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 6
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 6
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 6
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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
* Viż .:- on the eastern shore, says Westbrook's letter to Governor in Secretary's Office, Boston.
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HISTORY OF THOMASTON,
small handful without much resistance. But in this their ex- pectation failed them ; for Capt. Winslow and his brave hand- ful notwithstanding the Horror of their approach, and tho' so outnumbered and like to be overpowered by such a multitude of the Dragons of the Wilderness, made ready to give them a warm reception. The Indians enclosing of him with their canoes . . when they were almost aboard him, he fired upon them. Notwithstanding which, they came up to the sides of his Boat where he and his few men defended themselves and beat off the Indians with the Butt-ends of their muskets. Thus they did with such . . resolution, that the Indians . . . fell off and fought at a distance. They were so struck with admiration of young Winslow's courage that they offered him Quarter if he would surrender himself and company ; But he refused it, knowing their tender mercies to be cruelties. . . Thus he kept fighting in his boat until the Dusk of evening, when, the most of his men being slain, he put ashore * with two or three that were left; where, being. way-laid by the Indians, they were all cut off. We are told that he being shot down, and having his thigh broken, the Indians when they saw him fall ran towards him ; And yet then, he recov- ered on his other knee and shot down another Indian. How many of the Enemy fell in this engagement we can have yet no certain Accounts. Thus died a Valient, an accomplished, a Good-natured young Gentleman in the twenty-third year of his age. At the same time with him there fell Nathaniel Harvey, Ezra Briggs, John Dennis, John Lee, Joshua Ran- some, John Walker, John Allen, and six of our Christian Indians."
One of the three friendly Indians who escaped was Wm. Jeffries of Harwich, who in November, 1724, and again, November, 1725, petitioned the General Court for relief ; "being poor and miserable, shot through by the enemys in the left arm near the wrist," in this terrible encounter. Ten pounds were granted him the first year, five the next,t and like sums continued many years, probably till the time of his decease.
·
A remarkable feature of the Indians' warfare this year was the naval force they acquired by seizing upon fishing- vessels, boats and shallops to the number of 22 sail, which for a time proved very troublesome. " A part of this fleet," says Williamson in his history of Maine, " proceeded up the
"On the west side." Westbrook's letter.
t Massachusetts Journals of House of Representatives.
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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON.
river St. George's once more fully determined to lay the fort in ashes. To effect their purpose, the savage crews filled a couple of their shallops with combustibles, which were set on fire and urged so near the block-house that they would have communicated the flames had not individual exertion pre- vented. The enemy then offered favorable terms, if the gar- rison would surrender. But every lisp of the kind was promptly rejected; and as they were utterly unable to take or destroy the fortification, either by force or stratagem, they retired without doing any considerable injury." The fort was now, or not long after, under the command of Capt. Smith, probably Thomas, another of the 20 associated proprietors of the patent.
1725. The Indians becoming tired of the war, proffers of peace began to be made. Yet vengeful feelings were not immediately allayed, on either side. A violent assault by a scout from the garrison here, was made upon a party of Indians bound to the fort under a flag of truce. There was for a few minutes a smart combat, in which one of the scouts was killed and another wounded. Notwithstanding this and other outrages, a disposition for peace was so apparent in the Indians who appeared at the Fort here on the return of a hostage, named Saccaristiss, and held an interview with Lieut. Joseph Beane, an interpreter, that a conference was agreed upon. This was held at this place, July 2d, by 13 of their chiefs and Messrs. Stoddard and Wainwright, who as commissioners of Massachusetts, were allowed £86, 17s. 3d., expenses hither; but it was adjourned to Boston. There, Nov. 10th, the Indians long insisted that the block-house here and that at Kennebec should be abandoned; but this not being acceded to, a treaty was finally concluded and the Indians pacified by a promise to open a truck or trading-house at the fort in this place, to be constantly supplied with goods to the amount of £700 for their supply in fair and honorable trade. This was done, in part at least; and a Mr. Mountfort acted as truckmaster, or manager of the trade; whilst the command of the fort and garrison was, Dec. 13th, 1725, committed to Capt. John Gyles, a native of Pemaquid, well fitted for his station by his knowledge of the Indian tongue, acquired at an carly age during a nine years' captivity.
