USA > Maine > Lincoln County > Bristol > History of York, Maine, successively known as Bristol (1632), Agamenticus (1641), Gorgeana (1642), and York (1652) Vol. I > Part 15
USA > Maine > York County > York > History of York, Maine, successively known as Bristol (1632), Agamenticus (1641), Gorgeana (1642), and York (1652) Vol. I > Part 15
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1 In that period the word "crazy" had a meaning which has become obsolete. It referred to bodily infirmities, not mental aberration. Testators frequently used the term, "crazy in body, but of sound mind."
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HISTORY OF YORK
Massachusetts. In fact, Morton refers to Johnson, but not by name, in his "New England's Canaan." While here he did legal work of which evidence still exists and probably had the first experience of a peaceful life, un- harried by religious zealots, that he had ever enjoyed. He is known to have been living August 15, 1646, but the time of his death is unknown. "Master Temperwell" (Morton's nickname for Winthrop) entered his last invec- tive against his tormentor in his Journal: "poor and de- spised, he died within two years after." If that were per- mitted to remain as the epitaph of this valiant champion of the religious and civil freedom which his struggle finally developed in New England it would be an unworthy rec- ompense for his sufferings. Doubtless he was poor in money because of their persecutions. He was a victim of the justice of the jungle. His will, however, disposes of his rights to large tracts of land in Connecticut and in the province of Lygonia.1 The little cemetery in Clark's Lane on the banks of the river of Agamenticus where the first settlers are buried encloses the dust of this man "despised" in death by Winthrop, but of whom he had a wholesome fear in life. He lies unhonored but not unsung among the town's distinguished dead.
ANDREW EVEREST
The name of this early settler seems to belong to Kent and
suggests that he was one of the emigrants from that county who came here under the influence of Godfrey. In the parishes of Southfleet and Horton Kirby, about five miles from Wilmington, the home of Godfrey, families named Everest lived there at that period and it seems a fair presumption that he came from that vicinity. His earliest records here are a grant of marshland in 1646 (Deeds i, 29), and as a witness in 1650 (Ibid. xiv, 144). He signed the Submission in 1652 and the protest to Massachusetts in 1662. Possibly he was a school teacher as he was referred to in a document in 1716 as "Old Master Everest." The last record of him is in 1680 when
1 The author collected a large amount of new material concerning this picturesque character which was published in the Proceedings of the Massachusetts Historical Society, LVIII, 147-192, and LIX, 92-95, including a copy of his will.
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he sold a lot of land in that year, but the time of his death is not known. His fine signature, spelling it Everest, in 1654, is evidence that this was his correct name, and not Everett or Everill, as frequently written by careless scribes. His home lot of eight acres was across the road from Godfrey.
Information about his marriage is wanting. In 1680 he had a wife Barbara (Ibid. iii, 87), and as she was not called "my now wife," as was the practice in cases of second or third wives, it may be assumed that he had no previous one. He left issue as follows :
i. Isaac, b. about 1645; removed to Guilford, Conn., where descend- ants still reside.
ii. Ruth, mentioned in will of her brother Jacob.
iii. Lydia, witness in 1682 (Deeds iii, 122) ; was probably his daughter.
iv. Job, b. about 1652; had a land grant in 1673.
v. Jacob, b. about 1655; a glazier; removed to Boston in 1678. Will dated 1692 and William Evernden, a barber of Boston ap- pointed administrator Jan. 27, 1692-3. Probably unmarried.
CHRISTOPHER ROGERS
He was "a servant in tyme past to Sir Ferdinando Gorges" (Deeds it, 179) and was a witness in 1643 (Ibid. i, 24). He was called of Piscataqua in 1645 and nothing further is known of him. Christopher's Point and Kits Point on the river may derive title from him.
RICHARD BURGESS
This settler, perhaps previously of Sandwich, Mass., first appears of record in York about 1646, but he must have come here earlier (T. R. i, 15). His name frequently occurs with Henry Norton, but there is no evidence that he was related to anybody or had any family. He sold land in various parts of the town, the last time in 1673 near Trafton's Ferry (Deeds ii, 248) and nothing further is known of him. He had two grants from Godfrey, un- recorded, before 1655, of ten and forty acres.
ROBERT MILLS
He was here as early as 1637 when he sued John Heard of this town for debt. He was the owner of a lot of marsh- land on the southwest branch of the river and died before
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HISTORY OF YORK
July 1647. His widow, Dorothy, was the wife of John Harker on that date. He left a son, James, who was liv- ing in Lynn in 1666 (Deeds ii, 5). A John Mills was an apprentice to Mrs. Godfrey in 1659 (Court Record).
