USA > Maine > York County > History of York County, Maine, with illustrations and biographical sketches of its prominent men and pioneers > Part 55
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"By a legal town-meeting for Sace and Cape Porpeise, according to law, on Monday, 21st of May, 1688, whereat Thomas Shepherd, Francis Bachus, John Edgecomb, and John Abbot are chosen select- men for Saco, and Riehard Peard constable for the same ; and John Miller and Nicholas Mering selectmen for Cape Porpoise, and Rich- ard Randall constable for the same; and it is ordered that if Cape Porpoise will not accept of the selcetmen and constable chosen by the town of Saco, then the selectmen in Saco and constable for the same shall act and do for them as selectmen and constable of the same. Also, Edward Sargeant is chosen commissioner, William Geale town clerk, and Thomas Doughty town treasurer."
The " scattering" condition of the settlements, and their exposure to Indian ravages, caused some of the prominent citizens on the west side of the river, near the beginning of the last century, to seek for a new town organization and a more compact settlement, in accordance with the general policy of Massachusetts at that period, to carry out which a committee had been appointed by the General Court "to order and regulate the eastern settlements."
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194
HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY, MAINE.
In 1718 the last meeting of the inhabitants on both sides of the river, under the old name of Saco, was held at the house of John Stackpole, when Ebenezer Hill, Humphrey Scamman, and Richard Stimpson were chosen selectmen. On the 14th of November, of the same year, in answer to a petition of Humphrey Scamman and others, it was " re- solved" by the General Court " that £40 be allowed and paid out of the public treasury for the support of a minister at Winter Harbor for this year; and that the petitioners be invested with the powers of a town according to the ancient bounds thereof; provided, that this order shall in no measure infringe the just title of any person to lands there, and that 50 families at the least, more than now are, be admitted as soon as may be, and settle in a compact and defensible manner according to the directions of Hon. John Wheelwright and others, the committee for regulating the eastern settlements ; and that the name thereof be BIDDE- FORD,"
This name is supposed to have been selected by some of the inhabitants who immigrated from Biddeford, England, which is in the county of Devonshire, near the entrance to the Bristol Channel. " Worcester's Universal Gazetteer" gives the following description of it :
"Biddeford, or Bideford (by the ford), a seaport forty miles north of Exeter, one hundred and eight west of London ; population 3244. It is situated near the union of Towridge and the Taw, over the former of which there is a very long bridge of twenty-four arches. Large quantities of coarse earthenware are made here and sent to most parts of the kingdom. The market is large and well supplied with provisions."
REPRESENTATIVES TO THE GENERAL COURT.
Hamphrey Scamman, 1719-20; Pendleton Fletcher, 1721; Capt. Daniel Smith, 1747-50 ; Rev. Samuel Hill, 1754 ; Samuel Jordan, 1756-63; Jeremiah Hill, Sr., 1766-72 ; Abraham Chase, 1788.
SELECTMEN.
