USA > Maine > York County > History of York County, Maine, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 17
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The Indians appear this year to have marked the settle- ments from Brunswick to Saco for destruction. But by a timely warning given by young Knight, who escaped from the enemy and put the settlers on their guard, the evil was in a great measure averted. Nevertheless the Indians made considerable havoc at North Yarmouth, Flying Point, Harps- well, New Gloucester, and Windham, at the latter place their chief, Poland, being killed in an engagement with several men, among whom Brown and Winship were vic- tims of savage slaughter. Depredations were also com- mitted farther east, and coasting vessels plundered while at anchor.
The expeditions planned for the summer resulted un- favorably, except that against Fort Du Quesne, under Gen. Forbes. Ticonderoga and Crown Point were not redueed. The expedition against Louisbourg in June, 1758, proved an- other brilliant success against that city and fortress. About six hundred men for this campaign were recruited in Maine, besides three hundred raised for scout and garrison duty. The enterprise received the popular sanction with almost as much enthusiasm as in the last war, seven thousand men being easily raised in the province. Major-General Am- herst, commander of the regular and provincial forees, and Admiral Boscawen, with fifty-seven sail, mostly from Eng- land, anchored June 2d, in the bay opposite the city. The French garrison consisted of two thousand five hundred regular troops, three hundred militia, and sixty or seventy Indian warriors. The English, through the skillful and successful placing of the batteries by Gen. James Wolfe, soon gained complete command of the harbor, and several large breaches being made in the works, the French com- mander capitulated July 26th. The inhabitants of the island were sent to France, and the soldiers and mariners, five thousand six hundred and thirty-seven, sent as prisoners to England.
Events hastened to a glorious conclusion during the year 1759. Penobscot was taken possession of, and a strong fort erected on the west side of the river, about a league below the foot of Orphan Island, called Fort Pownal. Gen. Waldo, while surveying the spot, fell instantly dead of a stroke of apoplexy. The fort was garrisoned by one hun- dred men, under the command of Brig .- Gen. Jedediah
Preble, of Falmouth. It was the most completely-con- structed and defensible fort in the province, and the ex- penses of building it were reimbursed by Parliament.
In each of the three northern campaigns the English and provincial arms met with entire success. Niagara surrendered, July 25th, to Sir William Johnson, Gen. Pri- deaux being killed. The second day afterwards Ticonderoga and Crown Point were reduced by Gen. Amherst. Before that time Gen. Wolfe had commenced the famous siege of Quebec,-a place of ten thousand souls, and more strongly fortified and better garrisoned than any other place in America. Scaling the heights, deemed inaccessible to hu- man skill, in a single night, that of September 13th, he commenced the attack upon the city. The battle, bloody and desperate, became general about nine in the morning, and before noon the victory of the English was decisive. Wolfe and Montealm, the two opposing generals, were both killed, and with them fell sixteen hundred men, the loss of the French being about twice that of the English. On the fifth day the city capitulated, and, being reduced to the dominion of Great Britain, was garrisoned by about five thousand soldiers.
The people of Maine partook largely in the general joy which this event diffused over the whole country, in a well- founded hope that now savage warfare and scenes of blood would eease throughout the whole land. Every great re- verse of fortune experienced by the French had a baleful effect upon the interest and affairs of the northern and east- ern Indian tribes. Beaten in Nova Scotia, and met at every avenue in their late hostile attempts upon the well-guarded frontiers of Maine, they had entered the camp of the French to help them fight out their battles. They had thus changed the mode of warfare through necessity. Their bloody cru- elties and devastations in the outer towns and plantations of New England were yet by no means effaced from recol- lection, and a day of retribution had arrived.
St. François, a village which had through a period of many years been enriched by the plunder of the English frontiers and the sale of captives,-the nest whence had emanated the most subtle and malignant tools of the French priesthood and authorities,-was now singled out for its deserved destruction. On the 13th of September, Gen. Amherst sent Maj. Rogers, with about two hundred rangers, to lay the place in ashes. After a fatiguing march of twenty-one days, he came in sight of the village, which he discovered from the top of a tree. Halting his men at a distance of three miles, he rested till twilight. In the evening he entered the village in disguise, with two of his officers. The Indians being engaged in a great dance, he passed through them undiscovered. Having formed his men into parties and posted them to advantage, he made a general assault, October 4th, just before day, while the In- dians, fatigued by exercise, were sound asleep. A general slaughter ensued. Many were killed,-shot and thrust through, falling upon the spot; others, attempting to escape, were piereed or shot by the soldiers. About twenty pris- oners were taken, and five English captives rescued from the horrid fate of their brethren, whose scalps, torn from their heads and waving from the tops of poles, met the gaze of the assailants as daylight revealed the sickening scene.
