Pierce, of the same town, and Dr. Lyman of York. The latter, we have heard, resided here a short period on the west side of the river, during the ministry of Mr. Willard, but cannot vouch for the accuracy of the statement. Dr. Nathl. Coffin, who settled in Falmouth (Portland) 1739, and practised with great reputation nearly thirty years, was often employed by our inhabitants. The first physician that is known with certainty to have settled in town, was Dr. Samuel White, Esq., (for he was a magistrate as well as a physician,) who came from York, as early as 1750. He lived at the Falls, on the east side, in a house that stood until a recent date, on wharf hill, a short distance above that of Captain Jonathan Cleaves. We find the town voting to pay him "26s. Sd. lawful money, for service done for Walter Murch, in dressing his leg," 1756. Dr. White died soon after that date, of consumption. His wife, whose maiden name was Woodbridge, of York, on his death returned to that place.
The next physician, Dr. Donald Cummings, was a man of some celebrity. He was a native of Scotland, : and came to America as a surgeon in the British army. He was induced to settle in town, it is said, by Lieut. Ladd, with whom he formed an intimate friendship while in the service. He came early in 1755, and resided at first on the east side of the river. The same year, Dec. 30, he was married to Mrs. Elizabeth, widow of Mr. William Cole, and soon after removed to the house built by the latter on the mill brow, west of the Falls. Possessing popular manners, and the reputation of great skill in his profession, he acquired in a short time a very extensive practice. His services were in requisition abroad as well as at home, and aged persons in neighboring towns still speak of Dr. Cummings, as the most distinguished prac- titioner of former days. In his habits, he was social even to excess ; cheerful and full of anecdote, he inspired good humor and friendly feelings wherever he went. His death
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was the result of accident. Returning late on the night of April 1, 1774, from a visit to the house formerly Capt. Samuel Jordan's, at Winter Harbor, he was thrown from his horse on the shore of the Pool, where his lifeless body was discovered the following morning. He left three sons, James, Donald, and Nathaniel.
The first merchants or traders of whom we have an account on the east side, were Tristram Jordan, Andrew Bradstreet, Thomas Cutts, Thomas Donnell, and David King. Mr. Jordan, third son of Capt. Samuel, took the Pepperell house, (in which Mr. Jas. Scamman had lived.) 1749, having married the same year, Hannah, daughter of Capt. Ichabod Goodwin, of Berwick. He soon after built a house, recently taken down, which stood on Storer ·street, on the site of which Capt. Tristram Storer has "since erected another. In 1754, he was chosen one of ·the selectmen of the town, altho' but 23 years of age, and about the same time received the commission of captain in the militia ; offices which it was not customary at that period to bestow on young men. We have before us the commission of Samuel Scamman, (father of the late dea- con,) as "lieutenant of the First Company of Foot on the East Side of Sawco river, in the Town of Biddeford, in the Co. of York, whereof Tristram Jordan is Captain, in the first Regiment whereof Sir William Pepperell is Colonel," &c. given at Boston 12 April, 1755. The books of Capt. Jordan, kept at that time, show that he traded to a considerable extent. By the tax list of 1755, it appears that the whole number of persons assessed on the east side of the river, was 115, including six non- residents. The highest rates were paid by the following : Tristram Jordan, Eben. Ayer, Jas. Gray, Rich. Berry, Amos Chase, Edward Rumery, Jas. Mclellan, Martin Jameson, Rob. Gray, jr., S. Scamman, Walter Foss, R. Patterson ; the first paid £4 5d., the last £1 10s. 2d.
Andrew Bradstreet came 1756-7, and occupied the house in which Capt. Sam. Jordan Morrill now lives. His store was adjoining the house, on the front. Captain Thomas Donnell rented at the same time the store or warehouse of Sir W. Pepperell, on the wharf below ; his son, now living in Hollis, was a clerk in the store 1758,
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then 18 years of age. Mr. David King traded a short time near the head of the wharf, but soon after his mar- riage, 1762, removed to the west side of the river.
