USA > Maine > Lincoln County > Bristol > History of York, Maine, successively known as Bristol (1632), Agamenticus (1641), Gorgeana (1642), and York (1652) Vol. I > Part 30
USA > Maine > York County > York > History of York, Maine, successively known as Bristol (1632), Agamenticus (1641), Gorgeana (1642), and York (1652) Vol. I > Part 30
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N. B. The abovesaid Ralle the Jesuit, has generally appeared at the Head of the Indians in their Rebellions and was the Chief Fondater of this War.
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HISTORY OF YORK
The News Letter added that "His Honour our Lieut. Governour for the aforesaid Extraordinary Service has thought fit to Present the said Capt. Harman with a Commission for Lieut. Colonel as a Token of his Favor, and further Encouragement."
This "official" story has another side. Previous orders had been given by Captain Moulton to spare the life of the Jesuit, as his capture was more to be desired than the resulting ignominy of killing a clergyman, although the manner of Dummer's death had not been forgotten by the men from York. Lieut. Richard Jaques, either disregarding orders or acting impulsively, ended the scene as described. Captain Moulton strongly disapproved of this act of his subordinate, and entertained a doubt as to the necessity for this extreme reprisal. Scalping was added to the discredit of the affair.
Charlevoix gives another and more dramatic account of the death of this famous Jesuit. He stated that Rasle "showed himself to the enemy in hopes to draw all their attention to himself and secure his flock at the peril of his own life. He was not disappointed. As soon as he appeared the English set up a great shout which was followed by a shower of shot when he fell down dead near to a cross which he had erected in the midst of the village; seven Indians, who sheltered his body with their own, falling around him." (Histoire de la Nouvelle France iv, 120.) The further account of the affair by Charlevoix, reciting indignities practiced upon the fallen body of the missionary, may be omitted as exaggerations of a partisan religionist; although with the memory of the savage butcheries and mutilations performed by the Indians on their white victims, it is not improbable that human nature could not be restrained when an opportunity like this was presented.
As darkness was falling on this scene of carnage and destruction Captain Harmon and his detachment arrived from their fruitless detour of the planting fields. A part of the plunder consisted of the plate and furnishings of the altar of the chapel before it was put to the torch. After this decisive blow the provincial officials thought it would put the Indians in a frame of mind to cease hostilities, and in order to accomplish this commissioners were sent to Canada to protest to the Governor-General his action
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· SUBSEQUENT INDIAN WARS
in encouraging the Indians and demanding of him to use his influence in withdrawing them from further hostilities. The only result of this was that the Indians demanded the removal of all English settlements west of the Saco River, rebuilding their church at Norridgewock and restoring their dead priest; and so the war continued. The exploit was considered the most brilliant and daring of any hitherto undertaken since the one which resulted in the death of King Philip fifty years previous in the Narra- gansett swamps. All New England rang with applause for Captain Moulton who had accomplished an act which answered the hopes and prayers of Puritan New England.
THE FIFTH INDIAN WAR
The fifth Indian and third inter-Colonial war had its origin in Europe following an interval of twenty years' peace in New England. The periods of respite were now lengthening. The European excuse for it was the Austrian dynastic concession in which most of the powers were involved. The French authorities in Canada, as in duty bound, responded to the requirements of the situation as in former years. The savages, who had never forgotten the bitter lesson at Norridgewock, had assured the Gov- ernor-General that as long as there was an Abenakis in the world they would fight the English. This sentiment was the basis of a renewed alliance between the two heredi- tary enemies of the English in New England. By this time York had ceased to be a frontier town. Berwick had become the buffer settlement in the interim, and an out- lying fringe of settlements eastward furnished a defensive tier to hitherto harried coast towns. No longer did great forests back of York echo the war whoop and the frequent discharge of musketry that meant the annihilation of one of its families. With the exception of those employed in the military service this town suffered no losses from direct attacks.
The Indians had been deprived for a score of years of their former rewards for white scalps from the French and ransoms for prisoners from the English and were eager for the good old days of revenge and revenue. They began their raids in July 1745 and on August 23 war was voted against all the eastern Indians of any tribe whatso- ever. This sweeping declaration, however, was only a
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HISTORY OF YORK
part of this campaign which included the entire French dominions of Maritime Canada. In this area was the great fortress of Louisburg, which engaged a special military expedition, and the relation of that exploit will be dealt with in a separate chapter on account of its strategic importance.
