USA > Maine > Lincoln County > Bristol > History of York, Maine, successively known as Bristol (1632), Agamenticus (1641), Gorgeana (1642), and York (1652) Vol. I > Part 19
USA > Maine > York County > York > History of York, Maine, successively known as Bristol (1632), Agamenticus (1641), Gorgeana (1642), and York (1652) Vol. I > Part 19
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CHAPTER XVIII
THE SCOTCH PRISONERS' SETTLEMENT
To the two victories of Cromwell with his Ironsides at Dunbar and Worcester we are indebted for about a dozen Highlanders sent over as "prisoners" who became the founders of the settlement and parish which has ever since been known by the name of "Scotland." Their story furnishes one of the picturesque chapters in early New England history, and this town, like a number of others in the other provinces, shared in their romantic experiences and later careers.
Having defeated the Royalists in England and be- headed the king in 1649, Cromwell proceeded to the con- quest of Ireland where his fanatical "Croppies" spent the following summer in turning that country into a bloody shambles. Defended or defenseless towns were laid low and his butcheries spared neither the armed or unarmed. The fanatical Puritan, feeling that he had wiped out the hated Catholics for a generation at least, was aroused by a new challenge in his ruthless progress. The Scottish Parliament had proclaimed the youthful Prince Charles, then a fugitive at The Hague, as their king. The procla- mation was provisional, however, requiring him to sub- scribe to their Covenant and accept Parliamentary direc- tion in civil affairs and to the Presbyterian Assembly in ecclesiastical matters. Embarrassing as these terms were, he decided to comply with them, and this situation created a new menace to the Commonwealth and to Cromwell. With his veterans from Ireland as a nucleus the insatiable "Noll" gathered an army of about sixteen thousand, of which a third were mounted troops. With these he in- vaded the last kingdom remaining loyal to the Crown and, reaching Edinburgh after some skirmishes, he marched his army to Dunbar, a town on the east coast of Scotland just south of the Firth of Forth. By this time his new levies were rapidly decreasing in numbers through disease and fatigues of the forced marches. Supplies could only reach him by sea at Dunbar as Gen. David Leslie in command of the Scotch troops had seized the passes
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which furnished the only retreat from Scotland to Durham and Berwick on Tweed. Leslie's troops outnumbered Cromwell's army, but they were undisciplined clansmen of their Highland chieftains unused to war in its technical aspects, and the Scottish general declined to give open battle hoping to starve out Cromwell then hemmed in on the narrow peninsula of Dunbar. Meanwhile the young King Charles had arrived from Holland and joined this motley military organization to the great joy of the clans- men and made himself popular by sharing their rough camp life and engaging in some of the daily skirmishes of the outposts. These "braw" laddies showed their prefer- ence for his leadership over the capped and gowned com- mittee of argumentative Covenanters, who were busy purging the force of unbelievers until they had eliminated all or most of its skillful soldiers. Then, satisfied that they had an army of approved saints, they demanded that the king retire from the front and leave the direction of the campaign to them. Wishing to take an advantage of a favorable opportunity, Leslie proposed to attack Crom- well on Sunday but the fanatical dominies would not per- mit him to break the Sabbath even for this desirable purpose. Night and day these theological crusaders wrestled with the Lord in prayer and finally had assurance in a "revelation" that the Lord of Hosts would deliver Agag (Cromwell) into their hands. They ordered Leslie to attack. Descending from the heights of Lammermoor, which overlooked the camp of Cromwell, he reached the plains of Dunbar. Cromwell, observing this movement, did not need any "revelation" to tell him that the Lord of Hosts was about to deliver them into his hands. He had been waiting for that hour as his only salvation. He gave orders for an immediate attack in force and though greatly inferior in numbers his disciplined troops soon showed their superiority over the untrained but brave clansmen. Leslie's army was routed and the cavalry of Cromwell pursued the disorganized Covenanters with great slaughter. The chief if not the only resistance to his onslaught was made by a regiment of Highlanders who fought with great desperation as they had learned from his conquest of Ireland the tales that Cromwell would put all men to the sword and thrust hot irons through women's breasts. Three thousand Scotchmen fell
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HISTORY OF YORK
in this disaster fighting hopelessly to the last. Ten thou- sand were taken prisoners. About half of the latter were so exhausted by their flight and disabled by wounds that Cromwell immediately released them. He wrote that he had lost only twenty men in this battle and he had every reason to believe, as Joshua believed in his battles with the Canaanites, that the Lord of Hosts had given him the victory.
