USA > Maine > Lincoln County > Bristol > History of York, Maine, successively known as Bristol (1632), Agamenticus (1641), Gorgeana (1642), and York (1652) Vol. I > Part 25
USA > Maine > York County > York > History of York, Maine, successively known as Bristol (1632), Agamenticus (1641), Gorgeana (1642), and York (1652) Vol. I > Part 25
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JOHN COOKE
Nothing is known of the origin of this settler beyond the fact that he married Elizabeth, daughter of Thomas Curtis, and was granted a small lot "near the meeting house for a building place" in 1686 (T. R. i, 88-9). He and his wife were undoubtedly killed in the Candlemas Day Massacre 1692, as they lived in the locality where the fighting was the fiercest and where so many perished. Their son Thomas survived and followed the trade of carpenter in the town as late as 1755, and in 1727 deeded back to the town the grant made to his father (Deeds xii, 163). The genealogy of this family appears in Volume III of this history.
HENRY MILBERRY
A John Milberry was a witness at Portsmouth in 1663 (N. H. Deeds iii, 85), and the York family was probably related to this early emigrant. Henry Milberry was from Stoke-in-Teignhead, Devonshire, where he was baptized August 7, 1625 as son of William Milberry. He is first of
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HISTORY OF YORK
record here in 1691 when he received a grant of twenty acres of land (T. R. i, 89). He lived on Alcock's Neck on what is now known as the Norwood estate. The name of his wife is not known, but his daughter Dorothy was captured in 1692 and carried to Canada. He had a billet- ing account against the province in 1694 (Mass. Arch. iii, 393), and died the next year. His will dated June 10, 1695 was proved October 1, 1695 and is as follows:
In the name of God, Amen: I Henry Milbury of York in the County of York in the Province of the Massachusetts bay in New England, Weak and decaying in body but of Sound Memory & Judgment, and in good understanding do make this my Last Will & Testament as followeth, viz:
My precious and Immortal soul, my better part, I do by Faith and Prayer Commend into ye hands of the Lord Jesus Christ my blessed and deer Redeemer.
My mortal body to be committed to the dust by a decent & Christian Buriall.
And as for the Portion of Worldly Goods, which God by his providence has given to me my Will and Desire is that it should be disposed of as followeth, viz:
Imps : I do will and bequeath unto my daughter Mary Blacklidge the sum of ten Shillings money.
Item. Unto my beloved daughter Johannah Letherby I do bequeath ten Shillings.
Item: Unto my beloved daughter Lydia Linscott the sum of ten shillings.
Item: Unto my Dear Daughter now in Captivity with the Indians Dorothy Milbury, I will and give the sum of five pounds, In Case she return by Gods good Providence from Captivity, but not 'till then to be paid; which Legacy I intend not payable by my son at all if she never return
Item: I give and bequeath unto my Grandson Samuell Pain ye sum of ten shillings and unto my two Grand children Bethiah Pain and William Milbury ten shillings a peice; the legacy to William Milbury not payable till he come of age.
And as for the rest of my Temporall Estate that shall remain after these Legacies specified are answered; and after my Lawfull debts and funerall Expences are discharged; I do will and bequeath and freely give it unto my trusty and well beloved son Richard Milbury; with all my houses, Lands, Chattels whatsoever with all the priviledges and appurtinancs there unto belonging or in any wise appurtaining: to him and to his Heirs for ever and to his and their sole and proper use and benefit: and do further by these Presents Constitute & appoint my sd son Richd Milbury to be sole Executor of this my Will and Testament, to se to the due and Just Execution and the fulfillment of it according to the tenour thereof, paying the above sd Legacies respectively in mony or equivalent to mony: & that without fraud or delay after my decease till when he is under no obligation: And for the
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Confirmation hereof, even of this my Last Will and Testament and the Disannulling of all former Wills whatsoever I, the said Henry Milbury have hereunto Affixed and Annexed my hand & Seal this tenth day of June in the year of our Lord One Thousand Six Hundred ninety and five
Signed, Sealed and Delivered & in presence of us
Samuell Donnell Samuel Johnson John Hancock
HENRY MILBURY
his HM mark
(York Probate i, 24)
A genealogy of this family appears in Volume III of this history.
RICHARD MILBERRY
He was a younger brother of Henry, baptized Septem- ber 23, 1628 at Stoke-in-Teignhead, Devon, and probably settled here at the same time as his brother, but soon disappears from the scene as he was killed at the Candle- mas Day Massacre. As far as known he was not married as his nephew Richard was granted his land rights (T. R. i, 125).
