USA > Maine > Waldo County > Belfast > History of the city of Belfast in the state of Maine v.I, 1770-1875 > Part 12
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In August, 1779, when the town was abandoned through fear of the British, it contained "eighteen families and one hundred and nine persons, most of them women and young children." The heads of these families were John Brown, Alexander Clark, John Cochran, John Davidson, John Durham, Tolford Durham, Samnel Houston, William McLaughlin, John Mitchell, James Miller, James Morrow, Benjamin Nesmith, Nathaniel Patterson, Robert Patterson, William Patterson, William Patterson, 2d, Solon Stephenson, and John Tuft. All, except Cochran, Miller, and Nesmith, resided on the east side of the river.
1 From the original numbered 20, in the Boston Atheneum. It is stated by officers of the Coast Survey that the English must have been fully twenty years in making their surveys for these maps of the coast of Maine. They are quite minute, and valnable as showing the location of houses and lands. - Wheeler's History of Castine, 37.
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HISTORY OF BELFAST.
CHAPTER IX.
MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
Petition for Incorporation. - The Plantation made a Town. - Name left Blank. - Suggested by James Miller. - Description of Belfast, Ireland. - Warrant for Organization. - First Town Meeting. - Officers. - Log Town-House. - Petition for Taxing Non-Residents. - Record of First Marriage. -- Taxation. - First Highways laid out. - Warning out of Town. - Votes about the Sabbath. - Yoking Swine. - Dispute in Town Meeting. - Organization suspended by Revolution. - Petition for Authority to resume it. - Resolve of General Court. - Municipal Powers restored. Exemption from Taxation. - First Town Meeting on Western Side. - Meeting-Houses built. - Division of Town proposed. - Fish Weir at Fish Cove. - Commons on Lot No. Twenty-six. - Pounds. - Taxes first assessed in Federal Currency. - Common given by Varnum and Badger. - Common on Church Street. - Town- House. - Paupers sold at Auction. - Pound on Northport Road. - Bell. - Last Town Meeting on East Side. - Project of Annexing Waldo Plantation. - Town Clock. - Citizens' Watch. - Surplus Revenue. - Town divided, and Searsport incorporated. - City Charter granted and accepted.
A S was stated in a previous chapter, several of the original proprietors did not become settlers. Upon the actual residents, therefore, fell all the expenses of the proprietary; and they had no power to enforce an equalization of the burthen from absentees. The unfairness of their position in this respect induced the inhabitants to take early measures for an act of incorporation, and the enjoyment of town privileges. A movement in the direction was first made Aug. 24, 1772, when, at a meeting duly called for the purpose, it was voted " That in Cace all the Proprietors of the land in Belfast, so Caled, Bind themselves according to what Land they own in Said Place for the Space of five years to pay their Proporshanable part of all taxes that the Inhabitants Shall judge needful from time to time to assist in order to Defray all publick Charges for the Carying on the Settle- ment in Said place, also that in Cace any of Said Proprietors neglect or Refuse to pay their Proporshanable part of Said tax Seasonably, then the Inhabitants may Sel So much of their Land as will pay their partes and Other Charges arising by Said Sale, then it is Concluded not to be Incorporated at present. And in Cace all the Proprietors Doth not Bind themselves as above, it is
To His Excellency Thomas Hutchihinsong Isefor lafatain General Governor & Commander in Chiefin & Over his majesty's Province of the massachusetts Baule The Honour al letthis majesty's councelets House ofna Representatives in General Ofsembly Convened in" The Subscribers Hun bly thew