As no material damage was inflicted on York property by the Indians or French during this war further consid- eration of it need not be given. The only known personal casualty happened to Zebediah Banks, son of Lieutenant Moses, who lived on the old Banks Farm at Little River. He was captured by the Indians, probably while on scout- ing duty, when nineteen years of age. He was redeemed from captivity on payment by his father of one hundred twelve pounds old tenor. Joseph Moody gives the follow- ing incident in his diary, which cannot be classed as a casualty, under date of May 25, 1723: "Tis said that sergeant Card was beset by two Indians about 9 or 10 oclock last night near Capt Harmans barne one of which fired on him and pierced the breast of his Jacket: we scarce know what to think of so strange a story."
YORK SOLDIERS IN THE INDIAN WAR, 1725 Company of Capt. James Grant of Kittery Arthur Bragdon, Lieutenant Joseph Smith, Sergeant Daniel Smith, Corporal Michael Coffin, Corporal
Austin, Joseph Bale, Samuel
Moulton, Jeremiah Oliver, James
Bracey, Joseph
Plaisted, Joseph Preble, Jedediah
Bragdon, Thomas
Hale (Haynes?), Aquila
Rankin, Joseph
Higgins, Timothy
Young, Job
Linscott, Joseph
Young, Caleb
Main, Joseph
Bragdon, Benjamin
Company of Capt. Jeremiah Moulton 1725 Bragdon, James (servant to Moulton) Brawne, Richard Gowdey, Amos
(Mass. Arch. xci, 144)
Insofar as York was concerned the Norridgewock adventure was the only outstanding feature of the cam- paign. Capt. John Lovewell (for whom the war is often
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called), lost his life at Pigwacket (Fryeburg) in a battle celebrated in song and story. The three years' conflict ended in December 1725 when a treaty of peace was signed in Boston by four Sagamores in behalf of the eastern tribes. The usual show of sincerity and the old familiar pledges of mutual regard accompanied this fourth formal- ity. It was ratified August 26, 1726 at Falmouth, by a council of Indians gathered for the purpose. York cele- brated the event by firing three vollies of great and small arms. The following years were generally peaceful as respects the Indians, who observed their last treaty with the usual adherence to its requirements. Spasmodic attacks on the frontier settlers occurred from time to time, but these were not estimated as violations sufficient to cause reprisals.
When the European powers decided to cease fighting their dynastic quarrels in July 1748 and peace was signed three months later, the end was reached here a year after- wards (October 26, 1749) by the fifth treaty of peace negotiated by Governor Dummer and the eastern Indians at Falmouth. The same provisions appeared in it, as in all preceding documents of the kind, and the Indians went back to their forests, loaded with presents, amid the stereotyped valedictories of mutual esteem and pious pro- testations of good behavior in the future.
NOTE: This may be an appropriate place to set forth a tradition, long persistent in York, for many generations, and vouched by the family historian of the principal in the story. It relates to a "massacre" of Indians by a company led by members of the famous Indian fighters of the Harmon family. The date is not definite enough for assignment to any of the several wars in which they took part, but the story is to the effect that a number of the savages were enticed to a feast and then plied with liquor until they were in a drunken stupor. In this helpless condition they were all murdered and buried in a cellar. This piece of savagery did not pass unnoticed by Parson Moody, who made it the occasion to express his horror at this butchery in a sermon. He pre- dicted that when the perpetrators of it had passed away "there would not remain to the transgressors a male to bear up the family name. The Lord will divide them in Jacob and scatter them in Israel." The text of this remarkable denunciation is to be found in I Kings xiv, 10, which is not quoted here, as the curious may see it in the refer- ence given. It is true that the Harmons no longer survived here, but numerous other families have also passed out of our history, in the course of two centuries.
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CHAPTER XXIX YORK IN THE WARS AGAINST CANADA 1745-1761
The French population of Canada to the north and east of us had been growing apace since 1690, when a son of Maine led a fleet of transports crowded with New Eng- land soldiers up the St. Lawrence and dramatically called on Comte de Frontenac, the French Governor General, to surrender the fortress of Quebec before a gun had been fired. Sir William Phips was answered sufficiently when told to come and take it, and after a forlorn attempt to storm it the would-be truculent Sir William, his "bluff" being called, retired in confusion and led his straggling and diseased troops back from that disastrous campaign. The church of Notre Dame des Victoires in Quebec is a monument yet standing to the futile and costly adventure.
