USA > Maine > Lincoln County > Bristol > History of York, Maine, successively known as Bristol (1632), Agamenticus (1641), Gorgeana (1642), and York (1652) Vol. I > Part 10
USA > Maine > York County > York > History of York, Maine, successively known as Bristol (1632), Agamenticus (1641), Gorgeana (1642), and York (1652) Vol. I > Part 10
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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
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THE PIONEERS OF YORK
ST. PETER'S CHURCH, TIVERTON, DEVON Where George Puddington was married
that business. In 1646 he was fined for exaction in selling victuals, which seems to bear out this surmise (G. R. vii, 228). He died between July 3, 1647 and June 5, 1649, aged about fifty years. His will dated June 25, 1647, but not recorded for nearly half a century, on June 18, 1696, is as follows:
In the Name of God Amen/
the xxvth of June in the year of our Lord one thousand Six hundred Forty Seven I George Puddington the inprofitable Servant of God, weake in body, but Strong in mind, doe willingly and with a free heart render and give again into the hands of my Lord God and Creator my Spirit which he of his Fatherly goodness gave unto me when he first fashioned me in my Mothers Wombe, making me a living and a reasonable Creature, Nothing Doubting but that for his infinite Mercye, Set forth in the precious blood of his Dearly beloved Son Jesus Christ our only Saviour & Redeemer he will receive my Soul into his Blessed Saints
And as concerning my body Even with a good will & free heart I give over, recommending it to the earth whereof it came nothing doubting but according to the Article of my faith at the great day of general
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Resurrection when we shall appear before the Judgment Seat of Christ I shall receive the same again by the mighty power of God whereas he is able to subdue all things to himselfe, Not a corruptable Mortall weak and vile body as it is now but an incorruptible, immor- tall, Strong and perfect body in all points.
First as concerning my wife with whome I Coupled my Selfe in the fear of God refuseing all other women I linked my Selfe unto her, living with her in the Blessed State of Honourable Wedlock, by whom also by the Blessing of God I have now two Sons and three daughters, John & Elias Mary Frances and Rebecca. And albeit I doubt not that God after my departure according to his promise will be unto her a husband yea a father and a Patron and Defender, and will not Suffer her to lack if she Trust fear and Serve him dilligently calling upon his holy name, yet forasmuch as God hath Blessed me with Worldly Substance and She is my own flesh, and whoso provideth not for his denieth the Faith and is worse than an Infidell/
I therefore give & bequeath unto John my Eldest Son, and Elias my youngest Son all my land and houses and out houses which are now in my possession where I now dwell in Gorgeana in New-England and alsoe all my Marsh ground or land, in Gorgeana aforesaid with all the appurtenances thereunto belonging to them and to their heires for ever Equally to be Devided, but if any of my Sons doe Die without heires of his body lawfully begotten that then the land and Marishes aforesaid remain to the longest liver and to his heires for Ever. But if it shall please God that both my Sons doe die without heires of their bodyes lawfully begotten that then I give and bequeath the aforesaid land and Marish ground unto my three daughters Mary Rebecca & Frances, and to their heires for Ever/ And if any of them shall die without Issue of their bodies lawfully begotten then to the longest liver and their heirs for ever/ but if all my Children doe die without heires that then I give and bequeath my aforesaid land and Marish ground unto my brother Robert Puddington and his heires for Ever Provided always that Mary my wife have the Said land and Marish ground durine this her Mortall life for the bringing up and Maintenance of my said Children/
Moreover I give and bequeath unto Mary my Eldest daughter one cow called or known by the name of Ladd and five pounds Starling when She shall come unto the age of Sixteen yeares/
I doe give and bequeath unto my Second Daughter Frances one Cow called or known by the name of Young Finch, and five pounds of money, and the which is to be paid unto her at the age of Sixteen yeares/
Further I doe give and bequeath unto my youngest daughter Rebecca one heifer called or known by the name of Young Ladd and five pounds of money and the said 5 lb to be payd unto her at the age of Sixteen yeares/
And all the aforesaid Cattle to remain in Mary my wives Custody untill they or Either of them Shall come unto the age of Sixteen years without any fraud or Covin, and my meaning is that my three
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· THE PIONEERS OF YORK
daughters Shall have the thirds of the Increase of the aforesaid Cattle in the mean to their use/
My will is further that I doe give unto John my Eldest Son, my best feather bed, with all things else thereunto belonging, and one long Table, and a Brewing Furniss, but Mary my wife to have the use of them untill he come unto the age of one and twenty years, but if he shall die in the mean time that then my Will is that the fether bed with that thereunto belonging and the Table and the Brewing Furniss I give unto Elias my youngest Son and to his heires for Ever/
My Will is further that I doe give unto Mary my Eldest daughter one flock bed and Bolster with all things Else belonging, also my Will is that Mary my Wife I doe make and ordaine to be full and wholly Executrix of this my last Will and Testament/
Alsoe my desire is that my Brother Robert Puddington and Mr. Edward Johnson Mr. Abraham Preble & Mr John Alcock to be Super- visors of this my Will/
And in token of my love unto them I bequeath unto these my Super- visors ten Shillings.