The able-bodied prisoners, five thousand in number, were marched down to Durham and Newcastle on Tyne. The cathedral at Durham was converted into a prison and there these unfortunate Highlanders were destined to spend an indefinite period as captives of war. Their disposition was a problem both from a sanitary and polit- ical standpoint. This noble edifice was not constructed to house thousands of men day and night and a decision had to be reached rapidly. A providential opportunity was presented to the officials of the commonwealth in London. Laborers were greatly needed in the new Ameri- can colonies and on September 19, 1650, only sixteen days after the battle, there was an order in council passed to deliver nine hundred prisoners for transportation to Vir- ginia and one hundred fifty for New England. The request for the latter contingent was made by John Becx & Company of London, who were interested as managers of the iron mines at Saugus. They were transported in the Unity, Augustine Walker, master, a resident of Charlestown, Mass. Those sent hither in this ship were picked as "well and sound and free from wounds." Cap- tain Walker received orders for the voyage on November II, 1650 and doubtless started shortly after with his human cargo over the tempestuous wintry seas of the Atlantic. Sixty of them were destined for the iron works and the remainder were distributed throughout numerous towns in Massachusetts and New Hampshire in a kind of modified slavery or compulsory service which was to terminate in seven years. They were bought by their masters at twenty pounds and thirty pounds each, which went for the expenses of their transportation.
This discreditable transaction of traffic in human lives was thus shared by our pious Puritan forebears, but it can be said that they had none of the ruthless spirit of Cromwell in their dealings with their newly bought bond-
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THE SCOTCH PRISONERS' SETTLEMENT
slaves. Even John Cotton had his qualms of conscience about this camouflaged slavery. In a letter to Cromwell dated Boston, July 28, 1651 he said:
The Scots whom God delivered into your hands at Dunbarre and whereof sundry were sent hither, we have been desirous (as we could) to make their yoke easy. Such as were sick of the scurvey or other diseases have not wanted Physick and chyrurgery. They have not been sold for slaves to perpetual servitude. But for 6 or 7 or 8 yeares as we do our own. (Prince Mss.)
While their plight here was pitiful yet it was not so disastrous as befell those who were left behind in Durham. Half of them died there in a few months of contagious filth diseases. Here they were looked upon as aliens and their Gaelic accent was scarcely understandable. Town clerks could not interpret the broad speech when writing their names, and many curious and sometimes undecipher- able puzzles were the result. A family bearing the name of Tosh is a relic of the once proud Scotch clan of McIntosh. Our own McIntire was recorded as "Micom the Scot" in Dover. A year to a day after the Battle of Dunbar the young king and his followers decided to try conclusions once more with Cromwell at Worcester, and on that day the "crowning mercy of the Lord," as Cromwell expressed it, fell to his victorious troops. More Scotch prisoners were taken and two hundred seventy-two of them were shipped to Boston in the John and Sarah, John Green, master, and their names, in all sorts of fantastic spellings, have been preserved (Suffolk Deeds, vol. i). These also were sold into slavery. It is not easy to determine to which lot of prisoners the twelve or more Scotchmen who finally settled in York belonged, Dunbar or Worcester. Most of this dozen were placed in New Hampshire towns, principally Dover and Exeter, and after their term of servitude was accomplished, they scattered to secure fa- vorable opportunities for improvement of their condition.
Alexander Maxwell, who had been sold to George Leader of Berwick, was the first of the Scotchmen to settle in York in 1657 and he was followed in order of appearance by those listed below:
James Grant ("The Drummer") 1660 John Carmichael 1660 Daniel Dill 1660 James Grant ("The Scotchman") 1662 Daniel Livingston 1666
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HISTORY OF YORK
James Jackson 1666 Alexander McNair 1666 Andrew Rankin 1668 Malcolm MacIntire 1670 Thomas Holmes 1671
By tradition, Lewis Bane or Bean was of Scottish origin, but there is no reason to believe that he came here as a prisoner of war. Daniel Black who came to York from Topsfield in 1695 was a son of a Scotch prisoner who ar- rived in the John and Sarah. All these original settlers acquired land adjoining, or near to, Maxwell and thus grouped together this section of York naturally came to be called by the name of their native land. The designa- tion of "Scotland" appears first in 1668 in the town records. Their individual experiences, as far as obtainable, following their exile are here given.