Nova Scotia had become the scene of the activities of the French, as affording a more convenient line of defense and aggression as well as a better approach in this region from the ocean. On the Island of Cape Breton they had erected what was then a modern fortress at the town of Louisburg, the strongest fortification on the North American continent. It stood as a challenge and a menace to the New England colonies as it became a refuge for those who sought every opportunity to interfere with our fishermen operating on the Grand Banks, as well as our sea-borne commerce using the route of the grand circle to England. For a century this island, guarding the approaches to the Gulf of St. Lawrence, had been the pawn in the dynastic wars between England and France, oscillating from one to the other as treaties of peace ended their successive struggles. In 1632 England had restored it to France. In 1710 it was handed back to England, but in 1713 it was given to the French who proceeded to fortify the principal harbor and town which was renamed Louis- burg in honor of Louis XIV. This aroused great resent- ment both in England and here, as the fishing industry of France employing over five hundred vessels and nearly twenty-seven thousand men in this region was the local basis of rivalry between their nationals.
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YORK IN THE WARS AGAINST CANADA
The recapture of Cape Breton was long in the pro- gramme of British officials on duty in New England and even found expression in print. Judge Robert Auchmuty, of Roxbury, had written a pamphlet in 1744 on "The Importance of Cape Breton to the British Nation," and the realization of their hopes to possess it again was near at hand. The usual war between France and England was declared in March 1744 and the opportunity had arrived. William Shirley, who was then Governor of Massachu- setts, secretly advised the General Court to take it by sur- prise, and sent the elegant aristocrat, Col. William Pep- perrell, to make some preliminary inquiries as to the feasibility of this action. The other New England colonies were asked to support the plan and responded favorably. Shirley gave the command of the campaign to Pepperrell and commissioned him a Lieutenant General, Roger Wol- cott of Connecticut a Major General and Col. Samuel Waldo was third in command. Enthusiasm in Maine ran high when this official roster became known, and the desire to enlist under Pepperrell's banner, bearing the motto prepared for it by the famous Whitfield "Nil des- perandum Christo duce," was prompt and in many cases insistent. Col. Jeremiah Moulton of this town was given command of the Third Maine Regiment, and the others were Pepperrell's (commanded by Lieut .- Col. John Brad- street), and Col. Samuel Waldo's. On the day when the militia companies of York were called together Dr. Alex- ander Bulman, the popular surgeon of this town, wrote the following letter to General Pepperrell, which is a good example of the spirit manifested here to join the expedi- tion:
To the Hon. Colonel Will. Pepperrell, Esqr., in Boston.
York, Febry 4, 1744/5
Hon. Sir :- Having a favorable opportunity by my neighbor J. Sayward, I tho't it might not be disagreeable to let you know that agreeable to the late proclamation, this day the several companies of the town were called together, (except one), and there was con- siderable readiness in many to enlist; and as I was informed 17 of Capt. Harmon's snowshoe men have already entered their names enlisted. About ten or twelve have enlisted at large under any captain whom the Governor shall appoint. About ten more under Mr. James Donnell. And twelve of Capt. Sewall's company have signed a paper signifying their intention of enlisting, tho' desirous of first knowing who is like to be their Captain. Among these twelve the Lieutenant
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HISTORY OF YORK
of the company was one. Here I cannot but observe, (and indeed it was no small part of the end of my writing to let you hear of what I doubt not but your Honor will be pleased with), and that the said Capt. Sewall called his men to his own house and generously enter- tained them all with a dinner and much encouraged them to engage in the present expedition, promising to as many of his men as would go that he would give them out of his own pocket so much as with the Province pay they should have 8£ per month. And that if any of their families were in want he would supply them so they should not suffer. An example (I think, and I doubt not your Honor will think), worth speaking of, and worthy of imitation.
Some decline enlisting till they know who shall be the general officers as also who shall be their particular Captain. I have some reason to conclude from what I have heard that your Honor has declined, so that I look upon my (self?) free from any special obliga- tion to attend the present service. But yet if there be blank warrant for a surgeon's mate, if it might be filled up with the name of John Sweet of York, he is willing and I hope would be able to serve his King and Country in that capacity. I would before I conclude this scrip inform you that this day I waited on your lady and found her health something bettered. That your Honor, with the Honorable brethren, may have council from above to direct in the important affairs you are from day to day engaged in is the hearty desire of your Honor's most humble and obliged servant,
A. BULMAN.
P.S. I have reason to apologize for my freedom but I must omit it till I shall have the pleasure of seeing your Honor face to face.
