USA > Maine > Lincoln County > Bristol > History of York, Maine, successively known as Bristol (1632), Agamenticus (1641), Gorgeana (1642), and York (1652) Vol. I > Part 2
USA > Maine > York County > York > History of York, Maine, successively known as Bristol (1632), Agamenticus (1641), Gorgeana (1642), and York (1652) Vol. I > Part 2
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XV
HISTORY OF YORK
CHAPTER XXXV. YORK IN THE REVOLUTION, 1775-1783. ..... . 402 First Troops in Maine to March to Lexington After News of the Battle. Capt. Johnson Moulton. Capt. Samuel Derby. Capt. James Donnell. Seacoast Defence. Resolutions Pledging Town to Independence. Lists of Officers and Men in Service from York. York in Naval Service.
CHAPTER XXXVI. YORK UNDER REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT .... 423 Adoption of the State Constitution. Agitation for Separation from Massachusetts. "The Glorious Fourth." Revolutionary Pensioners. William Hutchins, a native of York, the last survivor of Revolution.
APPENDIX
CHARTER OF AGAMENTICUS 435
CHARTER OF GORGEANA. 440
INDENTURE OF TRUSTEESHIP 445
RAPPORTE DE M. DE CHAMPIGNY 447
LIST OF PROPRIETORS OF THE COMMONS, 1732 449 INDEXES 452-474
xvi
LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS
Portrait of Author Frontispiece
Isometric Diagram of Elevations.
4
Capt. John Smith 6
Oak at Cider Hill
9
York in 1655 . IO
Set off to Berwick.
I3
Algonquian Indians. Champlain 18
Indian Planting Field
20
Indian Camp.
24
Map of Agamenticus, 1616.
31
Early Dutch Map with "Acominticus'
34
Portrait of John Whitson, Mayor of Bristol
36
Early Dutch Map Showing Acomenticus
37
Levett's Ship Yorkes Bonaventure, 1623
38
Sketch of Map showing York, 1610. Arms of Godfrey
40 41
Location of Godfrey's First House, 1630.
Wood's Map of New England, 1633, showing Agamenticus.
44 46
Signature of Edward Godfrey, 1626
47
St. Michael's Church, Wilmington, Kent.
51 53
Long Ashton, Somerset.
Great Hall, Bristol; residence of Gorges
Church at Long Ashton, Somerset.
Site of Manor of Point Christian
Map of Gorges and Ferry Necks
Arms of Bristol, England
An Old Street, Bristol, 1600.
Signature of Humphrey Hooke, Bristol .
Arms of Col. Walter Norton.
Signature of Edward Johnson
Signature of William Hooke.
Signature of Thomas Bradbury
Signature of George Newman.
Signature of Rowland Young
IOI
View of Bideford, Devon
IO5
Signature of Henry Simpson
106 III
Signature of John Alcock
II4
Signature of Basil Parker I16 Signature of Sampson Angier II7 Initial letter from Charter of Gorgeana I20
Ancient Painting of Mayor of Bristol taking Oath of Office. I 26
Map of Division of Grand Patent. . I32
Map of Stated and Outer Commons. I 38
xvii
54 56 60 62 66 73 74 75 84 89 92 94 96 98
St. Peter's Church, Tiverton, Devon
Signature of Roger Garde.
104
Signature of Arthur Bragdon
.
Signature of Sir Ferdinando Gorges
HISTORY OF YORK
CHAPTER I GENERAL AND STATISTICAL
SITUATION AND AREA
In its relation to the Western continent this town, situ- ated on the Maine coast six miles east of the Piscataqua River which divides the states of Maine and New Hamp- shire, the parallel of 43º 9' north latitude marks the loca- tion of Cider Hill, while 70° 41' west longitude intersects it. Its greatest width, east and west, is about seven and one-half miles and its longest measurement from north to south is seven and one-half miles, in which is comprised about fifty-seven square miles or thirty-six thousand five hundred acres of land. Unlike most other coast towns, it has no outlying islands as a part of its territory.