1726. At a ratification of this treaty at Falmouth, Aug. 6th, the Indians carnestly desired that no liquor might be sold to their young men, and that the fort here should be aban- doned; averring that the Penobscots had never sold any land, Madockawando not being a native of the tribe nor authorized VOL. I. 4
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HISTORY OF THOMASTON,
37.77
to sell any, and that the English had gained no possession here by settlement, -"we remember a pretty while," said they, " and as long as we remember, the place where the gar- rison stands was filled with Great Long Grown Trees." But this point was at length given up, and this the easternmost garrison of Massachusetts, now become its settled possession, was henceforth supported at no little care and expense. A constant supply of goods, suitable for the Indian trade, (con- sisting mostly of blankets, beads, knives, axes, tobacco, rum, meal, pork, and fish, particularly a small kind caught in har- bors called strouds,) was provided, to be sold to the Indians at cost with additions to cover the expense of waste and trans- portation only, in order to withdraw them from the French trade and influence. The goods were kept at the truck-house built within the fort and this year repaired at a cost of £41, 3s. 6d .; and, Dec. 31st, Capt. Thos. Smith was chosen truck- master with a salary of £120 per annum. Capt. Gyles re- mained in command of the garrison, also occasionally receiving pay as Indian interpreter at the rate of 40s. a month, which was, the next year, increased to £4 a month through the year, and, the following January, to £6, in consideration of his in- terpreting in the public negotiations as well as in the traffic at the truck-house.
1727. The physical wants of the Indians being thus provided for, the attention of the Government was now directed to measures for their moral improvement as well as that of the garrison. Accordingly, Aug. 25th, 1727, Rev. Moses Hall was appointed a chaplain at St. George's Fort "for the instruction of the soldiers and such Indians as shall resort thither for supplies;" and £100 appear to have been voted him for twelve months' service. This gentleman, how- ever, did not remove to his post here till the following Jan- uary ; as, on the 2d of that month, on his memorial stating that he was about embarking, and requesting a bed, a table, and chairs, to make him comfortable, it was voted that the trea- surer supply the articles named for the chaplain's use. A physician also, by the name of Urian Angier, seems to have been here from June, 1726, to July, 1727, probably sent down by the associated Proprietors, but whose bill " for Sun- dry Medicines and Cures administered to and performed by him on the Forces at the Truck-house," was allowed and paid by Government to the amount of £6, 2s. 6d.
Some dissatisfaction seems to have sprung up this year be- tween Capt. Smith on the one side and the Indians on the other; and perhaps, also, between him and Capt. Gyles and
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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON.
the Government in Boston, notwithstanding Smith, in a letter to his son, April, 1727, says that "you may assure any one that we have not had the least angry word or difference since my arrival here," though admitting that a rumor of such dif- ference existed in Boston. In answer to a petition and in- quiry of his, it was voted that "the Memorialist" as well as all others, " be forbid to trust or give credit to the Indians for any goods sold them, on any pretence whatsoever," and that other persons at the garrison be forbidden to trade with them at all. The traffic must have been considerable; as the General Court, at the same time, voted the truck-master a servant to assist therein ; parsimoniously covering the expense by the withdrawal of one of the garrison. About the same time, Gyles and Smith were jointly directed to make such re- pairs on the truck and block-houses as they should judge necessary. The Indians, at their conference with Gov. Dum- mer, whilst speaking well of Gyles and the former truck- master Mountfort, seem to have omitted all praise of Smith, and complained that the goods were locked up when the truck-master was absent. The papers containing these com- plaints were at their request sent to the House of Represen- tatives, Dec. 19th, referred to a committee, and, though no report appears, Samuel Wainwright was, Dec. 27th, chosen truck-master for the ensuing year.
At the same time, one Abraham Johnson, a boy who had been ransomed by the Government from Indian captivity, was at his request taken into the service at £4 a month, and sent to this post to aid the chaplain in Indian language and inter- course, and in return to be instructed by him " in writing and cyphering." During the year 1727, there seems to have been paid to Capt. Gyles, for officers' and soldiers' pay, not far from £700.