JOSEPH CARLILE
The name of this settler was the football of illiterate clerks and appeared as Curline, Carbine, Curloine, Cur- lile, Carleill and finally as Carlile. He first appeared here about 1690 as the husband of Elizabeth Bane, daughter of Lewis, Senior, and he with his wife were indicted for not attending public worship early in 1691 (Deeds v, pt. 7). He had a grant of land March 18, 1695-6 of thirty acres "where he can find it" (T. R. i, 130), and another in 1700 of forty acres at the Rocky Ground which he made his home (Ibid. i, 143). He was pound keeper in 1696 and surveyor of highways in 1701, but that was the extent of his public service. He was drowned May 14, 1718 "going over a pond near his home by accident fell in" (Sup. Jud. Ct. Mss. 12325). He was a blacksmith by trade. His first wife died without issue, as far as known, and he married (2) Mrs. Rachel (Main) Preble, widow of Stephen, March 29, 1695. She survived and was living in 1748 at the age of eighty-four years (Deeds xxvi, 230, 295). In some way he was related to Elizabeth (Dodd) Royall, wife of John of York, as in 1693 he called her "his kinswoman" (Suffolk
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HISTORY OF YORK
Deeds xiv, 236). The genealogy of this family appears in Volume III of this history.
DANIEL BLACK
He came here from Boxford, Mass. in 1695, the son of Daniel and Faith (Bridges) Black of that town, and was born August 24, 1667, a weaver by occupation. His father was a Scotch prisoner in 1651 and was put to service in the Lynn Iron Works. Daniel, Jr., probably came here first in the military service, as in 1696 he was a sergeant (Deeds v, pt. ii, 70). He was convicted of selling liquor without a license in 1699. His residence was on the Puddington lot in Lower Town (Deeds iv, 114), and he had other lots and grants on Alcocks Neck and on the south side. He was selectman 1699 and 1700, besides holding several minor offices as moderator 1703.
He married (1) in Topsfield, Mass., Mary Cummings and after her death without issue, (2) Sarah, daughter of Philip Adams, July 19, 1695 at Topsfield, by whom he had five children. He died between 1710 and 1712. A genealogy of the family appears in Volume III of this history.
JOSIAH BLACK
He was another son of Daniel of Boxford and first appeared here in 1697, when he had a grant of land and another in 1701 (T. R. i, 124, 132), both of which he sold to Daniel Paul and John Provender. He leased the George Norton house in 1701 from year to year, and worked the homestead farm on half shares (Sup. Jud. Ct. Mss. 5174). He was here to participate in the division of common lands in 1732, later lived near Cape Neddick Pond and was a husbandman. By his wife Mary he had seven children and the genealogy of the family appears in Volume III of this history.
EDMOND BLACK
He was born April 25, 1704, son of James and Abigail Black of Boxford and a nephew of the above Daniel and Josiah. He came here about 1727. He married Hepsibah, daughter of Josiah Black, and their family record appears in Volume III.
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Biblia F.t
Drabolus
in
Manu
Corde
THOMAS VENNER. Preacher at the Conventices of the Fifth Monarchy Men: & Seducer of Libertines. Captain of the seditious Anabaptists & Quakers in the City of London: "Beheaded & Cuartoed ( Jantares It's PORTRAIT OF AN EARLY PROPRIETOR
ARRIVAL OF NEW SETTLERS
HENRY WRIGHT
This settler, born about 1650 (Sup. Jud. Ct. Mss. 1856, 1908, 2057), came to New England as a young man, a carpenter by occupation, and was employed by Roger Plaisted in Kittery, for a period of ten years, which ended some time before 1675 (Deeds viii, 237). He had a land grant in 1671 in that town. About 1673 he married Sarah, daughter of Edward Start, and was there identified with York, and he had a land grant here in 1699, but it was 1703 before it was laid out (T. R. i, 118). Nothing further is heard of him after 1719, and he went to Boston, prob- ably, where the births of his children are recorded:
i. Sarah, b. Feb. 19, 1673-4.
ii. Mary, b. Feb. 14, 1676.
iji. Ebenezer, b. Jan. 1, 1677-8.
iv. Ephraim, b. March 4, 1679.
v. Mehitable, b. March 22, 1681.
vi. John, b. Aug. 3, 1686.
