USA > Maine > Lincoln County > Bristol > History of York, Maine, successively known as Bristol (1632), Agamenticus (1641), Gorgeana (1642), and York (1652) Vol. II > Part 30
USA > Maine > York County > York > History of York, Maine, successively known as Bristol (1632), Agamenticus (1641), Gorgeana (1642), and York (1652) Vol. II > Part 30
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Voted that there be a Slave Bought by the Parish to be Imployed for the use of said Parish in Labouring for the Rev. Mr. Samuel Moody/ Voted that Samuel Came Esqr, Elder Richard Milberry and Mr. Joseph Holt be Imployed as agents for the Parish to purchase a Slave for said Parish/
The committee bought a negro but on December 26, 1735, it was voted that if the "Negro Man cant do for Mr Moody that the Assessors Hire a Man for Mr Moody." In 1736 he had a girl slave called "Phyllis."
An earlier slaveholder, however, was none other than an Elder in the church, Joseph Sayward, who had an Indian bond servant in 1730, named "Boneto," (purchased of Thomas Pickering), to whom he agreed to give freedom, if at the end of nine and a half years he should "behave himself faithfully, soberly & temperately as a Servant ought to do." (Deeds xiv, 12.) This is the only instance of Indian slavery that appears in the records.
It is not easy to state accurately how early negro slavery was introduced into York, but probably not before 1700, but it soon became a common practice among those able to buy and keep slaves. In 1736 Jedediah Preble had a slave named "Andrew," and in 1737 Joseph Swett, two, "Pompey" and "Betty," who were married that year. Peter Nowell seems to have been the largest slaveholder in his day. In 1737 he gave by deed to his son Abraham a "Negro Girl named Diner," (Deeds xviii, 141), and in ' 1 his will, in 1738, he bequeathed to his wife the choice of three slaves, named Flora, Phillis and Peg.
In 1754 there were twenty-four slaves in the town and in the census of 1765 twenty female and thirty-six male
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DOMESTIC LIFE IN PROVINCIAL TIMES
negroes were listed in the town, fifty-six in all. Probably all of them were in slavery. In 1769 Edward Grow adver- tised in the New Hampshire Gazette a reward of four dollars for the return of a runaway slave named "Tony." Two slaves were married in 1770: "Caesar," a slave belonging to Richard Talpey, and "Rose," belonging to Joseph Weare. It is known that the Moultons of Cider Hill owned slaves, and the Came family, also of the same neighborhood, had a negro named "Sharper" who was a crony of "Caesar" belonging to the Plaisteds. It is related that on one dark evening "Sharper" visited "Caesar" and when it came time to go home the darkness had not decreased, and he asked "Caesar" to accompany him to his home, which "Caesar" obligingly did. But when they arrived at Came's house, it was just as dark, so he went back with "Caesar" by request of the latter, and so they went back and forth all night until daybreak. This may not be history, but it is African psychology.
On April 21, 1775, a negro also named "Caesar," which was a popular name for gentlemen of color, accom- panied Captain Moulton's company to Concord when the news of that battle reached here, a fact which warrants a separate paragraph to record his patriotic act. He was living in 1800 a free negro, with a family of three.
FREE NEGROES
The Census of 1790 shows twenty-six negroes credited to the following families: three to the Weares at Cape Neddick, and one each to Samuel Trevett, Nicholas Sewall, Jonathan Sayward, Mrs. Sarah Swett, Joseph Thompson, Ebenezer Thompson and Jedediah Blaisdell, and two to John Main. Giles Scott was a free negro living here at that time, who had come originally from Jamaica to be educated.
In 1800 there were twenty-one negro slaves of whom one was "yellow," and in 1810 nineteen negroes including Caesar Talpey with a family. Most of them were depend- ents living in a state of modified bondage. After that they disappear from the enumerations. The Misses Raynes kept two of the last generation of these unfortu- nate beings, called "Phyllis" and "Dinah Prince." The latter had lived in her younger days near the Mill Dam
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HISTORY OF YORK
between Meeting House Creek and the River, and was popularly supposed to have occult powers.
"Black Isaac," the fiddler, was a Virginia slave according to his own story, and escaped from his master. He wandered into Maine from Long Island, stopped here to woo and win a dusky mate, Chloe, daughter of Caesar Talpey, and married her. They were blessed with four- teen ebony pickaninnies. He was a regular feature at the annual training days in York, and with his fiddle accumulated stray pennies fiddling for dances at three pennies a dance. His repertoire was limited to a few tunes, but he was in demand all day at these functions. He added his voice to his instrument in scraping out his favorite ballad, "When I am dead and gone to roost," which he sang and played with all the vim of a modern jazz artist, according to tradition. His adopted name was Davis and he was probably a free negro when he came here. In 1850 there were but six negroes in York, and these were the ravel ends of a race that at one time had lived in comfort and even luxury in the homes of the "quality" of York before the Revolution.
