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 25
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 25
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· Haley. James Pratt. Sylvanus Knox. Stephen Fletcher. Joshua McLucas, died in the war. Jobn Haley, died at Mt. Independence. Josiah Davis. The present survi- vors are the following : Col. John Smith, now of Hollis, a militia officer since the war. Jeremiah Bettis, living at Little river, in the lower part of Biddeford, where he possesses a handsome estate. Ralph Emery. Philip Goldthwaite, keeper of the lighthouse on Wood island. Pelatiah Moore. Jos. Staples. Dominicus Smith. Benj. Goodridge. Joseph Hanscomb, now of Buxton.
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From Pepperreliboro' (now Saco,) the following per- sons were in the continental service at some period of the war. John Googins, killed in the action at Hubbards- town, July 7, 1777, the day after the evacuation of Ti- conderoga by the American troops. John was in the rear guard commanded by Col. Francis, a very gallant officer, who fell in the same engagement. Stephen Sawyer, son of David Sawyer, sen., died in the army. John- Hoo- per, died during the war at Boston. Abiel Beetle, Nicho- las Davis, Jonathan Norton, Daniel Bryant, James Scam- man, son of Mr. Ebenezer Scamman, John Tucker, John Runnels, John Ridlon, John Carll, Eben. Carll, Evans Carll, William Carll, (sons of Mr. Robert Carll ; the name was often written Kearl.) Levi Foss, Pelatiah Foss ; the last fell at Ticonderoga ; sons of Mr. Walter Foss. Zechariah Foss, Elias Foss, sons of Mr. Joseph Foss. John Duren. Anthony Starbird. William Star- bird, died in the army. William Berry. James Evans. Samuel Sebastian, died on North river. Joseph Norton. Maj. Stephen Bryant, an officer in the militia since the war. Josiah Davis. Joseph Richards. Those now liv- ing are : Ephraim Ridlon, Stephen Googins, who enlis- ted for the year 1776, and were in the company of Capt. Watkins, under Col. Edmund Phinney of Gorham. Ephraim enlisted again 1777, in Col. John Crane's regi- ment of artillery, and was gone three years, two of which he was waiter to Gen. Knox. Thomas Means, under Capt. Hart Williams, regiment of Col. Phinney. Solo- mon Hopkins. James Edgecomb. Solomon Libby.
A company was raised Feb. 1776, for a short term of service, from Buxton, Arundel, Biddeford, and Pepper- 25
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rellboro', commanded by Capt. John Elden, of Buxton. The other officers were, Ist Lieut. Amos Towne, of Arundel ; 2d Lieut. Samuel Scamman (late deacon) ; Ensign Jeremiah Cole, of Biddeford. The subordinate officers and privates from Biddeford were the following : Moses Bradbury, John Poak, Elijah Littlefield, Peirce Bickford, Phineas MeIntire, Thos. Gillpatrick, William Nason, John Chase, (now of Saco,) Joua. Stickney, Humphry Dyer, Jacob Townsend, Timothy Cole, Jede- diah Smith, Eliakim Tarbox, Jona. Smith, John Gillpat- rick, Chris. Gillpatrick, Dodivah Bickford, Benj. Wood- man. From Pepperrellboro'; Jerathuel Bryant, John Muchemore, Daniel Field, David Clark, Abner Sawyer, Joseph Norton, Andrew Patterson, David Sawyer, jr., James Edgecomb, Robert Bond, Daniel Field jr., Abra- bam Patterson, Moses Ayer, John Young, Hezekiah Young, Joseph Patterson, Wm. P. Moody, Samuel Den- net, John Scamman, Samuel Lowell. The company be- longed to the regiment of militia under Col. Lemuel Robinson. Altho' gone but about two months, they as- sisted in the very important and admirably executed ser- vice, of fortifying Dorchester heights on the night of March 4. Dr. Thacher, who was in a relief party or- dered on the ground the next morning, arrived there at the early hour of 4, when, he says, "we found two forts in considerable forwardness, and sufficient for a defence against small arms and grape shot. The amount of la- bor performed during the night, considering the earth is frozen eighteen inches deep, is almost incredible. The enemy having discovered our works in the morning, com- menced a tremendous cannonade from the forts in Bos- ton, and from their shipping in the harbor. Cannon shot are continually rolling and rebounding over the hill, and it is astonishing to observe how little our troops are terri- fied by them."