1728. Mr. Wainwright having been at his request al- lowed a servant at sentinel's pay to aid in the truck-house, and the Rev. Mr. Hall, with his pupil above mentioned, being arrived, together with the armorer or gunsmith promised by the Governor to the Indians the preceding year, Capt. Gyles informed the General Court that " sundry things are necessary for repairing the Truck-house, and also for conveniency of the lodgings of the chaplain, a shop for the Armourer, and half a barrel of powder for the use of the Block-house:" all which were granted, Jan. 9th, and his account of disbursements, viz. : £20, 11s. 2d., allowed July 20th. Thus provided, the little community here seems to have moved on smoothly and satisfactorily; Capt. Gyles keeping up a frequent corres-
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HISTORY OF THOMASTON,
pondence with the government at Boston, sometimes trans- mitting letters complimentary or diplomatic from Wenangonet and other sachems, and at other times giving his own views as to what was necessary to promote a good understanding and salutary intercourse. On the 28th of November of this year, he was commissioned as a Justice of the Peace, the first civil magistrate resident in the place.
1729. On the 28th August, he united with Capt. Heath of Fort Richinond on the Kennebec, in memorializing the government for the appointment of missionaries " to Gospel- lize said Indians ;" upon which a committee was appointed to seek out suitable persons to be stationed for that purpose at the two forts. From this it appears that Rev. Mr. Hall, the first Christian minister that ever exercised the sacred func- tions of his office within the limits of what was afterwards Thomaston, or any where on the banks of this river, had now departed; yearning probably for a more genial society and less lonely situation. His pupil, Abraham Johnson, was re- tained, however, as Indian interpreter ; receiving pay, as such, in lieu of Gyles.
In the mean time, the associated proprietors of this, the Muscongus patent, were bestirring themselves, and had actu- ally engaged a minister of the gospel and 120 families to come here as settlers. But they were interrupted by the ad- verse claims of David Dunbar, who, as an Episcopalian hos- tile to the puritans, had obtained a grant, or rather order for the management, of the Sugadahoc province extending from the Kennebec to the St. Croix, and positively forbade them to make such settlements except on condition of receiving titles from him to the disparagement of their own. Samuel Waldo of Boston, a gentleman of good capacity and great activity, now about 34 years of age, having, by purchase or inheritance from his father Jonathan Waldo before named, a considerable interest in the Muscongus patent, was chosen agent by the proprietors and sent to London; who, in connection with the agent of Massachusetts, so perseveringly represented their re- spective claims that, Aug. 11th, 1781, a legal opinion was given in their favor; and, Col. Dunbar's authority being re- voked, the jurisdiction of Massachusetts and the Patentee's right of soil were each acknowledged and confirmed. On Waldo's return, the Thirty Proprietors joined in surrendering to him for his services one-half of the Patent. This half be- ing deducted from 600.000 acres, the estimated number in the whole patent, left 300,000 acres to the Thirty Associates, viz. : 100,000 to the original Ten Associates, and 200,000 to the
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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON.
Twenty who were added under certain obligations for procur- ing settlements. From these obligations they were subse- quently released by Waldo, on their agreement to give up to him one-half of their share, and take their own 100,000 acres in whatever part of the patent they should select. Their selection, long delayed, was made in 1766 ; and comprehended the present towns of Camden, Hope, and Appleton. In the mean time, President Leverett had died as early as 1724, leaving no male heirs; his share in the 100,000 acres of the Ten associates descended to his daughter, Mary Rogers ; and the illustrious name of Leverett, though lingering for a time as the appellation of what is now called Jameson's Point, henceforth disappears from the transactions and land titles of the place.
1730. On the 30th September, 1730, John Noyes, per- haps a son or other kinsman of Oliver Noyes, another of the 20-associates, was appointed truck-master here; and, in con- sequence of letters from Capt. Gyles in August and Septem- ber, respecting a chaplain, the House recommended that Rev. Thomas Pierpont should "accompany the Lieut. Governor and the other gentlemen going eastward to view the fortifica- · tions" as their chaplain, on whose return they could better judge of the matter. But it seems that this recommendation was not complied with, as Belcher Noyes was, Dec. 31st, al- lowed £13, 12s., as chaplain and surgeon of this excursion, which comprised eight gentlemen and two servants, making the whole expense £147, 10s.