that your Petitiones Purchased from the Heirs of Bria Weer hallo a tracto of Land Mear fix miles Square ul. Situate one this Westerly Side of Derobscot Bay Bounded ... Begining at the Westerly Bounds of the township of us Frankfort from thence wester lyck owns the Harbour Called Dafo ages wo key to fitthe River from thence up Said Giver as far as Salt Water Flows them Crofing Said River to a Black Burch, tree Computed to by thirty Severe Chains from thenew South Jety light Degress west two Hundred: & twenty three Chains to ao Burch treefrom Theres North twenty two Degrees Hist three Hundred & Seventy two Chains to Brockmaple tree onero Westerly Promo do quarey of Stone from themes Northe Fixty Eight Degrees last Six hundred & two Chains to the westerlyin Line of Paid Thrank fort toutes from thenew South Thirty Seven Chains to the Largest of Halfway fresh Ponds from thence Down Said Green to the Bounds finite mentioned and Whereas the Vendors Could not Convey jurisdiction the Perces have no Leg. 6 Power to Pole afels or Levey taxes for any Publick use & many of the Vendees being Now Settled one the Premises & Scarcely able in Point of Circumstances to Perform their own Settlements Suffer
Greatly Being Destituir of the gospel Schools mitts Bridgers Or and Whereas the Vendo2's Did not Oblige the Vendees to Settle the Premises Sundry of themears non Residents and Shower the Premises be Incorpor ated in Common form the Poor Residents must Suffer all the inconven iences of Being The first Pflege & pay all the taxes for the Dublick, was a foresaid . and the non Residents have the advantages of Lumber from their Lands & the- Value of Lands in creas in every Day of the Expenses
by the
John Stel fammiel mar vision Mon Barnet John moor Jamie Houston Jamel Houston- James MacgregoreJun
David Hemphill Salve Brewhouse Jemen John Barnet Joseph marvingon
Samuel Marsh
John. Tuff Alexmatin Little John Cochran James Gilmore Banned Gilman
Indursement en veck Petition For Belfast June 8.4773
mi Bailey Mr Hollow
Buthis Labour of the Residents ~~~ Therefore your Petitioners Humbly Pray your Excellence 's Horcours to Incorporate the Premifica into do township by then Name of Belfast's Granto them all the Privileges & Invest. ~ them with all the Legal authority Necessary to Enable the Peid Purchapers to Polo Legal meetings By to Chase all- Recepare officers the Voto to be Numbered according to the Interest of Eacho Durchafser Present ato fait meetings to Tote apep & Levey, taxes from time to time to Expectto fail Settlements from all the Durchafers of Said To remificou Whether Residents or non Residents according to their Intrast in Said Premises Numbering as of oras and ing or Pase any-Durchalier Neglect or a close to Day any tax ... Voler as vores. For the Trace of Sixty Days scouts after the Day Said Vote was accorded to committee ( ros eno as afores. ac Impowered to tell at Dublick Vendue : giving thirty Days Notice Before Said Sales as much of said Purchaser Land, will Day and tax or taxes & vil Incidentil Charges- Returning the overflush if any to the Durchafter Every meeting to be Notified by the Clark of Said town in the most Dublick Place inSaid Belfast Fifteen Days before
Said inceting giving an Explicit account in writing- under his hand of time & Place & of what to ve acted at Low meeting & th 5 whats over tax the Residents are- obliged to Day be af foed & Levied in manner as - afores? for teen years Next after the Date of fail Incorporation & after that Period to be apepe Levied and gaid as other towns afsef & Day their taxes - and your Petitioners as inoDacty Bound
Will Ever Drugs &l James muller John Suffit Ephraim Stins Mation Getterson John Turhan William Patterson bàn Nathaniel Pattonson gohan Danh for Rob Pattinson
Million Plech C
John Gilman
James Patterson Richard Stimson
John Mitchele
123 .
MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
Voted that Col. Mathew Thornton,1 of Londonderry, Shall be Imployed to Draw a Petition to the general Court in Massachu- setts Bay, in Order to have an Act of Said Court to Oblige the Proprietors to pay as above, and when that act is Obtained to be Incorporated."
" Voted, John Gillmore to Imploy Coll. Thornton for the Busness." 2
It appears that the non-residents refused their assent to this equitable proposition, and Jan. 14, 1773, the resident members of the proprietary passed the following vote : -
" Voted, that a Petition be Sent to the general Court for Incorporation.
"2ly. Voted, the Petition to be Sent to Londonderry, to see if the people there Consarned will Sign it.
"Bly. Voted, that John Gillmore Cary the Pitition.
"4ly. Voted, that two men go from Londonderry to Cary the Pitition to Boston to the General Court.