Several privateers were fitted out from the river during the war. The Thrasher, commanded by Capt. Benj. Cole, performed two or three cruises, but without accom- plishing much. The vessel is said to have been partly
*Military Journal. 47.
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owned . in Salem. Mr. Elisha Ayer built a cutter on Main street, near the Thornton house, for Mr. Gray, of Salem ; she was manned here for the first cruise. Others were fitted out at different times, by Col. Morrill and Dr. Fairfield. A few prizes were taken by them on the eas- tern coast, but of little value.
To this list of revolutionary worthies, we add the names of those citizens who were engaged in the war, and have since settled in the towns. Seth Spring, Esq. was in the battle of Bunker hill, and continued three years in the service. He came to Biddeford about 1780. Hon. Joseph Leland was also at Bunker hill in a company from Grafton, Mass. being at that time eighteen years of age. Mr. Leland remained in the army through the war, having received the commission of ensign at twenty, and afterwards that of lieutenant. He came to this town soon after the peace. Daniel Granger, Esq. from Andover, Mass. was a short time in the continental service. Deacon Samuel Woodsum was taken prisoner by a party of Indians under Brandt, in New York, and was sent to Canada, where he remained until peace took place. In 1783, deacon Woodsum bought a piece of wild land in the corner of the town, adjoining the river and Buxton line, now a very excellent farmn. Mr. Ben- jamin Simpson, from York, was out during a part of the war. He commenced clearing the well improved estate on which he now lives, about 1790 .* Capt. Abraham Tyler, from Scarboro', (Blue-point,) was in the service the last three years of the war. Jesse Whitney was also out, and is now a pensioner. Two are deceased : Lieut. Moses Banks, from Scarboro', (originally of York,) an officer in Phinney's regiment, well known since the war
*Mr. Simpson assisted in the destruction of the tea at Boston, 16 December, 1773. At our request he has furnished the following ac- count of what he personally witnessed in relation to that affair. "I was then an apprentice to a bricklayer, when two ships and a brig with tea on board arrived at Boston, with heavy duties, which the Bostonians would not consent to pay. The town being alarmned at such proceedings, called townmeetings day after dy, night after night. The captain of the first ship that arrived, went (from the townmeeting) to the governor to see if he would give his ship a pass- port out by Castle island. At his return in the evening, (the town
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as a skilful surveyor and draughtsman ; he died in Saco, 1825, aged 92. David Batchelder, who served also in the French war, died at Old Orchard, 1828, aged 88.
