USA > Maine > Lincoln County > Bristol > History of York, Maine, successively known as Bristol (1632), Agamenticus (1641), Gorgeana (1642), and York (1652) Vol. II > Part 3
USA > Maine > York County > York > History of York, Maine, successively known as Bristol (1632), Agamenticus (1641), Gorgeana (1642), and York (1652) Vol. II > Part 3
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Sylvester Stover married, about 1650, Elizabeth, daughter of Henry Norton, Marshal of the Province, and niece of Col. Walter Norton, one of the founders of York. In 1687, having some occasion to visit his native land, he
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HISTORY OF YORK
made his will in advance of it as a precautionary measure on account of the known perils of that voyage as well as his advancing years:
July 21 ano Dom: 1687
This being the last Will and testament of the sd Silvester Stover live- ing in Cap nadick belonging to york in the province of Maine in New England who being bound by the grace of god into old England Doe here Giue and Will vnto my sone John Stover my right and title that I haue in the Cape neck in Whole after the decease of my wife.
And I doe here confirme vnto my sone dependance Stover, Three score and ten acres of land where his house is vp the river lieing in Cape Nadick
And to my sone Josiah Stover I giue to him the new pasture lieing vppon the right hand of the lane going from my house to yorke and so vppon the Southard side of the way to run west south so farr as my bownes go. and the salt Marsh belonging to it lieing vp the river, after the decease of my wife
And the houses and the rest of my land that is not Disposed of I will and Giue vnto my sone George Stover and If my sone John Stover please he shall haue that Libertie for to change with my sone George Stover for what land and houses which he haue at the Cape neck for that which my sone George Stover haue here after the decease of my wife.
And as for the Moueables I leaue to my Wife for to Dispose amongst the rest of my Children as shee see Good at her Decease Wher vnto I here haue sett my hand and fixed my seale in the presence of
Signed Sealed delivered in the presence of Nathaniell Clayce Henry Goddard
His
Silvester
ff
Stover
Mark
Sworn to by both attesting witnesses February 14, 1689- 90; Inventory returned at £731:07:00 by Elizabeth Stover, widow February 17, 1689-90. It is not in evidence whether he died in England or had returned, but the natural inference would be that his death occurred while he was away on this voyage. He had the following issue by his wife Elizabeth, who survived:
i. Elizabeth, b. (1651); m. (1), Richard Hunnewell; (2), Jeremiah Walford; (3), John Downing.
ii. John, b. 1653; m. Abigail Alcock.
iii. Sarah, b. (1656); m. (William) Lancaster; (2), (John) Roan October 24, 1717.
iv. Dependence, b. (1659); m. Mary Young.
v. Josiah, b. (1662); m. Sarah --
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CAPE NEDDICK
vi. Mary, b. (1664); m. John Wanton.
vii. Deborah, b. 1667; m. James Sayward.
viii. George, b. 1668; m. Abigail Elwell, January 25, 1692.
ix. Hannah, b. (1670); m. (1) Richard Church; (2) David Bryant.
The genealogy of this family will appear in Volume III.