In 1789 slavery was abolished in Massachusetts, shortly after the adoption of the Constitution. Judge Sayward rather sadly notes the death of his old servant "Prince," of whom he says: "the New Constitution made him free. He was Babtized on his death bed. I perposed to bury him at my Cost, as I have supported him in his Last sickness."
In this recital of the peaceful, bucolic life of the people of York in that century we are prepared to learn that lon- gevity was a natural accompaniment of such an existence. In 1780 there were eighty-seven persons then living in the town upwards of seventy years; twenty-two upwards of eighty, and four nonagenarians, or nearly a hundred per- sons who had passed threescore and ten out of a popula- tion of twenty-six hundred. Centenarians of the native stock have lived here in the last three centuries, a silent tribute to the soundness of the race.
The closing years of the century found the people here following the general trend of sentiment of the nation in adopting the manners, dress and customs of our late allies, the French. The War for Independence had created a distaste for anything English and these antagonisms
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DOMESTIC LIFE IN PROVINCIAL TIMES
were not easily overcome. Nor was this hostility much lessened for many years. The French Revolution of 1789, so closely following our own, had leveled all ranks and made for a spiritual brotherhood which has not ceased to function. With the creation of "Liberty, Equality and Fraternity" in France went out the short clothes of the ancien regime, and the simpler habiliments marking the citizen class were adopted here with enthusiasm.
The end of his days for a citizen of York in this cen- tury was marked by ever-increasing formality as he was carried to his last resting place. Women wore special hoods and mourning scarves at first, but these were discarded before the Revolution, and mourning rings became a part of the last rites of the well-to-do. Burial services attracted large neighborhood attendance, according to the standing of the deceased. In 1746 the death of a child of Rev. Samuel Chandler in "Scotland," only a few days old, drew from him this entry in his Diary: "funeral of our child pretty large for an Infant." In 1793 the town appointed a committee of seven "marshalls" to regulate the order of processions at funerals, a practice that. was continued for several years. It would seem that these ceremonies had become popular demonstrations and required "Marshals" to keep the marchers in orderly procession to the grave. Hearses came into use as the new century was opening. York had now discarded its youth- ful clothes and emerged into the long pants of a vigorous manhood.
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CHAPTER XXII
TOWN GOVERNMENT AND OFFICIALS
When the first emigrants to New England began to group themselves into townships they were confronted with the problem of managing their civil affairs. They had left behind them the age-old machinery which had cared for these domestic concerns by the parochial and manorial systems of England. A new scheme had to be devised as a substitute for the patriarchal management of the Lord of the Manor, and the ingenuity of the leaders wrestling with this important problem evolved a system by which a number of men chosen by the inhabitants of each settle- ment were empowered to conduct the town's business. Hence the name "Select-men" or men chosen or selected for this purpose. This election was held annually in accord- ance with the ancient New Year's tradition, in March, as "Lady Day" fell on the twenty-fifth day of that month, and that tradition is still in operation although the annual meetings are not on that particular day of the month.