68
HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY, MAINE.
Early in 1760 the Indians began to sue for peace, and treaties were made with the St. John, Pussamaquoddy, and Penobscot tribes. The conquest of Canada was com- pleted by the surrender of Montreal to the English, Sept. 8, 1760. The whole acquisition received a solemn confir- mation at the close of the war hy the sanction of a treaty, which was succeeded by a peace to the frontiers of New England firm and ending.
CHAPTER XIX.
DIVISION OF THE COUNTY.
Extent of Yorkshire-Term of Court extended to Falmouth-Act for the Erection of Cumberland and Lincoln-Boundaries of York -Location of the Courts-Revision of the Judiciary-Provincial Tax-Population and Valuation of the County.
YORKSHIRE at first extended from the Piscataqua to a little east of the Presumpscot River, in what is now the town of Falmouth, Cumberland County. In 1716 the Gen- eral Court ordered that all the lands, families, and settle- ments eastward of Sagadahock, within the provincial charter limits, be annexed to Yorkshire. At this time York was made the shire-town for holding all the courts and keeping the registry of deeds. Yorkshire continued to embrace an extent of territory commensurate with the present geograph- ical limits of the State up to 1760.
As early as 1733 the inconvenience of attending court at York by people in the eastern part of the county was so severely felt that the towns authorized their selectmen to petition the General Court to divide the county, or have terms of the courts held farther east. It was in consequence of this effort that a term of the Inferior Court and of the Court of General Sessions of the Peace was extended to Falmouth for one session a year in June, 1735. The first term of these courts was held in Falmouth in October, 1736, by Chief Justice William Pepperell, of Kittery. Both courts were held at the same time aud place. The judges were Samuel Came, Timothy Gerrish, Joseph Moody, and Jeremiah Moulton ; John Leighton was sheriff. Falmouth thus became a half-shire town, and Yorkshire assumed the name of York County. In 1760 the two new counties of Cumberland and Lincoln were formed from the eastern por- tion. The boundary between York and Cumberland was made to run, as at present, northerly of Saco, Buxton, and Limington, to the point where the northwest line of Stand- ishi intersects the Saco River, and thence north two degrees west, on a true course to the most northern limits of the province. In 1805 the section north of the Great Ossipee was cut off to form a part of Oxford County ; since which the boundaries of this once great jurisdiction have re- mained unchanged.
The Supreme Judicial Court was held at Wells from 1800 to 1802, when it was removed to Alfred. At the first session there the bench was occupied by Justices Dana, Cushing, and Thacher. The Common Pleas sat at Bidde- ford from 1790 to 1806, and at Waterborough from 1790 to 1806, in which latter ycar the sessions of this court were removed to Alfred. The latter remained exclusively the
shire-town till 1860, since which that honor has been shared by Saco.
The Supreme Judicial Court for York County sits at Saco on the 1st Tuesday in January, and at Alfred on the 3d Tuesdays in May and September. The Court of Pro- bate is held at Saco on the 1st Tuesdays of January and February, at Biddeford on the 1st Tuesdays of May and July, and at Alfred on the 1st Tuesdays of the other months.
For the purposes of the Law Court, York County is associated with Cumberlaud, Oxford, Androscoggin, and Franklin Counties, forming the Western Judicial District, with annual term at Portland in July.
In 1799 the General Court divided York County cross- wise along the Great Ossipee, forming a northern district, with Probate Court and Registry of Deeds at Fryeburg. This arrangement continued till 1805, when the northern district was included in the new county of Oxford.
In 1800, in order to dispatch business which had accu- mulated on the docket, the number of judges of the Su- preme Court was increased from five to seven. Terms were holden twice each year in all the counties of Maine except Washington and Hancock, and, instead of all the judges being required to be present in the adjudication of causes, any three could hold a court, and sessions might be carried on at the same time in different counties. The act also authorized the appointment of a solicitor-general, with a salary of one thousand dollars a year. The com- monwealth was divided into three circuits.
