USA > Maine > Knox County > South Thomaston > History of Thomaston, Rockland, and South Thomaston, Maine, from their first exploration, A. D. 1605; with family genealogies, Vol. I > Part 32
USA > Maine > Knox County > Rockland > History of Thomaston, Rockland, and South Thomaston, Maine, from their first exploration, A. D. 1605; with family genealogies, Vol. I > Part 32
USA > Maine > Knox County > South Thomaston > History of Thomaston, Rockland, and South Thomaston, Maine, from their first exploration, A. D. 1605; with family genealogies, Vol. I > Part 32
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49
* Narrative of C. Holmes, Esq., Rockland Gazette, April 20, 1855.
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pointed 1st Lieutenant in the 34th regiment of U. S. infantry, although his commission was not made out till the 20th Feb. following. Among those enlisted under him, were Waterman Fales of the Shore village, and others not remembered.
The year was distinguished by the continuance and in- crease of the burdens and dangers of war, the wants and pri- vations incident to a lack of business and employment, and the extreme scarcity and high price of provisions. So de- pendent were the people along the coast of Maine on the profits of trade and navigation, and so great was the tempta- tion arising from the scarcity of foreign goods, that many contrived, by one means or another, to continue such pur- suits in some degree during the war. At one time, British licenses were obtained ; and vessels clearing for a neutral port carried their cargoes to Bermuda and other British places, where they were allowed to traffic. After a while these licenses were annulled, to the jeopardy of those sailing under them. Just after this annulment was made known at Bermuda, one of the vessels belonging to Mr. Paine of this port, arrived at that place, unsuspicious of any change. As soon as she hove in sight, however, Mr. Winter of Bath, and other Americans there, put out to meet her with the Swedish consul, and, before entering port, she was furnished with a complete set of Swedish papers. These were not very close- ly scrutinized, and she was allowed to enter and clear as a neutral vessel.
1814. The disheartening pressure of the war so far pre- vailed over the spirit of the Democratic party, that, in May, 1814, two Federalists, J. Gleason and E. Thatcher, were chosen to represent the town in the General Court. The town also-appointed J. Adams, M. Marsh, and Jos. Ingraham, to instruct them in relation, and probably in opposition, to a State insolvent or bankrupt law then in agitation.
The coast was much harassed this season by ships-of-war and privateers, prowling among the islands and headlands for plunder, as well as by more serious attempts at invasion. Among these, besides the "Fly" before mentioned, were the brig " Bream," the ship " Rattler," and the "Liverpool Packet;" the last of which was particularly successful and troublesome. Their policy, with regard to prisoners taken from private and unarmed vessels, was now changed; most of whom, instead of being set on shore as formerly, were sent to Halifax and detained as prisoners of war. The " Bul- wark," an English battle ship of 74 guns, was well known by the people here to be on the coast, cruising in the bay,
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HISTORY OF THOMASTON,
and occasionally sending a barge among some of the adjacent islands, with no ostensible object but to plunder and frighten the fishermen of the region. Few or no coasters were willing to venture out of port; but on the 22d June, 1814, captains Mckellar and Sayword, in a lime coaster of 50 tone, impa- tient of further delay and against the remonstrances of neigh- bors and friends, dropped down the George's River, resolved to take advantage of the prevailing N. E. wind and a dense fog that enveloped the whole bay, to elude the enemy and reach a market. They were met, however, near the mouth of the river by two of the Bulwark's barges well manned and armed proceeding up the river, and were captured at once. The officer in command immediately entered into a negotiation to restore their property on condition the prison- ers would pilot them up the river. This they agreed to do, it is believed, as far up as George's Fort, -a small unimpor- tant work in the town of St. George built by Government in July, 1809, under superintendence of Capt. Thomas Vose of Thomaston. A Major Porter was also there from June 28th to July 11th, probably to inspect or direct; and H. Prince, still of St. George, was employed to get sods and timber for the work. It consisted of a rampart in the form of a cres- cent towards the river, upon which were mounted two if not three 18-pound iron guns. Attached to this were the bar- racks, a small block-house, and magazine of brick; and the enclosure was completed in the rear by a high board fence. At or soon after the commencement of the war, a guard of soldiers was stationed in this post, under command of Serg't Nute; but these having been withdrawn for service else- where, Nute, June 8th, 1813, left the establishment in the charge of H. Prince, who engaged an elderly man, Ephraim Wylie, to stay there and keep things in order .*
When the barges came up, this sole defender of George's fort and the river, was within doors, preparing his evening meal. Advancing with a quick but steady pace, the enemy mounted the parapet of the fort, and the officer in command, with a stentorian voice, ordered a surrender. No one appear- ing at the door, the officer ordered a musket to be fired at it ; the ball of which passed through the upper panel, and, graz- ing the shoulder of Mr. Wylie, lodged in his bunk. " Surren- der !" again shouted the officer. On this, the occupant salli- ed out, and peremptorily ordered the intruders from the prem- ises. Not intimidated by the appearance of one man only,
* Common place book of H. Prince, Esq.