TOPOGRAPHICAL FEATURES
. York has three distinct features somewhat unusual in the coast towns of western Maine in mountain, lake and river formations. Of these Agamenticus is easily the most distinctive. Rising six hundred ninety-two feet above sea level it was for the early voyagers, and is still for the modern navigator, an outpost of the Appalachian Range, serving as a landmark when approaching the coast any- where within half a degree of the forty-third parallel. Every mariner in the period of discovery knew this majes- tic hill. It culminates in three peaks; the second is five hun- dred forty and the third being four hundred sixty feet in altitude. These retain to this day all the primeval char- acter of virgin forests. Being the only mountain in this vicinity it has been used as one of the triangulation points of the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey.
In his geology of Maine Prof. C. H. Hitchcock, the State Geologist, describes the Agamenticus peaks as gran- itic in composition. This hill is on the southern edge of a crescent-shaped ridge and on the inner line of the curve. He further states that the geological formation of this sec-
3
١
HISTORY OF YORK
tion is Cambrian, consisting of conglomerates of the softer sandstones, limestones, shale with interspersed granite, and an igneous rock chiefly of feldspar, commonly known as syenite. It is probable that during the Ice Age the Agamenticus range suffered little from attrition, owing to its hard rock formation. An observatory was erected on its summit by the Government from which one of the grandest prospects in the country is obtained. Undoubt- edly it was used by the Indians for their signal fires for the same reason. In 1770 John Adams wrote in his diary, during a visit to York, of an excursion made to Agamen- ticus with a pleasure party, and he adds "they talk much of erecting a beacon on it." The ascent to the summit is
"The Greate Mount eine of Sasanoa"
692
54 0
P_Kittery-
Clay Hill
Beach Ridge
Cider Hill
Ground Nut
Cape Neck
/ Sentinel
Bald Head 1
Harbor
Nubble
Cape Neddick
ISOMETRIC DIAGRAM OF ELEVATIONS IN YORK As seen by the Early Explorers approaching Coast From the South-East
gradual and easily accomplished. This mountain was known to the Indians as Sasanoa's Mount, so called from a great Abenaki chieftain of the precolonization period. Capt. John Smith, who had little regard for native place names, tacked on it the name of Snadoun Hill after the Welch peak of Snowdon in Caernarvonshire. Fortunately this baptism did not "take," and in the course of time it came to be known by its present name, derived from the main river which flows through the town. As such it has no significance philologically. It should have retained its original designation as Sasanoa's Mount. In 1630 Win- throp knew it as the Three Turk's Heads, from the famous exploit of Smith in decapitating three Mohammedans (Winthrop, Journal, i, 48).
Within the first bounds of the town are fourteen ponds originally called Agamenticus (now Chase's), Folly, and the two connecting ponds named Middle and Scituate,
4
Welle ___
GENERAL AND STATISTICAL
both of which and probably all three are artificial in origin, made for millponds by dams constructed by the early set- tlers. This also applies to Chase's Pond as well as to what is known as Barrell's Millpond made by damming Meet- ing House Creek. Chase's Pond is three miles in length and nearly half a mile wide. It was the source of power for the old woolen mill operated by the Chase family and now is the source of supply of the York Water Company. For a distance of three miles it drains into and becomes Cape Neddick River. The other ponds are natural: Warren and Round (now in South Berwick); Welch's and an unnamed small pond in the Agamenticus region; Ton- nemy in the Scituate district; and four ponds without names shown on the Geological Survey Map, Cape Ned- dick Section (1920).