Witnesse hereof I have hereunto Set my hand and Seal in the presents of John Alcock
GEORGE PUDDINGTON
The mark X of Bartholomew Barnet
The mark X of Arthur Bragdon
The reason for withholding this will from probate may be found in the unfortunate Court record of his wife in 1640, which associates her name with parson Burdett, and the birth of a child, Sarah (1641), who is not named in the will of her husband as one of his children. The widow may have felt that an injustice had been done the daugh- ter, and concealed the will during her lifetime, and it was not produced until the necessity came to settle heirships among the grandchildren, after the death of the mother. She married, secondly, about 1659, Major John Davis, with whom she lived till his death in 1691, keeping the old home as an inn, with him. She died some years after, and the will was then brought to light. The merits of the case must rest on an interpretation of the record. The following named children were the issue:
i. George, bapt. 12 Feb. 1631. prob. d.y.
ii. Mary, bapt. 2 Feb. 1632/3; m. Peter Weare about 1666.
iii. Joan, bapt. 22 Feb. 1634; prob.d.y.
iv. John, b. (1635); of Cape Porpus and Salisbury, fisherman.
v. Frances, b. (1637).
vi. Rebecca, b. (1638).
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HISTORY OF YORK
vii. Elias, b. (1640). Little is known of him; witness 1666, (Deeds iv, 47) and in 1667 signed a court return, (S. J. C. Mss, 860) viii. Sarah, b. (1641); she was a witness in 1658, as Sarah Puddington, aged 17 years; m. John Penwell of York.
JOHN BRAWNE
This settler had a land grant before 1640 (T. R. 21), on Alcock's Neck. He lived here for over sixty years and left but little of record. He married Anna (?) Dixon, daughter of William, but apparently had no issue. By his will dated October 8, 1703 he gave all his property to the sons of his cousins John and William More, with a small bequest to "my boy" John Barrell. It was proved May 29, 1704. Other persons of the name lived here at the same time, and he was called John "senior" (T. R. i. 85), but the relationship, if any, does not appear. These were John, born 1647; Richard mentioned in 1666 and Mary, who married John Spencer (Deeds v, pt. 2, p. 104).
ROGER GARDE
One of the earliest set- Login Garde tlers of this town was Roger Garde, a woolen draper of Bideford, Devonshire, who came here before 1637, as on June II of that year Samuel Maverick, "in Consideration of the great charge & Travell the sd Roger Gard had bestowed for the Ad- vancement & furtherance of the plantation of Agamenti- cus aforesd," granted to him a tract of land on the east bank of the river between the lots of Henry Simpson and Leonard Hunter (Deeds i, 118). Another lot was also included in this grant in the Scotland district. His home- stead lot was situated midway between the two lower bridges. Roger Garde was probably a descendant of an earlier Roger Garde of Poundstock, Cornwall, a parish just over the Devonshire border, and had come to Bide- ford as an apprentice to learn his trade. When free he married Philippa Gist, July 4, 1610. He was at least twenty-one, indicating his birth about 1585. Beyond the finding of his signature as witness to a will in 1624 in Bideford, nothing is known of his life there except the burial of his wife February 1, 1634-5, and doubtless soon
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after he emigrated to New England. His brother, or possibly uncle, John, was a merchant in Fayal, Azores (Aspinwall 109), and finally settled in Rhode Island where he died.
VIEW OF BIDEFORD, DEVON The Home of Roger Garde
Roger Garde soon came into public prominence and was register or recorder of the First General Court of Maine, a position which he held until his death. In the creation of the first municipal charter of Agamenticus in 1641 Gorges nominated him as one of the eight aldermen and added: "the said Roger Garde shalbe first Recorder there and he shall alsoe execute the office of Towne Clarke." Under the elaborate city charter of 1642 Garde became mayor in 1644-5 and during his administration occurred the murder of Richard Cornish for which his wife was tried by the City Court, found guilty and was executed. Mayor Garde presided at the trial which is described elsewhere, during which the woman accused him of having carnal relations with her.