In 1805 the judiciary system underwent another modifi- cation. The number of judges of the Supreme Court was reduced again to five, any three of whom constituted a quorum for deciding cases of law in the spring circuit, and one judge alone authorized to preside in all jury trials. This introduction of the nisi prius system was an important improvement. It gave an opportunity to the judges to con- sult authorities, and centered the responsibility for correct and learned decisions in one individual, whose opinions were subject to revision upon a writ of exceptions before the whole court at the next term. With this improvement was also introduced a reporter of decisions, Ephraim Wil- liams, of Deerfield, being the first to fill that office.
A law passed March 9, 1804, prescribed to the bench of Common Pleas a chief justice and two associates, instead of four judges, as previously ; and so extended their jurisdic- tion as to embrace all matters cognizable by the Quarter Sessions of the Peace, except what related to jails and other county buildings, to county taxes and accounts, and to licenses and highways. The sessions of the two courts, which had previously been held together, were thus sepa- rated. This was the first essential change made in the sub- ordinate courts for more than a century, or from their first establishment under the provincial charter of 1691.
The year of the division of the county (1760) was sig- ualized by the accession of George III. to the throne of Great Britain. A provincial tax of £1000 was levied in 1761, of which the proportion of York County was £38 15s. 6d. The following apportionment exhibits the relative importance of the towns and plantations of the county at that time: York, £9 3s. 5d .; Kittery, £9 10s. 8d. 3f .;
69
PERIOD OF THE REVOLUTION.
Berwick, £7 10s. 9d .; Wells, £4 17s. ; Arundel, £2 9s. 10d. 1f .; Biddeford, £4 11s. 11d .; Narragansett No. 1, or Buxton, 11s. 10d. On the 12th of March the same year, two shocks of earthquake were felt at fifteen minutes past two A.M., producing an undulatory motion of the earth quite perceptible in this region. The importation of tea, coffee, china-ware, and other articles into the province was at this time subject to excise duty, and Nathaniel Clark was collector for York County.
A census taken in 1764 showed the white population of York County to be 11,145, distributed among the several towns as follows : York, 2277 ; Kittery, 2338; Wells, 1563; Berwick, 2374 ; Arundel, 833; Biddeford, 627 ; Pepperell- boro' (Saco), 538 ; Lebanon, 200; Philipstown (Sanford), 150; Buxton, 225. There were 1734 families, 1281 houses, and 215 negroes.
POPULATION AND VALUATION.
TOWNS.
1860.
1870.
Polls.
Estates.
Polls.
Estates.
Acton.
1,218
1,008
255
$277,816
2270
$327,189
Alfred.
1.256
1.224
307
381,024
297
427,140
Berwick
2,155
2,291
408
483,447
431
641,329
Biddeford
9,349
10,282
1,615
4,593,047
2,205
5,682,402
Buxton.
2.853
2.546
645
686,353
631
829,899
Cornish
1,153
1,100 61
180
199,478
164
242,043
Elliot
1.767
1,769
396
460,438
399
535,982
Hollis.
1,683
1,541
379
348,599
424
444,428
Kennelnink
2,679
2,603
637
1,559,902
610
1,577,504
Kennebunkport
3,668
2,372
629
890,229
622
901,431
Kittery
2,974
3,333
582
363,327
727
622,523
Limerick
1,441
1,425
436
468,228
420
567,808
Lyman ..
1,307
1,052
286
269,853
269
345,346
Newfield
1,349
1,193
287
252,839
275
298,895
North Berwick
1,492
1,623
346
398,112
357
572,927
Parsonsfield
2.125
1.894
485
551,465
454
632,097
Saco.
6,223
5,755
1.173
2,991,564
1,349
3,116,374
1,273
1,087
318
216,372
271
251,118
Sanford.
2,221
2,397
526
447,061
526
560,542
South Berwick
2,624
2,510
50
676,387
532
818,022
Waterborough ...
1,824
1,548
586
286,440
388
364,270
Wells.
2.878
2.773
652
591,001
639
683,940
York
2,825
2,654
614
702,218
614
771,776
Isle of Shoals
25
Total .62,107
60,174
13,038 $19,135,618 13,834 822,442,875
CHAPTER XX.
PERIOD OF THE REVOLUTION.
