USA > Maine > Lincoln County > Bristol > History of York, Maine, successively known as Bristol (1632), Agamenticus (1641), Gorgeana (1642), and York (1652) Vol. I > Part 11
USA > Maine > York County > York > History of York, Maine, successively known as Bristol (1632), Agamenticus (1641), Gorgeana (1642), and York (1652) Vol. I > Part 11
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O
8 O
It two pailes and one keeler
O
7
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It three Cowes and two Calves
17
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It One sow and two piggs
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2 6
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THE PIONEERS OF YORK
£
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It the house and lott and the ground ajoyning
It the Marresh
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It five hundred acres of upland
15
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It One throat
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It seaven bushelles and one peack of corne
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8
It One reap hooke
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It One hogge
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It two sithes and forkes
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(not totalled but amounts to)
£79
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3
Hen: Norton
He had the following issue by wife Jane Norton:
i. Henry, b. 1644.
ii. (child), b. 1647? mentioned in will as unborn, but no further record of birth or survival.
LEONARD HUNTER
This person is only a name left in the records to show that once he existed here. In June 1637 he had land, which was "lately enclosed" in a partnership with John Barrett, adjoining the lot of Roger Garde (Deeds i, 119). Whence he came or whither he went is equally unknown, but it may be surmised that he came from Bristol, under the influence of the Hookes, or possibly of Maverick, as his lot was in the latter's division. The name of Leonard Hunter has been found about that date in Dalton-in- Furness, Lancashire (1614), and he may have originated in that region.
JOHN BARRETT
In June 1637 he owned a lot with Leonard Hunter (g.v.), "lately enclosed," adjoining Roger Garde, but its exact boundaries are not definable. His name does not occur later in the town or land records, and nothing is known of his antecedents or subsequent history, unless he is the John Barrett who is later found in Wells, about 1653, residing there till his death in 1664. A Walter Barrett of Bristol was interested in the early colonization schemes of Maine.
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20
O
HISTORY OF YORK
JOHN ALCOCK
This settler was here as early as 1639 (Deeds iv, 20), and became one of the largest landholders in town, and in other ways attained a prominence in local affairs. His name was always written in the records as "Mr." or even "Esq.," showing his social standing in the estimation of his neighbors, and is fre- quently mentioned as "Farmer" Alcock. This last title denoted a person who advanced money to the town for the taxes, or "farmed" them, as was the old English term for this transaction. It indicates that he was a man of wealth, as reckoned in that period, and kept a servant. He took no part in the political affairs of the province, and only held a few offices in the town. He was Selectman 1652-9, 1669-73, as well as Alderman of Gorgeana in 1648. In the county he was a Sergeant of Militia, 1659, and in 1668 a Commissioner, "to end small causes." His home was near Eastern Point, and that section came to be known as "Alcock's Neck." He had acquired this large tract by purchase from William Hooke (Deeds i, 98), and he also owned ten acres adjoining the Ministerial Lot, bought of Godfrey (Ibid. ii, 177), which he sold later to Peter Weare. One of his shares in the divisions of town lands amounted to two hundred ten acres. Besides these he held smaller parcels in various sections.
Of his English origin, nothing definite has been ascer- tained, but it is probable that he was a resident of Kent before emigration to this town, and connected with the Alcock family of Mersham in that county. The recur- rence of the same family names indicates this probability, although the name is fairly common in England. He was married when he came here, and his first five children were brought with him across the Atlantic.
He was living as late as June 21, 1673, but shortly after "he was suddenly surprised with death, and had no oppor- tunity to make his will or settle his estate" (Mass. Arch. iii, 149). The distribution of his property was made by arbitration on March II, 1675, and approved by the Court that date. His eldest son Joseph had been dis- satisfied with the usual division as made officially. The
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THE PIONEERS OF YORK
inventory was returned at £256-09-0, and each heir was awarded £31-02; the eldest son having a double portion. He was required to pay the widow an annuity. She sur- vived until the Massacre of 1692, and it was testified that her will was destroyed in the house of Mr. Dummer, her son-in-law (Deeds [v] [i], 96). The name has been extinct in the town for over two centuries, and it is doubtful if any descendants of his name exist elsewhere. By his wife Elizabeth (maiden name unknown), he had issue, as follows :
i. Samuel, b. about 1630 (if a son); submitted 1652; witness same year; land grant 1653; mentioned 1659; prob. d.s.p. before 1675; may have been a brother of John.
ii. Mary, b. 1632, m. Peter Twisden.