The only persons in the two towns who were opposed to the war, were Dr. Alden and Capt. Philip Goldth- waite. The former was mobbed by a party from Gor- ham, consisting of thirty or forty soldiers, at the illjudged instigation, it is said, of Col. Phinney and others of that place. The men were armed, and having taken the doc- tor, placed him in a kneeling posture on a hogshead, in front of deacon Scamman's house, then a tavern. In this situation, with the soldiers paraded around him, presenting their guns to his body, he was required to recant his opin- ions, or suffer instant death. A confession was read to him, which he signed, stating that he had done wrong in justifying the proceedings of Parliament ; expressing his sorrow for every act of opposition to the whigs of which he had been guilty, and promising that in future he would - be peaceable in his deportment, and aid the cause of Liberty as much as was in his power. "This," he was
waiting the result of the application,) he was asked the governor's answer, which was that he should not grant a pass unless she was well qualified from the Customhouse. After the captain reported this answer to the meeting, a voice was hear in the gallery, hope she will be well qua ified. The captain was .en asked if he would take charge of the ship and carry her out of Boston, notwithstanding the refusal of the governor ; to which he answered, No. (A whistle in the gallery-call to order.) The meeting was then declared to be dissolved, (in the gallery, Every man to his tent!) We repaired to the wharf where the ships lay. I went on board one or both ships, but saw no person belonging to them. In a few minutes a number of men came on the wharf, (with the Indian powow,) went on board the ships then lying at the side of the wharf, the water in the dock not more than two feet deep. They began to throw the tea into the water which went off with the tide till the tea grounded. We soon found there was tea on board the brig ; a demand being made of it, the captain told us the whole of his cargo was on board ; that the tea was directly under the hatches, which he would open if we would not damage any thing but the tea ; which was agreed to. The hatch- es were then opened ; a man sent down to show us the tea, which we hoisted out. stove the chests, threw tea and all overboard. Those on board the ships, did the same. I was on board the ships when the tea was so high by the side of them as to fall in ; which was shovel- led down more than once. We on board the brig were not disguised. I was then 19 years old, am now seventy five .- (Signed,)
BENJAMIN SIMPSON."
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compelled to say in conclusion, "I heartily promise, and bind myself to, and am very thankful for my life." He . was then discharged. The transaction was generally disapproved by our inhabitants, none of whom joined the party. Dr. Alden finally removed to Scarboro'. Capt. Goldthwaite lived at Winter Harbor, and exercised the . office of inspector for this port under the provincial government. He put himself under British protection as soon as the war commenced. His brother, Jos. Goldth- waite, Esq. of Boston, is named in the act relating to re- fugees, passed 1778.
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CHAPTER VIII.
A meeting of the inhabitants of Biddeford was holden May 22, 1780, "to see if the town would approve, al- ter, or reject the new form of Government made by the Convention at Cambridge, March 2, 1780." The re- cord is as follows : "The honorable Rishworth Jordan, Moderator. Adjourned to Monday, 29 inst. 2 o'clock P. M. Monday, May 29, 1780. Met according to ad- journment. Resolved, that there be a form of govern- ment set up as absolutely necessary. Resolved, to accept the form aforementioned with the following alteration in the tenth Article of the second Chapter : All military of- ficers ought to be appointed and commissioned by the Governor by and with advice of Council ; Except, all Aids-de-camp ought to be appointed by their own Maj. Generals, Brigade Majors by their Brigadiers or Com- mandants of Brigades, Adjutants and Quartermasters by their Colonels or Commanding Officers of Regiments, and Commissioned by the Governor with advice of Coun- cil ; for the following reasons : 1. Because they are liable to be under control by being dependent on the soldiers for their commissions, and therefore cannot act free and independent. 2. Because they are liable to be degraded or superseded in case of a vacancy by the soldiers, if 25*
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they do not act in conformity to their wills and capri- cious humors, without reason or against reason."
"Other towns suggested alterations in like manner, es- pecially in regard to the third article of the bill of rights. "But their acceptance of the Constitution did not de- pend upon the adoption of these amendments. Nor was it in the power of the Convention to incorporate them in- to the instrument, without another appeal to the people, which would not have been judicious."*
The first election of State officers took place 4 Sept. 1780. JOHN HANCOCK was chosen governor four years in succession, after which he declined being a candidate for the office. The votes in Saco (Pepperrellboro') 1780, were, for Hancock 7, for James Bowdoin 3; 1781, for Hancock 27, for Bowdoin 2; 1782-3, all for Hancock. The votes in Biddeford the first two years are not recor- ded ; 1782, the whole number, 14, were for Hancock. The number of votes cast in the county of York, that year, for state officers, was 161. Mr. Bowdoin was elected governor 1785-6, after which Gov. Hancock was again called to the chair, which he filled until his death, Octo. 1793. In 1785, (when Gov. Hancock was not a candidate,) the whole number of votes in Saco were thrown for Gen. Benj. Lincoln ; the next year there was a majority for Gov. Bowdoin. In 1794, Samuel Adams received a majority of the votes of the town for governor, and the two succeeding years the whole number thrown. After the resignation of Gov. Adams, 1797, the votes in Saco stood, for James Sullivan 52, for Increase Sumner 2. The next year, (Mr. Sullivan having withdrawn,) Gov. Sumner had a majority.
