USA > Maine > Lincoln County > Bristol > History of York, Maine, successively known as Bristol (1632), Agamenticus (1641), Gorgeana (1642), and York (1652) Vol. II > Part 8
USA > Maine > York County > York > History of York, Maine, successively known as Bristol (1632), Agamenticus (1641), Gorgeana (1642), and York (1652) Vol. II > Part 8
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HISTORY OF YORK
Many superficial and, consequently, unfounded expla- nations have been advanced to account for the strange behavior of this well-educated and hitherto normal man. Some have tried to attribute it to an alleged incident in his youth by which a young boy named Ebenezer Preble was accidentally shot by Moody, a boyhood companion. A circumstantial story has been built up on unsupported tradition that the two went hunting deer and other game which might come within the reach of their firearms. They separated in a thicket to beat up the game; Moody heard a crackling in the underbrush and saw a movement which he supposed was a deer. Leveling his gun he fired at the object and, hastening to the spot where the supposed animal had fallen, he found his friend, Ebenezer, mortally wounded and breathing his last. The family genealogy states that this boy died August 25, 1708, at the age of ten. As Moody was two years younger we are expected to believe that a boy of eight, armed with one of the enor- mous Queen Anne muskets, was allowed to hunt game in the woods when the Indian menace was so dangerous. The idea seems preposterous and yet it has been solemnly told for many years. Such an accident might have occurred through the accidental discharge of a musket, killing the Preble boy, possibly in the presence of young Moody. But if this was the cause thirty years elapsed before the sup- posed mental distress of Joseph Moody began to be made manifest. This also seems to exclude that apocryphal story. He was deeply impressed with the belief that he was unworthy the confidence and support of his parish; that his life in the ministry was a failure in the sight of God and man and that his voice should no longer be heard nor his face seen in the pulpit. This self-condemnation became a fixed obsession and in 1738 he refused to continue in the work of the ministry. What followed has been told in Hawthorne's "Veiled Parson" and repeated in scores of fanciful tales of "Handkerchief" Moody who kept his face covered with a linen cloth when abroad in public places or in company of others in the house. The sacrifice on the altar was now as complete as a troubled mind and an accusing conscience could offer. Repetitions of the traditional details of his eccentric habits and queer sayings are in doubtful taste and need not occupy any space here. It was a tragedy of misplaced talent unwittingly grafted
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"MR. HOOKE'S FARM"
on a heterogeneous stock. His Puritan inheritance proved his undoing.
His wife died in 1736 and this loss of the mother of his small children might as well be assigned as the cause of his morbid and eccentric withdrawal from public life. This case seems to be one in which psychoanalysis can be applied with reference to the general conditions of life at that period as well as his own particular career. His wrecked prospects and blighted life became the object of sympathy of influential friends who had known him in his promising manhood, and from time to time wealthy per- sons in Boston sent funds to his father to ease the burden of expense consequent on his unproductive retirement. After he became a widower he went to live with Deacon Arthur Bragdon of Scotland, where his seclusion was respected for a number of years.1 In 1745 he appears to have regained his normal condition and substituted for his father during the latter's absence in the Louisburg expedition. In 1741 the pastoral relations were dissolved owing to his continued infirmity. Tradition again adds a touch of the mystic to this portion of his life. At a day of fasting and prayer held in York for the success of Pep- perrell at Louisburg, he is said to have contributed his share of the exercises, participated in by neighboring clergymen, by undertaking the "long prayer." After beseeching Jehovah that the French might be overwhelmed and arguing with him the justice of his plea he changed the burden of his prayer to one of thanks for the delivery of the fortress and praised God for this bestowal of his mercy. The sequel proceeds to show that the actual sur- render was effected at the exact hour when Rev. Joseph had shifted from requests to thanks!
If this restoration of his mental equilibrium is true the remaining eight years of his life do not show that he resumed public appearances in any capacity. The end of this singular and unfortunate character is thus described by a local historian :
The death of Mr. Moody was sudden and attended by some remarkable circumstances. He had, in early life, been a great singer,
1 The famous evangelist, Rev. George Whitefield, thus speaks of Joseph Moody after his visit to York in 1740. "Mr. Moody has a Son, a minister, who was one full of Faith and Joy in the Holy Ghost and walked in the light of God's Countenance and made full Proof of his Ministry, but for these two years last past has walked in Darkness and seen no Light." (Journal, 1756, pp. 398-400.) This places his mental trouble as beginning in 1738.