The results of this trial had a depressing effect upon Mayor Garde, for while it is probable that the charges against him were but the malignant slander of an adulter- ess condemned through his efforts to bring her to justice, yet they were of such a nature as to make many people ready to suspect him. While she might not have been able to prove her assertions, yet in those days with nothing
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HISTORY OF YORK
else but gossip to occupy their minds, the villagers were ever ready to bandy this story about. The following letter from Rev. James Parker, dated "Strawberries Banck the 28 of the 5th 45," leads us to the conclusion that this unjust popular opinion may have hastened his death, which occurred after August 12, 1644 and previous to January 24, 1645. Parker writes:
Mr. Guard is dead & left little manifestation off any breaking off spirit, only cried out much off the people, that they had broke his hearte. And soe grew some times mazd with it. Mr. Hull offered to preach yet his funerall sermon & did and the people all solemnly interred him with there armes. (4 Mass. Hist. Coll. vii, 445.)
He was probably buried in the first cemetery by the river, near the Emerson House.
All of Garde's estate which had been assigned in 1645 to George Puddington for a debt of five pounds was quit- claimed in 1662 to his son John Garde "merchant now living in Boston," by John Davis and his wife, Mary, formerly widow of George Puddington.
By his wife, Philippa, Roger Garde had the following issue, all baptized in Bideford:
i. Elizabeth, Feb. 16, 1613-14.
ii. Rebecca, May 9, 1616; m. William Champlin Sept. 29, 1644.
iii. John, Nov. 8, 1618; emigrated to New England.
iv. Thomas, Jan. 21, 1620-I.
v. Patience, July 13, 1623.
vi. Mary, Feb. 1, 1626-7.
ARTHUR BRAGDON
C
The story of this pioneer in- cludes the inter- esting fact that
he was undoubtedly a native of Stratford-upon-Avon, County Warwick. The men of this family were butchers by occupation, the same as followed by John Shake- speare, and Arthur Bragdon must have known the Bard of Avon, for he was nineteen years old when Shakespeare died. This statement is made on circumstantial evidence arising on the existence of a Bragdon family living in Shakespeare's parish, whose sons carried the names of Arthur and Thomas as did the York family and the only Bragdon family found in England which bore these Chris-
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THE PIONEERS OF YORK
tian names. It is stated that another resident of Stratford was an early emigrant to Maine, settling in the adjoining town of Kittery. At this period business communication was common between towns in Warwickshire by means of navigation of the Severn, and Bristol was probably the port from which he emigrated. Arthur Bragdon is first of record here in 1636 as witness to the sale of property (Deeds i, 119; viii, 210) and on June II, 1637 he had a grant of one hundred acres of land from Samuel Maverick and William Jeffery, two of the patentees of Agamenticus (Deeds xxvi, 83). This land was situated on Bass Cove. This grant was contested by Godfrey as to the extent of its bounds, and arbitrators Richard Vines and Henry Josselyn awarded the case in favor of Bragdon which was confirmed by Godfrey January 21, 1643, making the limits of his land on the northeast to the path leading from the Plantation to Christian Point (Deeds x, 173). He was constable of Agamenticus in 1640, and alderman 1641 under the first charter. In his later years he resided with his son Thomas who lived just north of Bass Creek in Scotland, and on May 20, 1678 he transferred all his prop- erty to Thomas on condition that his son "provide for mee & my wife all necessary things that either of us shall stand in need of so long as wee do live" (Deeds v, 26). He died in about six months. An administration of his estate was granted to his son Thomas October 2, 1678. Inventory of the property was returned at a valuation of £64-06-0. In a deposition Arthur Bragdon stated his age which places his birth in 1597 and he was therefore eighty- one years old when he died. His wife's name was Mary, but there is nothing to suggest her family name or con- nection. The homestead at Bass Cove apparently re- mained in possession of his youngest son Samuel and his branch, and the usual family litigation regarding the title based upon the blanket deed of 1678 came into court in 1727, nearly fifty years later. A new administration on the estate was granted that year and a new appraisal valued the property at £504-16-0. The case resulted in favor of the occupants. Arthur Bragdon left issue three sons. No daughters are known.
i. Thomas, b. about 1640.
ii. Arthur, b. 1645.
iii. Samuel, b. about 1647.