SAMUEL ADAMS
The name of this early settler is recovered from a single reference in a list of land grants made by Governor Godfrey, but the date is not known. After that he dis- appears from the records, and Philip Adams is referred to as living on the lot "sometimes his fathers." Samuel Adams probably came from Shepton Mallet, Somerset- shire, where his name with Robert Knight, Mary Topp and her daughter Jane (all names seen later in York), are found in the parish records. If this surmise is correct this Samuel married Alice Stone July 10, 1623 and had, among others, Philip, born about 1632, but unrecorded. The family genealogy appears in Volume III.
HENRY NORTON Kauzy Rostou
He was a nephew of Col. Walter Nor- ton and son of Henry, the eldest son and heir of Thomas and Margaret (Cranmer) Norton of Sharpenhoe, county Bed- ford. Henry, the father, had married for his second wife Sarah Lawson, June 29, 1613, at Streatley. It is probable that he removed to Stepney, London, soon after and there was born to Henry Norton, gentleman and Sarah, his wife, on November 26, 1618 a son baptized as Henry. He probably came to look after the property interests of his uncle Walter who was dead in 1633, and he remained here thereafter.
He became Provost Marshal of the Province in 1646, an office which he held continuously until the usurpation. In 1657 he was Marshal of the county and in October it is recorded that in the latter part of this year he "Intends his viage for England." From this he never returned and on August 14, 1659, the Court held that "Mr. Henery Norton is conceaved to be dead" and granted adminis- tration of his estate to his widow. Where he died is un-
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known. Inventory of his estate £103-18-0 was not filed until April 3, 1679 when George, his son, was named as administrator.
He married about 1639 Margaret - who survived, and they had issue as follows:
i. George, b. about 1640.
ii. Elizabeth, m. Sylvester Stover.
RICHARD ORMSBY
He appeared in York about 1641, later removing to New Hampshire 1643, Salisbury 1645, Haverhill 1649, Rehoboth 1653 where he died in 1664. His house is men- tioned as being formerly on the east side of the river at Ferry Neck. He was evidently only a transient resident with his wife, Sarah, and their first son, John, was born here. They had two other sons, Thomas, 1645, and Jacob, 1647.
OLIVER GODFREY
The eldest and only son of Edward Godfrey, perhaps baptized by his mother's surname, was born in 1624, came to Gorgeana in 1642 before he had reached his majority. He became identified with his father's interests in the town and, in fact, was in copartnership with him in 1638 in connection with the lease of land east of Cape Neddick River (Deeds viii, 120). In 1648 his father granted to him two hundred acres on the south side of the river, two houses on Stage Island, and one-third of the undivided land of the Agamenticus Patent, about four thousand acres. In addition to this he gave him land at Point Bolleyne adjoining the land of Henry Norton and extend- ing a mile and a half towards Cape Neddick (Ibid. i, 4). How long he remained in York is unknown, but probably had returned to England before 1650, residing at Seale, county Kent. The parish register records the burial of Mr. Oliver Godfrey October 23, 1661. He had made his will September 10 previously, which was proved May 16, 1662, in which he makes bequests to his children as follows: fifty pounds each to his sons Edward, Oliver and Charles, and forty pounds each to his daughters Mary, Elizabeth, Sarah and Susanna, all under eighteen years of age and unmarried. His will also contains these specific bequests :
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HISTORY OF YORK
Item I give and bequeath unto my sonne Edward Godfrey all that house and Barne with theire appurtenances and all that Tract of Land granted me by my father Situat att Accomenticus in New Eng- land as by the grant hereof appares/
Item I give to my sonne Charles Godfrey all that pattent granted me by King Charles I and all remainder or remainders, reversion or reversions which may fall to me by any means whatsoever.
These bequests refer to his patent of 1638 at Cape Neddick and the grants of 1648 from his father. An Oliver Godfrey of Seale, Kent, gentleman, was living there in 1735, perhaps his son. It is probable that descend- ants of the first governor of Maine, bearing his surname, may yet be living in England. Oliver Godfrey, Sr. married Mary Smith of Seale.
JOHN HARKER
In 1650 this name occurs as a witness in York (Deeds i, 9), and as a debtor to Robert Button of Boston. He was a fisherman by occupation, and had been here for some years before this, as he had married before 1647, Dorothy, widow of Robert Mills (Court Record i, II7). He came into possession of one of the islands inside of Stage Neck where he carried on the fishing business. He signed the Submission in 1652, had a land grant in 1653 and was living in 1673, when he sold his island to his son John, also a fisherman residing at Winter Harbor (Deeds ii, 193). The latter sold it to William Moore (Ibid. ii, 160), and after that the name disappears from our records.