JOHN SMYTH
It is an optimist who can essay an identification of the various John Smiths in a community, but as the one bear- ing this name, although uniformly written Smyth, is the next settler in chronological sequence, the task must be undertaken. The John Smith, servant of John Alcock, who in 1640 ran away from his master, and was punished therefor, has been previously considered (i, 119), and it is not improbable that he is the same person who appears later in York at Cape Neddick, about 1653, and was the brother-in-law to Edward Wanton, succeeding to the latter's property in 1658. He had been in possession of it "some Years" at that date, and as his lands were recorded November 11, 1654 (T. R. i, 73), he must have been there for a year or more. Upon the assumption that this John Smith was the one-time servant of Alcock, it can be stated that when his term of service was out he married, about 1645, Joan -, daughter of the unknown owner of land, near the Norton Brick Yard, which she received "in Dowry." In 1646 he had gone to Casco Mill, on the Pre- sumpscot River, where he was sued for debt by Henry Walton of Portsmouth, R. I., and the land was taken in payment. The whole transaction is mysterious and has defied solution. Under the circumstances the relationship of John Smyth and Edward Wanton becomes somewhat simplified. As Wanton was not married until he went to Boston, it is clear that he had not married Smith's sister, assuming that he had one here, and it would appear that Smith had not married Wanton's sister, as there was no family here of that name. The inference is that they were half brothers, by the same mother. Smyth signed the petition to Cromwell, 1656; was convicted of slandering John Donnell in 1660; sued Jeremiah Sheeres for the same offence and got a verdict in 1665; Juror in 1666; signed petition against Gorges in 1668. He was official execu- tioner in 1679 and 1684. With wife Joan on October 1674, he transferred all his property to his son John in consider-
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HISTORY OF YORK
ation of support (Deeds ii, 159), and it is presumed that she died soon after, as before 1682 he had married Mrs. Mary (Farrow) Clarke, daughter of George Farrow of Wells, and widow of Edward Clarke of Portsmouth (N. H. Deeds, iv, 31b). He sold land on March 1, 1686 and died before February 3, 1687-8 (Deeds iv, 78). By his first wife he had the following issue:
i. Sarah, b. 1645; m. Robert Junkins.
ii. (dau.), b. (1648); m. James Jackson about 1670.
iii. John, b. (1650); mariner; removed to Gloucester, where he mar- ried and left issue.
JEREMIAH SHEERES
erimiah Sheires This name is of Dev- onshire origin and is found in Dartmouth, that county, whence came nu- merous settlers to Kittery. He is found at Kittery in 1649 and in October 1650 had a suit in the Dover court. He resided at Mendum's Cove on the Piscataqua and on March 3, 1651 he had a town grant there of one hundred acres which he sold November 14, 1664, after removal from that town. He signed the Submission November 1652 in Kittery. It is probable that he removed to Cape Neddick shortly after the death of Nicholas Green (1662-3), whose widow he had married before November 14, 1664 although his name does not appear in York records until four years later. He came to live on the Nicholas Green lot and on March 5, 1668 the town granted to him forty acres on the south side of Cape Neddick River "behind ten Acres of Land that Nicholas Green bought of John Smith Senr: which now Jeremy Sheers hath built upon & doth live upon."
He signed petition to the King in 1680 and was pre- sented for not attending church in 1689, but further refer- ences to him are wanting and it is possible that he was killed in the York Massacre. An Edmund Sheare "now resident at Boston " in 1683 gave a bond to Mary Sayward of York. He may have been the son or brother of the Cape Neddick settler.
Jeremiah Sheeres was married twice: (1) Elizabeth -; (2) Mrs. Susanna Green about 1664. As far as known he left but one child, viz .:
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CAPE NEDDICK
i. Elizabeth, b. (1653); m. Humphrey Spencer 1673 (Deeds ix, 104: xvi, 134).
Inventory of the estate of Jeremiah Sheeres was returned in 1701 in which mention is made of his stepson John Green of Boston.
JAMES JACKSON
He was one of the Scotch prisoners, captured at the Battle of Worcester September 3, 1651 and transported to New England the same year by the ship John and Sarah, landing at Boston, whence he was sent to Dover, N. H., as a bond slave. He was freed from training June 27, 1661, "by reason he hath lost one of his fingers." (N. H. Deeds ii, 576.) He was taxed there in 1663, but removed to York soon after. In answer to a petition of John Smith, Senior, the Court authorized the town of York "to lay him and his son James Jackson out some Convenient Tracts of Land free from other grants." On June 12, 1667 Jackson was granted twenty-eight acres of upland lying next to his father's, John Smith, and on May 1, 1671 Jackson "liveing up Cape Nuttucke River where henry Sayward hath built a saw-mill," made an exchange of lots with his father, Smith (Deeds ii, 130). On August 13, 1674 thirty acres were given to him "beyond Cape Neddick." He and his wife with two children were killed by the Indians in the attack on Cape Neddick September 25, 1676, while his eldest daughter escaped. His estate was administered October 25, 1676, by his father-in-law John Smith. Inventory £78-11-00.