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HISTORY OF YORK
WILLIAM DIXON
This settler came to Agamenticus in 1636 as purchaser of the house and lot formerly owned by George Newman (Deeds viii, 210), situated on the harbor front. He emi- grated to Massachusetts in 1630 (Mass. Col. Rec. i, 105), where he was under engagement as servant to Governor Winthrop. When he left his service to come here there were some unsettled accounts between them which became the subject of correspondence between Gov. Thomas Gorges and Winthrop (Mass. Hist. Coll. vii, 333). There was a James Dixon, tenant of Groton Manor in 1605,who might be the father of William Dixon, the servant of John Winthrop of Groton. He was a cooper by occupation and probably had a shop with a wharf on his house lot. He was juryman 1649, signed the Submission 1652; and died in 1666. His will was dated February 13, 1665-6 and inventory of estate returned March 29, 1666, in amount £113-05-0. He left issue by wife Joan:
i. James.
ii. Susanna, married - Frost and returned to England.
iii. Dorothy, married William Moore.
iv. Anna, married John Brawn.
v. (daughter), married Henry Milbury.
JOHN HEARD
This man was one of our first artisans, coming here as early as 1637, and a carpenter by occupation. In that year he was sued by Robert Mills for debt. In 1648 he was called "late of Gorgeana," but in 1650 he was "John Heard of Gorgeana, Carpenter" and had a house on Alcock's Neck. He signed documents by a mark, using a carpenter's square for his sign manual (Deeds iii, 72). He was joint lessee, with John Alcock, in 1650 of Cape Neck and in 1680 his grandson John Heard of Dover with Job Alcock, sold their rights in it to Sylvester Stover (Ibid. iii, 100). In 1652 he had removed to Kittery where as John "Hord" he signed the Submission. If the identifica- tion is complete he resided there till his death. His will, as of Kittery, yeoman, dated March 3, 1675-6, was proved March 16, 1675-6 (Maine Wills, 71-75). In it he refers to his son, James, deceased, and his grandson, John, to whom he bequeaths his real estate, in reversion. His wife's name
108
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THE PIONEERS OF YORK
was Isabel, for whose maintenance he made provision. The grandson removed to Dover and a resettlement of the estate in 1677 was made by the New Hampshire author- ities because of "the Intricacie & mixture of the estate of John Heard ... with the estate of James Heard" his son, who died intestate before 1676 (N. H. Probate i, 188). The grandson died in 1739 "very aged," but no descend- ants remained in this town. Another John Heard was of Dover in 1640 and died 1692, but there is nothing to show that they were connected.
JOHN BAKER
That this individual was a resident of this town as early as 1639 is capable of proof, but there is no evidence in the land records that he owned a house or lot here. He was of that class of undesirable citizens emigrating to New England, under the prospect of enjoying a religious "freedom" for his whimsies; and settling in Boston, soon run amuck with the prelatical rulers who had no "free- dom" for the kind of religion which he professed. It seems that he had an itch for haranguing and "prophesying" in public, whatever that may mean, which was, of course, at once prohibited. What little we know about him is told in Winthrop's "Journal," to which a guarded credence must be given, owing to the habit of this writer to distort facts about persons who differed from him in his church doctrines. He says of Baker:
A member of the church of Boston, removed from thence to Newbury (1638), for enlargement of his outward accommodation, being grown wealthy from nothing, grew very disordered, fell into drunkenness and such violent contention with another brother, main- taining the same by lying, and other evil courses, that the magistrates sent to have him apprehended. But he rescued himself out of the officers' hands and removed to Accomenticus (1639), where he con- tinued near two years.
While here in 1640 he served on a jury engaged in a law-suit, and represented Agamenticus at the Provincial Court. The next year he returned to Boston. Winthrop adds:
He humbled himself before the church confessing all his wicked- ness, with many tears. (Journal ii, 29.)
He was thereupon readmitted to the church there March 26, 1642, and became a freeman of that colony in
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May of same year. Four years later he returned here with a letter of dismissal from the church in Boston to the church of Gorgeana, dated September 6, 1646, during the pastorate of Mr. Hull. This wandering religious fanatic continued to stir up trouble as usual and Godfrey, in later years, mentioned him as one of those disturbers of the peace, "who to avoyd their principles fly heether for shelter." Like a shuttlecock he moved hence to Dover, 1648-9, falling into mischief there, and is next found in Wells 1653, where he took the oath of submission to the Massachusetts government that year. Shortly after he was reported for preaching and "prophesying" and pub- licly abusing the ministry. This is the last record of this man in Maine and occupies more space than his impor- tance warrants, but is related as an example of the incorri- gible nuisances who flocked over here during the Puritan regime, a by-product of their propaganda. He returned to Boston where he found spiritual refuge in the First Church of that town, but he did not last long there. He was expelled for "blasphemy and atheism" and banished from the colony (Dom. S. P. Charles ii, lxv, 10). On re- turning to England he became a halberdier in Cromwell's Horse Guard and later in the king's service, but could not keep out of trouble. In December 1662 he was arrested for participation in a plot devised by religious fanatics to overthrow the monarchy. It was testified that he was a "blasphemer, atheist, liar and profane person and could find it in his heart to wash his hands in the King's blood." He was tried and convicted of treason. Rev. William Hooke, formerly of New Haven, in a letter dated March 23, 1663 tells how "John Baker, sometime a planter in New England, had his part in trepanning men into treason and then informing against them; he lyeth now in New- gate." (Ibid. lxix, 5) He was executed at Tyburn (Hub- bard, History of New England 419), being the second one connected with the early history of York to suffer this penalty after returning to London, Thomas Venner being the other.