"5ly. Voted, that John Gillmore and James Patterson be the Committee.
"7ly. Voted, three Shillings Each Day for their time in going to Boston from Londry. with the Petition, and Six Shillings for the jorney of their Horses." 3
At the regular session of the General Court, in June, the following petition was presented : -
To His Excellency Thomas Hutchinson, Esq., Captain General, Governor, & Commander in Chief in and over his Majesty's Province of the Massa- chusetts Bay, &., The Honorable His Majesty's Council & House of Rep- resentatives in General Assembly Convened.
The Subscribers Humbly Shew : that your Petitioners Pur- chased from the Heirs of Brigadeer Waldo a tract of Land Near Six miles Square, situate on the Westerly Side of Penobscot Bay, bounded -
Beginning at the Westerly Bounds of the township of Frank- fort; from thence, Westerly Round the Harbour Called Passa- geesewakeg to Little River, from thenee up Said River as far as Salt Water flows; thence Crossing Said River to a Black Burch
1 Judge Thornton, a prominent citizen of New Hampshire. He held a colonel's commission during the Revolution, and was one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence.
2 Proprietors' records.
& Ibid.
124
HISTORY OF BELFAST.
tree, Computed to be Thirty Seven Chains, from thence South Sixty eight Degrees West, Two hundred & twenty three Chains to a Burch tree, from thence, North, twenty two Degrees West, Three Hundred & Seventy two Chains to a rock maple tree, one rod westerly from a quarry of Stones; from thence, North, Sixty Eight Degrees East, Six hundred & two Chains to the westerly Line of said Frankfort, from thence, South, thirty-seven Chains to the Largest of Halfway Creek Ponds, from thence, Down said Creek to the Bounds first mentioned; and Whereas, the Vendors Could not Convey jurisdiction, the Vendees have no Legal Power to Vote, Assess or Levey taxes for any Publick use, & many of the Vendees being now Settled on the Premises & Scarcely able in Point of Circumstances to perform their own Settlements, Suffer Greatly, Being Destitute of the Gospell, Schools, mills, Bridges, &., and Whereas the Vendors did not Oblige the Vendees to Settle the Premises, Sundry of them are non-Residents, and should the Premises be incorporated in common form, the Poor Residents must Suffer all the inconveniences of Being the first Settlers, & pay all the taxes for the Publick uses aforesaid ; and the Non- Residents have the Advantage of Lumber from their Lands, & the Value of Lands increasing Every Day at the Expense & by the Labour of the Residents :
Therefore, your Petitioners Humbly Pray your Excellency & Honors to Incorporate the Premises into a township by the name of Belfast, & Grant them all the Privileges & Invest them with all the Legal Authority necessary to enable the Said. Purchasers to Hold Legal Meetings & to Chuse all necessary Officers, the Votes to be numbered according to the Interest of Each Purchaser Present at said Meetings, to Vote, assess and Levey taxes from time to time, to Expedite said Settlement, from all the Purchasers of said Premises. Whither Resident or non Resident according to their Interest in said Premises numbering as aforesaid, & in Case any Purchaser neglect or Refuse to Pay any tax Voted as afores.ª for the Space of Sixty Days next after the Day said Vote was recorded, a Committee Chosen as aforesª be Impowered to sell at Public Vendue ; giving thirty days Notice Before Said Sale, as much of said Purchassers Land as will Pay Said Tax or taxes & all Incidental Charges, Returning the Overplush, if any, to the Purchaser. Every meeting to be Notified by the Clerk of said town in the most Publick Place in said Belfast fifteen days before said meeting, giving an Explicit account in writing under
125
MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
his hand of time & Place, & of what is to be acted at Said meeting, & that whatsoever tax the Residents are obliged to Pay be assessed & Levied in manner as aforesaid for ten years Next after the Date of Said Incorporation & after that Period to be assessed, Levied and Paid as other towns assess and Pay their Taxes, - and your Petitioners as in Duty Bound Will Ever Pray, &c.1
JAMES MILLER,
WILLIAM MCLAUGHLIN,
WILLIAM PATTERSON,
ROBERT PATTERSON,
NATHANIEL PATTERSON,
SAMUEL HOUSTON,
JOHN GILMORE,
SAMUEL HOUSTON, JUR
JAMES PATTERSON,
JAMES MACGREGORE, JUN.R
JOHN MITCHELL,
DAVID GILMORE,
JOHN STEELE,
DAVID HEMPHILL,
SAMUEL MORRISON,
JOHN DURHAM, JUNIOR,
Mos. BARNETT,
JOHN BARNET,
JOHN BROWN,
JOSEPH MORRISON,
JOHN MOOR,
ALEXR WILSON,
JOHN TUFFT,
SAMUEL MARSH,
JOHN DURHAM,
JOSEPH GREGG,
JOHN DAVIDSON,
JOHN TUFFT,
RICHARD STIMSON,
ALEXANDER LITTLE,
EPHRAIM STIMSON,
JOHN COCHRAN,
WILLIAM PATTERSON, IUR,
JAMES GILMORE.