The third distinctive natural feature in the town is the tidal river whose waters are forced inland nearly seven miles and whose water power was early harnessed by the first settlers for milling purposes. By two branches which diverge northeast and northwest four miles from the mouth, it drains two small ponds - one in South Berwick and the other in Eliot. Ordinarily it is a sluggish current because of the level character of the terrain, but it acquires rapidity at ebb tide. Stage Island (now Stage Neck) at its mouth forms a harbor suitable for pleasure boats, at all stages of the tide, but when Capt. John Smith sur- veyed it he recorded that "Accominticus" was a "con- venient harbour for small barks." It was first called Agamenticus in varying spelling: Aquamenticus .(1623); Aquamentiquos (1631); Acaminticus (1633); Augumea- ticus (1636); Agomentico (1640); and Aguamenticus (1700), all of which forms connote easily recognized root origins which, in the opinion of the author, is descriptive of the peculiar character of the river. An analysis of this Indian name is discussed at length in the chapter on "Ancient Landmarks" in the second volume of this history.
GEOLOGY AND SOIL
In general, the entire town is a low, level terrain, with few elevations rising one hundred feet above sea level. These elevations are Sentry Hill, Cider Hill, around York Corner, while several miles inland there are a dozen eleva- tions ranging from one hundred forty feet to three hundred
5
HISTORY OF YORK
forty-eight feet. Between this high land small streams like Bell Marsh Brook, Folly Brook, Old Mill Creek, and New Mill Creek wind a tortuous course to empty into York River. Little River empties into the Atlantic Ocean about the middle of York Beach. In the eastern part of the town Josias' River meanders a long course of several miles from
CAPT. JOHN SMITH Visited Agamenticus in 1616 and described it.
its source, at the foot of Agamenticus, eastward into Wells to empty in the ocean a short distance from the dividing line. It will not be necessary to follow the courses of these smaller streams as the map of the town will furnish more accurate knowledge of their location and courses. The coast line is a combination of what Capt. John Smith called "craggie cliffs" and sandy beaches. The shore line from Bald Head Cliff to Braveboat Harbor forms an 6
GENERAL AND STATISTICAL
almost straight line, broken in the middle by the curious projection extending into the ocean for a mile and termi- nating in a small cliff-like rock, separated from it by a narrow and deep channel through which the tide flows with great velocity. The detached portion on which stands the lighthouse is called The Nubble and the penin- sula has borne the name of Cape Neddick from time immemorial. As often happens in Indian place names, this designation belongs to the little solitary island on which is situated the Government lighthouse. Neddick is a word derived from the dialect of the eastern Indians, the root of which is Naoo, meaning solitary like a single tree, to which the terminal "dik" conforms to the Micmac word Naedich, the place name of a like nubble on the coast of Nova Scotia. Professor Ganong furnishes this analysis and regards it as a general name for small, soli- tary nubble islands in Algonquin territory.
Captain Levett, when visiting and exploring the river, stated that the land was "good ground fit for planting corne (wheat) and other fruits." Captain Smith, in 1614, called " Accomenticus a convenient harbor for small barks." The soil next the river is clayey and fertile and farms as fine as can be found in the state are successfully cultivated here. The other portions of the town are more sterile, of which the "Rocky ground" (so-called in 1699) is an example of the waste places unsuitable for agricultural development. The opinion of Levett respecting the possi- bilities of this place for settlement has been justified. It has been a town depending on agriculture largely for its development. Levett also observed that "there is good timber," and the earliest industry was the saw mill which had thousands of acres of virgin pine and oak to feed the primitive mills. Such was the havoc produced, however, by the constant gnawings at this richly wooded inherit- ance that in 1718 the town voted that no more than six trees should be felled and allowed to lie on the ground at one time, and in 1725 further protection of the depleted forests was deemed necessary by prohibiting the exporta- tion of timber, fit for sawing, without permission. The native trees are the white and red oak, white, pitch and Norway pine, spruce, fir, hemlock, bass, beech, maple, birch, cedar, wild cherry and hornbeam.
There is a curious rock back of Folly Pond, resting on
7
HISTORY OF YORK
another, so well balanced that it can be easily tilted by the hand. It weighs many tons.
At and about Tonnemy Hill and Pond are found de- posits of ochre (hematite and limonite), which was much prized by the Indians for decorative purposes, ceremonials and for war-painting. This gave the name to the hill as it has come down to us in their language.