iii. Joseph, b. 1634, removed to Kittery, where he m. Abigail, daughter of Daniel Paul; was shipwright and mariner; d. 30 July 1678 intestate, left a son Capt. John of Portsmouth.
iv. Elizabeth, b. (1636), m. Richard Bankes, ancestor of the family of that name in Maine.
v. Job, b. 1638. Submitted 1652; Selectman 1676; Lieutenant of Militia 1677; Magistrate 1678; Captain 1681; Councillor 1691; removed to Portsmouth, after the Massacre, and became Judge of Superior Court of Pleas for N. H. m. Dorothy, daughter of Rev. John Rayner of Dover, but had no issue; will dated Dec. 2, 1712 and proved in 1716.
vi. Hannah, b. (1640), m. George Snell.
vii. Sarah, b. (1642), m. (1) John Giddings; (2) Henry Herrick of Beverly.
viii. Lydia, b. (1644), m. Rev. Shubael Dummer.
STEPHEN CRAWFORD
He had a lot of land at or near Brave Boat Harbor in 1638, but there is no record of the grant or later disposal of it. Doubtless he was only a transient fisherman. He is found later at the Isles of Shoals where he died.
THOMAS FOOTMAN
This person was another transient early settler. He had a grant of two acres near the mouth of Meeting House Creek about 1639 (Deeds iii, 85) which was referred to the next year, as adjoining George Puddington in that section. He was indebted to a Boston tailor in 1646 (Aspinwall, 124), but had removed in 1648 to Dover, where a "brother Benjamin Matthews" lived. He died there about 1668, leaving children.
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HISTORY OF YORK
THOMAS BROOKS alias BASIL PARKER
This gentleman ap- Balett Darbon peared here first as early as 1640 as Thomas Brooks and died in 1651 as Basil Parker. In the meantime, for reasons unknown, he went by the hyphenated names of Brooks and Parker. He was called Brooks in 1640 when he attended Court from Kittery, where he and Peter Weare owned a tract of land (Deeds i, 30), and in 1645 is first called Basil Parker, when he was a Coun- cillor of the Province (Court Records i, 93-5). He held this position in 1646 and 1647, in which latter year he became the Recorder of the province on the death of William Waldron (Ibid. i, 113). He held both offices in 1648, but was left out of the Council in 1649 under the administra- tion of Godfrey, although continuing as Recorder. In 1650 and 1651 he was again both Assistant and Recorder, and died in the latter year; as on October 18, Mr. John Alcock was granted letters of administration on his estate, perhaps as a creditor or friend, as there is no known rela- tionship between the two men (Court Records i, 165; Deeds i, 30). He resided in York, but where or with whom is indeterminate, but it may be permitted to suggest that he lived with Alcock, as he signed as a witness to deeds several times with him, with his wife Elizabeth and his son Joseph.
Of the origin of this hyphenate no solution has been found. A Basil Parker was admitted to the freedom of the Company of Haberdashers, London, May 4, 1610, by servitude to his master, Henry Kent, but there is no record of his apprenticeship. On February 2, 1610-II Basil Parker of St. Gregory by St. Paul's, haberdasher, was married to Anne Saville, probably daughter of William Saville, gent. deceased, of Great Humby, parish of Som- erby, county Lincoln and Anne his wife. If this identifica- tion is accepted he was about fifty when he came to Maine and sixty-two when he died.
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THE PIONEERS OF YORK
SAMPSON ANGIER
This settler was from Danyfon Inger Lezant, county Cornwall, and he came here as early as 1640 (Lechford, 155), hav- ing married Anne Bates May 14, 1609, by whom he had five children born before emigration, but whether he brought the family with him is not known. He returned before 1652, when he made his will as "yeoman" which was proved ten years later. In this will he named his youngest son, Sampson (baptized October 20, 1624), who is the Sampson Angier appearing here later, purchasing an acre lot in "Lower Town" 1650, calling himself "fisher- man" (Deeds i, 10). He carried on the fishing business in partnership with Henry Donnell (Ibid. ii, 160). He re- turned to England to marry Susanna Isaacks, July 17, 1666, in Lezant, and with her sold land August 23, 1668 (Ibid. ii, 51). He sold his fishing stage in 1673 (ii, 139), and land on the south side of river 1678 (iii, 35). He mar- ried a second wife, Sarah, who signs with him after 1675, and she became the second wife of Arthur Hewes of Ports- mouth. His will dated May 13, 1691 was proved January IO, 1693-4. He left no issue.