HENRY SIMPSON
Of the antecedents of this prominent settler, or his English home, nothing of a definite character has been found. The name is a common one, and with only a
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THE PIONEERS OF YORK
slight clue to his relative age, and none to his relationship to any person here or in England, it is not possible to identify him among the many of his name who have been located. It is the theory of the author that he came from Lancashire, perhaps in company of Ralph Blaisdell, for the reasons set forth in the article on the origin of that settler (q. v.). The many English wills of Simpsons ex- amined by the author furnish no information worthy of record here. It is evident that he was a widower when he came here, as in his will he speaks of "my nowe wiffe Jane," indicating a second marriage; and a confirmation
Hen=Tymson
of this is found in the fact that she survived him forty years, showing that she was much younger than her husband. His inventory shows a list of wood-working tools, which might indicate that he was a carpenter, but he also had a "swoard" and a "peece" (gun), military weapons not usually possessed by artisans. His first appearance in the town is of record as of March 13, 1638, when he had a gift of land from William Hooke, on the occasion of his marriage to Jane, daughter of Lieutenant- Colonel Norton, who was then the step-daughter of Hooke. This property is shown on the sectional map of that re- gion, adjoining Scituate Row. The extent of this tract of land, whether bounded by the river on its west end, came into litigation, during the lifetime of his grandsons, and was decided against them.
He died between March 18, 1646-7 and March 31, 1648. His will was proved before the Mayor and Alder- men of Gorgeana July 3, 1648 and is here printed in full, taken from the records of the city of Gorgeana:
IN THE NAME OF GOD, AMEN
I, Henry Simpson, of Gorgeana in the Pvince of Maine, being very sick of body but yet of good remembraunce; doe make this my last will and testament in manner and forme following;
First commending my soule to God that gave it, hoping through Christ of a joyfull resurrection and my bodye to Christian buriall.
Now touching such things as God hath bequeathed to me my minde, will and intent is that my deabts and legasies being paid, That my now wiffe Jane shall have and injoy the halfe of my estate
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HISTORY OF YORK
both of lands and goodes within doore and without, and the other halfe of minde estate I give unto Henry my sonne already borne and to the babe that she now gooes with by equall portions, But if either of them dye then as to her part soe dying to be between the mother and the child that liveth by equall portions,
And Overseers of this my last Will and Testament I doe make and ordaine my beloved freinds John Alcock, Edward Johnson, Abraham Preble and Richard Bancks, desiring them in the name of God to see this my will performed according to my true intent and meaneing herein and that there be noe wronge done to my wiffe and children and that neither of them do wronge each other.
IN TESTIMONY WHEREOF I have hereunto sett my hand and seale even the Eighteenth of March, 1646. I doe alsoe make my wiffe Jane my executrix, acknowledging of his act and deed in the Psents of Joseph Hull, John Alcock and Jno. Twisden.
The mark X of Hen: Simpson
Henry Norton, Recorder.
A true Coppy of the Invitory of the goods lands Chattles of Henry Simpson deceased taken from the Originall the third of July 1648
£
5
d
Imprimis one suite of apparrell
2 IO
O
It one bedd and boulster and covering
2 IO O
It One sheet one shurt one band one b(eaver) cap and one hat
O
18
O
It one swoard
O
8
It One peese
I O
C
It One Morter
O 6
C
It One iron pott and hooks and One Iron kettle and
I O
o
It One frying pann
O
2 0
It One hand saw two planes two augers
O
6 6
It Cheesells and gouges one hamer & pinsers
O
4
6
It One iron square
It One spade three weadges and one beatle ring one cheesell
O
II O
It One Chamber pott one pewter bason One platter One salt
O
8
O
It One ceatell and a brush one axe
0
3
6
It One Kneading trough
4
O
It One brake One Charne
8 O
It One milk pann and one earthen pott
2 O
It One cheast
4
O
It One smotheing iron
O
I O
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