There was no choice of senators in York County 1730; the four highest candidates were Edw. Cutts, of Kittery, Benjamin Chadbourne, of Herwick, Nathaniel Wells, of Wells, and Rishworth Jordan, of Biddeford ; of whom the two former were elected by the Legislature. At sub- sequent periods, Saco has furnished four members of the Mass. Senate, viz. Col. Tristram Jordan, 1787 ; Joseph Bartlett, 1804; Joseph Leland, 1805 and 1808 ; Col. William Moody, 1812-19.
*Bradford. Hist. Mass. ii. 186.
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Col. Jordan, whose early settlement at the Falls has been noticed, removed to his estate at Deep-brook about the close of the revolutionary war, where he died 1821,' at the age of ninety years. He was eminently the father of the town ; no other individual was so often entrusted with the direction of its affairs, or exercised an equal de- gree of influence during the early period of its separate incorporation. He was at the same time distinguished for his private enterprise and assiduous attention to busi- ness. Having been engaged when a young man in sever- al short voyages, he received the offer of an European ship, before he became of age, which he declined, not choosing to follow the sea. One of his trips to Halifax, N. S. is worthy of notice. That town was laid out, and its settlement commenced, 1749, under the direction of Col. Cornwallis, the governor of the colony. Three hun- dred houses were built the first year,* of which the ma- terials were partially supplied from this quarter. Young Jordan was employed in this business, and on one occa- sion took out with him the frame of the first church erec- ted in Halifax, which he had contracted with Cornwallis to furnish. The timber was from Deep-brook. At a
later date, Col. Jordan was best known as a magistrate, having performed the greater part of the duties devolving on a justice of the peace, for the east side of the river, until quite advanced in life. His first wife, died 1775; their children were two sons and seven daughters. Of the latter, Elizabeth, the eldest, was married to William Vau- ghan, Esq. of Scarboro', afterwards of Portland, 1772 ; Sarah, to Mr. Nathaniel Scamman 1775; Hannah, to Capt. Solomon Coit, the same year, and after his decease, to James Perkins, Esq. of Kennebunk-port, 1797 ; Olive, to Capt. Seth Storer, 1776; Mary, to Daniel Granger, Esq. 1792. Capts. Coit and Storer were eminent ship- masters at a period when the art of navigation was not so generally understood as at the present time. The for- mer built the house now occupied by Capt. Samuel Hartley. Col. Jordan was twice married after the de- cease of his first wife, and left two sons and a daughter by the last connection.
*Haliburton. Hist. N. Scotia. ii. 12.
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The second gentleman who was elected to the Senate from Saco, Joseph Bartlett, Esq. the eccentric author of ""Aphorisms" &c. practised law several years in town, at first with good reputation. The year in which he was chosen senator, Mr. Bartlett received nearly all the votes in Saco, and a large majority in Biddeford. He remo- ved afterwards to Portsmouth, N. H. A singularly con- structed, but not inelegant house, which he built, stan- ding near the site of the old Ferry house, remains a characteristic monument of its projector. Mr. Bartlett was supposed to be the conductor of the "Freeman's Friend," a newspaper published in town 1805-6, by Mr. William Weeks. He was undoubtedly the principal contributer to its columns.
