USA > Maine > Waldo County > Belfast > History of the city of Belfast in the state of Maine v.I, 1770-1875 > Part 18
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Just before the Bagaduce affair, General George Ulmer of the militia had erected a slight timber breast-work at Clam Cove, be- tween Camden and what is now Rockland, and had there mounted a single eighteen pounder. After our defeat, this was looked upon by the friends of freedom on the Penobscot as the nearest place of refuge.8 Hither the exiles from Belfast directed their course, arriving in safety on the morning of the 15th of August. The larger portion were soon dispersed to more distant points. Mitchell crossed over the peninsula to Thomaston, and afterwards proceeded to New Hampshire. Houston went to Bristol, where his relatives resided. The Pattersons returned to Saco, and others to Londonderry. About half a dozen families remained at Cam- den. Among them were those of Brown, Tolford Durham, and Miller. The two former were quartered at the house of Isaiah Tollman, on the borders of Chickawakie Pond, for a year. They then returned to their homes in Belfast, having received assur- ance from the commander at Bagaduce that by preserving strict neutrality they should escape further molestation. A similar
1 Papers, No. 135.
2 White's History. Statement of Mrs. Durham.
8 Locke's History of Camden, 40.
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BELFAST DURING THE REVOLUTION.
amnesty had previously been granted to Miller, then an old man. As the settlers of Belfast had left corn and grain standing, Pelatiah Corthell was despatched from Clam Cove to gather a boat-load, which he brought away without molestation. In 1780, several depredations upon the people of Camden were committed by British privateers. Minot's saw-mill was burned, and his grist- mill set on fire ; " but a cripple by the name of Dow,1 from Belfast, quenched it. As often as it was fired, Dow extinguished the flames, despite of their roughness to him and threats of personal violence, until at last tbey relinquished their efforts by saying, ' Well, we'll let it alone, as the d-d rebels will die if we burn their mill.' The persistence of Dow, due to the fact that much of the property of the Belfast exiles was stored in the building, was the means of its preservation." 2
Soon after the evacuation of Belfast, a party of twelve men commanded by Sergeant Jenks (or Jenkins) ventured from Camden to drive away some of the cattle that had been aban- doned, and which Richard Stimson, who had been left behind, probably with his father Ephraim Stimson, at Mount Ephraim, was to assist in finding. They made the deserted house of Samuel Houston in the eastern part of the town, on the spot where B. F. Houston now resides, their place of rendezvous, and passed the night there. In the morning, Jenks went to the shore to shoot wild fowl, and a dense fog prevailing, he was surprised and taken prisoner by three men named Armstrong, Cookson, and Turner, who had landed from Bagaduce on an expedition of plunder. The better to deceive the men remaining at the house, they marched him towards it with his musket on his shoulder. Supposing them to be friends, Stimson and others came out to meet them. A struggle at once ensued. Stimson, although a small-sized man, was brave and strong. Being summoned by Armstrong to surrender, he dropped his musket, and seizing Armstrong by the legs threw him upon the ground, calling to Jenks, "Blow him through." The latter immediately fired, the bullet going through Arın- strong's brain, producing instant death. In the affray, Cookson stabbed Stimson in the arm with a bayonet. As soon as Jenks discharged his musket, he turned and struck Cookson down; but
1 If this was the Joseph Dow, whom in 1773 the people warned out of Belfast in town meeting, his valor on this occasion entitled him to be restored to the privileges of citizenship.
2 Locke's Camden, 35.
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HISTORY OF BELFAST.
the latter recovered himself, and with Turner escaped to their boat. The thick fog rendered pursuit useless. Stimson always imputed cowardice to the remainder of the party, as from the house they witnessed the affair, and rendered no assistance. A rough box was made, and the body of Armstrong interred in a spot near the scene of the tragedy, which is still pointed out. The next day a party from Bagaduce conveyed the remains thither for more decent burial, and burnt the house and barn of Houston.1 In the latter, which was "a good new barn," quite an amount of grain and furniture belonging to the neighbors had been stored.2 It was all consumed.
The few families who returned in 1780 found nearly every thing in ruins. Their cattle were gone, fences had been torn down, the houses stripped of windows and doors, and in several instances entirely destroyed. The concealed articles of household furniture remained undisturbed. A bed which Mrs. Durham hid under some logs had not been removed.