On February 8, William Vaughan of Portsmouth sent his congratulations to Pepperrell, whose appointment as General, commanding the projected expedition to Louis- burg, had been gazetted. Vaughan added this information to his complimentary message: "I was lately at York, and find the people exceeding ready to go, but are in confusion on account of officers. I hope Capt. Donnell will be ap- pointed a Lieut. Coll., and Elder Harmon a Major, as he was the first man that engaged with me in the affair, even before Capt. Donnell came. I pray that if these gentlemen are appointed above Captains that they may have an allowance to nominate the officers of these companies. I have desired the gentlemen at York to march one com- pany next Monday to Boston, to give life & Spring to the affair. I hope you will encourage the same." That fine old hero of the Indian Wars, Johnson Harmon, sent the following appeal for a chance to serve his king and country once more, and it must have thrilled the heart of General Pepperrell to read it:
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YORK IN THE WARS AGAINST CANADA
York Febr 16th 1744(5)
Hond Sir:
This waits on you with my duty wishing you all the success and comfort that prosperity can afford you in the great trust repos'd in you. May the conduct of Heavn always atend you in evere scene of life. The Province of God blessing me with so good a measure of health and my inclinations being strong to wait on you to Lewisburgh, I am persuaded their is something yet for me to do their before I leave the world. And as your smiles is all I crave in order to my going with you, I shall look for my reward either in the coming world (if I am cal'd of in the cause of my king and country) or as you see I deserve if ever I return to New England. If you'l favour me with a line in answer, I shall look upon it as a token of your regard. I beg leave, Hon'd Sir to subscribe myself
Yr dutifull hble sert Johnson Harman (6 Mass. Hist. Coll. x, 103)
The work of enlistment proceeded rapidly, and in two months after the General Court had voted to undertake the expedition the necessary force had been recruited. Eight regiments or 3,250 men from Massachusetts con- stituted its part of the entire expedition, of which Pep- perrell wrote: "I think one third part were enlisted from the County of York" (2 Me. Hist. Soc. xii, 104). The names of most of them are lacking, but it is of record that one hundred and eighteen men of this town went on the Louisburg Expedition (Sayward, Diary). It was a popular war.
The York troops made their rendezvous in Boston and on the morning of March 24 Commodore Rouse, in com- mand of the thirteen transports, hoisted a signal to weigh anchor. They reached Canso in the first week of April where they were detained by ice. The venerable Samuel Moody, chaplain of the Maine troops, preached on Sun- day from the text "Thy people shall be willing in the day of Thy power" (Psalms cx, 3), but the attendance at his meeting ashore was not compulsory and a diarist wrote: "several sorts of businesses was Going on, Som a Exercis- ing Som a Hearing Preaching." (Pomeroy, Louisburgh Memorial, p. xx.) Another chaplain was Rev. Samuel Langdon, later President of Harvard College, who now lies buried in York.
Commodore Peter Warren, R. N., in command of the British Naval Forces in American waters, was ordered by
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HISTORY OF YORK
the Admiralty to support Pepperrell with his fleet. He arrived from the West Indies in the Superb with three other ships of his division, altogether mounting one hun- dred eighty guns, and with the provincial squadron under Commodore Edward Tyng of Falmouth, investment of Louisburg was undertaken by the combined land and sea forces. As was the habit of British officers when asso- ciated with "Provincials," Warren assumed an air of annoying superiority towards Pepperrell and his officers, and it required patience and tact on their part to prevent an open breach which would hazard the success of the expedition. The continuous bombardment, with sallies in force from time to time, weakened the morale of the defenders and after six weeks of this process Duchambon, the French commander, raised the white flag and agreed to capitulate. On June 17 the provincial troops led by Pepperrell's regiment marched into Louisburg and after salutes were exchanged the French troops "with their arms, music and standards" marched out with the full honors of war and sailed for France. It was a complete and glorious victory. Banquets, revelry and relaxation followed, with Parsons Moody and Langdon preaching from appropriate texts the following Sunday. The joy- ful news was dispatched by messengers, and throughout Maine the ringing of bells and the barking of cannon expressed in noise what the people felt in their hearts. A day of thanksgiving was proclaimed for July 18 in this Province, and it does not require much imagination to picture the taverns of York filled with patriots and re- sounding the toasts to Pepperrell and Tyng. The Com- manding General, to whom the keys of the fortress were surrendered by Duchambon, presented them to Governor Shirley on his return to New England.1
Notwithstanding the efforts of many persons interested in the personnel of this famous military adventure, the first of purely New England origin and accomplishment, the service rolls of the expedition have never been found. English archives as well as every known source in this country have been searched in vain. As a consequence the
1 An attempt was made in England to give Warren the chief credit for the success of the expedition. Even in later years Lord John Russell, in his introduction to the Bedford correspondence (i, p. xliv), made this statement: "Commodore Warren, having dispatched by the Duke of Bedford for the purpose, took Louisburg." (!) It may be added that Lord Russell is a descendant of the Duke.