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HISTORY OF YORK
but after his indisposition he laid it wholly aside, and would not sing. At length, one day, which he spent alone in his chamber, he was heard to break forth into singing, to the great astonishment of the Bragdon family. Almost the entire afternoon he was singing with great ani- mation the 17th hymn of Ist Book of Watts' Hymns:
"Oh for an overcoming faith, To cheer my dying hours."
He did not come out of his chamber that night, and the next morning was found dead in bed.
(Moody, History, pp. 228-9.)
The Boston News Letter announcing his death said it was due to "an Apoplectick Fit."
Here lyes Interr'd & Body of Revid JOSEPH MOODY Pastor of 2 Ch e nd
in York An Excelling Inftance of Knowledge Ingenuity Learning Piety Virtue & Ufefulness was
Very Serviceable as a Schoolmafter Clerk
Regifter Magiftrate & afterwards
Minifter Was Uncommonly qualified &
Spirited to Do Good & Accordingly Was
Highly Eftermed & Greatly Belov'd
Ha Deceafed March 20 1 7 5 3 Etat3
5 5
Altho this Stone May Moulder into Duft Yet JOSEPH MOODY's Name Continue Mult
He left three sons: Samuel, born April 1726 who died without issue, Thomas, Joseph and daughter Hannah. The two sons left descendants in York and Hannah mar- ried Dr. Samuel Plummer of Gloucester, Mass. Of Samuel a more extended notice must be given. He inherited the intellectual talents of his father and grandfather Moody.
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"MR. HOOKE'S FARM"
He followed his father at Harvard, graduating in 1746, and his future was designed for the ministry. He adopted pedagogy as his work, however, and after teaching an advanced educational course in York, his kinsman, Gov- ernor Dummer, gave him the appointment of Head Master of the Academy at South Byfield founded by the Dummer family. He filled this position with great success for thirty years. He died in 1795 and is buried in the old cemetery.
REV. SAMUEL CHANDLER
This minister succeeded to the pastorate vacated by Mr. Moody and was ordained January 20, 1742, Rev. Samuel Phillips of Andover preaching the sermon. Mr. Chandler was son of Josiah and Sarah (Ingalls) Chandler of Andover, born July 1713 and was graduated in 1735 from Harvard College. He preached first at South Andover and had married Anna Pecker of Haverhill before coming to York. While here he kept a diary, portions of which still exist, and the following extracts relate to such local inci- dents as give a picture of his pastoral life in Scotland with interesting references to his parishioners:
I745 Nov. 20 I preached Lam. III, 40- middling congregation. In the evening went to Deacon McIntire's.
Dec. 10 Father Pecker came to see us.
1746
Jan.
3 I came home after Dinner (from a visit to Andover) found my Family well and entertained at first with a welcome.
Jan. 6 I visited Daniel Jenk's wife sick of a Fever. Her senses somewhat Broken and shattered. She complains of a dry soul, a dry Heart and that she is a poor creature. Then I went to Gideon Whitham's. She spoke of her little son now sick of a fever that he sd he was willing to leave Father and Mother to go to Christ - that he loved Christ --- he reproved others for speaking bad words. Then I went to Mr. Shaw's and to Mr. Lord's - read a few pages.
Jan.
9 I studied all day. Wrote the Genealogy of my family.
IO Studied in the forenoon ---- very cold weather - afternoon went to the family meeting at Mr. Lord's - visited the sick - wrote a will and got home at 9 oclock half an hour past.
II Studied till 9 oclock Saturday night in my preparations wch I have not done for many months before nor do I allow myself in it - would always finish my preparations before night on the Saturday.
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HISTORY OF YORK
Feb.
4 I preached at Samuel Preble's, Newtown - his wife under much Darkness - much dejected. She asked prayers when I came away. I came home.
Feb. 10 I visited the sick - went up to Mr. Kilgore's to John Wittims - he says he likes the Quakers best of any - thinks that way is the Best. His wife says seems more terrible to her than Death - when she thinks of it she is just ready to sink.
Mch. 17 I diverted myself a gunning - killed a wild goose.
Apr. 12 I studied made 2 Sermons - finished 5 oclock.
May 25 I preached with much enlargement - having been much assisted. The people gave Good attention. Some moving several cried out. 2 Pet. 3. 11-14.
June 2 Was chatechizing at the Meeting House - about 60 chil- dren. I was near two hours asking twice round. Then opened the 3, 4, 5 answers and applied as I went along. I was much enlarged, spoke with fredom and it got good attention.
June 7 Mr. Moody went away before we got up. I diverted myself a fishing again - catch'd about a dozen of what they call whitings a fish that are not very usual. They were plenty about 20 years ago as also about 50 years ago.