Although comparatively deserted, Belfast was not omitted in the requisition for men and clothing. Her quota in 1780 was one man to supply a deficiency of 4,240. The following year she was called upon for 388 pounds of beef, two shirts, two pairs shoes and stockings, and one blanket, " the latter to be large and well- fulled, the shirts linen, or cotton and linen, and well whitened, and the stockings to be white." It is presumed that no response was made to these requisitions.
In June, 1781, General Wadsworth and Major Benjamin Burton, of Warren, who had been confined at Fort George, Bagaduce, for several months, succeeded in making their escape. They reached the western shore of Penobscot River, and after wandering through the woods arrived at Tolford Durham's house in Belfast, weary and without food. "It was about noon when they came," said Mrs. Durham, " and I offered to prepare some dinner for them, but they would not wait. My husband at first
1 Rev. Dr. Thurston's Centennial Address. Communication of A. F. Mathews, of Searsport. A romantic incident in this connection has been handed down. A beautiful sister of Stimson was compelled by the British to hold a lantern at the grave, it being dark hefore the disinterment was completed. Attracted by her appearance, one Turner, who was of the number, continued the acquaintance, and after the war closed married her. But Dr. Thurston says that the attraction commenced at Mount Ephraim, when Stimson's house there was attacked.
2 Mrs. Durham. She further said that " the house was a log one, and hardly worth burning."
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BELFAST DURING THE REVOLUTION.
said he would take them across the river; but afterwards, through fear of the British, who were already in pursuit, concluded it would be unsafe, and so they paddled themselves over in his canoe. The General was a fine-looking man, and had a wounded arm." The fugitives were kindly received by James Miller, who did not dare to extend any hospitality at his house. His sons, James and Robert, then aged respectively twenty-four and nine- teen, conducted them into the forest near the north line of lot No. 43, on the east side of the brook, where they built a rude camp of evergreens, and supplied food and blankets. After the search was over, being furnished by Miller with provisions and a pocket compass, they left their place of concealment, and finally reached the settlement at Thomaston.
Peace was declared, Sept. 23, 1783, although Bagaduce re- mained in the possession of the British until December. But few of the inhabitants of Belfast had returned, when the following petition, before referred to, was drawn :-
To the Hon. the Senate and the Hon. the House of Representatives of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in Generall Court assembled : -
The petition of the Subscribers, the dispersed Inhabitants of Belfast, at Penobscut River, Humbly Sheweth : That they with others their Associates, formerly inhabitants of Londonderry & Places adjacent in the State of New Hampshire, did in the year 1769 Purchase from the Heirs of Briga! Waldo, A tract of Land designed for a small Township at the Place first above mentioned : That the payment of the purchase exhausted them of the greatest part of their little all. That they were oblidged in consequence thereof to begin the settlement in a State of poverty & weak- ness. Nevertheless they moved their Families to the place in the years 1770 & 1771, & there were obliged to encounter all the hardships of making A new Plantation, in a horrid and uncul- tivated wilderness, at a great distance from any place where they could be supplied with the necessaries of Life. Yet in the midst of all these hardships, from an earnest desire to enjoy the benefit of civil order, & especially to obtain the settlement of the Gospel, they did Petition the General Court to incorporate them as a town so early as the year 1773, only 3 years after their settlement on the Place, & when their number of inhabitants amounted to no more than 50 persons of every age and sex, Altho they were sur- rounded with settlements much stronger & more numerous than
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HISTORY OF BELFAST.