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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON.
however valorous, the officer inquired for the commander of the battery. " I am the commander !" replied Wylie ; " this is 'Squire Prince's Fort, and he has put me in charge of it." Others of the force had, mean time, spiked the guns ; and the officer, finding no impediment in the garrison, ordered the whole establishment to be blown up. Powder enough for this purpose not being found in the magazine, the little they did find was scattered to the winds, and Wylie was ordered to bring forward and surrender his flag. "I told you once," was the reply, " that this was 'Squire Prince's fort, and if you want any flag, you must go to 'Squire Prince." " Not far from the fort were several sloops, which the barges proceeded to cap- ture or destroy. The Fair Trader, Capt. Andrew Robinson's vessel, in Collins's cove, on the Cushing side, and a vessel on the stocks, belonging to Capt. Burton, were set on fire, which, however, went out of itself or was subsequently extinguish- ed ; while the Ex-Bashaw, Capt. Matthew Robinson, and another sloop, belonging to Capt. John Lewis, (on board which was Christopher Curtis, who vainly endeavored to escape in a punt,) were cut out of Broad cove and towed off. The sound of firing and the sight of the flames had by this time brought many of the people to the scene of action. Capt. Joseph Gilchrist, seizing his gun, ran across and rallied Burton, tell- ing him he would fire and scare away the enemy. Accord- ingly, putting a bullet and three buckshot atop of a charge already inserted for ducks, he discharged his piece, and, re- peating the fire, the enemy desisted. In the mean time the Kellerans, McIntyres, and others, had arrived on the ground, and not perceiving, in the darkness, how affairs stood, and mistaking Gilchrist and those who now joined him for the British, commenced a brisk. fire upon them. Esq. Malcolm, then in age, who had also got down to reconnoitre, hearing the balls whistling by his head, was obliged to retreat precip- itately to a safer situation, and yelled out so lustily to the combatants as to bring about an explanation.