He married about 1665-6 Elizabeth, daughter of John and Joan Smith, by whom he had the following issue:
i. Elizabeth, b. (1667); On July 16, 1685 she acquitted her uncle John Smith, Junior, from any demands from her self on account of her father's estate (Deeds vii, 262).
ii. (child), b. (1670); killed with parents, 1676.
iii. (child), b. (1675); killed with parents, 1676.
SAMUEL BANKS
As there is no known connection between this settler and the family of Richard Banks who had been living at Scituate Row since 1641, the appearance of this person of the same surname at Cape Neddick is an interesting puzzle which the author has not solved. Nothing is known
25
HISTORY OF YORK
of his previous existence elsewhere in New England, but it is not improbable that he was a kinsman, perhaps nephew, of the earlier settler. It appears from a court case some years later that in June 1680 Samuel Bankes had con- tracted with John Child, tailor, of Boston for a suit of boy's clothes, indicating that at that date he was married and had a boy old enough to wear a tailor-made suit, and for this reason 1655 is estimated as the date of Samuel's birth. His name first occurs in 1680 in a court record here to answer some "scandals" in connection with a woman for which he was fined. In July 1683 he witnessed several deeds at Cape Neddick and had countersuits with Tim- othy Yeals the same year. In 1685 he was again in court for "impudently glorying in his own wickedness," for which he was fined and bound in good behavior.
His chief occupation, however, was not in attendance on the courts as might appear. He was a shipwright by occu- pation and in 1685 had built the brigantine "Endeavor," of forty-five tons (Deeds vi, 6), and on March 1, 1685-6 he bought of John Smith, Sr., land on both sides of the river which formerly belonged to Edward Wanton (Ibid. iv, 54). The town granted its rights in this land to him in 1689 and on the lot on the northeast side he built his house. In a document it appears that he was "In the Warrs against the Indians," presumably the war of 1689-90 but no further corroboration of this has been found. The case of the Boston tailor against him for clothing, etc., in amount £10-04-00 was brought in 1689 and he pleaded payment but claimed he had lost his receipt. The verdict was against him and he appealed but judgment was confirmed. Further information about him after this date is lacking and he either perished in the Massacre or removed to Portsmouth prior to that disaster. He was dead before February 25, 1692-3, and his widow Sarah was living there in the "Great House," the following year. It is to be noted, perhaps as a coincidence, that the Christian name Samuel was used in several generations of the descendants of Richard Banks. On September 18, 1731, Peter Bourse, a merchant of Newport, R. I., describing himself as "Grandson and only surviving heir of Samuel Bankes" sold the Cape Neddick property to Samuel Clark, car- penter (xiv, 181). From this scattered information it is possible to construct the following family record : probably
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CAPE NEDDICK
married twice (1) unknown; (2) Sarah - about 1686 and his issue was probably by the first marriage:
i. Samuel, b. about 1675; resident Newport, died about 1710.
ii. Bathsheba, b. about 1680; m. (1) Peter Bourse Jan. 6 1704-5; (2) - Hart; (3) Frankland Morton. Their son Peter sold the Cape Neddick estate and his son, Rev. Peter Bourse (1726- 1762) H. C. 1747, was rector of St. Michael's, Marblehead.
NICHOLAS GREENE
The first known of this settler is on March 16, 1650-1, when he witnessed two deeds of Peter Weare to John Gooch (Deeds ii, 177-9). As this places him in Gorgeana two years before the Submission, and his name does not appear on the list of those submitting, his civil status in the town is peculiar, unless he was absent at that time. It is possible that he was a servant of Gooch and therefore not regarded as eligible to sign a political acknowledgment as a freeman.1 Some time before April 15, 1653 he had been granted four acres "in the S. E. Cove" of Cape Ned- dick River, and 1654 he was granted forty acres by the town. To this he added twenty acres by purchase of John Smyth. In 1678 his land was surveyed and declared to be "50 odd Poles by the water side."