In York, however, in the first years of its existence this plan in operation throughout New England was not followed. As explained in earlier chapters the settlement was under patentees who controlled the business of the plantation, and the borough and city charters made pro- vision for another kind of management in consonance with the methods of larger towns in England. Up to 1652 the business of the town was conducted by a mayor and alderman annually elected, instead of by Selectmen. When Massachusetts assumed control of the Provincial government in that year, the New England system of en- trusting the management of town affairs to a Board of Selectmen came into use. The first men chosen to this office in that year were William Hilton, Francis Raynes, John Alcock and Richard Banks. The duties of Selectmen were essentially similar to those which belong to that office at the present time. They were authorized to assess property for taxes, collect the amounts due on same and attend to the expenditure of the amounts thus raised, according to the several appropriations made in town
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meeting. They were authorized to "farm" out the taxes in advance at a reasonable discount to a citizen who would advance money for same, and when the treasury war- ranted it to loan out the town stock to private borrowers on interest. They also acted as Overseers of the Poor to make provision for the care of paupers and the indigent sick. The records indicate that they frequently made contracts with local or other physicians to "cure" persons afflicted with chronic diseases when unable to provide for themselves. To these specific duties were added the general supervision of all the town's activities. The town meeting is peculiarly a New England institution. It was the great event of the year. At times it could be desig- nated as the "great and only civic circus" performing annually its important function of discussing the ensuing yearly management of the town's business. By law the town constable was enjoined to publish the annual warrant for this meeting which was prepared by the Board of out- going Selectmen. This warrant was "served" on the public by posting, usually on the meeting house door, or later on the town house after that building was erected. The call for it required the freemen or voters to assemble at a designated place, usually the meeting house, and act upon a specified order of business which was to begin with the election of a Moderator and a Clerk. The Moderator was usually one of the "elder statesmen," a man of sub- stance versed in parliamentary procedure, and it was considered an honor to be chosen for this annual event. The warrant specified certain regulation things to be done and certain new matters proposed for the consideration of the voters. These were called "articles," and numbered in rotation and were phrased in this language: "to see if the town will authorize the laying out of a new road from John Smith's house to Tom Brown's mill and to appropri- ate the necessary money for its construction." These articles were read in rotation and became the occasion for local oratorical talent to enjoy itself in discussing a par- ticular project. Frequently these town meetings lasted more than one day, by adjournment, such was the vigor with which some schemes were favored and opposed. On one occasion the meeting house was so cold that they voted to adjourn to Ingraham's Tavern. This was a more convenient place for the relief of thirsty orators and
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HISTORY OF YORK
undoubtedly contributed to an era of good feeling. It was not an uncommon practise for voters who had been in opposition to any particular project and defeated in the final vote to demand that their names as dissenters be recorded in the town books. Thus posterity knew that certain men opposed the building of Sewall's Bridge and the laying out of roads leading to it.
The number of town officials increased from the origi- nal three Selectmen to a great variety of functionaries authorized to oversee various activities of town life in York. The following officials came to be annually elected : Moderator, Clerk, Selectmen, Constable, Wardens, Treas- urer, Representative, Clerk of the Market, Surveyors of Highways, Lot Layers, Field Drivers, Fence Viewers, Pound Keeper, Sealers of Leather, Corders of Wood, Cullers of Fish, Hog Reeves, Tithing Men, Surveyors of Boards, Shingles and Clapboards, Hoops, Staves, Flax and Hemp; and Deer Wardens. The duties of these officials require some description as a number of them ceased to exist a century ago.
Constable. This was an ancient office of considerable repute in England and originally one of the higher offices of state and as such was considered an honor to its holder. In New England, deprived of his badge of office and dis- tinctive dress, it seemed to lose its importance, yet while it had lost its glamor it was still a necessary office, for the constable was clothed with police power to assist in keep- ing the peace. Election to this office began to be avoided early by the average citizen, and the ordinary man of affairs always refused the honor and small emoluments which went with it. This situation was met by the imposi- tion of fines on persons who refused to accept it, and gen- erally this was cheerfully paid to escape the trouble the position involved. The serving of warrants on relatives or friends in a community for small delinquencies was not an occupation desired by most men. In York it appears that some kind of a system of rotation was adopted, the details of which are unknown, and when a voter refused to fill his turn fines ranging from 2 to 5 pounds were imposed. Sometimes he was permitted to buy a substitute. York was not alone in this difficulty. It was prevalent through- out New England. In 1781, failing to find one to serve, Daniel Emery was hired for the job with pay of £2-13-4.
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Wardens were first chosen in 1761, but there is no state- ment of the duties of this office in the records. It is probable that they were in the nature of policemen to maintain order in several sections of the town, but the office does not appear after 1787, and the duties probably devolved on an increased number of constables elected about that time.
The duties of Treasurer and Representative to the General Court are well understood and need no explana- tion.
Clerk of the Market. This was an office unique in York and probably few towns in New England had a like official. It recalls the provision for fairs and markets in the City Charter of 1641, but as far as the records go they afford little information on the subject. Jeremiah Moulton, in 1721, was the first one elected to that office, and in 1724-26 Benjamin Stone held the office. No further election to that office is recorded after 1736, when Eben- ezer Coburn was chosen to fill the place. The exact duties cannot be defined but from knowledge of the market day customs in England it is probable that this official acted as a sort of judge when discussions arose between vendor and buyer at the weekly markets.
Surveyors of Highways, Field Drivers, Fence Viewers, and Hog Reeves. These officials having to do with the maintenance and protection of the highways have been considered in the chapter relating to that subject to which the reader is referred.