By this time a great part of the night was spent; yet the design of the enemy was not fully accomplished. Thomas- ton was a higher mark, and promised richer booty. The young man, Christopher Curtis, before mentioned as taken prisoner in Lewis's vessel, was compelled to act as pilot, and the barges proceeded on up toward this place. This lad, though he dared not disobey orders enforced by threats and a pistol at his breast, did what he could to prevent further mis- chief, by exaggerating the distance and the time necessary to reach Thomaston ; and so well succeeded, that when almost
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HISTORY OF THOMASTON,
there, as the dawn began to open in the east, the enemy be- came discouraged and hastily returned. Curtis" was then set on shore at the lower narrows, to negotiate for a ransom of the prizes. This was so far effected that Capt. Matthew Rob- inson, through a relative on Monhegan, agreed to ransom his vessel at $600; but, having collected the money and put off for Monhegan, where the ships and prizes lay at anchor, he was met by a gale of wind and storm so severe as to retard his progress till the fleet had been compelled to sail for Hal- ifax.t
After the capture of Castine by the British, Sept. Ist, the presumption was that Camden would also be visited by the enemy ; to repel which Col. E. Foote, Sept. 2d, ordered the regiment under his command, including the militia of Thom- aston, St. George, Camden, Hope, and Appleton, to assemble immediately at the Harbor in Camden, well equipped for ac- tual service and with three days provisions. On the next day, Sept. 3d, all was bustle and preparation among the sol- diers in " buckling on their shining arms in haste," and the selectmen in slaying cattle, cooking beef, and providing bread for their subsistence. Before night the regiment was paraded at Camden under command of the colonel aforesaid and Ma- jors John Spear of this town and Jona. Wilson of Camden. The Thomaston companies of infantry, under command of Capt. Elkanah Spear of the north company and Capt. George Coombs of the south, together with the company from St. George and those from Hope and Appleton were quartered at or near the Camden meeting-house. On the 5th, Major Reed of Waldoboro', with one battalion of Col. S. Thatcher's reg- iment, advanced from Warren to this town and took quarters at Tilson's or Haskell'st tavern. The next day, news came, express, that an attack upon Camden was momentarily ex- pected from several ships-of-war which had entered the western channel and taken a menacing position. On receipt of this, Reed's battalion and the artillery company under Capt. John Haskell, by order of Col. Eben. Thatcher, both of this town, proceeded on early in the day to the place of dan- ger. These were followed in the afternoon by the other bat- talion of S. Thatcher's regiment under Maj. Hawes of Union.
* Curtis afterwards settled in Damariscotta. Dea. I. Robinson.
t Capt Henry Robinson, Capt Jos. Gilchrist, Prince's Diary, Thomas- ton Recorder.
Israel Haskell, a joiner from the westward, had come to the place prior to 1808, built the house which he at this time occupied as a tavern, on the old Camden road in Rockland, where he and his wife both died of the typhoid or, as it was then called, slow nervous fever.
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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON.
Throughout the day all was suspense and anxious expecta- tion. During the night an alarm came that the enemy were hauling in shore, preparatory to landing; the troops were turned out and paraded, muskets were loaded, and consulta- tions of officers held as to the best place and manner of meet- ing the foe, when it was ascertained that the hostile fieet was getting under way, and sailing, as it afterwards proved, for Halifax; and all returned to their repose. The next day, the two regiments, including two companies of light infantry, to- gether with the cavalry company under Major, then Capt. I. Bernard, the artillery, and a volunteer company of exempts from Warren, were paraded in review before Major Gen. King of Bath, and, after sundry exercises and evolutions, re- turned to their homes under their respective commanders. The 3d regiment marched in a body as far as Gleason's tay- ern, (at the present Bank Corner) and were there addressed and dismissed by their colonel, S. Thatcher.
On Sunday, Sept. 11th, an express arrived from McCobb's Narrows with the intelligence that the British were coming up George's River. The people generally turned out with their muskets, and the artillery promptly took its station on Vose's wharf at Thomaston. After waiting till daylight, how- ever, it was ascertained that the alarm was without founda- tion, having been caused by a swivel discharged by some mischievous boys down the river, for the purpose of fright- ening two young men by name of Gay and McIntyre who were out on a courting expedition, and which, being taken for . a signal of danger, was answered by three guns at the lately captured fort, spreading the alarm in every direction.
In connection with these hostile demonstrations and ground- less rumors, the following extracts of a letter, from Lieut. Otis Robbins, Jr. to his brother in this town, may be given, dated " Fort Sumner, [Portland ] 17th Sept., 1814. . On the 15th instant I took command of Fort Sumner, which is the first garrison duty I have done since I left Thomaston. Tell uncle Shepard he must not think hard because the Argus came on half a sheet ; it was owing to the alarm in this town, and Mr. Douglas is a Militia officer, therefore, could not at- tend to his paper. If the enemy should get possession of this Town they would not get much, for all the property is moved out. the Town is nearly a wilderness, . . ... no stores open, and the finest houses are used for barracks for militia ; there is, this day, said to be 10,000 militia in town; . . . . I see men every day from Eastport, Castine, &e., therefore have the news very correct ; but we often have false reports respecting
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HISTORY OF THOMASTON,
places being taken and burnt, &c. - have heard several times Thomaston was taken. . . . . I board at Mr. Boston's, and " fare very well for $5 per week."