Of the undomesticated fauna it is evident from the town records that wolves were the greatest problem for the early settlers. Until the end of the eighteenth century they continued to be a serious annoyance and peril. Bears are not mentioned and presumably they furnished only an occasional excitement in the outlying forests. The habitat of the rattlesnake is so widespread in this country that York was not an exception to giving this poisonous reptile shelter. In 1722 Thomas Adams killed one with nine rattles measuring three and a half feet long; and they have been found since then, but none in the memory of the present generation.
BOUNDARIES
The boundaries of the town as now constituted were not definitely settled until 1652 when Massachusetts took over the government of the province and required adjoin- ing towns to settle their boundaries. These bounds re- mained unchanged until 1834, when a section on the north- west end was set off to South Berwick. Otherwise except for small readjustments from time to time by the adjoin- ing towns of Wells and Kittery, made by mutual consent, the old limits yet exist. The first limits placed on Agamen- ticus are found in the charter of 1641 which specifies that the bounds :
. shall extend East West North and South three miles every way distant from the Church Chappell or Oratory belongeing to the Plantacon of Acomenticus. . . .
In the next year in the charter of Gorgeana the follow- ing limits were prescribed:
.. shall extend from the begininge of the entrance in of the River Commonlie called and knowne by the name of Agamenticus and soe up the said River seaven Englishe Myles, and all along the Easte & North Easte side of the Sea-shore three Englishe Myles in Bredth
8
GENERAL AND STATISTICAL
from the entrance of said River and up into the mayne-land seaven myles buttinge with the seaven myles from the sea side up the said River the bredth of three myles opposite thereunto.
A GREATE WHITE OAKE On Gorges Neck (Cider Hill) mentioned as a bound in 1641. Probably 500 years old.
In November, 1652, the division line between Kittery and this town was declared to be as follows:
. . the Head Line of York Bounds into the Country shall be upon a streight Line by the South East Side of a certain Pond about 2 Miles into the Country, beyond the Northerly Branch of a certain Marsh now improved by some of the Inhabitants of York & so the Division Lines betwext the Townes beforementioned & if it fall out that any part of the Marshes now reputed to belong to Yorke & improved by the Inhabitants thereof shall fall within Kittery Bounds, yet the Propriety of the said Marsh shall belong to the Inhabitants of Yorke to whom it was granted. . .. (Deeds, i, 27).
This was evidently a division line agreed upon before the advent of the Massachusetts authority. It appears that this was not acceptable to the two towns and, in accord- ance with the direction of the Massachusetts commis-
9
HISTORY OF YORK
sioners, a new survey was made the following year and the record follows:
Whereas it was ordered by the Commissioners appoynted to take in Yorke & Kettery into the Bay govermt that each towne should make a choyce of certayne men amongst themselves to lay out the bounds betwixt the two foresd townes according to which order of the foresd comissionors we, whose names are hereunto subscribed, being elected for that purpose, doe upon due consideration thereof, mutually agree, pitch and appoynt the bounds betweene Yorke & Kettery to begin as followeth, namely:
Arquementicus Hills
Yorke
Cape Nedeck
0
YORK IN 1655 British Museum Mss. The earliest known plan of the town
At the head of Brayboat Harbour, which is at the first & loest discent of that fresh brooke which lyeth at the upper end of the marshes belonging to the sd harbour, being in distance about one mile & a halfe from the mouth of the harbour, & from the head of that harbour to run in a streight line to the head of the south west branch of the River of Yorke, being the next point of upland where the creek treanes about to the north west & so run from the sd poynt of upland upon a direct line unto the south east side of a certayne pond which lyeth betwixt the northwest branch of the River of Yorke and Newychawanacke:
IO
GENERAL AND STATISTICAL
In confirmation of which afforesd bounds we have hereunto set our hands.