ANDREW BROWN
He was the son of Andrew Brown of Scarboro, born in 1658, and came here probably in connection with the military protection of the town soon after the massacre, and in 1697 he was a selectman. He bought land in Cooper Lane in 1699 in partnership with Lewis Bane, and two years later they divided it (Deeds vi, 109, 110). In 1701 he was assigned a "hind seat in the gallery" of the church. He was called an ensign in 1709, later a lieutenant, and his house was then a garrison. He removed to Saco in 1717, and to Arundel in 1719, and died July 4, 1725. He had sold his property here in 1719 (Ibid. ix, 165). He married (1) Anne Allison of Scarboro, and (2) Mrs. Sarah (Hill) Fletcher Priest, January 23, 1709-10, widow of Pendleton Fletcher and William Priest. His descendants resided in Saco.
JAMES ALLEN
He was the son of Walter Allen of Berwick who de- posed in 1720, aged seventy-seven years, that he came to New England "the year that King Charles the Second was restored to the crown of England." His father mar- ried (2) Mary, daughter of Thomas and Joan (Freethy) Holmes by 1694, and that may be the reason of the coming
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HISTORY OF YORK
of his son James to York, where in 1699 he received a grant of twenty acres "where he can find it." It was laid out on the northwest side of Old Mill Creek (T. R. i, 128, 199) on which he lived and his children after him. He was constable 1715; selectman 1716, 1718, 1720, 1722, 1724, 1725; tithing man 1720; and surveyor of highways 1728.
He married at Portsmouth Dorothy, daughter of John and Mehitable Barsham, by whom he had eight children. A genealogy of the family appears in Volume III of this history.
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CHAPTER XXIV THE FIRST AND SECOND INDIAN WARS 1675-1677; 1689-1692
The first open hostilities between the inhabitants of York and the savages began in the conflict known as the celebrated King Philip's War. It broke out in the Plym- outh Colony June 24, 1675, and in the next month the flames began to kindle in the Province of Maine - two hundred fifty miles distant from the headquarters of the chief Indian actor in this armed contest. York had no immediate relation with its inception nor any agency in provoking the eastern Indians to attacking the town. The remote causes of the war are generally understood as the reprisal of the Indians for accumulated injuries extending over a half century, following the settlement of the whites. With the cause of these complaints the people of York had no direct association. As has been stated in the chapter on the first settlement within the town limits, there were no permanent camps of Indians within our borders and, to all intents and purposes, after the Indian plague of 1616, this place was not occupied by them and their planting fields were abandoned. Contrary to the experience of other towns in the Province, the Indians never claimed, as far as known, nor did they sell, any aboriginal rights in the town at any time later to the English settlers. The estab- lishment of plantations on aboriginal territory, the con- stant encroachments of the whites further inland on their hunting grounds and the chicanery generally employed in dealings with them were the underlying causes of this war, and doubtless the Abenakis reacted in sympathy with their racial brothers of the Narragansett tribes. The lead- ing warriors of all the New England tribes had reached the conclusion that they were doomed to a continuation of these conditions which would ultimately drive them away from their ancient homes and considered that the time was then ripe for the arbitrament of arms and a struggle for supremacy.
The news of the conflagration lighted by this dis- tinguished son of Miantonomah reached York July II,
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HISTORY OF YORK
and Henry Sayward dispatched a letter by mounted messenger to the eastern coast towns appraising them of this alarming intelligence and he suggested that as many of the Indians as could be reached be disarmed. A few weeks later Edward Rishworth, John Davis, Job Alcock and two other Maine citizens, acting on their intimate knowledge of Indian character, which Boston officials were not capable of understanding, addressed a letter to the General Court urging the utmost severity in managing this campaign and not trust to any alliances or treaties of peace but push the conflict to a finish. Preparations for the defense of the Province by Massachusetts officials consisted of dispatching troops to the various garrisons which then existed in the several towns and supplying ammunition to the towns for distribution to the individual inhabitants. The commanders of these forces adopted the plan of commandeering numbers of the able-bodied men in York as aides of the campaign. The townspeople objected to these measures and protested against a con- tinuance as they weakened the local defences. Capt. Benjamin Swett of Newbury and Hampton was in com- mand of troops which were assigned to patrol the country back of York. This was occasioned by the first onslaught of the savages on the settlement at Cape Neddick. This occurred on September 25, and followed immediately after a simultaneous attack on Wells and South Berwick. Seven persons were killed, most of the houses burned, and the attack was marked by a type of barbarity practiced on the victims hitherto not experienced among the Abenakis. "For instance, after dashing out the brains of a nursing mother they pinned her infant to her bosom and in this awful condition was the babe found alive with one of the paps in its mouth." (Williamson, vol. i, 540.) This was, probably, the Jackson family, father, mother and two children of Cape Neddick. The townspeople of York were now brought face to face with the horrors of an Indian war and as a measure of self-protection passed the follow- ing vote in town meeting:
Whereas by Experience we doe find it no small Inconvenience & discouragement to have our men belonging to our owne towne of York Impressed & carryed away by the comanders of the forces or County when pursuing the Enemy, whereby instead of being Encouraged to stay & strengthened to resist the Enemy whom in the absence of the
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THE FIRST AND SECOND INDIAN WARS
forces have usually & very Cunningly Improoved that opertunity to prey upon the townes, for the preventing whereof it is humbly Requested that their may be an order given forth that no souldiers shall be at any time remooved least the people be putt upon a tempta- tion to forsake the habitations the dishonourableness of which is easily understood.