Alexander Maxwell was bound to George Leader who was interested at the mills at Great Works, Berwick, and in 1654 he was convicted of "abusive carages towards his master & Mrs" and ordered to have thirty lashes "upon the bare skine" and to work out the time he was in gaol to the amount of seven pounds and ten shillings. Future misbehaviour was to result in his sale to Virginia, Barba- does or any other English plantation. This whipping must have had its effect and he so carried himself after- wards as to obtain a land grant in Kittery in 1656. He sold this the next year, and his time having expired he came to York.
Daniel Dill. He testified that he was a servant of Alexander Maxwell in 1664 and is undoubtedly another of the Scotch prisoners, as he lived in Scotland where he had a land grant. He probably belonged to the group captured at the Battle of Worcester.
James Grant, the "Drummer," was one of three of his name who came in the John and Sarah and was prob- ably captured at the Battle of Worcester. He is the an- cestor of the York family, and the late N. G. Marshall long ago recorded the tradition that "he was taken in arms for Charles I and banished by Cromwell." Owing to the fact that there were three James Grants it is not certain that identification of them can be established, but he was probably sold to service in Dover, as in 1657 he was admitted as an inhabitant there. Valentine Hill of that
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THE SCOTCH PRISONERS' SETTLEMENT
town had several of these prisoners in his service. Grant was taxed there in 1657-8-9, and came to York the follow- ing year, as established by his sale in 1669 as James Grant of York, of the land grant he had received there ten years before. He was called "Welsh James" in Dover.
John Carmichael suffered greatly in the attempts of town scribes to spell his name, and it furnishes good evi- dence of the mangling which those Highland names under- went at the hands of their English countrymen here. It appears as Cermicle, Curmeal, Cirmihill, Curmuckhell and perhaps in other disguises. He came in the John and Sarah, probably as one of the prisoners of Worcester, and was in service in Dover until 1657, when he received a grant of land and was taxed there. In 1660 he removed to this town.
James Grant, the "Scotchman," so-called in our rec- ords, to distinguish him from the other James, the "Drummer," signed a petition in York in 1660, but whence he came is not known. In 1661 he was presented by the Grand Jury "for not returning home to his wife." As a prisoner of war he was exiled and like many others left a family behind, and could not return while in servitude here. This situation was generally overlooked and sub- sequent marriages were accepted as part of the fortunes of war conditions.
ariel Livingston Daniel Livingston bore a Scotch name but whether he came here as one of the prisoners is uncertain. He is included as he settled in Scotland in 1666 with his countrymen. Nothing is known of his previous career prior to his arrival in York.
James Jackson came in the John and Sarah and is credited as one of the prisoners from Worcester. He also went to Dover and in 1661 was freed from training "by reason he hath lost one of his fingers" (N. H. Deeds ii, 576). Five years later he came to York.
Alexander MacNair was one of the Dunbar prisoners as his name does not appear on the list of those coming in the later ship. His name is generally misspelled Mac- caneere, Machanare or Mackinire. It is not known where he was sold, but probably to someone in New Hampshire, as the rest of his compatriots came from that province.
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HISTORY OF YORK
Malcolm MacIntire is undoubtedly one of the Dunbar prisoners and we may assume that he was also one of that Highland regiment which gallantly withstood the on- slaughts of Cromwell's horsemen. He was taken to Dover and there served his time and remained there several years, being taxed in 1664 as "Micome, the Scotchman." Thence he went to Kittery where he had a grant of land. In 1670 he came to York and settled on land adjoining Alexander Maxwell. The phonetic spelling of his Christian name is as near as the town clerks could interpret his pronuncia- tion of the fine old Scottish name of Malcolm.
Robert Junkins. This Scotchman was one of those captured at Dunbar as his name does not appear on the later list. He also was one of the Dover contingent and as "Roberd Junkes" in 1657 appears on the tax list. The name is probably Johnnykin. He was taxed there in 1663 and probably remained in that town until 1678, as that is the first year of his appearance in York.