THOMAS GORGES
Although not a permanent settler, it is fitting that this kinsman of Sir Ferdinando Gorges, who lived in this town for three years, as one of its leading officials, should have due notice among those who served with him in the up- building of the young settlement.
He was a "cousin" of Sir Ferdinando, the son of Henry and Barbara (Baynard) Gorges of Batcombe, county Somerset, where he was born in 1618. He studied law at the Inns of Court, London and in 1640 at the age of twenty-two came to New England to manage his uncle's political and business affairs in this Province. It is only necessary to call attention to his youth to appreciate what he had to undertake, without any precedents to guide him, in a wilderness. His first task was to prosecute the un- savory Burdett, a clever scoundrel who had hitherto escaped punishment in Old and New England for his mode
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HISTORY OF YORK
of life, and he succeeded in driving him out of the country. He became the first Mayor of the borough of Agamenticus, besides holding the office of Deputy Governor of the Province. . He lived in the Manor House at Point Christian, Gorges Neck, where he carried on the public business of the province and town. His administration of both offices was successful, and on July 10, 1643 he left the country, after three years service. He resided at Heavitree, near Exeter, after his return to England, and died there Octo- ber 17, 1670. He was a Member of Parliament in 1664. His will dated September 25, 1669 and proved April I, 1671, mentions land which he owned at Ogunquit. He was twice married: (1) Mary Sanford; and (2) Rose Alexander, daughter of Sir Jerome Alexander, who died April 14, 1671, six months after her husband. This fact is alluded to in the monumental tomb to their memory in St. Michael's church, Heavitree, which has this in- scription :
The loving Turtell having mist her mate Begged she might enter ere they shut the gate Their dust lies here, whose soules to Heaven are gonne And wait till Angells rowle away the stone.
RICHARD CORNISH
This unfortunate man came to Agamenticus, with a wife Katherine, from Weymouth, Mass., in 1640 (Deeds vi, 150). Her record there was unsavory, in the moral significance, as she was before the Courts several times for lewd behaviour. In her new home she did not show evi- dences of better conduct, and carried on liaisons with sundry men, according to the contemporary records, until in 1644 her husband was found drowned in the river, with signs of violence that showed he was murdered. Suspicion fell on her and after trial she was convicted of homicide, and sentenced to death. Confession followed, and she paid the extreme penalty, the first person to swing from the gallows in this town. As far as known they left no children. He lived near the harbor on Alcock's Neck.
NICHOLAS SQUIRE
He was a fisherman living here in 1640, associated with the elder Sampson Angier (Lechford, 155). There is no
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THE PIONEERS OF YORK
evidence that he owned land or remained here for any length of time.
JOHN SQUIRE
May have been a brother of the above, as he was here at the same time, associated with him and Sampson Angier in the fishing business, but was probably only a transient settler. He was here in 1642 (Trelawny Papers, 342).
JOHN SMITH
"A servant of John Alcock, for running away from his master, and other abuses was sentenced to be whipped and returned to his master." (Court Records, September 1640.) Identification of a person of this name is not practicable, unless he is identical with the John Smyth later of Cape Neddick. If this is accepted as reasonable, further evi- dences of identity will be discussed in Chapter I of the second volume, on Cape Neddick, under the caption of "John Smith."
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CHAPTER XI THE TWO CHARTERS OF 1641 AND 1642
THE BOROUGH OF AGAMENTICUS 1641
The belief of Gorges that the growth of his favored plantation required further enlargement of its powers of government was his vision of the needs of the future for the little settlement which he had chosen for the capital of his Province. He determined to endow Agamenticus with corporate authority after the manner sanctioned by legal prac- INITIAL LETTER "T" FROM THE CHARTER OF GORGEANA, 1642 tice in England. This was in ac- cordance with his plan to trans- plant familiar English customs to the new country so that colonists would find in their new home the social and official atmosphere to which they had been accustomed for generations. Here he would find the same legal machinery at his disposal for the advancement of his interests and the redress of his grievances, freedom of the corporation, market days, courts leet and all the peculiar procedures of Tudor England. It was to be a civil establishment, not a clerical oligarchy as was then slowly sapping the authority of the freemen in the Bay and at Plymouth.