1731. This post, being the most eastern, was regarded . as a shield of protection and had influence over. the feebler tribes scattered along further westward; one of whom, Papa- powet, in 1731, petitioned the General Court through Capt. Gyles for a bounty of £4, for "killing a very large grown Wolfe at or near Sheepscote river;" which however was re- fused. But, on another suggestion of Gyles, it was voted, that " forasmuch as transporting of wood for the garrison in the usual manner was found too difficult, the said Gyles have liberty, at charge of the province, to purchase one yoke of oven, one cart, and sled, for that service, (the soldiers to cut and cart the wood, and get hay for keeping the oxen in the season thereof.") For doing this, the extensive salt and fresh meadows of the Wessaweskeag and Mill Rivers furnished excellent facilities, and bad induced the introduction of neat cattle to the place by the Proprietors as before mentioned. who also allowed Capt. Gyles at this time to improve ten acres of the Wessaweskeag marsh, for his own use. The necessity
4*
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HISTORY OF THOMASTON,
of carting fuel, on this the first wheeled vehicle ever intro- duced to the place, other than the gun carriages, shows that the forest had begun to recede, somewhat, from the walls of the fort. The House seems to have been at length gratified by the appointment of their favorite. Thomas Pierpoint, as chaplain here, and voted, Aug. 10th, 1731, to allow him £10 for supplying him with sundry conveniences.
1732. This frontier post was this year honored by a visit of the Governor, Belcher; who, after listening to mutual complaints (which amounted on the part of the Indians to having had two of their dogs killed here for only barking at a cow, having no building to lodge in when coming here to trade, and having had "sour meal and damnified tobacco" dealt out to them some years before in the absence of truck- master Wainwright, with the well founded and general com- plaint of too much rum furnished their people, ) gave them assurances that all these causes of complaint should be re- moved; and on his return recommended to the legislature the re-building of the Fort here, then in a state of decay, - adding that good stone and lime abounded in its vicinity for that purpose.
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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON.
CHAPTER IV.
PERMANENT SETTLEMENTS AND SPANISH WAR.
PEACE. was now well established and likely to continue. Samuel Waldo therefore having, as we have seen, now agreed with the other Proprietors, and obtained a title to five-sixths of the whole patent, was at length in exclusive possession of the lands on the St. George's and Medomac Rivers, and began the settlement here in good earnest. Having made experi- ments upon the lime-stone found near the river at what is now called the Prison quarry and finding it good, he caused a lime-kiln to be erected and lime burnt in considerable quan- tities for the Boston market. This lime-kiln, the first in this region, stood on the eastern bank of the George's, nearly abreast of the present State Prison, between the lower toll bridge and the site of Mr. Paine's old store; where its re- mains are still to be seen. This, with another soon added, lower down, was built and the business managed by Robert McIntyre, an emigrant -from the north of Ireland, who may justly be considered the father of lime-burners in this quarter. He resided here till his death in 1750, when his widow ad- ministered on his estate and removed to Charlestown, Mass. He probably resided within the fort, near which he was buried and his grave marked by a stone; - the desecration of which at a later period excited great indignation in one of his sons, Col. Wm. McIntyre, who settled at Pemaquid. Mr. Waldo also began to make surveys about this time, and other prepa- rations for an extensive settlement which he intended to ex- tend up to the head waters of the river.
1735. These, with similar preparations in other places, excited the jealousy of the Indians; though all care was taken to appease their alarm and secure their friendship. It appears that the house they had asked for, to lodge in when coming here to trade, had been built; as Capt. Gyles in a memorial to the General Court, July 2, 1735, states that " sundrys are necessary for the Repairs of the Block-house, Truck-house, and Indian house, at St. George's river." The subject of these repairs was referred to the next sitting, and again in December to a subsequent one, although the Gover- nor reminded the Court that from the wretched condition of the post " your people, and the goods lodged there for the truck-trade, will become an easy prey on the first rupture that may happen." This Indian-house was without doubt
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HISTORY OF THOMASTON,
located at some little distance from the fort, deeper within the forest; and was probably the building afterwards used as a barn not far from the present Congregational meeting-house.