Lot-layers. These were among the early town officers, and the place was usually filled by one more or less skilled in the use of surveying instruments. The town in its corporate capacity, having large tracts of common land for disposal to new settlers or those already here, made grants of land of specified acreage and the lot-layers were authorized to survey and stake out these grants, after which they made the official return to the grantee of his "meets and bounds." After the common lands had be- come exhausted the occasion for this office expired, and subsequent surveys for verification of lands were made for private parties, at their own expense, by professional surveyors.
Pound-keeper. Enclosures for the detention of strayed animals found on the public highways by field drivers and
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HISTORY OF YORK
hog reeves were a part of the police supervision of the town, and annually keepers of the several pounds were elected and received pay from the office, collected from owners of such animals.
Sealers of Leather, Corders of Wood, Cullers of Fish, Surveyors of Lumber, Boards, Shingles, Clapboards, Hoops and Staves represented a form of activity derived from the ancient regulations of the Guild Companies of England. The various guilds were responsible for the quality of the product of their members and provided marks indicating that such products were up to standard requirements for the benefit of the purchaser. The election of these officials in this town was in accordance with a gen- eral custom adopted by all New England towns to secure this same information for the public. It is not known in what manner they were paid if at all, but possibly a fee system rewarded them for this service.
Tithing Men. The title of this office became a curious perversion of its original significance in England. In the absence of the collection of tithes in New England the title survived but the duties differed. It is probable that they assisted in the early days in collecting parish taxes, as they were town as well as parish officers, but they are best remembered as watchful guardians of the peace during divine worship on the Sabbath. They were a sort of ecclesiastical police whose jurisdiction extended in an unlimited area, within and without the meeting house, on that day. Boys at play in the highways, as well as those herded like social lepers, in the "boys pue," which was once called "the Devil's play-house," were both the objects of his activity on the Lord's Day. Walking up and down the aisles carrying a stick, knobbed on one end, tipped with a fox-tail on the other, he tapped whispering boys on the head and tickled the noses of snoring adults to reduce the quota of disturbances during the Long Prayer and the longer sermons. Oliver Wendell Holmes, who had observed these pious guardians of the Puritan Sabbath in action wrote of the day:
Hush, is the Sabbath's silence stricken morn, No feet must wander through the tasselled corn,
No Merry children laugh around the door, No idle playthings strew the sanded floor. The law of Moses lays its awful ban
On all that stirs. Here comes the Tithing Man!
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These officials continued to be elected in York in 1799 and well into the next century.
Deer Wardens. This office was established in 1745, and the duty of these officials was to prevent violation of the Provincial Act prohibiting the killing of deer in the Province.
It is uncertain whether the town, in its earliest days, had a special building for the transaction of its business, but the records suggest that one was erected for the pur- pose, a few years after the Massacre. On November 16, 1698, the town voted "that the Selectmen Now in being with Mr. Jeremiah Moulton and James Plaisteed is to Carrie on the bulding of the Town hous," (T. R. i, 439). Nothing further is of record and it is supposed that it was built.
The names of the persons who filled this score of offices in the last three centuries of its existence would almost become a census of the male population of York, but a list of the occupants of the principal administrative offices will follow.
For purposes of record a synthetic list of the Selectmen of this town prior to 1700 has been compiled from various sources. The Town Records are missing before the Mas- sacre of 1692, as elsewhere explained. The sources of authority for each year are given and in some cases it will be noted that there are Selectmen in excess of the usual number but they are included as a matter of record with the discrepancies unexplained. The first list for 1652 has already been given.
1653. William Hilton, John Alcock, Arthur Bragdon, Richard Banks, Robert Knight, Peter Weare, Nicholas Davis. (Deeds ii, 178; T. R.)
1654. William Hilton, John Alcock, Arthur Bragdon, Richard Banks, Peter Weare, Robert Knight and Nicholas Davis. (Deeds ii, 74; T. R.)
1655. Nicholas Davis, John Alcock, Robert Knight and Arthur Bragdon. (Deeds ii, 74.)
1656. Peter Weare, John Alcock, Richard Banks, Robert Knight and Nicholas Davis. (Deeds i, 125; T. R.)
1657. Edward Rishworth, Abraham Preble, Edward Johnson and Peter Weare. Arthur Bragdon, Constable.
1658. Peter Weare, Richard Banks, Robert Knight, John Alcock and Nicholas Davis. (T. R.)
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HISTORY OF YORK
1659. Peter Weare, Nicholas Davis, John Alcock, Richard Banks and Robert Knight. (T. R.)
1661. John Davis, Henry Donnell, Henry Sayward, Edward Rishworth, Robert Knight and Peter Weare. (Deeds i, 107; T. R.)
1662. Edward Rishworth, John Davis, Peter Weare, Nicholas Davis and Edward Johnson.
1663. Francis Raynes, John Alcock, Robert Knight and John Twisden. (Deeds iii, 25.)
1664. Peter Weare, Edward Johnson, Edward Rish- worth and Francis Raynes.
1665. Edward Rishworth, Edward Johnson, Matthew Austin, John Davis and Arthur Bragdon, Sr. Chosen 29 Oct. 1665: Peter Weare, Henry Sayward, John Twisden, Philip Adams and Thomas Curtis. (Deeds ii, 74; Sup. Jud. Ct. 693.) Henry Sayward, Constable.