17 I went down the River by water and dined at Coll. Don- nells and received of his Bounty to the value of £4 at least.
Aug. 17 I preached twice Psa. 53. II. Sacrament. Afternoon from John 16. 13. I was pretty Dull yet not straightened.
Mr. Chandler taught school in Scotland in addition to his clerical duties. Early in 1751 he received a call to Gloucester, Mass., and began his duties there in Novem- ber of that year. He was a chaplain to the forces in 1756 during the French War. He died March 16, 1775.
REV. SAMUEL LANGTON
The third pastor came to York as an invalid seeking health and while a guest of his college classmate, Rev. Isaac Lyman, the vacant pulpit of this church was sug- gested to him. His sojourn having improved his health he preached the usual sample sermon on a Sunday and was asked to remain as the pastor. He was eldest son of Samuel and Elizabeth (Lee) Langton or Langdon of Farmington, Conn., born in 1723, graduated at Yale in 1747 and was a licentiate in 1749 of the Hartford Min- isterial Association. He was first employed at Gilead Parish in Hebron, Conn., 1750-I, but ill health neces- sitated withdrawal from active work and he was without a charge until he came to Scotland. He was ordained July
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"MR. HOOKE'S FARM"
2, 1755, and for more than forty years was a shepherd to the little flock in this parish. He married, October 19, 1755, Hannah, daughter of Deacon Thomas Bragdon by whom he had a large family of children, but she died when they were quite young. In November 1768 his dwelling house was burned at midnight, leaving him and the family impoverished, while in this fire the church lost its early records. His death occurred suddenly in December 1794 from hemorrhage of the lungs and his funeral sermon was preached by his old friend, Rev. Joseph Buckminster of Portsmouth, N. H. He left behind him the memory of a cultured scholar and an exemplary pastor, but his eulogist said that he was "depressed by his little success." The vacancy remained unfilled for three years. He was buried here and his stone records this epitaph:
This stone erected to the memory of Rev. Samuel Langton, third pastor of the Second Church in York, who was truly an evangelical preacher, a pious, diligent, faithful minister, and a kind father, much esteemed and greatly beloved; was ordained 2 July 1755; died 19 Dec. 1794 aetatis 71.
THE BRAGDON HOUSE, SCOTLAND Burial place of Rev. Samuel Langton
In the first year of his pastorate the great earthquake of November 1755 resulted in a renewal of the covenant by many who had been deeply stirred by this awe-inspiring natural phenomenon and were led to seek reconciliation with their wrathful Jehovah.
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HISTORY OF YORK
REV. ISAAC BRIGGS
The fourth incumbent came from Halifax, Mass., where he was born May 26, 1775, the son of Rev. Ephraim and Rebecca Briggs of that town. He was graduated at Brown University, Class of 1795, and studied theology with Rev. Dr. Sanger, and was ordained here August 2, 1798, beginning a pastorate which lasted nearly seven years. He went from here to Boxford, Mass., in Septem- ber 1808, where he remained many years. He died in New York February 27, 1862. He married Sarah Sears of Chatham, Mass., October 17, 1799, after settling here, and three of his children were born in this parish.
Whether his work was done so thoroughly that further preaching was considered unnecessary, or that the people were beyond redemption and that a minister was a luxury is an open question. The fact remains that no successor was installed for nearly twenty years.
REV. THOMAS DUNCAN
This clergyman, we are told, found a diminished flock of less than a dozen members when he was ordained on November 9, 1825, as the fifth pastor in the succession. He remained about five years and was dismissed April 28, 1830.
After a vacancy of four years Rev. Clement Parker was ordained December 3, 1834, and was dismissed May II, 1838. He was followed by Rev. Samuel Stone who was ordained December 19, 1838, and remained till Janu- ary 1, 1844, when he was dismissed. The next in succession was Rev. Morris Holman who was ordained January 15, 1845, and remained in charge for thirteen years, an unusu- ally long pastorate. He was dismissed July 7, 1858, and the rest of the story is of "Stated Supplies," John M. C. Bartley, 1858-9; Samuel H. Partridge, 1859-1868; and Joseph Freeman 1869.
TAVERNS
In the extreme northwestern part of the town, on the road to South Berwick, within a half mile of the present boundary line, there lived Joseph Leavitt, a tanner by trade and an innkeeper by choice or necessity. He was licensed first in 1745 and thenceforward through 1764 to entertain guests, and Mary Leavitt, probably his widow,
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"MR. HOOKE'S FARM"
was granted this license in succession in 1765 and for three years following. He was from Hampton, son of Thomas and Elizabeth (Atkinson) Leavitt, born December 8, 1704, and is first found in York in 1729 when he was called a cordwainer and later a tanner, the trade of his father.