Nico: Shapleigh Edw: Rishworth Abram Preble
Nico: Frost Joh : Davese
Decemb. 14, 1653
(Mass. Col. Rec. iii, 402; iv, 261)
The eastern boundary of the town was not settled until 1659 for "the reason of some differences therein betweene the towns aforesaid," and in 1658 finding that the rep- resentatives of the two towns could not agree, Bryan Pendleton of Saco, Nicholas Shapleigh and Nicholas Frost, both of Kittery, were "appointed to pitch & lay out the dividing line betweene Yorke & Wells" (Mass. Coll. Rec. iv, pt. I, 341). These commissioners made the following return of their perambulation:
Wee whose names are here underwritten, being appoyted by the Generall Court to pitch & lay out the deviding lyne betweene the Townes of Yorke & Wells, from a marked tree formerly marked by Mutuall Consent of both Townes. And according to pouer given us have determined as followeth /
To say the deviding Lyne shall runne betweene the Two aforesd Townes from the abovesd Marked tree up into the Countrey on a streight Lyne un to the south west side of Certen Marshes (comanly Called Tottnocke Marshes) directly against a certen Rocke on the North East side of the sd Marshes dividing the Townes of Kittery & Wells /
Nic: Shapleigh
Bryan Pendleton
the
Dated 17th of the first 1658/9
Nic:
NF Frost
mark of
The abovesd returne of the Comissiors for the runing of the deviding lyne betweene Yorke and Wells was accepted & Con- firmed by the Generall Court held at Boston May: 11th: 1659: as attests Edw: Rishworth ReCor (Deeds i, 81).
The York-Kittery line was run by the selectmen of the two towns in 1679, as well as in 1695, and the latter joint survey made by selectmen of the towns gives more details, viz .:
"At a meeting of the Select men of York and Kittery December the 30 by appointment of both Townes for the orderly running out of the bounds between both Townships ... we the Selectmen aforesd
II
HISTORY OF YORK
whose Names are under written for York and Kittery, December the 30 and 31 and January 13 and 14 run out the old Stated bounds, beginning at a White Oak near the Bridge at Braveboat Harbor and from thence on a N.W.B.N. Course a little Westerly by old marks to a pine tree Standing on a little Neck at the head of the Western branch of York Marshes, Marked with a Y. and K. and from thence on a due North line to a pine tree Marked Y and K Standing on the South Side and Eastern end of a great pond called York pond And from thence on a N E B N course to Bakers Spring, where stands a red oak tree Marked on three Sides. To the truth of the above wirtten we have hereunto Set our hands this 14 of January: 1695:/ Select men Samuel Donnel Select men John Shapleigh
for York Thomas Trafton
for Kittery
William Fernald Ben: Hodsden
The northwest bounds remained the same until 1834, when a triangular segment was cut off from York to the advantage of South Berwick, and is thus described, the base of the triangle resting on the Wells line:
"All that part of said town of York which lies Northwestwardly of the following described line, beginning at a rock, where the towns of South Berwick, York and Eliot unite in a carner - thence running North fifty eight degrees East to the Southwest line of the town of Wells at a stake where said line is intersected by a road leading from Cape Neddock in York to Richard Littlefield's house in Wells, which said stake is eight hundred and sixty seven rods from Bakers spring so called."
Provision was made in this act for the equitable division of the paupers of the two towns, and adjustment of the taxation of lots divided by the new line and disputes aris- ing on these matters were to be arbitrated by the select- men of the town of Kittery. (Private and Special Acts, p. 665.)