:- Col. Thomas Cutts, for a long period one of the most eminent merchants in Maine, was the youngest son of deacon Richard Cutts, of Cutts's island, Kittery. His great grand father, Robert Cutts, Esq. emigrated to this country from the west of England, about the year 1645, and with his two brothers, whose names were John and Richard, settled on the Isles of Shoals, at that time a place of great resort for English fishing vessels. From bumble circumstances they all rose to the enjoyment of great wealth, the reward of long continued and success- ful enterprise. Robert finally removed to Kittery, and his brothers to Portsmouth, where they were for many years among the most respected inhabitants. The former was appointed a magistrate by the King's Commissioners, 1665; and at his death, 1672, left a large estate to his son Richard, father of the deacon. The latter was born 1693, and married Eunice Curtis, 1720. Our towns- - man, as stated on a preceding page, was the youngest but one of their ten children. Having served a clerkship with Pepperell, he early commenced business, it is said, at Kittery, but proving unfortunate in his first enterprise, he left the place, and soon after, about 1758, came to this town. He was then but twenty two years of age, with a capital of only $100, for which, and to a greater a- mount, he was indebted to his father. He first took a room in Dr. White's house, where he began trading on a small scale. By practising the most rigid economy, even to the preparation of his own food, thereby avoiding the expense of board, and with the aid of an uncommon ap- titude for business, Mr. Cutts within a short period en- larged his capital, and became engaged in lucrative and extensive transactions. It is worthy to be noticed as creditable to his early character, that with his first pro- fits he discharged the obligations to his father. Indian island at that time was covered with a forest of oaks, and as yet had served little other purpose than to afford a favorite place of resort to the friendly natives during the fishing season, when great numbers of them were
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usually there. They had enjoyed from time immemo- rial an undisturbed right of occupancy to this valuable spot, now so completely divested of its natural beauty and all that rendered it attractive to the rude savage. Even many years after the improvements were commen- ced on both Falls, the island continued to be the occa- sional abode of the Indians, and was the scene of many a noisy frolic and midnight revel, when their loud and frantic cries, mingled with the roar of the cataract, often excited alarm and consternation among the inhabitants. The partners, in the division of 1718, simply claimed it as their property, neglecting to make a partition, as of their other lands, notwithstanding the advantages which it presented for the erection of mills, and as a central medium of communication between the opposite settle- ments. Mr. Cutts was the first to appreciate the im- portance of the island for these and other purposes, and early resolved to make it the seat of his business. In pursuance of this design, he purchased in the summer of 1759, a small undivided part, being a fourth of Weare's original share, for about ninety dollars, and soon after built a small house, with conveniences for a store, on the southwest end of the island, (where it still remains,) to which he removed. A bridge had been recently thrown across the narrow part of the stream, on the east side, a short distance above that now leading from Main street, and a road laid out nearly as it runs at present to the western freebridge. The Ferry was at the same time established from that part of the island, to Allen's, (now Capt. White's,) thereby avoiding more than half the dis- tance of the old route from Pepperell's wharf. After the erection of the proprietors' bridge at the same place, 1767, with which the inhabitants were highly gratified, Mr. Cutts began to reap the full advantages of a situation so judiciously chosen. Beside the business of his store, which became greater than that of any other in the vicini- ty, he entered into shipbuilding and navigation, and up to the commencement of the revolutionary war, was enga- ged in a timber trade with the British W. I. islands, equal- ly profitable and extensive.
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Mr. Cutts was married, 24 Aug. 1762, by Rev. Mr. Morrill, to Elizabeth, daughter of Mr. Dominicus Scam- man, who, on the premature decease of her parents, had been adopted by her maternal grandmother, Madam Ladd. He continued to occupy his first house about twenty years, in which were born all but one of eight children, five of whom are now living. In 1782, the family removed to the elegant mansion house, on the up- per part of the island, where Col. Cutts passed the re- mainder of his life .*
The first mechanic within the limits of the present vil- lage, whose name has reached us, was Samuel Dennet, a tanner, from Kittery. He came as early as 1738, and lived opposite Spring's island, where his son built a saw- mill and gristmill 1795. Hence the name of Dennet's landing, given to "the place for taking logs out of the river," on the upper side of the bridge. Samuel Warren, a blacksmith, came from Berwick a few years after Mr. Dennet. He married Sarah, daughter of Mr. Robert Gray, 1749, and purchased a houselot from Sir William Pepperell 1752, on which he built the house now occu- pied by his son, Capt. Thomas Warren. He died 1814, aged eighty eight years. John Armstrong, a cabinet ma- ker, from Boston, settled in town about 1750, and re- mained more than twenty years. He occupied the house of Mr. John Elden, after the latter removed to Buxton, and had his shop in the building. . Mr. Armstrong retur- ned to Boston, where he has respectable descendants. f
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