He married Bethia, daughter of Deacon Arthur Brag- don, and the genealogy of this family will appear in Vol- ume III of this history.
NEW BOSTON
As Thomas Cook was the only person settling in this hamlet who had any connection with Boston it is quite probable that he gave this settlement the name of New Boston in honor of his birthplace. He was born in that town May 19, 1693.
In the first quarter of the eighteenth century Thomas Cook, son of John and (Curtis) Cook, came to York to resume the connection of his family which had been interrupted by the Massacre and made an arrangement with the town officials by which he released his rights in property granted by his father in consideration of a new grant to him (T. R. ii, 15, 23). He bought of Henry Beedle twelve acres "on the Brink of Bass Cove Brook" May 4, 1732 (Deeds xv, 98), which was located upon the Stated Commons. There he settled and his house became the nucleus of a small settlement known for a century after as "New Boston." Thomas Cook was a juror in 1737, 1752 and 1755 but that is the extent of his public record. He married Susanna, daughter of Matthew Grover, December 8, 1725, by whom he had twelve children and he was succeeded by his son Daniel in the family homestead.
The next to identify himself with this settlement in the wilderness was Benjamin Johnstone, a surname to be dif- ferentiated from Johnson, as persons of the former name always wrote the last syllable "stone." Benjamin John- stone was probably a recent emigrant from Scotland as that is the Scottish way of spelling the surname Johnson. He married Sarah, daughter of Arthur Bragdon, Septem- ber 6, 1720, at Portsmouth and his father-in-law in 1727 sold him a lot of land between Folly and Bass Cove Brooks (Deeds xviii, 184). He had at least two sons, James and Daniel, the former of whom in 1759 sold to his brother Daniel, all his right, title and interest in his
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HISTORY OF YORK
parent's estate. Daniel Johnstone first appears of record in 1755 when he signed as a witness with Thomas Cook to the will of a neighbor. Between that and 1800 he filled many of the minor town offices such as constable, tithing man, warden, surveyor of highways and juror. He married Catherine Grant, September 29, 1755, and was succeeded by his son Benjamin, who was living there in 1820.
At the extreme end of the road leading to the hamlet of New Boston were two houses built by two of the sons of
--
THE OLIVER HOUSE, NEW BOSTON Abandoned to the elements
Robert Oliver which were occupied at the beginning of the last century by James and Jotham Oliver and the widow of a third son.
In this settlement lived two local celebrities : Hepzibah Cane and "Johnny" Cane and their appearances in the village were always the occasion of collecting an interested crowd of youngsters who regarded them with a mixture of fear and superstition. They were never known to molest anyone, however. When tantalized by these children Hepzibah would drop her bundle and with arms akimbo lecture her tormentors on good behaviour (Emery, 167-9).
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CHAPTER IV THE HILL COUNTRY OF SASANOA
That section of York yet remaining for the chronicler to describe appeals more to the poet and the recluse than to the devotees of Clio. It does not suggest the need of a book of records or the town clerk to fill them with the trivialities of annual meetings. If the great sagamore Sasanoa were standing today on the crest of the "Mount" that once bore his name and should face the east, there would be spread before him the hinterland of York, scarcely changed in its appearance of three centuries ago. The destructive agencies of man have done much, but accom- plished little to rob it of the virginal growth that carpeted and clothed its soil. The busy saw-mills of the first two hundred years have long since ceased to hum and screech as they denuded the terrain, and the vis medicatrix natura has silently restored the flora to the soil. If a surveyor's map were made in the form of a truncated cone with the western end and southern point resting on Scituate Pond, thence running east to the boundary of Wells it would incorporate the hill country of Sasanoa, which now remains the frontier of York, in fact as well as in fancy. Within these lines will be found the famous landmark of Agamen- ticus with its three crowns, Ground Nut Hill (two hundred fifty feet), and numerous unnamed elevations varying from one hundred fifty to two hundred feet including Clay Hill (one hundred forty feet). It also includes the largest pond in the town and is drained to the sea by a stream nearly as long as the River of Agamenticus and fed by rivulets percolating through its lowlands and swamps. Scarce fifty houses would dot this map in its twelve square miles, more than a fifth of the superficial area of York, as at present constituted. The remainder of this northern section was amputated from the parent town and would add an equivalent portion to the Hill Country.