Thomas Holmes or Homes, possibly Hume, which is the Scotch surname, was one of the Scotch prisoners and for the reason given above in like cases he can be assigned to the Dunbar captives. He was probably bought by Henry Sayward, then operating a mill near Portsmouth. Sayward brought him to York in 1656 to work in his lately acquired mills here. John Redmond was presented by the Grand Jury in 1672 "for telling a ly, saying that Tho: Holms was Henry Saywards servant for hee bought him with his money and gave thirty pounds for him." As he was acquitted we know that Redmond told the truth. He was the only Scotch prisoner who did not settle in Scotland as his father-in-law, William Freethy, gave him a lot next his own near the Norton brickyard.
Andrew Rankin. This settler is included among the Scotch prisoners, as it is a Highland name and he took up his residence in our Scotland and his connection has the approval of an historian who had investigated this general subject. The author places him in this list with that explanation. Nothing is known of him prior to 1668 when he received a grant of land in the town.
Further accounts of these interesting additions to the life of Old York will be found in later portions of this work. Only three of them left descendants in the town and are represented by name in this century.
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CHAPTER XIX
NEW SETTLERS OF THE THIRD DECADE
In the ten years, 1651-1660, which covered this por- tion of the early life of York, immigration from England had practically ceased, owing to the restrictive measures placed on shipping and emigrants during the Civil War. Instead of coming to New England by shiploads, as was the case when the "Great Emigration" was at its height, the new comers reached here individually in vessels com- ing to our coast for the fisheries. In this way a consider- able portion of the new settlers came from the West Country, where communication by such vessels was more frequent. Additions to our population were received from the adjoining province of New Hampshire, as grants of land in fee simple were open to them. At least twenty- five settlers and their families migrated hither during the third decade and sketches of them, herewith given, show their origins and personal records in the town.
ROBERT EDGE
Robertoago He is probably the emigrant of that name who came in the Hope- well, 1635, perhaps from Stepney, London, aged twenty-five years, and gradually reached this part of the country in the intervening years. He is found here in 1650, with a wife Florence, living in Lower Town, and it is interesting to note that Jasper Pulman of this town had a sister bearing this unusual baptismal name. Edge signed the Submission in 1652 and by 1662 had removed to Kittery (Deeds i, 122). He was living in 1680, and "Gamar" (grandma) Edge in 1690 at the house of Anne Crockett, at the charge of Joshua Downing (York Court Files). She witnessed a deed in 1664 at Kittery (Norfolk Deeds). They had the following issue:
i. Peter (?) living 1665.
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HISTORY OF YORK
EDWARD RISHWORTH
·Rishworks For nearly forty years this settler occupied a prominent place in the annals of York. He was the son of Rev. Thomas Rishworth, an Oxford graduate, and Rector of Laceby 1607-1632, the year of his death. His mother was Hester Hutchinson, daughter of Edward and Susanna Hutchinson of Alford, Lincolnshire, and Edward was their eldest son, named for his maternal grandfather. As soon as he had reached his majority he came to New England and joined the new settlement at Exeter, N. H., where a number of his kinsmen were already located. There he is believed to have resided until his removal to Wells where he was living in 1650 (Deeds i, 66). The next year he removed to Hampton, N. H., where he was chosen Select- man in that year. The occasion which induced him to make another change to this town was the death of the Recorder of the Province, Basil Parker, who died October 14, 1651 and Rishworth received the appointment as his successor. In this office he labored, with one or two en- forced interregna, until 1686 and after that continued as Deputy Recorder until his death. As he held the office dur- ing all the troublous political time, when jurisdictions were changing every few years, it is easy to characterize him as a "trimmer" in party allegiance, but it seems rather a case of one exceptionally well qualified to fill this office, where intelligence and clerical ability were so rarely found in combination in a frontier settlement. This is clearly shown in the experience which the Province had with a recorder appointed by the Massachusetts authorities in 1668 as a political reward to one of their partisans for aid- ing them in restoring their control of the Province. In 1665, after thirteen years service under Massachusetts, Rishworth accepted appointment from the Royal Com- missioners acting for Gorges, and for three years he was identified with the new regime. When Massachusetts overthrew this government by force in July 1668 Rish- worth was marked for dismissal and disfranchisement, and as elsewhere stated, appointed Peter Weare to the office. He was totally unfitted for the place and the citizens promptly elected Rishworth at the next election. The Boston overlords set the election aside and reappointed
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NEW SETTLERS OF THE THIRD DECADE