Ebenezer Hill, Humphrey Scamman, Benjamin Haley, 1719 ; Pen- dleton Fletcher, Ebenezer Hill, Humphrey Scamman, 1720; Humphrey Scamman, Abraham Townsend, Ebenezer Hill, 1721 ; Abraham Townsend, Ebenezer Hill, Humphrey Scamman, 1722; Humphrey Scamman, Ebenezer Hill, John Davis, 1723; Hum- phrey Scamman, Ebenezer Hill, Abraham Townsend, 1724-25; Ebenezer Hill, Abraham Townsend, Humphrey Scamman, 1726 ; Samuel Jordan, Ebenezer Hill, Abraham Townsend, 1727: Ben- jamin Haley, Abraham Townsend, John Gordou, 1728; Samuel Jordan, John Stackpole, Humphrey Scamman, 1729; Humphrey Scamman, Samuel Jordan, John Stackpole, 1730; Humphrey Scamman, Ebenezer Hill, Richard Stimpson, 1731; Records de- fective, 1732-34; Robert Patterson, Robert Edgecomb, John Davis, 1735; Ebenezer Hill, John Davis, Robert Patterson, 1736; John Gray, John Stackpole, Samuel Jordan, 1737-39; Samuel Jordan, John Stackpole, Humphrey Scamman, 1740; Ebenezer Hill, Samuel Jordan, John Stackpole, 1741 ; Ebenezer Hill, Rishworth Jordan, Samuel Scamman, 1742; John Gray, Samuel Jordan, Abraham Townsend, Robert Patterson, John Davis, 1743; John Gray, Rishworth Jordan, Ebenezer Hill, Robert Patterson, Robert Brooks, 1744; John Gray, Ebenezer Hill, Robert Patterson, Rishworth Jordan, Dominicus Scamman, 1745; Rishworth Jordau, Thomas Emery, Christopher Bradbury, Johu Stackpole, Jr., Samuel Scamman, Jr., 1746; John Gray, Rish- worth Jordan, Robert Brooks, Samuel Scamman, Jr., Chris- topher Bradbury, 1747; John Gray, Capt. Daniel Smith, Rish- worth Jordan, Christopher Bradbury, Samuel Scamman, 1748 ; Joha Gray, John Davis, Rishworth Jordan, Samuel Scamman, Jr., James Scamman, 1749; Rishworth Jordan, Samuel Scam- man, J. Scammaa, Joseph Dyer, J. Stackpole, Jr., 1750; Rish- worth Jordan, James Scamman, Samuel Scamman, Jr., J. Stack-
pole, Jr., Joseph Dyer, 1751 ; Rishworth Jordan, Samuel Scam- man, Jr., J. Scamman, Joseph Dyer, 1752-53; Rishworth Jordan, Samuel Scamman, Jr., Tristram Jordan, Joseph Dyer, 1754 : R. Jordan, S. Scamman, J. Dyer, T. Jordan, Ebenezer Hill, Jr., 1755-56; Capt. T. Jordan, J. Dyer, Amos Chase, Benjamin Hooper, Jeremiah Hill, 1757-58 ; J. Dyer, B. Hooper, J. Hill, A. Chase, Ebenezer Ayers, 1759; S. Jordan, Capt. T. Jordan, A. Chase, J. Dyer, J. Hill, 1760-62; R. Jordan, S. Jordan, J. Hill, 1763-66; R. Jordan, J. Hill, Benjamin Nason, 1767 ; R. Jordan, J. Hill, B. Hooper, 1768-70; R. Jordan, Obed Emery, E. Hill, 1771; R. Jordan, J. Hill, B. Hooper, 1772-74 ; R. Jordan, Joseph Stimpson, Allison Smith, 1775-76; R. Jordan, B. Hooper, B. Nason, 1777; A. Smith, R. Jordan, Joseph Morrill, 1778; John Dyer, A. Smith, B. Nason, 1780; R. Jordan, Capt. B. Hooper, James Emery, 1781 ; R. Jordan, B. Hooper, A. Smith, 1782-83; A. Smith, John Dyer, Robert Gilpatrick, 1784-85; R. Jordan, B. Hooper, J. Emery, 1786-87 ; A. Smith, R. Gillpatrick, Josiah Hill, 1788.
The town clerks for this period were four, viz., Hum- phrey Scamman, 1717-34; Samuel Jordan, 1734-41 ; Rishworth Jordan, 1741-80; Jeremiah Hill, 1780-88.
PROGRESS OF SETTLEMENTS.
The land on which the city of Biddeford is situated was part of the original estate of Maj. William Phillips, who made the first improvements within its limits. Maj. Phil- lips came here from Boston, in 1660, and the year follow- ing erected his house a few rods below the Falls, on the western side of the river, and also built a grist- and saw- mill at the Falls. The enterprise of Maj. Phillips, in the manufacture of lumber, drew hither quite a little settle- ment, chiefly composed of his employees, who occupied tenement-houses in the vicinity of the mills. The inhab- itants from the country around came to his grist-mill to get their grinding done, some bringing their bags of corn on horseback and some suspended to the yokes of their oxen, as there were scarcely any roads which admitted of the passage of wagons or carts. The little settlement went on quite prosperously till the breaking out of the first Indian war in 1675, when it was destroyed and every building in the place reduced to ashes. Maj. Phillips had garrisoned his house, and, with the aid of his men, defended it bravely, beating off the assaults of the savages till they were com- pclled to abandon the siege, he being wounded in the shoulder. After the enemy had retired he applied for assistance at Winter Harbor, but the settlers being so much alarmed for their own safety, could not help him, and he withdrew his men and family and abandoned his house, which the Indians soon afterwards set on fire, together with the mills and tenements. Maj. Phillips returned to Boston, where he died in 1683 .*
DIVISION OF THE PHILLIPS ESTATE.