On the 18th of April, 1735, this lonely post, - tenanted only by a handful of soldiers with the officers. truck-master. and servants, and visited only by the taciturn red-man with his packs of beaver skins, or a solitary sloop now and then coming up the river with a supply of goods, provisions, and news, -saw its monotony interrupted and changed to a scene of lively interest and activity. First came the Indian sachems with their attendants in gay and picturesque costumes, ap- proaching by the Mill River trail and emerging from the woods, or coming from the mouth of that river across the bay in a swift gliding fleet of birchen canoes. These being duly received and provided for, were met by the well-dressed and gentlemanly, but scrutinizing, busy, and energetic Waldo, with his retinue of employees, and some thirty or more sturdy emigrants seeking for a home in these western wilds who had been gathered from Falmouth, Pemaquid, and other places, - coming in crafts of a different description, whose white sails moved gracefully up the river and were furled in front of the. fortress. This assemblage was pervaded by feelings as dif- ferent as were their several interests. Waldo on the one hand was eager for realizing by an extensive settlement a profitable return for his outlay, and perhaps ultimately erect- ing his estate here into an hereditary lordship. The Indians on their part, jealous of what they considered encroachments upon their rights, were firmly resolved to oppose and resist them; whilst the emigrants, who had many of them been long enough on this side the water to judge of the soil by the growth it had reared, approaching from the rock-bound and spruce-covered sea-shore, beheld with delight the stately oaks and majestic pines covering the banks hereabouts, and were already anticipating the crops they were to raise and the homes they were to make beneath their gigantic shadows. Mr. Waldo's first care was to confer with the Indians, and, by plausible explanations and arguments, interpreted by Capt. Gyles, persuade them of .his good intentions and gain their acquiescence. In this, he apparently succeeded. His next business was to arrange a bargain with the emigrants; which, after careful consideration on both sides, was on the 18th of April, O. S. (29th N. S.) coneluded by an instrument in which the conditions of their settlement of the " UPPER Towy on the St. George's," as it was called, were carefully arranged and defined, as described in the Annals of Warren.
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ROCKLAND AND SOUTH THOMASTON.
How long these pioneer settlers remained here at this time is uncertain ; but there is some reason to think that they staid a while, and, after fixing each man's location by a drawing of lots at Pemaquid, commenced felling the trees and making some progress toward building the little dwellings on their new farms; as, on Waldo's return to Boston, in a bond which they seem to have exacted of him in the penal sum of £10,000 for the performance of his part of the contract, dated July 7th, they are named as already of St. George's River. This bond asserts that he had "complied with that part of his en- gagement as to the giving of deeds to the obligees for the lots first agreed for." Some of these deeds being dated on the 18th of June, and having been stipulated for as soon as the lots should be surveyed, we infer that they were first laid out in May or June of 1735. The survey, however, which was made by John North, was incomplete; the boundaries at the river and the division lines a short distance, only, being marked. Of these fifty Upper Town lots thus contracted for and deeded, all but five were situated within the limits of the present town of Warren, whose history has been published. These five, since incorporated in the town of Thomaston, were those of John Alexander on the boundary line of War- ren, near to and often intersecting Oyster River, numbered in the old plan 46, now occupied by George Lermond, Esq., number 47, Henry Alexander, now that of Messrs. Wood- cock, Oliver, Cobb, &c .; number 48, Moses Young, soon succeeded by John North, and now occupied by Capt. J. S. Feyler and others; number 49, Thomas Kilpatrick (or as written in the contract, Kirpatrick or Kirkpatrick); and number 50, John Kilpatrick; both of which together with their back lots subsequently passed into the hand's of the Shib- les family, with whom much of it still remains. Kilpatrick's deed is here inserted as a specimen of those given and as one of the earliest conveyances of' lands to an actual settler, in the place. It will be. seen that though Waldo had contracted to give the lots "gratis, without any quitrent or acknowledge- ment," he did actually reserve a quitrent of one pepper corn, which, however valueless. amounted to an acknowledgement, and was probably intended to preserve a sort of titular lord- ship over the territory.
" To all Persons to whom these presents shall come, Samuel Walilo of Boston, in the County of SaFIK, and Province of the Massachusetts Bay, in New England, m rent, sendeth GREETING.
" WHEREAS Thomas Kirpatrick of Harrington, in the County of York, and Province aforesaid. tanner, hath agreed with the said Samuel Waldo to settle the land- herein after mentioned to be grant-
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