He died between July 21, 1662 and July 23, 1663, leav- ing a widow Anna or Susanna who was probably a second wife, or much younger than her husband, as he was called "Old Nichilas Greene" in the town records. She remarried in 1663-4 Jeremiah Sheres as her second husband.
They had issue as follows:
John, b. (1643), mariner. Resided in Boston; died February 25, 1701-2.
Nicholas, b. (1645); signed petition 1667; no further record.
Anne, b. (1647); indicted 1673.
Sarah, b. (1650); m. John Parker.
EDWARD WANTON
In the summer of 1651 this young man, then about nineteen years old, came to York, and as previously related, on November 13 of that year bought of Godfrey a parcel of land, "which he had begun to clear," on the south side of the river, bounded by two creeks, containing
1 Nicholas Greene, a husbandman, born about 1568, was residing in Miserden, Gloucestershire in 1608, about a dozen miles from Slymbridge, the home of John Gooch.
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HISTORY OF YORK
about ten acres; also a lot of twenty acres directly across the river next to and northwest of the first creek (Deeds i, 64). He came here as a single man, but at whose suggestion or solicitation, is uncertain, although he had a kinsman then living at Saco. The family tradition is that he came from London with his mother, but nothing in the records of Maine confirms this. According to his age as stated in a deposition late in life he was only nineteen years of age when he bought of Godfrey, which discloses an error in his own statement, for he could not enter into a contract as a minor. His stay here was only a few years. He signed the Submission of 1652, and on November II, 1657, sold these two lots to John Smyth "my brother-in-law who hath beene several years in possession of the same." His cattle were left with Smyth "to keep to halves." (S.J.C., II540.) He removed to Boston, where he followed the trade of Shipwright (Suff. Deeds iii, 432), and in 1661 again removed to Scituate, where he remained throughout the remainder of his life. He died October 17, 1716, in his eighty-fifth year, according to his gravestone. He became a Quaker while in Boston, and is the ancestor of a dis- tinguished family in Rhode Island, which furnished sev- eral Royal Governors to that colony. His son John, born September 15, 1672, married Mary Stover, daughter of Sylvester, and became Governor in 1734, succeeding his brother William, and held office for six years. The name of Wanton was used as a Christian name in the Stover family in later generations, doubtless in honor of this relation- ship. As Edward Wanton married elsewhere, and none of his children were born in York the record of this family is not set out in detail in this history.
THOMAS AVERILL
Thomas duvitt He was the son of William and Abigail (Hinton) Averill of Tops- field, Mass., baptized January 7, 1630, at Chipping Norton, Oxfordshire. He settled in Wells before 1671, near the present South Berwick line, and in 1681 was granted land, formerly given by the town of York to Peter Weare east of Cape Neddick, by a release from the latter (T.R. i, 79). It is said that he retired to Ipswich during the Indian troubles, but returned to York where he and his wife spent
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CAPE NEDDICK
their last days. He was called Avery at first and Averill in our records. He had a second land grant in 1700 (Ibid. i, 135), and his oldest son was granted administration on his estate April 7, 1714. A genealogy of this family will appear in Volume III of this history.
CAPE NEDDICK SCHOOLS
It would appear from the absence of any earlier refer- ence that school facilities were first secured for this village in 1729. The action of the town in the years 1729, 1730 and 1731 details the various steps taken to meet the requirements of those living beyond Little River.
Voted that the Select Men provide a suitable Person to teach a School at Cape Neddick for four Months in the present Year & that he be paid at the Town's Cost. (1729)
Voted that the School Master be agreed with by the Select Men to teach at Cape Neddick for six Months the year ensuing at the Towns Cost. (1730)
Voted that a School Master be procured to teach the Children & Youth at Cape Neddick for Two Months the ensuing Year.