Spirit of the People of Maine-York County Congress-Resolutions adopted by Towns-Excitement at the Court in York-Denuncia- tion of Tories-Committees of Correspondence and Safety-Dele- gates to Provincial Congress-Military Service-Notable Events of the Revolution in Maine.
IN no portion of the colonies, at the commencement of the war for independence, was the spirit of liberty and resistance to British aggression more pronounced than in Maine. The long discipline which the inhabitants had received in civil affairs and in war with the French and Indians, had prepared them to meet with intelligence and firmness the new issues involved in a struggle with the mother-country. That struggle, beginning at least ten years before the actual conflict of arms, during which the issues between the colonies and Great Britain were clearly defined, and the principles and rights of free government thoroughly discussed and understood, became the most valuable school for the training of a people who were after- wards to exercise the privileges of self-government.
The spirit of these preliminary discussions is well ex-
pressed by an able writer in a London magazine, who, upon reading the essays and resolves of that period, remarks,-
"There is such just and cogent reasoning, and such a spirit of liberty breathing through the whole of the American productions upon the subject of civil rights, as would not have disgraced ancient Greece or Rome when struggling against oppression."
The towns of York County held meetings at an early stage of the conflict, and resolved to uphold to the fullest extent the measures taken by the Provincial Congress to maintain the rights and liberties of the colonies.
The " York County Congress," so called, convened at Wells on the 15th and 16th of November, 1774. This body was composed of delegates from the several towns in the county, and put forth the following declaration and resolves :
" His Majesty's loyal subjects, the delegates of the several towns of the county of York, deputed to meet in County Congress, held at Wells the 16th day of November, 1774, truly professing ourselves liege subjects of His Majesty, King George the Third, and sincere friends to all our fellow-subjects in Britain and the Colonies, for the necessary defense of our liberties and privileges come unto the following resolutions :
" Resolved, That the people have the right to tax themselves, and no other persons, assemblies, and parliaments have, and the English acts to tax them are unconstitutional.
" Resolved, That all civil officers in this county ought to exercise their powers as though these acts had not been passed; that venires for jurors ought to issue and be obeyed as before.
" Resolved, That this Congress recommend to every individual to use their influence for peace.
" Whereas, William Pepperell, haronet, in his lifetime honestly acquired a large estate, and gave the highest evidence not only of being a sincere friend to the rights of man in general, but having a fraternal love for this country in particular ; and whereas his son Wil- liam, to whom his estate was devised, bath, with purpose to carry into effect acts of the British Parliament, made with the design to enslave the free and loyal people of the continent, accepted and now holds a seat at the pretended Board of Councilors in this province, and therefore forfeited confidence ; it is recommended to the people and his lessees to withdraw all connection, commerce, and dealings with him, and take no leases of his farms or mills; and if anybody dves deal with him, we recommend the people to have no dealings or intercourse with such an one.
" Resolved, That the thanks of this county are due to the worthy and patriotic members of the Continental Congress for their noble and faithful exertions in the cause of their country.
"WILLIAM LAIGHTON, Clerk."
It is to be regretted that the names of the members of this Congress have not been preserved. But, no doubt, the body was composed of men of the highest standing in the county. The Congress convened at Littlefield tavern, and the bill of expenses, including considerable " brandy punch," " 26 men's dinners at 11s. 3d.," " 23 men's dinners at 11s. 3d.," and " 15 horses at 10d.," is among the interesting relics of the meeting .*
At no period during the Revolutionary war was the popu- lar excitement more intense than at this time. Men were denounced and proscribed not as comprehended under a general class, but individually, as persons with whom there should be no intercourse. There was no charity for dis- senters, for the weak or irresolute, much less for those who were holding offices under the king, or were suppressing their patriotism in the interests of commerce, or for those who were timid or trembling amidst the general commotion
See Judge Bourne's History of Wells and Kennebunk, p. 471.
Lebaoou.
2.040
1,953
460 897
282,339
307
392,637
Limington
2.004
1,630
267
268,405
257
310,678
Dayton
701
489,674
396
524,575
Shapleigh
70
HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY, MAINE.
which had been exeited throughout the provinces. They could not tolerate even the presence of such men among them, regarding every one as either a friend or an enemy to his country.