Weare as they could not forgive Rishworth for holding office under the King.1 In 1670 the voters sent Rishworth as Deputy to the General Court as a protest. This elec- tion was also annulled, and Rishworth, finding that the interests of the people were being used as a political pawn he made his peace with the powers at Boston in the following apology:
I being chozen Deputy by the Major part of the freemen of Yorke to attende the publique service of the country at this Generall Court unto whose acceptance I stood uncapable through some affronte which I had given to the same for whose satisfaction these may satisfy all whom it may Concerne, that through fears of some future troubles & want of Indemnity in case this Honor'd Court had not relieved in tymes of danger, I being persuaded that by his Majestys letter I was discharged from my oath taken to this authority, I did accept of a commission before applycation to the same, w'rin I do Acknowledge I did act very imprudently & hope through God's assistance I shall not doe the like againe, but for tyme to come shall Indeavor to walke more circumspectly in cases soe momentous: craving pardon of the honord Court for this offence & your acceptance of this acknowledg- ment of your unfained servant May : 12: 1670
EDW: RISHWORTH (Mass. Arch. cvi, 199)
With this complete renunciation of his correct principles in accepting an appointment from the Royal Commissioners, acting under authority of the king, believing it paramount to an illegal oath demanded of him by Massachusetts in 1652 at the Submission, he secured a reappointment to his old office. He held this uninterruptedly until 1686 when another change of government under Andros deprived the province of his experienced services. Thomas Scottow of Boston was appointed Recorder against the wishes of the people. Over a hundred citizens of various towns pro- tested against the change. Although ineffectual in secur- ing his retention Rishworth was employed to do the actual work and Scottow affixed his signature to the pages when- ever he happened to visit the County seat. In addition to this long service for the Province he was Deputy for York to the General Court of Maine 1650-1655; Deputy to the
1 The Maine Court Records of 1669 state that "Mr. Edward Rishworth was chosen Recorder for this County; not Exceptinge thereof," Weare was appointed to the vacancy. As Massachusetts was again in the saddle it is extremely likely that they demanded an apology from Rishworth for his abandonment of their cause and his oath, which he was not then prepared to give, and so declined the office. It will be seen that he capitulated the next year. This is a distinct blot in his career.
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HISTORY OF YORK
General Court of Massachusetts 1670-1683; Justice 1664; and Magistrate 1681 besides acting as Selectman of York.
It will be satisfactory to close this sketch of his life at this point, but his career in the town was marked by many unfortunate entanglements. Brought up in the atmos- phere of a cultured household he was easily the best edu- cated man in the town although he had not received a university education. His long experience in recording legal documents made him a useful member of society in writing wills, deeds and other official documents for clients. Had he confined himself to these activities his record would have been much nearer the standard which his natural abilities warranted. But he undertook to engage in business speculations and milling enterprises in which he was utterly unfitted for success. He soon became entangled in debts and mortgages, not only in his milling adventures but in his real estate speculations which kept him constantly in debt and a defendant in suits for re- covery which clouded his estate long after his death. Notwithstanding his many purchases of land and his like number of grants from the town during his long life here it is significant that his inventory does not list one foot of land belonging to him when he died. The total was only £39-0-6, the largest items being a "bed and furniture," "a horse, bull cow and calf," and "silver," the three items accounting for two thirds of his estate, leaving "waring cloaths," valued at five pounds and chairs, pots, candle- sticks, and irons and other small furnishings to make up the balance.
Considering his salary and legal fees for services during more than thirty years in this Province, this unfortunate situation may explain his need to hold office under all political changes, for which his honor has been questioned. He was in no sense a political leader as his financial worries made him subordinate to the actual requirements of earn- ing his livelihood. If he drew up the deeds to property which he had acquired (as he undoubtedly did) they pre- sent to the historian a formidable puzzle of obscure de- scriptions which no one has been able to solve satisfac- torily. Although it appears that.his townsmen recognized his ability as a recorder yet they were not unanimous in assessing his moral qualities. Jeremy Sheeres of Cape Neddick expressed this picturesque opinion of him in
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NEW SETTLERS OF THE THIRD DECADE
public: "that hee sate in his chayre hatching of mischeefe & that when the said Mr. Rishworth went out of the Meet- ing house that the divill went out of hell." This cost Sheeres five shillings and a promise of future reformation.
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