The services of Col. William Moody in the Mass. Senate, were continued through eight successive terms. The general support which he received from the towns in the county, is sufficient evidence of the high estima- tion in which he was held as a public man. His father, William Pepperell Moody, came to this town from Kit- tery, and was married to Elizabeth, daughter of Mr. Samuel Scamman, 1763. William was born July 10, 1770, and was seventeen years of age at the time of his father's decease. He enjoyed no further advantages of education than were afforded by the common district schools ; of the full benefit of even these, he was partial- ly deprived by the early necessity of applying to a means of support. His father and grandfather were joiners by occupation ; the latter, Mr. Edmund Moody, was the ar- chitect of the first meetinghouse in Saco, as already sta- ted ; and the former early initiated his son in the same business, which he ever after pursued. Col. Moody re- presented the town in the Legislature eight years in suc- cession, from 1804 to 1812 ; and during that period, and the succeeding eight years, in the other branch, he be- came by the force of native intellect alone, without the benefit of early cultivation, a prominent and highly use- ful member of that body. In the Convention by which the Constitution of Maine was formed, having been elec- ted one of the delegates from Saco, Col. Moody often took part in the debates, and was distinguished for the
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ease and clearness with which he expressed his views. He was returned a member of the first Senate of Maine, and presided over its deliberations after the resignation of Gen. Chandler. About the same time he was appointed 'Sheriff of York County. His death occurred suddenly, March 15, 1822, while he was in the midst of life and usefulness, and was universally lamented.
In the course of the war, Feb. 9, 1778, died the Rev. Moses Morrill. The names of his children, born 1744-76, are the following : Samuel Jordan, John, Joseph, Sarah, Hannah, Olive, Mary, Elizabeth, Tristram, Abigail, Tris- tram, Nahum, and Moses. He was succeeded in the ministry by the Rev. NATHANAEL WEBSTER. The or- dination of this gentleman took place April 14, 1779. The town voted him a salary of £75, to be paid in the following manner : 45 bushels of corn, at 4s. ; 4 bushels rye, at 5s. ; 400 lbs. pork, at 5d. ; 50 lbs. wool, at 1s. 8d .; 50 lbs. flax at 8d .; 100 lbs. butter at 8d; 4046 lbs. beef at 20s. per cwt .; 1 quintal fish 21s. ; 2 tons good English hay at £3. The salary was soon after raised to £80, ($266,66.) A separate parish, called the Second Religious Society in Biddeford, was incorporated 1797. The principles on which this society was formed, were professedly liberal, as the following article from its Rules and Regulations sufficiently shows : "To pre- vent all religious disputes respecting doctrines, as every Christian, or religious Society, has an undoubted right to put his or their construction upon the Scriptures, a point of Orthodoxy, or a mere Article of faith, shall never be a fit subject to lay before any council, reference, or any description of Men whatever." The upper meeting- house was built by the Society at that time. The first regular pastor was the Rev. JOHN TURNER, previously of Alfred, who was installed 1808. Mr. Turner remai- ned until 1817, when his connexion with the Society was dissolved. In the year 1823, the Rev. THOMAS TRACY, from Cambridge, came to Biddeford, and preach- ed several sabbaths so much to the satisfaction of the Society, that a call was soon after given him to settle with them for the term of five years ; which he accepted, and was ordained Jan. 14, 1824. Many of the most
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efficient members of the society were resident in Saco, and on the formation of the Second Parish in this town, it was agreed that Mr. Tracy should. transfer to it his pastoral care. He was accordingly installed in Saco, Nov. 21, 1827. The meetinghouse was dedicated at the same time. It is a handsome edifice, 76 feet in length by 46 in breadth ; built on contract by Mr. John Jolin- son. Mr. Tracy's connection with the Parish was dis- solved in the autumn of 1828.