theirs, which had continued for a number of years in an unor- ganized State, that so withdrawing themselves from the notice of Government, they might escape any share of the Public Taxa- tions. Your Petitioners ever willing to do their part towards the support of Government, never went about to evade any requisi- tion of their quota of the Publick Burthen : & by the blessing of God in their indefatigable Labors, they were beginning to sur- mount their Peculiar Difficulties, & hoped soon to arrive to A respectable situation among their neighbors, When the commence- ment of the late war Suddenly changed their brightest prospects into Clouds and darkness. Not to mention that the distresses to which the Eastern sea-coast was generally exposed from that time, fell with aggravation on their settlement in its infant state. 'Tis well known that your Petitioners were not behind the best friends of their Country in their exertions for its defence, so far as opportunity put it in their power to do any thing in its ser- vice : hence it was that at the fatal crisis when the Commou enemy took part in their vicinity, they were among the foremost whom the Commanders of that force Compelled to submit to an oath of Allegiance to their Master. Yet as that oath was known to all to be compulsory - as Allegiance & protection were recip- rocal - as that Protection ceased on the Part of the King of Britain as soon as General Lovell Arrived, & as the cause in favour of which that oath was exacted Appeared to your Peti- tioners such as they could not support, without sinning against God, They were fully convinced that such oath ought not to lay any bond on their Consciences to hinder their Contributing what they could for the Deliverance of their Country, Since no obliga- tion could bind them to A Conduct which was sinful in itself. Therefore they readily obeyed the Proclamation of General Lovell, repaired with their arms to his Camp, and uniformly furnished him with every Assistance in their power, & by this means, when the Expedition came to its distressful Issue, Your Petitioners found themselves obliged to betake themselves to flight as early as the troops : & in the event it was found that they had evacuated the place but just time enough to escape that Brit- ish vengeance which fell so severely on their habitations & all they left behind them. Their Crops were Lost in the Ground, & the greatest part of their Cattle, Furniture, & other moveable property fell into one common destruction ; their Families, 18 in Number, Consisting of 109 persons, most of whom were Women
1
BELFAST DURING THE REVOLUTION. 189
and young Children, were fain to seek their way through the wilderness to Settlements far enough out of the enemy's reach : Since that time they have lived as Pilgrims in various places, & enduring distresses painfull to relate, but more Painfull to bear. Yet even in their exile they have not been Excused from their full Proportion in all the Taxes & Levies which have been laid on the Places where they have sojourned. It was not without the most sensible Joy that they beheld a dawn of Peace after so long and dark a night, & Saw their Country Established in her Liberty and Independence. And with no small eagerness have they Looked forward to the time when the Viperine nest at Penob- seutt should be finally broken up. But now that a Mereifull Pro- vidence has at last Accomplished this happy deliverance, they find themselves in such broken and impoverished Circumstances that obtaining a meer subsistance with great difficulty where they re- side, they are sadly destitute of the means necessary for reviving their former settlements anew. The Transporting of their Fami- lies, Building of Houses, and supporting themselves untill they can raise a first Crop, are a Task that calls for resources very different from any of which they can avail themselves.
In this extremity, they beg leave to look up to the General Court as the Fathers of the Commonwealth, & Pray for such help as your Honours shall see meet. Whilst your Petitioners find themselves Constrained thus to solieit the charity of the Gov- ernment, It adds a sensible sting to their Afflictions, to be informed (as they have been within these few days) that your Honorable Court has thought proper to lay a considerable tax on their ruins. This, however, they cannot but think Arose from the Legislature's being uninformed of their true State. They have too much Con- fidence in the Goodness, the Wisdom, & the Justice of the Honour- able Court to Suffer a doubt, that when it is known what the In- habitants of Belfast have suffered, how they have been dispersed, their Fortunes ruined, their houses Carried off and Destroyed, which Causes A Great Desolation, & the whole Town without inhabitants, save a few, who have gone down to attempt to provide some Shelter for their Families - Your Honours will not only be intreated to Abate all Taxes heretofore Laid on that place, but to excuse it from Taxation for some Years to Come, untill its inhabi- tai +s begin to be able once more to live on the Premises, & also to Grant some such Assistanee as your Wisdom may direct, to enable Your Petitioners to remove their Families, rebuild their
1
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HISTORY OF BELFAST.
habitations, and subsist there, until they receive a Crop from the Labours of the ensuing spring.
These things are Humbly Submitted to the Honorable Court, Praying your Honours to take this distressed case into your candid consideration, & Grant such relief to your Petitioners in the Premises, as to your Honours in your wisdom & Generosity shall appear meet.
And Your Petitioners as in duty bound Shall ever Pray.
JOHN TUFFT. JOHN MITCHEL.
WILLIAM McLAUCHLEN. JOHN COCHRAN.
BENJ. NESMITH.
NATHANIEL PATTERSON.
ALEX" CLARK.
RORERT PATTERSON.
JOHN DAVIDSON.
WILLIAM PATTERSON.
WILLIAM PATTERSON.