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YORK IN THE WARS AGAINST CANADA
author is unable to present a complete list of "the brave men of York," as Pepperrell called them, who followed his colors to victory.1 Those names which have been recovered from various sources are here given. In addition to Chap- lain Moody and Johnson Harmon, the name of Dr. Alex- ander Bulman deserves special mention. He was the per- sonal physician of General Pepperrell, much beloved by him and who was called upon to mourn his untimely death which occurred during the siege. Jonathan Sayward was also a participant in command of the sloop Sea Flower and brought back with him as part of the spoils of war table- ware, candlesticks, andirons and brass tongs, all of which are now a part of the furnishings of his famous mansion.
LOUISBURG SOLDIERS FROM YORK
Capt. Nathaniel Donnell's Company: Josiah George, Shubael Boston, Joseph Leavitt, Joseph Boston, David Morrison, Sergeant Dotson and John Clement.
Capt. John Harmon's Company: Joseph Webber, Sergt., Joseph Cole, Hugh Holman, Noah Penass (?), Joshua Ramsdell, Daniel Young, Moses Samoss (?), John Gary, Paul Roach and John Wells. They were "Snowshoe Men."
Capt. John Card's Company: John Linscott, John McCluker, Jonathan Dodson, Sergeants, Elias Banks, Corporal, William Davis, Daniel Grant, Malachi Castle, John McDaniel, John Moulton, Nathaniel Abbott, Jon- athan Clough, John Simpson, Ebenezer Knapp, John Connaway, Joseph Webber, Joseph Barton, William Moore, Isaac Provender, and Shubael Barton.
Capt. John Storer's Company (mostly recruited from Wells): Simeon Merryfield, Michael Wilson, Jedediah Preble (Bourne, History of Wells).
Ichabod Jellison, David Bane, and Francis Raynes were at Louisburg, but it is not known in which company, as also John Kingsbury who had the misfortune to leave his leg behind him as a result of wounds received at one of the assaults. He enlisted as a boy of eighteen years and stumped around on his wooden peg for more than sixty years. Amputation was performed by the French surgeon of the Royal Convent and Hospital there, and Frank D. Marshall, Esq., a descendant, has the bill for services
1 Burrage, Maine at Louisburg, pp. 57-59.
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HISTORY OF YORK
acknowledging payment in 1747 "Pour avoir fait une amputation de la jambe de Mons. Jean Kingsbury." The wooden leg of "Mons." Kingsbury was an attic relic of his adventure in the old Kingsbury house until recent years. Samuel Blaisdell of this town probably died at Louisburg in this campaign (Hoyt, Old Salisbury, ii, 620).
The treaty of peace between France and England, signed at Aix-la-Chappelle October 18, 1748 closed this war here, which had cost Massachusetts 178,000 pounds sterling, later reimbursed by the English government. An article in this treaty deeply offended the people of York as well as the rest of the Province. By it Louisburg was sur- rendered to the French after three thousand citizens of Massachusetts had paid the supreme penalty in the recent expedition for its capture. Those of this town, in common with the others, had been used as pawns in this unhal- lowed dynastic war and were now denied the fruits of their sacrifices of blood and treasure. All such exhibitions of the indifference of the German-born kings of England to the interests and sentiments of the New England colonies resulted in a lack of confidence in the monarchy which resulted in the debacle that followed their fatuous course a generation later. The Province had a breathing spell of several years following, which was utilized by these hereditary enemies in preparation for the inevitable con- flict that would determine whether the lilies of France or the "Union Jack" was to fly at the masthead as a symbol of supremacy on this continent. It had now become a matter of general concern as the French were penetrating into the Ohio and Mississippi valleys on our rear.
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