On the resettlement of the town in 1718, the Phillips heirs appeared and caused a division of the estate to be made. In running the lines the surveyors begau " at a small brook below the Falls, known by the name of Davis' Brook, and thence ran four miles up the river, and thence backwards four miles into the country," including Factory and Cow Islands and the saw-mill built by Capt. Turfrey. This estate had been devised to Mrs. Phillips and her two
# See full account of this war in general history ; also sketch of Maj. Phillips, elsewhere.
CHARLES HARDY was born in Tewksbury, Mas>., April 22, 1819. He went to Lowell with his father, Capt. Samuel Hardy, who was a builder of note in the infancy of that city. Having a taste for me- chanical pursuits, he entered the mills there in carly life and soon rose to a prominent position : and in 1845 he was invited by the late Otis Holmes, then agent of the Laconia Company, to come to Bidde- ford and become an overseer in the first mill built by that company. In 1850 he was transferred to a wider field in the new Pepperell Mills, and became in his department overseer of all the mills of the Pepperell Company. In this responsible position he remained uotil 1861. His faithfulness to the company in the discharge of every duty, and the care and management of his department, his uniform kindness to his employees, his resolution to carry forward to a suc- cessful completion whatever he undertook, gave him the full con- fideoce of all with whom he was connected in business.
While Mr. Hardy was engaged in the Pepperell Mills, and after- wards until his death, he was one of the most active and enterprising citizens in Biddeford, taking a deep interest in all worthy local enter- prises tending to beautify the city and benefit its citizens. He laid out many streets, and erected a number of residences on the " Heights" in the city : erected a fine residence for himself on City Square : as chair- man of the building committee, enlarged and built several school- houses in 1862-63 ; purchased and laid out Greenwood Cemetery ; aud was president of the association for some time. He purchased and laid out Central Park at Old Orchard Beach ; was treasurer of the Pavilion Church Society for four years, and chairman of the building committee in the erection of the church edifice in 1863: president of the Ne-plus-ultra Collar Company, soon after its organization, until his death, Dec. 30, 1877. He was a member of the city government in 1863 and 1870.
In the various associations with which he was connected, and in the social circle, his presence was always welcome, and his genial spirit infused life and gladness to all around him. He was a devout and consistent follower of Christ, liberal in his views and feelings, and tolerant toward those who differed from him. Que of the active members of the Pavilion Society, and an elder in its church, he was beloved and honored by all.
He married Miss Harriet F. York, of Exeter, N. H. The surviving children are: Hattie, wife of Jesse Gould, a lawyer of Biddeford :
George P. Hardy, connected with the Hardy Machine Company . and Mamie Hardy.
Charles Hardy invented the "Card Grinder :" secured his patent for the same Feb. 5, 1861, and began manufacturing on Gooch Island in 1862; aud in connection with this business he carried on a hardware and manufacturer's supply-store. The English Spinning Roll Com- pany was incorporated Feb. 11, 1865, the incorporators being James G. Garland, Luther Bryant, Francis A. Small, James R. Clark. George II. Adams, and Charles A. Shaw. President, James G. Gar- land : treasurer, Francis A. Small. Members of this incorporation purchased the Weild Patent, and transferred their right to the com- pany. On July 10. 1865, Mr. Charles llardy, having purchased the Parker Patent in 1860, also transferred his rights to that and the Card Grinder Patent to the same company, and in February, 1866. the charter of the company was amended. took the name of the Hardy Machine Company, and increased its capital stock to seventy- five thousand dollars.