This petition was presented to the Senate on the twenty-third day of February, 1784, by William Lithgow, of Lincoln County, upon whose motion it was referred to a committee from both houses. On the 20th of March, the following resolve was approved by Governor Hancock : -
Resolve on the Petition of the Inhabitants of the Town of Belfast, directing the Treasurer to credit the said Town for Certain Taxes.
Whereas, it appears to this Court that the inhabitants of the town of Belfast, by reason of their situation being contiguous to the post occupied by the British forces at Penobscot during the late war, were under the absolute necessity to quit their habita- tions, and flee to some other towns and places more remote from the enemy for safety, leaving the greater part of their property to the enemy, and they are thereby become unable to pay public taxes for the present :
Resolved, That the prayer of the said petitioners be so far granted that the whole of the public taxes of every kind, already granted to be assessed on the said town, be and are hereby abated ; and that the Treasurer be, and he is hereby directed to credit the said town accordingly, any law or resolve to the contrary notwith- standing.
191
INHABITANTS FROM 1784 TO 1830.
CHAPTER XIV.
INHABITANTS FROM 1784 TO 1830.
Return of Inhabitants after the Revolution. - Families here at Close of 1784. - Non- resident Lands purchased by "Lord Timothy Dexter." - Condition of the Town in 1786. - Heads of Families in 1790. - Settlers Previous to 1800. - List of Tax-payers in 1800. - Judge Crosby's Account of his Visit here in 1801. - Large Increase of Population between 1800 and 1810. - Prominent Citizens who came before 1817. - Biographical Sketch of Hugh J. Anderson. - Portrait and Autograph. - Names of some of the Principal Citizens from 1817 to 1830.
F OR a few years after the Revolution, the increase of the town was comparatively small. Of the original inhabitants, Mitchell, Davidson, and Chambers did not return when peace took place. The others (excepting Morrison and Steele, who were drowned during the first winter of the settlement) resumed the lots which they owned, early in 1784. On the first of May in that year, a sloop, commanded by Captain Tuft, brought eight families from New Hampshire. The names of fourteen 1 families residing here that year are as follows : On the west side of the river, Benjamin Nesmith, on the Judge Read farm ; John Robin- son, on the lot next below ; John Cochran, on lot No. 42; James Miller, on the Frothingham lot ; and Samuel McKeen, near the pres- ent upper bridge. On the east side, William Patterson, 1st, and his father-in-law William McLaughlin, occupied lot No. 3, now in Searsport ; John Durham, lot No. 9, and Samuel Houston, lot No. 13, in the same town ; John Brown, the Gilmore lot, No. 18; Robert Steele, lot No. 23, where Robert Steele, his grandson, resides ; James and William Patterson, 2d, the lot afterwards occupied by Robert Patterson. John Tuft lived a little remote from the former. Tolford Durham had a log house near the old ferry, above the east end of the present lower bridge ; and Nathaniel Patterson lived on the "pitched lot," or No. 32, on the east side.
In 1786, the number of polls was twenty-seven. The valuation list of that year, as returned to the General Court, enumerates
1 This is the number given by the petition of the inhabitants in November of that year.
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HISTORY OF BELFAST.
eighteen dwelling-houses, nine barns, one mill, fifty-eight acres of tillage, seventy-five of English mowing, thirty-six of meadow, sixty-four of pasture, and eleven thousand of wood and unim- proved land. There were eight horses then owned in town, twenty-seven oxen, nine head of neat cattle three years old, nine of two years old, twelve yearlings, thirty-six cows, forty-five sheep, and twenty-two swine. The money on hand disclosed as taxable was one pound and seven shillings.1
In 1790, the number of inhabitants had increased to 245. There were forty-three heads of families, as follows : -
John Alexander. He came from Londonderry, and lived for several years near Little River, but removed to Greene Plan- tation before 1800 .. His son by the same name died here in 1874.
John Brown, one of the proprietors. (See biographical notice in Chap. VII.)
Abraham Clark came from Londonderry, soon after the Revo- lution. He lived on the place now occupied by Robert Rowe, near Harrison Hayford's. His father, Abraham Clark, 1st, died here in 1789; and Sarah, his mother, died in 1791. According to the town records, the children of Abraham, 2d, were: Thomas, born April 3, 1791 ; Holley, born May 19, 1798 ; and Joseph, born July 13, 1806. The latter died of lockjaw, May 8, 1810. Abra- ham, 2d, died previous to 1841, as the death of Anna, his widow, occurred in February of that year, aged eighty.