1666. Peter Weare and John Twisden (Deeds iii, 72), John Davis, Henry Donnell, Henry Sayward.
1667. Philip Adams, Thomas Curtis, Edward Rish- worth, Robert Knight, Peter Weare, Edward Johnson (T. R.), Thomas Curtis, John Twisden and Edward Start. (Deeds ii, 34.)
1668. Peter Weare, John Twisden and Thomas Curtis.
1669. John Alcock, Peter Weare, John Davis, John Twisden, Edward Johnson, Edward Rishworth, Matthew Austin and Philip Adams. (T. R.)
1670. Edward Rishworth, Edward Johnson, John Alcock, John Davis and Matthew Austin. (T. R.)
1671. Edward Rishworth, John Davis, Matthew Austin, Edward Johnson and John Alcock. (T. R.)
1672. Edward Rishworth, Edward Johnson, John Alcock, Matthew Austin and John Davis. (T. R.)
1673. John Alcock, Thomas Trafton, Henry Donnell, Edward Rishworth Edward Johnson and Matthew Austin (Sup. Jud. Ct. 1806), Francis Raynes. (Prov. Ct. Rec. iv.)
1674. Peter Weare, Abraham Preble, Philip Adams and Thomas Curtis. (T. R.)
1675. Abraham Preble, Philip Adams, Francis Raynes, Peter Weare and Thomas Curtis. (T. R., Mass. Archives.)
1676. John Davis, Richard Banks, John Twisden, Job Alcock, and Henry Simpson (T. R.), Abraham Preble (Prov. Ct. Rec.)
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1677. Peter Weare, Sr., Henry Donnell, Nathaniel Preble and Job Alcock. (Deeds i, 22-7; T. R.)
1678. Henry Donnell, Job Alcock, Nathaniel Preble, Thomas Trafton and Peter Weare. (Deeds iii, 57; T. R.) 1679. Richard Banks, Thomas Bragdon, John Davis, John Twisden, Thomas Moulton, Thomas Trafton, Peter Weare, Nathaniel Preble, Henry Donnell and Job Alcock. (T. R.)
1680. Richard Banks, John Davis, John Twisden, Thomas Bragdon, and Thomas Moulton. (Sup. Jud. Ct. Mass. 1846; T. R.)
1681. John Davis, Richard Banks, John Twisden, Abraham Preble and Thomas Bragdon. (T. R.)
1682. Perhaps the double list of next year may account for this lack of names.
1683. Abraham Preble, Arthur Bragdon, Thomas Curtis, Matthew Austin, Peter Weare, Henry Donnell, Job Alcock and Thomas Trafton. (Deeds iii, 134; T. R.) 1684. Abraham Preble, John Twisden and Matthew Austin. (T. R.)
1685. Nathaniel Rains, Job Alcock, John Harmon, John Sayward and John Hoyes. (T. R.)
1686. Abraham Preble, George Norton, Arthur Brag- don, Robert Young, Job Alcock and John Sayward. (T. R.)
1687. Job Alcock, Henry Simpson and Nathaniel Masterson. (T. R.)
1688. Job Alcock, Henry Simpson, Nathaniel Master- son and John Preble. (T. R.)
1689. Arthur Bragdon. (T. R.)
1690. List not given.
1691. List not given.
1692. List not given.
1693. John Bancks, James Plaisted and Thomas Donnell. (Mass. Arch.)
1694. List not given.
1695. Samuel Donnell and Thomas Trafton. (T. R.)
1696. Samuel Donnell, James Plaisted, Thomas Traf- ton, John Browne and Joseph Weare.
1697. Abraham Preble, Andrew Browne and Mat- thew Austin. (T. R.)
1698. Arthur Bragdon, Sr., Nathaniel Raynes, Lewis Bane, Samuel Johnson and Matthew Austin. (T. R.)
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HISTORY OF YORK
1699. Daniel Black, James Plaisted, Joseph Banks, Richard Milberry and Arthur Bragdon, Sr. (T. R.)
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