The business of this company has been carried on on the corner of Elm and Lincoln Streets in Biddeford, where the buildings for- merly used for milling purposes have been enlarged and rebuilt. After the organization of the company until 1871, a grist-mill, planing-mill, and wood job-shop were run in connection with the manufacture of card grinders and card-grinding machinery ; since which time only iron and wood joh-work is carried on. With the manufacturing interest the business of the Hardy Machine Company has become an important interest in Biddeford, and its manufactures are in popular and constant demand throughout the United States and Canada, with a limited market in other countries, and to Mr. Hardy's enterprise the company owes largely its great success.
The directors upon its organization were R. M. Chapman, Charles Hardy. James G. Garland, James R. Clark, Risworth Jordan, Jr., and George Il. Adams. Presidents of the company have been R. M. Chapman and Risworth Jordan, Jr. : treasurers, Charles Hardy. R. M. Chapman, and John H. Burnham : secretaries, James G. Garland. R. M. Chapman, and George A. Emery. The officers of the company, in 1879. are: president, Risworth Jordan, Jr. : treasurer, John H. Burnham : secretary, George A. Emery : directors, Risworth Jordan, Jr .. John H. Burnham, Luther Bryant, Frederick A. Day, George A. Emery, and Joshua A. Moore.
195
CITY OF BIDDEFORD.
sons, Samuel and William, with the exception of one-fourth part previously sold to Abraham Harmon. Samuel, a few years after the death of his father, had sold his undivided part, being one-fourth of the whole, to Capt. George Tur- frey. One-half of the tract only, therefore, was claimed by the Phillips family at the time of the division, which took place in September, 1718. In the division, six acres about the mill were assigned to the proprietors in common (John Briggs and others, of Boston)* for a landing, still known as the " Mill Brow."
The commissioners proceeded . as follows : (1st) they laid out to Briggs, beginning at Davis' Brook, an extent of eight rods on the river, running back southwest four miles to the bounds of the patent ; (2d) to the Phillips heirs, one hun- dred and sixty rods next above on the river, and four miles back ; (3d) to the heirs and assigns of Harmon, eighty rods ; (4th) to the Phillips heirs, one mile and a half; (5th ) to Briggs, three-fourths of a mile; (6th) to Harmon, three- fourths of a mile. Two years after the Phillips heirs sold out in part to Edward Bromfield, Jr., Thomas Salter, Samuel Adams, and Henry Hill, all of Boston. Briggs also sold in part to Tristram Little, of Newbury, a few years later. The supposed heir of Harmon, George Buck, of Biddeford, England, did not appear till a much later date. In 1758 he sold Harmon's first lot (eighty rods wide) to Benjamin Nason ; and nine years after the second lot (three- fourths of a mile in breadth) to John McIntire, of York. Corresponding shares in the mill long known as the " Lower Mill" were conveyed with the land. Nathaniel, son of Maj. Phillips, left no lineal heirs. His nephew, William, took out administration on the estate in 1719, and brought in a tract of land one and a quarter miles in breadth on the river, and extending four miles to the southwest. Adams, Salter, and Bromfield, afterwards joined by Pepperell, bought out the collateral heirs, and divided the tract among themselves.
Parker's Neck, on which Fort Mary was built, was a portion of the property, and was sold by the heirs in 1727 to Capt. Samuel Jordan.
The proprietors began their division of the Nathaniel Phillips tract on the southerly line of Phillips' patent, as the line was determined upon between him and the town, namely, near Ambrose Berry's house, thought to be near Clarke's Brook, running north by course of the river two hundred and forty-two rods, and back three miles; and, secondly, a tract adjoining this two hundred and twenty- four rods wide to land of Mr. Gordon-formerly Pendle- ton's-four miles back.
This Pendleton lot of 600 acres devised by Maj. Pen- dleton to his son James was conveyed by him to Nicholas Moray, of Taunton, Mass., in 1700, and Moray took pos- session the same year, in presence of Joseph and John Hill. John Gordon, of Newbury, afterwards bought a part of this land, and his two sons, Allen and Joseph, were settled on it in 1728. Descendants of Joseph still occupy it.