In one portion of it these frontiersmen and their descendants once formed a local clan as distinct in its racial culture and traditions as the people of the hills of Tennessee and the Carolinas. Until the advent of the
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HISTORY OF YORK
AFTER THE TOWN MEETING
1
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THE HILL COUNTRY OF SASANOA
Model T Ford they lived unto themselves, alone, undis- turbed, separated from "the town" by almost impassable dirt roads and a forest without trails, only occasionally emerging from their wilderness to pay taxes and vote at town meetings. They are still pioneers in their isolation, seeking few of the "advantages" of modern civilization and accepting only the legal necessities of education and .occasional church privileges. The soil yields them food, their ancient wells still supply them with water, and the kerosene lamp extends their artificial daylight long enough to pilot them to their chambers for the night. They were of an origin alien to the stock that brought English patents to Agamenticus. They have remained so, eugenically, with infrequent marriages to the like frontier element living across the border in Berwick. Although originally from a country adhering to the Roman Catholic faith they left this dogma behind as they found themselves submerged in a Puritan and Protestant community.
PHILIP WELCH
The first of these people to settle on the hills where Sasanoa once held sway was Philip Welch who came from Ipswich or Beverly with his wife and three children. The occasion of his being here in 1693, when he was a witness in a case against Jeremiah Moulton (Deeds v, pt. ii, 22), is unknown. Perhaps the first knowledge of the place was obtained from military service in the garrison here, as he married about 1693, according to family tradition, Eliza- beth, daughter of Arthur Came. Whatever the reason of his removal to this outpost of English settlements in Maine, it is of record that on March 16, 1698, the town granted him thirty acres "on the Northwest side of Bell Marsh Brook" (T. R. i, 104), where he set up his "Eben- ezer." He resided there until September 25, 1716, when he sold the house and lot to Peter Nowell for £15 and the deed was witnessed by his brother-in-law Samuel Came. Both he and his wife signed the transfer with their "marks" (Deeds viii, 183). He moved probably to the common land nearby as in 1732 he was awarded six shares in that area. On November 13, 1733, Samuel Came, in consideration of £32, sold to him, his wife Elizabeth and son Benjamin, fifteen acres "whereon the said Philip now dwells" (Ibid. xvii, 144).
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HISTORY OF YORK
Philip Welch was born December 27, 1668, in Ipswich, the eldest son and child of Philip and Hannah (Haggett) Welch of Topsfield, Marblehead and Ipswich. His father furnishes the romance of his origin. The story is amply substantiated by records. When about a dozen years old he was kidnapped, with another boy, from his home in Ireland by an English sea captain named George Dell, master of the ship Goodfellow, and was then brought to Salem. He was called "Edward" aboard ship, but his actual name was Philip. On arrival he was "sold" as a slave in May 1654 to Samuel Symonds of Ipswich. This is the same Samuel Symonds who came to York in 1652 to do his share in committing the rape of the Gorges' property as one of the Commissioners of Massachusetts. In 1661 Welch and his fellow victim, William Downing, refused to remain longer as servants to their master and were there- upon arrested on complaint of Symonds. The Puritan court naturally found that the "sale" to Symonds was valid for two years more (until May 1663), but gave them the right to appeal to the General Court. No further record indicates that such an appeal was made and they probably were forced to serve the remainder of the time. In 1676 Welch was "reputed a very poore man" (Essex Court Records, ii, 310, 394; vi, 192). This is the back- ground of the Welch family of York. In the two centuries that have followed they have increased and multiplied numerically and their descendants are among our most patriotic citizens. A genealogy of this family will appear in Volume III of this history.
PATRICK FITZGERALD
The second emigrant from the "Ould Sod" to settle in this town and become the head of a clan was Patrick Fitzgerald, probably born about 1700, but his immediate residence in New England is not known nor has any con- nection been established with those of his surname living contemporaneously in this section of the country. A Joseph Fitzgerald lived at Kittery Point and a Daniel Fitzgerald was named in the Probate accounts of the estate of Phineas Jones of Falmouth in 1743, while numerous persons of the name had settled in the early part of the eighteenth century in various towns in northern New Eng- land. It is probable that Fitzgerald came to Kittery first,
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RESIDENCE OF EDMUND WELCH Built by Paul Welch 1855
RESIDENCE OF CHARLES FITZGERALD Built by Nathaniel Ramsdell 1810
TWO HOUSES IN THE HILL COUNTRY
THE HILL COUNTRY OF SASANOA
as his wife was from that town, and thence removed to York, but the town records do not contain his name. He is on the tax list of the First Parish Church in 1752, 1761 and 1775. He took up his residence under the shadow of Agamenticus.
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