On the 27th Sept., a detachment of one company of militia was made from Thomaston and St. George, under the com- mand of Capt. Thomas Kenny of St. George, Lieut. Sul- ยท livan Dwight from the north company in Thomaston, and Ensign Ralph Chapman of the south company. These, about 80 in number, rank and file, were posted as follows: Capt. Kenny, with the St. George soldiers, in that town at Tenant's Harbor, with a picket guard near McCobb's Narrows ; Lieut. Dwight, with the troops detached from the north company in this town, at Lermond's Cove near the school-house, with a picket on Jameson's Point; Ensign Chapman, with those detached from the south company, at Wessaweskeag near the school-house, and a picket at Owl's Head. This detachi- ment, thus posted, continued in service forty days, from Oct. I'st to Nov. 9th, with orders to let no boats pass without ex- amination ; none to go to Castine without a flag ; none to go to Fox Island, Long Island, across the Bay, or up the same, without a pass ; and none to return or come from those places without strict examination. The party at Lermond's Cove was composed as follows : S. Dwight, Lieut., commandant ; Elisha Fales and Iddo Kimball, sergeants ; John Ulmer, Jr., corporal ; John Achorn, Benj. Blackington, Briggs Butler, David Crockett, Jr., Abner Cutler, Walter Edmunds, Free- man Harden, Jos. Ingraham, Jr., Theodore and Henry Kenneston, Wm. Killsa, James Morse, Sylvester Manning, Andrew Rankin, Robert Rivers, Shepard Robbins, (place supplied by Barnabas Webb) Geo. W. Stevens, Simon M. Shibles, (by John Butler, 4th,) Elijah Torrey, Jacob Traf- ton, Haynes Whitney, and Moses Kelloch, privates. Those at Wessaweskeag and Owl's Head, were Ralph Chapman, Ensign, commanding ; John Montgomery and Thomas Bart- lett, sergeants ; Nathan Pilsbury, Jr., Wm. Kelloch. and David Perry, corporals; Edward Robinson and Benj. S. Dean, mu- sicians ; Jordan and Ephraim Lovett, Isaac and Coit Ingra- ham, Nathan Sherman, Jr., Eben. Thompson, Robert Heard, Wm. Snow, Jas. Sayward, John Pillsbury, Israel Dean, Isaac Packard, John Simonton, Chas. Dyer, Isaac, Brown, Arch. C. Lowell, Wm. Monroe, Abiezer Coombs, John Eastman, John Emery, Joseph and Hanse Kelloch, and Ezekiel Post, privates.
These guards did good service; and several exciting scenes occurred. On Sunday, Oct. 9th, a privateer-looking vessel with American colors flying, having been observed lying in
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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON.
Owl's Head harbor three days or more, without any person coming on shore, was suspected to be a British privateer in wait for coasters, like a spider for flies. It was now deter- mined to put her to the proof. At evening, one hundred or more men from the Shore, Head of the Bay, and Wessawes- keag, including the guards above mentioned, mustered under command of Major Arch. G. Coombs, and took station partly on Munroe's Island and partly on the main opposite the ves- sel, which lay between the Point and Esq. Adams's house, now that of Capt. Jere. Sleeper, Jr. At about ten o'clock, in a calm cloudy night, they commenced an attack with mus- ketry on both sides of her; and with effect, judging from the cries on board. There being no wind, the privateer put out her sweeps, and passed along down between the Point and the island ; at the extremity of which, she again caught the nearer and more galling fire of her assailants. She finally escaped, however, well riddled with bullets, as reported by the people of Monhegan, where she stopped and sent a boat ashore for assistance. She was supposed to have been the former Revenue Cutter, captured by the British on taking Castine."