In the first week of January, 1775, the court was held at York. Such was the passion and excitement of the hour that no reasonable man could look for a just verdict in any cause. John Sullivan, who was accustomed to attend the terms of court, was full of the spirit of rebellion against the arbitrary measures of the British government, and was ready to meet any emergency to which his outspoken senti- ments of patriotism might lead. He was a member of the Continental Congress, and was full of the spirit just brought from a meeting of that body. He had expressed himself very freely in Congress, and was determined to express himself with equal freedom at court, irrespective of the conservatism of the judges, who were disposed, in view of the embarrassments of the occasion, to adjourn the session. This created a great popular clamor, and some of the ex- eited multitude threatened to pull the judges from their seats. Sullivan harangued the people with great power and eloquence, telling them that their rights and privileges were to be wrested from them, that they were to be made the slaves of arbitrary power, and that the courts were the willing instruments for putting the yoke upon their necks. At the same time Capt. Daniel Bragdon, who had attended the Congress as an interested visitor, gathered a large mul- titude around him outside the court-house, and addressed them with all the eloquence of which he was master, call- ing upon them to arouse themselves in opposition to the acts of Parliament, and denouncing all as enemies of their country who would not come up to the work of resistance. Such was the excitement that the court adjourned without doing any business. Judge Sayward declared that he would not sit to hear an action through. Judge Moulton sympathized strongly with the great body of the people. James Sullivan, then in the practice of law at Biddeford, manifested somewhat more equanimity than his brother John, and, being desirous to avoid all collisions and polit- ical controversies in court, whereby its character might not be compromised, did what he could to maintain order aud allay excitement, as also did David Wyer, then a prominent lawyer residing in Portland.
Although the court was quietly adjourned without day, Sayward, from the spirit here manifested, felt himself to be in constant peril. The threats of the people daily reached his ears, and from this time till nearly the close of the war he was constantly watched, and escaped the fury of the mob only by evneealment. Every one mistrusted was put under the ban of popular disapprobation, or compelled to sign an artiele disavowing Tory sentiments. Dr. Alden, of Biddeford, being strongly suspected of furnishing through Capt. John Stackpole materials for barracks for the Eng- lish soldiers at Boston, was waited upon by a multitude gathered at Saco from all the adjoining towns, and com- pelled not only to ask pardon on his knees, but to subscribe to the following declaration :
" Whereas I have uttered many words, out of town and in, counte- nancing arbitrary acts of Parliament, which has given offense to the budy now assembled, I do hereby express my sincere penitence there-
for, and promise, on oath, not to be guilty of anything of that kind for the future. And, whereas I asked sundry persons to sign a paper to the board of commissioners, therein insinuating myself to be a Tory, I hereby declare I am sorry therefor, and that I never will be guilty of anything of that kind for the future, nor do anything against the just rights of my country.
" Oct. 18, 1774.
ABIATHER ALDEN."
We give below a few samples of the resolutions passed by different towns during the excitement of the preliminary struggle. The following, probably drawn up by Hon. James Sullivan, afterwards Governor of Massachusetts, were adopted with great unanimity by the inhabitants of Bidde- ford, at a meeting held on the 30th of July, 1774:
" Whereas, The Parliament of Great Britain has, for the express purpose of raising a revenue and an unconstitutional tax on the Eng- lish-American Colonies, made several aets highly distressing to said Colonies in general, and to this provinee in particular; by which acts the metropolis of the province is bloeked up and distressed, the eivil government of the province altered (as far as hy said acts it can be) in the most material and privileged points thereof, and particularly the invaluable right of a trial by an uncorrupted jury, entirely de- stroyed ;
" Therefore, Resolred, That the inhabitants of this town, now as- sembled, will, in a resolute, manly, and determined manner, pursue all sneh legal and coustitutional methods as shall by the other towns in the province he thought conducive to the restoration of our natural rights as men, and political rights as Englishmen ; and that no incon- venience, however injurious to the private interest of any of us, shall be a sufficient cause to break this resolution.
" And whereus, The Committee of Correspondence for the town of Boston has transmitted to us papers to be signed by the inhabitants of this town, which papers contain covenant oaths and agreements that the subscribers thereto shall break off all commereial intercourse with the Island of Great Britain until the oppressive acts aforesaid are totally repealed : and the inhabitants of this town being very sen- sible that there is no method yet pointed out which tends so much to the advaucing of the opulence of this country and happy extrication of it from its present difficulties and distresses as the universal coming into and the religious observation of those covenant oaths and agree- ments, or others somewhat similar thereto :
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