POPULATION
Very little basis exists for estimating the number of people living in York at any particular time prior to 1700. By 1650 Godfrey said he had settled fifteen families on his division of the patent, perhaps half of the total then living here, possibly two hundred in all. In 1675, however, there is an enumeration of the militia in the various settle- ments of Maine, and York is credited with eighty men able to bear arms. Using a multiple of six to obtain the total by families it would seem that 480 might be accepted as the number of persons living here at that date. The
12
GENERAL AND STATISTICAL
loss of about fifty by death in the massacre of 1692 slowed up the natural growth, so that in 1711 there were only 548 "souls" counted for refuge in the garrisons that year. From the names of residents participating in the division of the "Commons" and the provincial enumera-
Baker's Spring
SOUTH BERWICK
This triangle
set off to South Berwick :-
'beginning at a rock where the
towns of South Berwick, York and
Eliot unite in a corner; thence
Pond
running 50 degrees East to the
Southwest line of the town of
Welle at a stake where seid line
ie intersected by a road leading
LOITS
from Cape Neddock in York." 1834
WELLS
KITTERY
tion of 1735, it can be deduced that the town had, at that time, a population of 1,300, and in 1743 in the First Parish there were 232 heads of families, giving an estimated total of 1,392 (Sayward Diary). The slight increase was prob- ably due to the great mortality in 1735-6-7 from the epidemic of "throat distemper." Rev. Mr. Lyman esti- mated the population of York in 1750 as 2,511. Inside the covers of the old record book of the First Parish, in the handwriting of the pastor, are some tabulations of the population which give us the first authentic facts on this subject. From them it is learned that the number of per- sons of all ages living in the town in 1754 was 1,656. Ten
I3
York Pond
Solomon's Rock
Farren'e
Present North-West line of York
HISTORY OF YORK
years later there were 2,220 persons which he analyzed in the following items and classes :
1764
Number of houses First and Second Parishes 272
Number of families, First Parish 292
Number of families, Second Parish IO5
Males above 16, First Parish
413
Females
497
Males under 16
367
Females under 16
378
Males above 16, Second Parish
154
Females above 16
174
Males under 16
I29
Females under 16
108
Total
2,220
The first provincial census of Massachusetts was taken in 1765, the year following the above record made by Mr. Lyman, and furnishes these statistics :
272 Houses
397 Families
496 White males under 16
486 White females under 16
568 White males over 16
671 White females over 16
36 Negro males
20 Negro females
In 1776 Mr. Lyman gives the following figures : "Num- ber of Whites, 2,736; Blacks, 68, making a total of 2,804," and he adds the following comment:
There are 515 Whites & 12 Blacks more than in the year 1764 in the First Parish 261 Whites and in the Second Parish 254 more than in 1764. The increase of the First Parish has been 293 in about 26 years.
On January 1, 1777 Mr. Lyman gives the figures for that year:
There are 607 males upwards of 16 years old, 129 of whom in the serv- ice of the States, 12 at sea, 22 shoalers, 16 poor, 28 negroes and mulat- toes.
No further figures until 1783, the close of the war, when he accounts for 451 families with a total of 2,594
I4
GENERAL AND STATISTICAL
whites and 25 blacks. In 1785 there were 2,617 whites and 27 blacks with a total of 2,644.
In 1790 the first Federal Census furnishes the first official count of the inhabitants. It was taken on the plan followed in 1765, enumerating males and females under and above sixteen years of age. This scheme con- tinued at each decennial census until 1840, when a further subdivision of ages was adopted, five classes in all, but in 1850 each member of a household was recorded by name, age and place of birth. The figures returned at the several censuses from 1790 to the last decennial show the progress of the population of this town in the past one hundred forty years:
1790
2,900
1870
2,654
1800
2,776
1880
2,463
18IO
2,846
1890
2,440
1820
3,287
1900
2,668
1830
3,485
1910
2,802
1840
3,100
1920
2,727
1850
2,976
1930
2,532
1860
2,823
From this table it will be seen that the peak of growth in population was reached a century ago, when York was next in size to Portland and North Yarmouth and the largest town in the county. In the last ten enumerations 2,718 has been the average population of the town.
CLIMATE
The climate offers no special claims either to particular salubrity or health-giving properties. It is the normal climate of southwestern Maine on the seacoast. As long as it remains in latitude 43 North it is a sound meteoro- logical axiom that its climate will partake of the require- ments of that distance from the equator. Nevertheless it may not be inappropriate to place on record some observa- tions on the spring weather made by various local authori- ties in the town and vicinity during the eighteenth cen- tury. The weather of that time of year is selected when "Winter lingers in the lap of Spring," using notes made in April of each year. In 1717 there was "deep snow" on the ground on April I. In 1733 the river was frozen over on April 16, and on the twenty-third it snowed "knee
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