One small boat of four or five tons, with seven cases of cotton goods probably intended for smuggling, was seized by the party at Lermond's Cove, Oct. 20th, delivered to the cus- tom house, and libelled for trial.
Two days later, a little schooner loaded with lime for New- buryport, Capt. Barns, master, was observed coming out of what is now Rockland Harbor with a W. N. W. wind : but soon discovered a suspicious craft, and tacked. This craft, supposed to be a privateer, but which afterwards proved to be a revenue officer's boat from Wiscasset, employed in detect- ing smugglers, immediately gave chase to the schooner, which fetched up at Clam Cove, followed on land by the soldiers from Lermond's Cove as far as Jameson's Point, for her pro- tection. The revenue boat was hailed by them; her papers ordered to be sent on shore ; and, after a satisfactory explana- tion, she put off towards Owl's Head. The main body of the soldiers then returned to Lermond's Cove ; but the picket guard, nine in number, under command of Sergt. E. Fales, (one of them, B. Webb, being acquainted with Capt. Barns,) took it into their heads to go on board the little schooner, and help take her back toward Rockland. They, however, were ob- served by the British privateer, Thinks-I-to-Myself, prowling
* Dwight's orderly book ; Capt. B. Webb, &c. VOL. I.
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HISTORY OF THOMASTON,
about off in the Bay. This vessel was furnished with five guns and one on a pivot, and immediately bore up directly towards them in pursuit. They stretched along Jameson's Point, till, getting under the lee of the trees with which it was covered, the wind failed them. The privateer then gain- ed rapidly upon them till she also got under the trees ; but, her sails being loftier than theirs, still kept gaining. Coming to a beach beneath a high wooded bank, the schooner was luffed on to it; and the soldiers and crew, twelve in number, got on shore with their weapons and three trunks which the captain felt anxious to save. The privateer came up and opened a brisk fire upon the little party, who lay under the bank concealed from view among the bushes and rocks, awaiting her approach. She manned a barge to send after them, and continued firing grape and other shot, which mostly passed over the heads of our men, cutting down shrubs and even tall trees on the bank above. They waited with mus- kets well loaded, some of them, Webb's in particular, with two balls and eleven buck-shot, and who remarked to Thomas Amsbury placed near him " now, Tom, you'll have a chance to kill an Englishman." When the barge came up rounding to and heaving up her oars, they suddenly fired, taking good aim and making the splinters fly. The privateer continued her fire ; to which our men only replied by shout- ing " try it again !" After a time, the barge-men attempted to land ; but so sharp was their reception by the linle band now reinforced by the main body from Lermond's Cove, and Capt. Elkanah Spear having in the mean time mustered and brought his company to the rescue, that they became dis- couraged ; and the Thinks-I-to-Myself thought proper to abandon her attempt and make off; - allowing the schooner to reach the harbor in safety and leaving at the Point one permanent memorial of her visit. This was made upon a large rock near the beach, surrounded at half-tide by water, behind which Jeremiah Berry (who, as well as Amsbury, was here at the time, either as volunteer or substitute for some of the party.) had taken shelter during the action, and found it a convenient bulwark ; for he had scarcely reached it when a 14-pound ball struck upon its front, making the fragments fly about his ears, and leaving a hole large as a man's hat, which at low water may still be seen .*
Some affairs of a ludicrous character, as is always the case on such occasions, also took place during this term of service.
* Dwight's orderly book, Capt. B. Webb, Mrs. Diana Jones, &c.
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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON.