Consequently, Gorges chose as the form of civil estab- lishment for the Bristol plantation at Agamenticus the legal status of a borough which was one of the subsidiary incorporations of the English monarchy. It had nothing in it savoring of the democracy consequent on the "town- meeting" method of government, but was a representa- tive type of municipal control vested in elective officers. It was in reality the same form as now obtains in all the larger cities of the United States. The larger towns of England at that period, such as Stratford-upon-Avon and Plymouth, were boroughs as distinguished from the great
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THE TWO CHARTERS OF 1641 AND 1642
populous cities where Bishops had Sees which had city charters. In his province charter he had provided for a Governor, Deputy Governor, Steward-General, Chancel- lor, Recorder, Marshal and all the familiar functionaries of the English shires, and to offset the criticism of a top- heavy civil list he gave equivalent titular offices to the underlying structure for a balance.
The borough charter of Agamenticus was dated and sealed April 10, 1641 and contained the following pro- visions for the government of the growing community settled around Godfrey's first habitation on Meeting House Creek, as well as forming separate centers of occu- pation at the mouth of the harbor, on either side, at Cape Neddick and at the Mill River.
The charter created a corporation by the name of the "Mayor, Aldermen and Recorder of the towne of Aco- menticus" with power to sue and be sued, to hold courts for the determining of civil causes without trial by jury. It was explained that in civil causes the custom of having jurors was "needeless and prejudicial to such proceed- ings." There were to be eight Aldermen and a Recorder, and from these nine persons the Mayor was to be chosen "by the voices of the Burgesses and the rest of the nyne persons or the major part of them." The Mayor was to have the qualities and powers of a justice of the peace and his term of office was to be one year from the first Tuesday in each "Whitsun week." The corporation was to have a common seal, a town hall and "comon Gaole for imprisoning all Delinquents or debtors." The business of the borough was to be recorded by a Town Clerk. Criminal causes committed in the limits of the corporate bounds were to be instituted by indictment and tried by jury under procedure consonant with the laws of England duly recorded and registered. The limits of the corporate jurisdiction were "three miles every way distant from the Church, Chappell or place ordayned or intended for a Church, Chappell or Oratory belonging to the Plantacon of Acomenticus."
A Court Leet was established to be held once a year at Michaelmas "where unto all persons above the age of twelve yeares should be warned to attend." The corpora- tion was empowered to make laws and ordinances for the peaceable ordering of the community and to bestow the
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HISTORY OF YORK
freedom of the borough on approved residents. Measures of military defense were provided and the construction of "Ports or keyes" for the convenience of maritime business was authorized.
To inaugurate this borough government Gorges nomi- nated its first officers as follows: "My welbeloved Cosyn Thomas Gorges .... to be the first and next Maior;" Edward Godfrey, gentleman, Roger Garde, George Pud- dington, Bartholomew Barnett, Edward Johnson, Arthur Bragington, Henry Simson and John Rogers as Aldermen; Edward Godfrey, Justice of the Peace "for the first yeare," Roger Garde, "Recorder, and he shall alsoe execute the Office of Towne Clarke."
To insure this infant borough in the enjoyment of these privileges Gorges prohibited all "officers and min- isters of justice" in the Province of Maine "from inter- medling in the administration of justice in the corporate limits of the borough without the consent of the members of the corporation or the major part of them." This unusual proposition was probably a renewal of like inde- pendence granted in 1638 to the Bristol Plantation. At the first Provincial Court held June 25, 1640 the attend- ance from York was numerically negligible (four deputies in all), while Kittery was represented by thirty of its inhabitants. This disparity has been misunderstood as well as misinterpreted to signify that numerically York was inferior to other settlements in the province. This superficial view does not take into account the political situation. As the only incorporated community in Maine it sent four representatives from the borough and they went there largely to protest their independence of provin- cial authority. The other straggling settlements, having no settled form of government, went there in unorganized numbers after the manner of an open town meeting. Doubtless most of them went there out of curiosity to "see the show" as there had been no court held in the province for four years. To compare the legally deputed members from the borough of Agamenticus with the self-appointed attendance from other communities and estimate the numerical element only, as has been done, is like comparing the public attendance in a court room with the number of jurors lawfully chosen to the disparagement of the men in the box in point of numbers.