The General Court acted upon this representation in the following terms :
This Request is graunted & that an order be accordingly sent to them with this provision that the cheif commander of the forces that shall bee may notwithstanding upon any emergency of moment comand out of the Town of Yorke such soldiers as the necessity shall require/
By the Council WILLIAM STOUGHTON
Upon the representation of the present state of the Towne of Yorke & its danger from the Comon Enemy: It is Ordered by the Council that such of their Souldiers as are now Impressed from them be forthwith returned to them for their Defence: & it is further granted & Ordered that during the present neareness of the Ennemy none be Impressed to serve out of the Towne/
Provided allwayes that the Comander in cheife of the forces that is or shall be in the County may notwithstanding this order upon any suddaine Emergency comand and call forth as many Souldiers thence as shall be needfull for the time/
Dated 19 October 1676/
By the Councill E. R. S.
The town was spared further depredations for many months, although the adjacent towns of Kittery and Wells had a number of visitations from the enemy with numer- ous casualties. King Philip was killed August 12, 1676, which occasioned great jubilation among the colonists in his vicinity, but his death did not end the struggle in Maine. Many of his belligerent adherents dispersed them- selves after his death among the Abenakis tribes and kept alive the passions of war which had been fomented by their great leader. In the remaining months of that year Casco and Scarborough were destroyed. Casco was attacked with loss of lives and the ruin of Scarborough completed. On November 6, 1676, a treaty of peace was negotiated on behalf of Madockawando by Mogg, his lieutenant, with characteristic gestures of Indian sin- cerity: "I pledge myself an hostage in your hands till the captives, vessels and goods are restored"; he protested, "and I lift my hand to Heaven in witness of my honest
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HISTORY OF YORK
heart in this treaty." The good faith of this agreement was accepted with mental reservations by the English, perhaps influenced by the advice volunteered by Rish- worth, Davis and Alcock before noted. Defensive prepara- tions for the winter were organized with the Kennebec as the eastern base of operations. The winter snows had scarcely disappeared when the impatient savages started out to renew their campaign of destruction of the whites. On April 7 of this year seven men were killed in the outer fields of the town while preparing the soil for planting. The victims were John Frost, Andrew Rankin, John Carmichael, Lewis Bean, John Palmer, William Roans, and Isaac Smith of Chelsea who was there on business (Sewall's Diary i, 41). Two others were taken captives but their names are unknown (Williamson i, 550).
On April 12, 1677 two men, a woman and four children were killed and two houses burned, one of which belonged to Rowland Young on Ferry Neck. The names of these victims are unknown. This was the last casualty suffered by York in this war. Depredations continued elsewhere for another year. Negotiations begun between the Indians and the settlers were concluded on April 12, 1678 by a treaty of peace. The Indians agreed to surrender captives without ransom, the whites were to return to their homes and enjoy their previous possessions un- molested, but they were to acknowledge the Indians' rights in them by the payment of a quit rent of a peck of corn yearly for every English family. The war had resulted in about two hundred sixty white inhabitants killed, or carried into captivity, from which few returned. Of this number York suffered the loss of about a score, but it is probable that this number would be increased if every casualty were reported. To this must be added the loss of houses burned, domestic animals killed and other property destroyed or plundered. It was understood by the English Commissioners and those who could look ahead that this arranged peace would probably develop into a breathing space for the opposing forces. The struggle was an inevitable conflict of racial and religious origin which could only be settled by a military victory for one and defeat for the other. The Indians probably realized that with the continued emigration to the colonies from England, with the natural increase of population,
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THE FIRST AND SECOND INDIAN WARS
that further encroachments on their territory could be expected with increasing pressure. There is little doubt that both sides expected a renewal of the conflict at any time favorable to prospects of success. The fires might be rekindled by individual attacks and reprisals, or by reper- cussions of the European situation, as it affected France and England. The necessary condition for a renewal came through this last named cause. Following the overthrow of King James II, an avowed papist, and the enthrone- ment of the Protestants, William and Mary, on the Eng- lish throne, Louis XIV declared war against England in the expectation of restoring the lost crown to his co- religionists. This was enough to start the French author- ities in Quebec on an American replica of the European war. With eager haste the Governor of Quebec com- menced hostilities against the English settlements, insti- gating their Indian allies to join them in an extermination of their enemies. This malign decision partook of the character of a Holy War in which the Jesuit missionaries were encouraging the Indians to secure their lands against the encroachments of the "English heretics." The Prov- ince of Maine was again put on the defensive and, as usual, was not ready for these surprise onslaughts on the outlying posts of English civilization.