NICHOLAS DAVIS
Mitsalat Dania Among the passengers of the Planter emigrating to New England in 1635 were Nich- olas Davis, aged forty, a tailor of Wapping Wall, London, his wife Sarah, forty, a son Joseph, aged thirteen, and a young boy William Locke, aged six years, for whom Davis was guardian (Commissary of London, Act Book, fo. 189), son of William and Margaret Locke of Stepney. He settled in Charlestown, later removing to Woburn where his wife died in 1643. He married (2) Elizabeth Isaac, widow of Joseph, a few months later, and brought his son Joseph with him when he settled in this town. He
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died in 1670 and his will proved that year (dated April 27, 1667) left his estate to his grandchildren Mary, Elizabeth and Mehitable Dodd, children of his daughter Mary who had married (1) George Dodd.
Nicholas Davis came to this town about 1648 and soon established himself as a tavern keeper in Lower Town where the main street leads to Stage Island. He is not known to have been connected with either of the three other Davises living here at the same time. He had issue: i. Joseph, bapt. 18 Nov. 1621; witness, York 1659; no further record. ii. Mary, m. (1) George Dodd; (2) Matthew Austin; (3) William Wright.
JOHN DAVIS
About 1650 there came to this town one John Davis (Deeds i, 100), who in the next third of a century rose to the highest official position in the Province, that of Deputy President. Of his origin nothing is definitely provable as
John drancy areply profes
his name is too common to identify without positive proof. In fact, there was another John Davis living here at the same time besides two others of the same surname. Our settler was a merchant by occupation and conducted his business where the Jonathan Sayward house stands (now the residence of Dr. Leonard Wheeler), and he had a wharf and warehouse adjoining. A deposition in 1683, giving his age as seventy years (born 1613), is the only personal fact known about him for purposes of identifica- tion. The property on which he lived was two acres in extent, and on it was a house and barn. It was either a part of, or adjoined, the George Puddington home lot where the widow, Mary Puddington, lived with her young children when Davis came to York. Sometime after 1659 he married the widow and for about thirty years they lived together, keeping a tavern, but there was no issue of the marriage. He signed the Submission in 1652 and suc- ceeded Henry Norton as marshal in 1658. A statement of his official activities in the town would include the usual frequent services on grand and petty juries, Selectman
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HISTORY OF YORK
(1669, 1670, 1671, 1672, 1675, 1676, 1679, 1680 and 1681). He was a member of the standing council of the Province (1680) and Deputy President 1681 for ten years until his death. He died intestate and on October 6, 1691 admin- istration was granted to his widow Mary. Inventory showed property to the value of £367-19-0 of which two hundred pounds was for his house and land (Deeds v, 65, 66). In addition to his innkeeping and trading he was interested in shipping and owned a vessel at the time of his death. The New Hampshire records contain an amus- ing account of an exploit at Great Island in which he was the leader of a merry party in 1673 probably under the influence of West India rum. This was during the troubles with the Dutch and a raid was expected by their vessels. With his associates he sounded an alarm late at night, going from house to house arousing the people with the cry: "The Dutch are coming!" Great excitement pre- vailed during which he withdrew and promptly returned to York. He was indicted for creating a disturbance but explained that he was simply testing the faithfulness of the watch, all of whom he found asleep (N. H. Records ii, 383-4).
JOHN TAIR
A person of this name appeared in Dover 1642 and before 1649 had removed to this province where he was a grand juror and in 1650 on a jury of "life and death" (Court Records i, 135, 139, 143). He is given the prefix "Mr." in both cases, and on July 16, 1650 he witnessed a deed in York, Hooke to Heard (Deeds iii, 107). As York and Kittery were the only towns left in the province it is assumed that he lived here, but there is no further record. A family of Tayer (now written Thayer) originating in Thornbury, county Gloucester, came to Braintree about 1640, and this transient may be from that source. A John Tayer lived in Stinchcomb, next parish to Slymbridge, the home of John Gooch.
STEPHEN FLANDERS
This is a very rare English name but is found fre- quently in Yorkshire where it appears as Flunder and Flounder, and in the adjoining county of Lincoln as Flanders. The name of this emigrant is found only once
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in the records in 1649 when his wife (Jane) was "presented for abusing her husband and his neighbors." (Court Records I, 135.) As there is no further report of the case he must have removed immediately to Salisbury where he was taxed in 1650 and lived there until his death June 27, 1684.
ANTHONY ELLINS
This person was also a transient. He was an early settler of Portsmouth, but apparently came to York about 1649 as his wife, Olive, called "of Agamenticus," owed Isaac Gross of Boston for wine. No further record of either of them has been found. He died in Portsmouth in 1681 and his second wife, Abigail, administered on his estate.