The guards at Wessaweskeag made use of the old unoccupied house of Elder Snow for barracks, and had their sentinels on the lookout posted at different points in the neighborhood. On a certain night John Eastman took his stand as sentinel on the eminence then, as now, known as Dublin. The air was still, the moon shone bright, and all things promised a night of peace and quiet. But, before his watch was finished, a thick mist came in from sea and concealed the approaches to the place ; a pair of oxen, left yoked in the yard of Luther Hayden, at no great distance, as they quietly chewed their cud or changed their position, could not well help jangling the iron ring hanging loose in the staple, the sound of which in the mist and silence of the night seemed to his excited im- agination like the clanking arms of an approaching foe; and, when the cattle began to rise, stretch, and groan, he leapt to the conclusion that the work of knocking down and slaugh- tering cattle was going on. Without waiting to hail or dis- charge his piece, he ran circuitously across the fields and gave the alarm at the guard house or barracks, that "the enemy had landed S. E. of Dublin and were killing Mr. Hayden's cattle." The guard, which numbered some 15 or 20 men, immediately rallied and went over to give the enemy battle and get at least a part of the fresh beef for their breakfast. But in this they were disappointed; no foe had been there, and the beeves were still alive and ruminating .*
Eager as ships-of-war and privateers were to make prizes of vessels and cargoes of value, there was much less com- plaint made in this, than in the former war, of petty depre- dations upon cattle, sheep, and other private property ; partly owing, perhaps, to the fact that the two nations were now more distinct from each other, with fewer old grudges to avenge and fewer intimate acquaintances to aid in such enter- prises ; and partly, from the greater danger attending them on account of the increased density of the population. Still, however, apprehensions existed; and persons who possessed plate or other valuable articles of furniture, were frequent'y, upon any alarm, induced to remove or conceal them. Among others, Capt. Josiah Ingraham at the Head of the Bay, hav- ing an old fashioned brass clock, a rare possession in that day in common houses, often carried it in his arms, for safety on such occasions, as far up as Mr. Butler's.t
These different affairs, together with a march to Camden,
* Messrs. P. Lermond, A. Coombs, and others.
t Mrs. M R. Ludwig, a descendant.
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HISTORY OF THOMASTON, .
Nov. 2d, when that place was again threatened with an at- tack from the British brig of war Furieuse, on account of a rich prize brought in there by Major Noah Miller of Lincoln- ville, comprise all the material events of interest that have been handed down, of this detachment of coast guards. Their rations, ammunition, and lights, but not fuel, as it would seem, were furnished by the selectmen ; and the ex- pense subsequently refunded, and the soldiers' wages paid, from the treasury of the Commonwealth.
The proximity of the enemy at Castine, and the many rich prizes captured along the coast, often, no doubt, by collusion between the owners and captors, but sometimes, by mistake, falling as legitimate prizes into other hands, as in the case of Miller's prize at Camden, led others to try their luck at similar adventures. Among other vessels fitted out as priva- teers, was the schooner Fame, originally a Chesapeake Bay craft, captured by the British and by them used as a priva- teer, and sometimes as a vessel of burthen. In the latter capacity, freighted with a cargo of sugar and molasses, proba- bly destined for the American market, she had been, at one time, on her way, in company with a fleet of other vessels, from the British Provinces to Castine, under the command of a British captain and a lieutenant by the name of Lowe, an American, but not known to be such, as he was shipped in Nova Scotia. As they were approaching the destined port, Lieut. Lowe took occasion to apprize the crew, four or five in number, that there was a great want of seamen at Castine, and impressment was so hotly going on there, that it would be better for them to keep out of sight. Having, in this way, got them all below, he fastened them down, and then went to the captain, told him he was an American, and demand- ed the surrender of the vessel as a prize. The captain, being thus taken all unprepared, and, perhaps, not feeling interest enough in the vessel to risk his life in its defence, yielded without resistance. Gradually changing her course, Lowe soon fell in with a fishing boat manned by two of our citi- zens, Jonathan Maker and Nathaniel Graves, whom he took in as pilots and brought the vessel safely into the Wessawes- keag. The vessel and cargo having been legally condemned and ordered to be sold, the schooner was bought by a Capt. Milliken of Northport, in behalf of a company formed in Thomaston, on shares, to fit and send her out as a privateer. The shares were taken up by Healey, Dodge, Gleason, Paine, Chas. and Win. Pope, C. and J. Spofford, and probably others. She was then armed with two guns-a six and twelve-poun-
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