An act of incorporation was obtained by the First Par- ish in Biddeford, 1798. The Rev. Mr. Webster was invited to continue the pastor, and accepted. In 1825, he consented to have a colleague, and, Octo. 26, Rev. JONATHAN WARD, jr. of Plymouth, N. H. was ordained. Mr. Ward died early the following year. He was suc- ceeded, on a temporary engagement, by Rev. D. D. Tappan, now of Alfred. In January, 1828, the present pastor, Rev. CHRISTOPHER MARSH, was ordained, and receives a united support from members of both Parishes, preaching alternately in the two churches. After the set- tlement of Rev. Mr. Marsh, the senior pastor withdrew from the labors of the ministry, in which he had been so long and happily engaged, and took up his residence with a son in law in Portland. He died 8 March, 1830, aged eighty one years. Mr. Webster was born at King- ston, N. H. and graduated at Harvard Coll. 1769. Two of his sermons have been printed, one of which, deliver - ed before a convention of ministers at Buxton, 1815, in- culcates the sufficiency of the scriptures, independent of creeds, as a standard of religious faith. The character of Mr. Webster was that of a cheerful and benevolent man ; by the practice of the social virtues, in which he excelled, he attached to himself the best affections of his people.
The ministerial labors of the Rev. Mr. Fairfield were continued during a period of thirty six years. "On April 2, 1798, at his repeated request," as it appears from a record of that date, "a perfect harmony subsisting be- tween him and the People, he was dismissed from the work of the ministry in Pepperrellboro', by the People, at their meeting on that day." Mr. Fairfield performed
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in a diligent and satisfactory manner the duties which de- volve on a pastor and teacher. Possessing a thorough acquaintance with the sacred volume, he infused its spirit into his discourses, which were prepared with the utmost care, and, in point of style, were not unworthy his repu- tation as a scholar. During his ministry the number of baptisms was 778; of admissions to the covenant, 177; to full church membership, 9. The exactness with which Mr. Fairfield recorded the memoranda from which the above statement is gathered, and others of a similar char- acter, shows that he was not inattentive to the smallest clerical duty. The records which he has thus left, rela- ting to the people of his parish, are minute and extremely valuable. Mr. Fairfield resided in Biddeford several years prior to his decease ; he died 16 December, 1819, aged eighty three years. His funeral . was attended by the neighboring clergy ; prayers were offered on the oc- casion by Rev, Mr. Lancaster, of Scarboro' ; and a ser- mon delivered by Rev. Mr. Webster. In concluding this brief and imperfect notice of the gentlemen to whom our inhabitants for so long a period looked up for advice and direction in their religious, moral, and even tempo- ral concerns, we cannot refrain from noticing the fact that their relations with each other were ever of the most friendly character. No root of bitterness seems to have sprung up to mar the pleasures of a constant intercourse on terms of the strictest intimacy. Messrs. Morrill and Fairfield invariably passed one day in seven together, du- ring the time in which they were fellow laborers in the work of the ministry. Their houses were situated on not very remote points of the river, and usually on Monday morning of each week one of them crossed alone in a boat, to pass the day with his friend. With the successor of Mr. Morrill, an intercourse equally cordial was maintai- ned by Mr. Fairfield, which terminated only with life. A similar remark may be extended to the other neighbo- ring ministers, whose mutual friendship was undisturbed by professional jealousies, or the agitation of doctrinal disputes. Mr. Webster has been often heard to say, that in former times there was not a clergyman between his parish and Boston with whom he was not enabled to ex-
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.change ; such was the harmony then existing in the re- ligious community.
Mr. ELIHU WHITCOMB, a graduate of Harvard Coll. .1793, was ordained successor to Mr. Fairfield, 3 July, 1799. The discourse on this occasion, afterwards prin- ted, was delivered by Rev. Nathaniel Thayer, D D. of Lancaster, Mass. The present spacious meetinghouse of the First Parish was erected during the ministry of Mr. Whitcomb, who preached at its dedication, Feb. 12, 1806. The discourse was printed. The edifice was re- garded as the largest and most elegant in Maine for a - considerable period. Its dimensions are 90 feet in length by 54 in breadth ; the spire 126 feet in height. The cost was estimated at $18000. The building committee, of the proprietors were deacon S. Scamman, Foxwell Cutts, - Esq. Capt. Seth Storer, James Gray, Esq. and Mr. Ed- .mund Moody. The master builder was Mr. Bradbury Johnson. The old house (which was 54 by 40 feet,) · served several years the purpose of a townhouse.
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