RICE CADOGAN
Riso Cadogan This settler was probably a Welshman, perhaps originating in Gloucestershire, and by occu- pation he was a fisherman. He first appeared of record in June 1648 as plaintiff in a case of trespass for the killing of three of his swine, indicating that he already had a homestead (Court Records i, 124). This location is unknown, but in 1650 he bought four acres part of which is now occupied by the Jonathan Sayward mansion (Deeds i, 10). In 1652 he signed the Submission to Massachusetts and in the next year he had a town grant of ten acres at Bass Cove. The conditions of this grant were never ful- filled, as he removed to the Isles of Shoals that year where he afterwards resided. He must have removed again to Charlestown, Mass., where one "Ri: Cadogan," called an indigent person, died November 5, 1695, aged sixty "or upwards." He was probably much older than that.
PHILIP HATCH
He was a native of Newton Ferrers, Devonshire, bap- tized December 28, 1615, as the son of John Hatch of that parish. He entered with his elder brother, Charles, into the service of John Winter at the Trelawney plantation in 1633 where he remained for ten years. He probably re- moved immediately after to this town where he bought land November 23, 1648 (Deeds i, 7) in Lower Town. He
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served on a jury "of life and death" in 1650, and in 1652 he signed the Submission. He administered the estate of his brother Charles in 1655 and signed the petition of 1656 to Cromwell. He was granted ten acres of land on
NEWTON FERRERS, DEVONSHIRE Where Philip Hatch was baptized 28 December, 1616
Alcock's Neck in 1659 and in 1663 was chosen Town Constable. He died between 1665 and June 12, 1674 when his widow confirmed a sale of house and land to Jasper Pullman (Ibid. ii, 152). His last appearance on record in 1665 was a defendant in a case of debt (Court Records i, 230). He married, date unknown, Patience (-) who survived him and married for her second husband Edward Wolcott and was living in 1709 at Berwick (Deeds ii, 180; vii, 135). He had the following known children and probably others:
i. Philip, b. 1651; resident of the Isles of Shoals (N. H. Probate i, 139).
ii. Patience, b. (1653); m. Joshua Downing 1676.
iii. Samuel, b. 1661; removed to Wells as a child.
iv. Elizabeth (?), b. -; m. Baker Nason.
v. John (?), b. --; m. Sarah ----- , mariner of Portsmouth.
A Francis Hatch witnessed a deed in York in 1677 (Essex Antiquarian vi, 132), but relationship with the above family is problematical.
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NEW SETTLERS OF THE SECOND DECADE
JOHN PARKER
The first record of this settler is in 1648 when he was called of Marblehead, carpenter, as grantee of John Heard of his house and all his land in Gorgeana, for the sum of twelve pounds payable in money, coin or board, in three annual payments (Deeds iii, 72). Whether this property became his homestead is uncertain, but it is known that he lived on the northwest side of Meeting House Creek and north of the Lindsey Road. He signed the Sub- mission in 1652, and in 1656 the petition to Cromwell. He was county jailer and hangman for many years. The date of his death is not known but he was living in 1686 (Deeds IV, 61).
The name of his wife is also unknown except that she was living in 1654. He was excused from military duty in 1681. He had the following named children:
i. Mary, b. (1640); m. William Roans (Deeds vi, 176).
ii. John, b. 1644.
iii. Abraham, b. (1647).
iv. Hannah, b. 1658; m. Thomas Adams.
The genealogy of this family will appear in Volume III.
GEORGE PARKER
He appears to be the George Parker, carpenter, who came to New England in the Elizabeth and Anne in 1635, aged twenty-three years, as the settler of the same name in this town followed the same trade. Of his residence, before he came here, sometime before 1648, nothing is known. In that year he had already been granted, and on November 23, 1648 he sold a house and lot to Philip Hatch in Lower Town, showing prior occupancy (Deeds i, 9). At some date unrecorded before 1650 Parker bought of John Gooch about eight acres adjoining the ministerial glebe on its south side, and abutting on Henry Norton's land on the northeast, (Ibid. xiv, 144). He had land grants, 1653, 1668, 1672 and 1679 (T. R. i, 23, 37, 44, 63). He served as a juror 1650-I, signed the Submission 1652, and in 1656 joined in the petition to Cromwell. He was elected constable in 1659, signed the protest to Massa- chusetts in 1662, and in 1668 petitioned Massachusetts against Gorges. On April 10, 1683 he gave all his property
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HISTORY OF YORK
to Peter Bass, his son-in-law, in consideration of support for himself and wife until death (Deeds iii, 123), but on a petition to the Court next year, owing to the decease of Bass, his estate was restored to him June 25, 1684, subject to a payment to the minor son of Bass.