The petition is indorsed as follows : -
" Petition from Belfast, June 8, 1773. Cap. McCOBB, Mr. BAILEY & WILSON. Leave to bring in a Bill."
Only a portion of the powers which the petitioners desired was granted. A bill in the ordinary form for incorporating towns passed as follows : -
In the thirteenth year of the Reign of King George the Third. AN ACT FOR INCORPORATING A CERTAIN TRACT OF LAND ON THE WESTERLY SIDE OF PENOBSCOT BAY INTO A TOWN BY THE NAME OF -. 2
Whereas the Inhabitants of a Certain Tract of Land on the Westerly side of Penobscot Bay, in the County of Lincoln, are
I Original petition in Secretary's office, Boston, Vol. 118, Towns, p. 726.
2 It is said that a custom prevailed under the Provincial Government, to leave the name of the town blank, in an act of incorporation, the blank to be supplied by the Governor. N. E. Hist. and Gen. Reg. 26, 450.
126
HISTORY OF BELFAST.
desirous of being incorporated into and invested with the Powers and Privileges of a Town, therefore :
Be it Enacted by the Governor, Council, and House of Repre- sentatives, that the Tract of Land aforesaid (here follows descrip- tion by metes and bounds as in petition) be and hereby is erected into a Town by the name of
And that the Inhabitants thereof be and bereby are invested with all the Powers, Priviledges, and Immunities which the Inhabitants of the Towns within this Province respectively do or by Law ought to enjoy.
And be it further enacted, that Thomas Goldthwait,1 Esq., be and he hereby is impowered to issue bis Warrant, directed to some principal Inhabitant in said Town, to notify and warn the Inhabi- tants in said Town qualified by Law to vote in Town Affairs to meet at such Time and Place as shall be therein set fortb, to choose all Officers as shall be necessary to manage the affairs of said Town, at which said First Meeting all the then present male inhabitants that shall be arrived at the age of twenty one years shall be admitted to vote.
In the House of Representatives.
Read the first time, June 14, 1773.
June 15, Read a Second Time.
June 21, Read a Third time & passed to be Engrossed. Sent up for Concurrence.
T. CUSHING, Sp.
In Council, June 21, 1773. Read a first and a second Time, & passed in Concurrence to be Engrossed.
THOS. FLUCKER, Sec'y.2
Although in the original Act, the name was left blank, yet that of BELFAST,8 according to the prayer of the petitioners, was adopted, and appears in the printed copy. It was suggested by James Miller, who, as has been before stated, originated in the city of that name in Ireland. One tradition is that many of the settlers preferred Londonderry, but Miller was strenuous for its present appellation, and that the dispute terminated by tossing a penny.
1 The commander of Fort Pownall, and the first justice of the peace on the Pen- obscot.
2 Massachusetts Records, Towns, Vol. 118, p. 728.
8 In 1874 there were six other towns named Belfast in the United States; viz., in Arkansas, Iowa, Maryland, New York, Ohio, and Virginia.