Voted that the Selectmen Provide a Suitable Person to keep School at Cape Neddick for Four Months in the Present Year and that he be Paid in the Towns Cost; the inhabitants of Cape Neddick to Find him his Board the sd Term. (1731)
Similar demands of the Cape Neddick people for definite allotment of funds such as was given to other sec- tions of the town were approved in 1736 and 1739 when it was
Voted that the Inhabitants of this Town that Live to the Eastward of the Short Sand Brook, so called, exclusive of those that live at Ground Root Hill Receive thier Proportion of Sixty Pounts Provided they lay out the same for a school & no other Use. (1736)
Voted that the Inhabitants of this Town that Live to the Northeast- ward of the Long Sands, as far as Wells Bounds have given and granted to them all their Proportion of the Rate made for the Soport of the Schools in this Town. (1739)
In 1742 Cape Neddick was allowed £15 as its share of the town taxes for support of the schools, but this was not satisfactory to this section, and in 1745 it was granted £30 old tenor, "to Satisfie the said Inhabitants of Cape Neddick for Backrearages ... for hiring a School Master." For the next forty years the town simply voted to keep the school "as usual," when in 1785 a formal vote appor- tioned the town school funds according to the proportion
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HISTORY OF YORK
of taxes received. This was the state of educational affairs at the beginning of the next century.
That the schoolboys of this section were like the boys of every age and section is apparent from a report in 1857 of the School Committee for the Cape Neddick district. In it they say: "We would incidentally notice as a matter of regret that some half a dozen boys upon perceiving the Committee were about visiting the school at its closing examination retired therefrom." They could be found, probably, in the "ol swimmin' hole" finishing their edu- cation in the physics of flotation.
BAPTISTS
The first society of Baptists in Maine was gathered in the adjoining town of Kittery in 1682, but the persecution of it by the Puritan hierarchy and the government was so bitter that the minister, Rev. William Scriven, removed with the greater part of his church to South Carolina, and established themselves at the settlement which later became Charleston. In 1767 a clergyman of that denomi- na tion living in Haverhill took part in the formation of a society of Baptists in South Berwick, and it is stated that in 1780 Elder Nathaniel Lord came to York and held a service at the house of Jeremiah Weare. So much opposi- tion was manifested that further efforts at proselytizing their doctrines were discontinued for nearly a quarter of a century. About 1801 or 1802 itinerant Baptist Elders preached here and one of the early converts was Peter Young, who later became a leading light in this sect as a minister. In 1803 Elder William Bachelder came to York and delivered an address in the orchard of David Webber which aroused great interest, and it was reported that "nearly fifty souls were converted in a short time." A contemporary writer stated that this new doctrine was carried on "in that part called Cape Neddick, under the preaching of those who were despised of the world but approved of God." In 1804 Elder Elias Smith conducted the rite of baptism by immersion in April of that year and one who received it describes his "descending into the liquid flood." Under date of February 16, 1805, and in the following years Elder Bachelder certified that the following persons were received to full membership in the Baptist Society of Berwick and York: Jeremiah Weare, Jr., John
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CAPE NEDDICK