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THE TWO CHARTERS OF 1641 AND 1642
THE CITY OF GORGEANA 1641
It may be said that the rather large corporate frame- work provided by the borough charter was sufficient for all the practical purposes of town government for a popu- lation as limited as Agamenticus, and that the accepted method of creeping prior to pedestrianism was thus intel- ligently applied by Gorges. But it must be remembered that all pioneers and adventurers are dreamers and pro- moters. It is their function to create an atmosphere of greatness and prosperity in their chosen field of endeavor. As Gorges had built his castles in Spain to satisfy his own ideals of future greatness, so he provided ample prospects on parchment, for the interested investing public and the future emigrants at home, by these elabo- rate skeletons of provincial and borough development. In keeping with this idea he projected a larger display of assumed and anticipated progress of his favored shire town before a year had elapsed. The Mayor and Alder- men of Agamenticus were scarcely adjusted to their re- cently bestowed honors when the spirit of the colonial promoter essayed another gesture to advertise advantages and growth of his territory. Where once his favorite town had been only a borough and the only borough in New England, he thought it good business to enlarge its status to that of the highest municipal corporation of the king- dom and endow it with the official machinery employed in London, Exeter, Bristol and Norwich and furnish it with the full powers of a city.
This was magnificent in conception and strictly in line with a legitimate exploitation of his property to attract the thousands of emigrants he had honestly expected. But in this belief he was unfortunately on the wrong side of the colonizing problem - socially, ecclesi- astically and politically - at that period. His appeal was naturally to the loyal subjects of the Crown who had no social grievances to drive them to emigrate, while the reli- gious whimsey-mongers who constituted the discontented villagers of East Anglia were of the class eagerly looking for an escape from their church associations at home and were in no mood to jump into a miniature replica of the Episcopal reestablishment overseas. They preferred to go
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HISTORY OF YORK
to have a comon seal "engraven according to their owne discrecons;" to erect wharves and quays, as well as forti- fications for local and provincial defense, if approved by the Governor and Council of the province; to hold a weekly market on Wednesdays, "that trading and comerce may bee the more readilie advanest," and to enjoy a semi- annual fair on the feasts of St. James (July 25) and St. Paul (January 25), the tolls of which were to belong to the Mayor for the time being.
For these privileges the corporation was required to make certain material and loyal acknowledgments, viz .: the payment of a quit rent of a quarter of wheat at Michaelmas annually to the Lord Proprietor, and its officials enjoined to take the oath of allegiance to His Majesty, as part of their obligations of office. The Deputy Governor, or the Chancellor of the province, was dele- gated to administer the oath to the Mayor, and the latter in turn to the subordinate officials "in the sight of the Justices." Paragraphs providing for the emendation or healing of doubtful sections were to be resolved in favor of the corporation, if reasonable. A new charter was promised if disputes of interpretation could not be ad- justed. This comprehensive, as well as liberal charter was engrossed on parchment, and proved to be the last muni- ment of authority issued under sign manual of the Lord Proprietor. It was sealed on the first day of March 1641 (2), and is still in existence, though not in the possessions of its lawful custodians, and is the oldest city charter in New England.1
THE OFFICIALS AND ADMINISTRATION OF AGAMENTICUS AND GORGEANA 1640-1652
We are deprived of many of the picturesque details of the official management of the borough and city of Agamen- ticus and Gorgeana as well as the roster of its officials by the complete loss of all records of both corporations. A
1 It is in the manuscript collections of the Massachusetts Historical Society, given to it in 1797 by Joseph Tucker of York. In his letter to Hon. James Sullivan, then president of the society, offering the document, Mr. Tucker explained how it came into his hands. "I was crossing a field in the Town some Years since," he wrote, "and found it in Mutilated Situation you now see it. It was very wet I dried it and found what it contained & perserved it. I am sorry the Seal is wanting, but it was gone when it came into my hands." This story is interesting if not convincing. There is no evidence that he offered it to its lawful custodians, the town officers.
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ANCIENT PAINTING REPRESENTING SWEARING-IN THE MAYOR OF BRISTOL, 1479
Courtesy of the Corporation of Bristol
THE TWO CHARTERS OF 1641 AND 1642
few scattering evidences of the continuity of the city gov- ernments for twelve years have survived, together with an occasional ray of light shed from collateral sources which make it possible to give a fragmentary list of the principal officers and catch fleeting glimpses of their activ- ities. As the city government ceased to function in 1652 (as far as known) the records ceased to be kept and prob- ably remained in the custody of the last City Recorder. It is evident, from the action of the usurping Massachusetts government in wiping out the name Gorgeana and con- stituting a new town called York, that the new overlords had no wish to be responsible for the Gorgeana records by taking them as part of the spoils of a defunct corporation, else they would be found in the Massachusetts archives. It is probable they were left, as surmised, in private hands. Henry Norton was the last known Recorder (1648) and he returned to England about 1657 where he soon died.
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