The 500 acres Maj. Phillips conveyed to his sons-in-law, Zachary Gillam and Ephraim Turner, were next above Pen- dleton's, and had West's Brook as a southwest boundary.
In width it was seventy rods, and ran to the western limit of the patent. Above that came the Hutchinson, afterwards called the Liscomb lot, equal in acres. In 1742 the heirs, Abigail Gillam, Widow Abigail Taylor, and Brattle Oliver, of Boston, conveyed both lots to Capt. Samuel Jordan, Rishworth, his son, and Joseph Poak, of Scarboro'. Poak took one-half as his part of the purchase, on which he afterwards resided; hence it acquired the name of Poak's Right.
The strip of land between Nason's IIill and Davis' Brook -a small stream running through the village-was claimed in 1718 by John Hobbs, of Boston, grandson of Christopher, who purchased it of Maj. Phillips in 1673, and for many years it was the property of Col. John Tyng, of Tyngsboro', Mass.
It will thus be seen that titles north of Clarke's Brook were derived from Phillips, while those south of it, after 1659, were in the main obtained from the town. In 1738 it is stated there were upwards of twenty families living north of Clarke's Brook.
By this time there were no further apprehensions of In- dian troubles, and the settlement began to assume a char- acter of permanent prosperity. Capt. Thomas Bradbury, the commander of the block-house during the war, removed to Biddeford after its termination, having purchased a tract of land above the Falls, of which the estate of Dominicus Cutts formed a part. He built a house with a garrison at that place, and a saw-mill on the brook, but removed a few years after to Buxton. Mr. Jacob Bradbury, his brother, settled in Biddeford about the same time. They came from Salisbury, Mass. Mr. Christopher Bradbury, who was of a different branch of the same family, settled in York, and removed to this town in 1740. Capt. Jonathan Bean, of York (son of Capt. Lewis Bean), succeeded Capt. Brad- bury in the command of the block-house. His son was likewise lieutenant of the company stationed there.
The establishment continued to be kept up till 1759, when the soldiers were disbanded, and the cannon, of which there were several small pieces, were transferred to Castle William, in Boston harbor. The block-house was not de- signed for the defense of the inhabitants, but as a store- house for supplying the Indians with goods at a fair price in time of peace ; it was, however, used for the former pur- pose. The principal building was inclosed by a strong picket-wall with flankers, leaving sufficient space within the inclosure for a house to contain the stores and for a parade- ground. No remains of the building are now visible, although part of the foundation was standing in 1830. This was the famous " truck-house" on Saco River, of which Rev. Ammi R. Cutter, of North Yarmouth, had charge in 1743. There is in the town records a copy of a note from him to the town clerk, informing him of an estray, dated " Biddeford, Dec. 3, 1743," written probably from the truck-house. He was succeeded by Capt. Daniel Smith, of Biddeford. The predecessor of Rev. Mr. Cutter in the office was undoubtedly Thomas Smith, father of the famous parson, Rev. Thomas Smith, of Portland. We find in the memoir of Rev. Mr. Smith the following: "His father died at Saco, Feb. 19, 1742. He was engaged there as Indian agent, or truckmaster, and had been for many years
* Briggs had married Katherine, a daughter of Capt. Turfrey.
196
HISTORY OF YORK COUNTY, MAINE.
in the service of the government in connection with Indian affairs in the State."