127
MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
Belfast, the chief manufacturing and commercial town of Ireland, and the capital of Ulster, is situated at the mouth of the Lagan, which flows into Belfast Lough, an arm of the sea. It is built on an alluvial deposit and reclaimed land, the greater portion of which is not more than six feet above high-water mark. The etymology of the name and the origin of the town are equally uncertain, and there is not a single monument of antiquarian interest upon which to found a conjecture. About the beginning of the sixteenth century, Belfast is described as " a town and fortress," but it was in reality a mere fishing village. In 1612, it consisted of about one hundred and twenty houses, mostly built of mud and covercd with thatch ; while the castle, a two-storied building, was roofed with shingles. Two years after the rebellion of 1641, a rampart was raised round the town, pierced by four gates on the land side.
At the commencement of the eighteenth century, Belfast had become known as a place of considerable trade, and was then regarded as a handsome, thriving, and well-peopled town, with many new houses and good shops. During the civil commotions which so long afflicted the country, it suffered less than most other places ; and it soon afterwards attained the rank of the " greatest town for trade in the north of Ireland." In 1757, the inhabitants numbered over eight thousand. Shipbuilding, cotton, and linen mannfactures, added to immigration from the rural districts, have rapidly increased the population, which in 1874 was estimated at two hundred thousand. Like most modern towns which have risen through commerce and manufactures, Belfast cannot boast of many architectural beauties. The Exchange, theatre, and town hall are among the public buildings most worthy of notice. Out of seventy-nine places of public worship, six are Roman Catholic. There are two colleges ; and altogether, in proportion to its extent, no town in the kingdom is better supplied with educational appliances than Belfast. The municipality is governed by a mayor, aldermen, and councillors. Two members of parliament are re- turned by the borough.1 " Other Irish towns," says Macaulay, "may present a more picturesque form to the eye; but Belfast is the only large Irish town in which the traveller is not disgusted by the loathsome aspect and odor of long lines of human dens, far inferior in comfort and cleanliness to the dwellings which in
1 Encyclopedia Britannica, III. 511, Ninth Ed.
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HISTORY OF BELFAST.
happier countries are provided for cattle. No other large Irish town is so well cleaned, so well paved, so brilliantly lighted." 1
In conformity to the foregoing act, Colonel Goldthwait issued the following warrant : -
To Mr. John Mitchell, of Belfast, Gentleman, GREETING.
Whereas the great and general court, at their session, began and held at Boston, upon Wednesday, the twenty-sixth day of May last, passed an act for incorporating a certain tract of land, lying on the westerly side of Penobscot Bay, into a town by the name of Belfast, in the county of Lincoln ; and the said general court having empowered me, the subscriber, to issue a warrant directed to some principal inhabitant in said town, to notify and warn the inhabitants thereof, qualified by law to vote in town affairs, to meet at such tinte and place as shall be therein set forth ; to choose such officers as may be necessary to manage the affairs of said town. At which first meeting all the then male inhabitants that became at the age of twenty one years, shall be admitted to vote.
These are therefore in his Majesty's name to require you, the said John Mitchell, to notify the said inhabitants of Belfast to meet at your dwelling-house in said town, on Thursday the eleventh day of November, at ten of the clock in the forenoon. Then and there to choose a town clerk, selectmen, and all other town officers according to law. And make return of this warrant, with your doings, as soon after the same is carried into execution as may be.
Given under my hand and seal, at Frankfort,2 October, 1773.
THOMAS GOLDTHWAIT.
The dwelling-house of Mitchell & was situated near the mouth of Goose River, at the south end of lot numbered twenty-seven in the first division. At the appointed time and place, the cor-
1 Macaulay, Hist. Eng., III. 557.
2 Frankfort plantation then embraced the present town of that name, the greater part of Hampden, Winterport, Prospect, Stockton, and Searsport, as far as Half-way Creek.
8 Its location is now distinctly visible. In 1866, Hiram E. Peirce, the present owner of the land, removed most of the foundation stones for his new dam at the mouth of Goose River.
129
MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
poration was organized 1 by the choice of Colonel Goldthwait for moderator; John Mitchell, town clerk ; John Brown, Benjamin 'Nesmith, James Patterson, selectmen and assessors ; John Barnet, treasurer ; John Durham, Jr., Alexander Clark, James Miller, surveyors of highways ; William Patterson, the elder, constable ; and John Durham, Sen., and James Morrow, wardens.