He married Hannah (surname unknown), and had the following issue:
i. (daughter), b. about 1650; m. Peter Bass.
ii. George, died before Sept. 27, 1677; Inventory £9-11-8.
NICHOLAS BOND
This early settler came here sometime before 1650, signed the Submission in 1652 and lived on the Lindsay Road, but beyond his age (born in 1619), nothing is known of his origin. His principal claim to notice is his marriage to Jane the widow of Henry Simpson and daughter of Col. Walter Norton. In May 1650 as Jane Bond she pre- ferred a charge of criminal assault against Robert Collins, and got an equivocal verdict of crim. con. but without assault. She died before 1680 when he had married a second wife Margaret, who was fined that year for "turn- ing up" the wife of Sampson Angier and spanking her au naturel. He left no record here and after a few years is found in Portsmouth as tithing man. Date of death unknown, but as "Goody" Bond, his wife became in 170I a town charge there.
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CHAPTER XIV DEVELOPMENT OF GORGEANA UNDER THE CITY CHARTER 1640-1649
The little loyal settlement, now numbering perhaps three hundred souls, began the second decade of its ambi- tious career with all the paraphernalia and privileges of the second largest city of the kingdom. The new mayor, Thomas Gorges, Esquire, and his sergeants of the white rod, the twelve aldermen and twenty-four councilmen, recorder and town clerk may have absorbed all the adult males of Gorgeana, but if so its city government was only a glorified town meeting affair and carried with it no suggestion of imbalance.1 Instead of three selectmen to manage the corporate affairs it had forty and thus was more democratic than the triumvirates of the Massachu- setts towns.
Contemporaneously with the opening of the second decennium the Civil War in England was in full action and the kingdom was rent between the Royalist and Par- liamentary armies joined in a fight to the finish. This atmosphere of deadly social and religious enmities was reflected in the New England colonies. Every success of the Roundheads was the occasion of muffled hymns of praise to the Lord of Hosts in Massachusetts, Plymouth and Connecticut for giving Cromwell the victory, while in this loyal Province and New Hampshire the adherents of the king were correspondingly depressed by the ominous news. It meant more than life or less than death to them, for the Lord Proprietor was becoming an octogenarian and practically past his active participation in and direction of colonial affairs. He was on the losing side of life and the losing side of politics. His age and the temper of the times were hurdles that he could not leap. Nevertheless, the leading men of the leading town of the province were carrying on their duties and giving no undue attention to
1 The General Court of Massachusetts in 1641 had given William Pynchon auto- cratic power to govern the new settlement at Springfield and authorized juries to con- sist of six persons only because the small population could not supply a full quota. (Mass. Col. Rec. i, 221-2.)
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HISTORY OF YORK
political affairs in the mother country. It was enough to conduct their own civic and personal business at home in clearing the wilderness and battling the elements for the convenience and habitation of the slowly growing popu- lation.
A tragedy which cast its blighting effects upon the town grew out of the irregular mode of life of a married hussey, who had in previous years given the authorities of Massachusetts, during her residence there, frequent occasions to hale her into court. One Richard Cornish, the husband and victim of this woman, had been a resident of Weymouth with his wife Katherine as early as 1634, for in that year he was held responsible for her appearance to "answer such things as shalbe objected against her." (Mass. Col. Rec. i, 123.) What "such things" were, in all probability, may be inferred from a like reference to her four years later, when she was "found suspitious of incon- tinency & was seriously admonished to take heede" (Ibid.). Two years later they had come to Agamenticus, he prob- ably to start life anew in other surroundings and she to follow her unfaithful practices as the sequel showed. He had come to be in her way and one day in 1644 he was found drowned in the river with a weight attached to his body. Suspicion naturally fell upon her, the only one interested in his taking off. The details of this affair were gathered by Governor Winthrop for embellishing his Journal and are entered under date of February 1645 from which the following statements are gleaned.
Sometime in this month, "one Cornish," formerly of Weymouth, was found dead in York River. "His wife being a lewd woman," was suspected and brought "before the Mayor, Mr. Roger Garde and others of the province of Maine and strong presumptions came in against her, whereupon she was condemned and executed."" She finally confessed to have led an adulterous life, and "charged two especially, the said Garde, the mayor, and one Ed- ward Johnson, who confessed it openly at the time of her execution; but the mayor denied it, and it gave some likeli- hood that he was not guilty because he had carried him- self very zealously and impartially in discovery of the
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