In 1750 the settlement on the western side of the Falls (Biddeford) appears to have become the most considerable in the town. Three saw-mills were in operation at that time, viz., Gooch's, Cole's, and the Lower Mill, so called, which gave employment to many persons who were settled in the vicinity. A ferry had been established several years before just below the present lower bridges. It was kept on the Biddeford side by Elisha Allen, who traded and entertained travelers in a small one-story house. He after- wards built at the same place the house subsequently occu- pied by Capt. Samuel White, where he (Allen) lived till the close of the Revolutionary war. He purchased a traet of land in this section, beginning at the Ripples and ex- tending "one hundred and thirty-seven poles upon the southeast and northwest line, taking in all the coves upou the tide-river and so to low-water mark," and " to run four miles in length southwest to the bounds of the patent," of Eliakim Hutchinson, Esq., of Boston, heir of William Hutchinson, to whom it was conveyed by Maj. Phillips in 1673. Allen bought the tract for £1200, and immediately conveyed forty-five rods on the southeast side to Thomas Gilpatrick, Jr., and the same extent uext above to Benja- min Nason .* Allen conveyed the remainder of his pur- chase several years later to Col. John Tyng, merchant of Boston, afterwards of Tyngsboro', Mass., who retained the property until his death in 1797.
A few rods above Allen lived Joshua Warren, and above him Benjamin Ilooper, Esq., who subsequently built the house where Capt. Samuel Emery lived. William Dyer and Obed Emery were situated on the opposite side of the road, where Jeremiah Hill, Esq., a son-in-law of Mr. Emery, subsequently resided. Hooper and Emery were from Ber- wick, and settled in town about 1740. In the vicinity of the " Mill Brow" were William Cole, son of Samuel Cole, the original proprietor of the Cole mill ; John Gray, a son of Robert, and Theophilus Smith, son of Capt. Daniel Smith, who were the principal millmen. Mr. William Cole died in 1754, at the age of thirty-six, leaving four sons and one daughter, viz., William, Jeremiah, Olive, Benjamin, and Nathaniel. The daughter married Lemuel Foss in 1761.
Mr. John Gray possessed a valuable estate in the vicinity of the Falls. He married a daughter of Matthew Patten in 1743. The house in which he resided stood near the Mill Brow. He built another for his son-in-law, Mr. David King (brother of Richard King, Esq., of Scar- borough) at the place called " King's Corners," a short dis- tance above the upper meeting-house. Robert Gray had two other sons, James and Robert. The latter purchased the interest of James Clark, in the vicinity of the lower meeting-house, where he afterwards lived.
A stone fort built by Maj. Converse in the summer
of 1693, while Sir William Phips was Governor of Mas- sachusetts, stood on the grounds of the present Water- Power Machine-Shops. It was made very strong, and afforded great security to the settlers. Remains of it were still there and were removed or graded down when the Saco Water-Power Company erected their shops in 1840. Maj. Hooke and Capt. Hill had charge of the erection of this fortification. Soldiers were stationed here under Capt. George Turfrey and Lieut. Pendleton Fletcher. In 1695 two soldiers belonging to the fort fell into the hands of the Indians, and Sergt. Haley, venturing too far from the fort in the latter part of the summer, was captured. The next year five soldiers lost their lives in the neighborhood at the hands of the cunning and watchful savages. In 1697, Lieut. Fletcher, his two sons, and three soldiers went upon Cow Island to procure fire- wood for the use of the garrison. While the soldiers were cutting it, the lieutenant and his sons started down the river to shoot water-fowl. The Indians, ever on the watch, took advantage of their unguarded condition and captured the whole party.
Forces were kept in this stone fort till 1708, when the General Court ordered their removal to Winter Harbor, where a new fort was built on the extremity of the point at the entrance to the Pool. Three hundred pounds were appropriated for the object, and Maj. Joseph Hammond and Capt. Lewis Bean were appointed to carry the order into effect. In 1710, £100 were granted by the court towards the completion of the fortification, which was called Fort Mary. The remains of Fort Mary are still visible on the point which is called Fort Hill.
SURFACE AND SOIL.
The surface of the town is rather broken and hilly, con- siderable portions of it are rocky, and consequently unpro- ductive ; yet, where the land admits of it, good farms are found, and much care and pains are taken in their cultiva- tion. The labor, enterprise, and economy necessary to make the soil yield a comfortable subsistence are well understood by the farmers of this town, who are well up to the times in their knowledge of fertilizers and their mode of husbandry. Corn and hay are the leading crops, but other grains, vege- tables, and the more hardy fruits are raised in sufficient quantities for domestic use.
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