No other business was transacted.
A century ago, as at present, town meetings for municipal purposes were held early in the spring, when the inhabitants were more at leisure than at a later period of the year. The second meeting in Belfast assembled on Tuesday, March 8, 1774, at one o'clock in the afternoon, at the same place where the first one was convened. Nothing was done except to elect the customary town officers.
As has been before remarked, lot No. 26, in the first division, the same now occupied by Ambrose. Strout, was set apart by the proprietors, in 1769, for the first settled minister, with a reservation of ten acres at the south end, to be used for a grave- yard, training-field, and other public purposes. On this spot, or in the language of the town records, "at the Commons on the South end of No. 26," all the town meetings from April, 1774, until the erection of the meeting-honse on the eastern side of the river, in 1792, were held. It is not known what the accommodations at first were, or whether the voters assembled in the open air. In March, 1777, it was voted "to build a Logg House on the Common No. 26, to Hold Meetings in, and the Selectmen to oversee the Business." 2
At a special meeting called on the 26th of April, 1774, the inhabitants voted "to send a Petition to the General Court to
1 Nathan F. Honston bas an account rendered by Mitchell, and in his handwriting, for services connected with the organization, as follows : -
The Town of Belfast to John Mitchell Dr.
1773, in Octbr to going to fort Pownal in order to get a warrant from Coll. Thomas Goldthwait for the first town meeting . £0 3 0
To warning the town meeting one day , 0 Nov! ye 10th. To one day of myself and Boat going for said Goldthwait 0 6 4
Nov! ye 12th. To one day of myself and Boat Carying said Goldthwait Home 0 6 4
To recording said meeting 0 2 0
2 Town records. The building probably stood between the present road and the old grave-yard.
9
130
HISTORY OF BELFAST.
have the non-inhabitants Land taxed ; that as wages to a man to Carry said Petition to the General Court is three shillings per Day, he finding Vitles and Drink for himself, and John Tufft to Carry said Petition." The following is a copy of the petition : -
To his Excellency Thomas Gage, Esq. , Capt. Genneral Governor & Com- mander in Chief in and orer his Majesties Province of The Massachusetts Bay in New England, and To the Honourable y: Council and house of Representatives Convend at Boston.
Whereas a Certain number of People Purchased a certain Tract of Land of the Hiers of Brigadier Waldo, Said Land Lying on the Westerly Side of Penobscut Bay, and is Incor- porated into a Town by the Name of Belfast, and whereas said Purchasers Entered into an Obbligatory Bond To make an Imme- diate Settlement upon the said Land, and Sª Bond Not Being Authentick, the one half of said Purchasers Declines Settlement, which renders us the Inhabitants unable to Carry on in the Form of a Town, Being neither in a capacity To maintain a Gospel Minister, To Build a meeting house, To have the Priveledge of Schools, neither to Repair Roads, and to Build Bridges, & And Therefore we think Our Circumstances in a Worse Condition thau they were Before our Incorporation ; and Whereas a Party of The Non Residenters Insisted Upon the Incorporation of Said Town, and wanted us the Inhabitants to Sign with Them, which we Refused to Do Untill they Came to an Aggreement to have the Land Taxed, which they Assented too, and then We the Inhabitants Signed with Them. And Now we are Incorporated in the Common Form, which Renders it Disaggreeable to the Inhabitants, and Contrary to the Prayer of our former Petition, which gives us Reason to Think that our Circumstances and Abillities Relating to the Settlement of the Place was not Rightly Represented. Therefore, We Your Humble Petitioners Beg that your Excellency & Honnours Would Be pleased to Consid- der the Difficulties of our Case at present, and Further Beg if it might please your Excellency & Honnours for to pass an Act For to Tax all the Unsettled Lands in said Town, and To Invest us Who are the Inhabitants of said Town with Full Power and Authoritie to Sell as much of the Delinquent's Land at Publick Vendue as shall Pay Thier Taxes In equal Proportion to Defray all Necessary Charges from Time to time. And if your Excel- lency & Honnours Would Think it Proper to Lay a Tax upon the
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