THE SECOND INDIAN WAR
Sir William Phipps, then governor of the Province, with a frigate and a few smaller sloops, in the spring of 1690 undertook a counter offensive in which he success- fully captured Port Royal, an undefended French settle- ment in Nova Scotia. The frontier towns in Maine were provided with detachments of soldiers raised by the pro- vincial authorities, some of them assigned to York. The local York defenses were under the command of Job Alcock who had charge of the five garrisons - his own, Preble's, Norton's, Maxwell's and Stover's at Cape Ned- dick. Indian sniping could not be prevented, however, by any form of garrison protection. In March the towns- people were called upon to assist at a sudden attack on Kittery and one of the York volunteers was killed. In May one hundred twenty soldiers of the Essex, Middlesex and Suffolk regiments were sent as reinforcements of the
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HISTORY OF YORK
local militia in this town and Wells under the command of Capt. Edward Wyllys, but in June sixty of these under the command of Capt. John Floyd were withdrawn from this service to be posted at Portsmouth. This later proved to be an unfortunate disposition of the frontier defenses as far as York was concerned. Meanwhile, the success of the Nova Scotia expedition had emboldened Sir William to a greater and more hazardous attempt to attack the enemy in his hitherto impregnable fortress on the heights of Quebec. With forty armed vessels and four thousand assault troops Sir William sailed, with great pomp, on August to beard the French governor in his rockbound fortress. Three months later his armada arrived before Quebec, exhausted by the long voyage, and their happy expectations cooled by the sight of the forbidding height of the French fortress perched hundreds of feet on per- pendicular cliffs above the St. Lawrence. With magnifi- cent bravado Sir William demanded the surrender of the fortress to which Count Frontenac returned the taunting reply: "Come and take it." After a futile gesture in sur- rebuttal by landing part of his troops for an assault which was easily repulsed, the doughty Sir William concluded, from reports of some capitives he had made, that the strength of the fortress and its garrison was not only be- yond verbal threats, but of successful military assault. He turned his armada homeward and after weeks of storms and losses by smallpox, ship fever and other diseases his shattered squadron arrived in Boston late in November. While this unfortunate drama was being enacted the Indians and French were busy in their attacks on the coast towns of Maine, including York. On August 22 Phineas Hull and Robert Young of York with their wives, while traveling between this town and Kittery, were probably the first local victims of this war. Young was killed and Hull's wife was taken prisoner. Another mysterious number of deaths took place about this time not mentioned in any contemporary records as victims of Indian attacks. This relates to the apparent simultaneous deaths of Lieut. Arthur Bragdon, Daniel Bragdon, Thomas Bragdon, James Freethy and William Worm- wood, all of whom lived on adjoining lots just north of Bass Creek. The estates of all these persons were in- ventoried by the same appraisers on the same day, October
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14, 1690 (Deeds v, pp. 51-53), and it is difficult to account for this singular fact except on the theory that they were victims of a local Indian attack. This seems to be con- firmed by an entry under date of October 25, recording an attack on York, made by Judge Samuel Sewall (Letter Book i, 129). The date was probably that of the day on which the information reached him. No details are given and it is not mentioned by other contemporary author- ities.
The town settled down to days and months of anxious watchfulness, the tedium of which was broken every few days by reports of distressing and rapacious attacks of the savages on other unfortunate towns in Maine and New Hampshire. Whenever possible their butchery was sup- plemented by mutilation of the bodies of the victims to increase the terror and break the will of the settlers to continue the contest. The stealthy methods of Indian warfare always gave them an initial advantage as they would often lay in ambush for days together waiting for a favorable moment to strike.
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