Tenney, Samuel Tenney, Pelatiah Perkins, Samuel Hutchins, Samuel Weare, Job Hutchins, Pelatiah Hutch- ins, Pelatiah Simpson, Cotton Chase and Ezekiel Adams. In the years 1821-2-3 the membership had grown large enough to become an independent organization of this town, with Benjamin Colby as Clerk of the society. The new names found as members were those of John Lord, Samuel S. Lord, P. A. Bragdon, Abraham Bowden, George Bean, Tabitha Bean, Nathaniel Baker, Parthenia Young, William P. Frost, James Donnell, Timothy Donnell, John Trafton, Capt. John Perkins, Ebenezer Ramsdell, Miles Wilson and Mary Norton. As fruit of this continued agi- tation the First Baptist Church of Cape Neddick was organized August 20, 1829 with twelve members, five males and seven females, under the guidance of Rev. Oliver Barron. A number of those interested had acquired membership in his church at South Berwick previously and interest in the Baptist faith had been kept alive by occasional itinerant preachers. A sort of union meeting house had been erected in 1823 by the combined efforts of Baptists and Methodists, and became ready for occupancy when this new church was organized. The inevitable question of ministerial supply and ownership of it brought the usual struggle for supremacy but the Baptists pre- vailed in their contention. Rev. Mr. Barron was the first pastor with Cotton Chase and Daniel Norton as Deacons. It had a membership of twenty-four, and in 1830 joined the York County Baptist Association. Persons living in Wells became affiliated with this church and added to its numerical strength. In 1872 it had a membership of sixty- three: twenty-seven males and thirty-six females. The pastoral succession is as follows:
1829 Oliver Barron
1858
A. E. Edwards
1832 John Hainer
1862 B. F. Lawrence
1833 Josiah Ames
1865
C. P. Bartlett
1834 Clarke Sibley
1866
J. M. Mace
1837 Daniel McMaster
1871 J. A. Tooker
1838
Gideon Cooke
1872-3 (Supplies)
1841 Isaac Merrill
1873 William Beavens
1842 L. L. Tripp
1875 Henry Stetson
1843 Gideon Cooke
1879 Gilbert Robbins
1847 Bartlett Pease
1886 H. B. Marshall
1852 S. F. Kendall
1889 C. H. Eveleth
1854 John Hubbard
1892
P. T. Gallagher
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HISTORY OF YORK
1894 William Fletcher
1902 William Reid
1906 H. A. Platts
1909 J. S. Osborne
1912 F. H. Gardner
1918 G. W. F. Hill
1930 Matthew Gosbee
The original meeting house has undergone remodeling and the old parsonage has been replaced by a new house. A church vestry was added. The present membership is thirty-eight and the new pastor looks for an encouraging increase.
METHODISTS
A meeting of persons who were ready to break away from the old order and embrace the newer religion preached by the itinerant Methodist missionaries was held in the schoolhouse at Cape Neddick on May 18, 1822, and under the authority of a warrant from Mr. Solomon Brooks, Justice of the Peace, proceeded to organize. The following named persons signed the roll: John Swett, John Norton, Moses Brewster, Henry Talpey, Timothy Ramsdell, Richard Talpey, Obadiah Stover, Samuel Welch, Hannah Clarke and George Norton.
They called the new organization by the name of the First Methodist Society of York, and having accomplished this preliminary duty, they notified the pastor of the old Congregational Church in the village that they withdrew therefrom, and further added the wish that they "may not be taxed in any money assessed on either our polls or estates as a part of any money raised by said Parish."
This society, by arrangement with the Baptists of Cape Neddick, contributed to the erection of a joint house of worship, the results of which accrued to the latter denomination which came into possession and use of the building. This ended the activities of the Methodists in this part of York.
TAVERNS
The earliest record of a licensed innkeeper at Cape Neddick is in 1719 when John Stover, then the ferryman, kept a tavern in this village. He was licensed annually through 1727, and after an interval of sixteen years Elias Weare in 1743 followed him. He may have been the ferry- man during the years he kept the inn, 1743-9, as the
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CAPE NEDDICK
license was usually given to the one who operated the ferry. From 1750 to 1757 James Berry was the innkeeper. He was probably succeeded by Daniel Clarke who had licenses 1758-1760 followed by Samuel Clarke 1771-1786 and the Widow Anne Clarke in 1788. The Clarkes were from Topsfield, the father Samuel, a house carpenter, com- ing to York in 1720, and in 1731 he bought land on both sides of the Cape Neddick River at the upper bridge formerly owned by Samuel Banks and John Smith (Deeds xiv, 181). Their tavern was on the northeast side of the river, probably not far from the small bridge still known as Clarke's Bridge.
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