Alexander Clark. He was a grandson of Robert Clark, of the Scotch colony in Ireland, who settled in Londonderry about 1725. Alexander was one of the earliest inhabitants here. He was a selectman in 1777, and town-clerk from 1791 to 1800. He died in Brooks, Jan. 31, 1839, aged ninety-five. Hannah, his wife, died Dec. 28, 1820, aged seventy-eight.
Elisha Clark, brother of Abraham, above named, came here about 1786. He lived on the east side of the river, and died in 1828, aged eighty-three.
Ichabod Clark, brother of Abraham and Elisha, came here with them. He was the first tailor in town, having a shop on Main Street ; but he resided on the east side. He removed to North- port, where he died. His children, born here, were Jacob, Abra- ham, Joseph, Nancy, Sally, and John.
1 Vol. 162, Mass. Archives, p. 398.
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INHABITANTS FROM 1784 TO 1830.
Isaac Clark, brother of the foregoing, removed to Northport before 1800.
John Cochran, one of the proprietors. (See notice in Chap. VII.)
John Cochran, 2d. He came here from Wenham, Mass. He lived at the Head of the Tide, where he built saw-mills, and owned much real estate. He also owned lot No. 49, and two-thirds of lot No. 50, in the first division. He died Jan. 1, 1799, aged fifty- seven, leaving children by Agnes, or Annas, his wife, as follows: John (3d), Robert Boyd, Isaac, Andrew Park, Martha, Jenny, and Agnes, or Annas. His widow died Feb. 10, 1830, aged eighty-two.
William Crooks. (See Chap. XXVIII., on Physicians.)
Daniel Dolliff and John Dolliff, brothers, are said to have originated in Raymond, N.H., which was formerly included in Chester. They remained a few years, and removed to Greene Plantation. Daniel left before 1800. John was a tax-payer in 1810.
John Durham. (See Chap. VII. on Proprietary History.)
Tolford Durham. " "
" " "
Jacob Eames, or Ames, a native of Wilmington, Mass., and a participant in the battle of Lexington, came here from Chester, N.H., in 1784, and settled on one of the lots now belonging to Searsport. After some years, he removed to the Narrows, or upper bridge, where he built a large two-story house. He after- wards became a resident of Swanville, where he died Nov. 7, 1851, aged ninety-seven. His children, born here, were as follows : by Jenny, his first wife, who died Feb. 28, 1792, John, born July 16, 1786; Samuel, born Nov. 25, 1788; Jenny, born March 22, 1790, and died Oct. 16, 1791; and Jenny, 2d, born Feb. 27, 1792. By Miriam, his second wife, he had Johanna and Drusilla, twins, born Feb. 24, 1803.
Nathaniel French was the son of Benjamin French, of Chester, N.H., and came here about 1788. He settled on the east side of the river, where he died July 1, 1797, aged fifty.
James Gilmore. (See Chap. VII. on Proprietary History.) John Gilmore. " " " " "
Robert Houston, son of Samuel Houston, one of the proprie- tors, came here with him in 1771, being then eleven years old. He was a well-known land surveyor, and for many years was en- ployed by General Knox. He died here May 3, 1824, aged fifty- nine. Hannah, his wife, who died Sept. 10, 1824, was a daughter
13
194
HISTORY OF BELFAST.
of John Mitchell. Their children were : James, born June 19, 1789; Elizabeth, born May 9, 1791 : David, born Aug. 2, 1793, and died March 10, 1839, while a soldier in the Aroostook war ; John M., born July 20, 1795, and died June 24, 1820; Benjamin, born Sept. 28, 1797, and died Jan. 6, 1860; Jane, born June 12, 1800; Joseph, born July 10, 1802, and died Oct. 22, 1839, at St. Augustine, Fla .; Robert Wilson, born Jan. 24, 1805; and Eleanor Maria, born Dec. 20, 1807.
Samuel Houston. (See Chap. VII. on Proprietary History.) Samuel Houston, Jr. ,, " " "
Ephraim Mc.Keen. Came from Londonderry, and lived at the upper bridge. He died June 22, 1848, aged eighty-two. His children were: Nancy, born June 16, 1791, died Sept. 3, 1793 ; John, born March 10, 1793; Samuel, born Dec. 29, 1794, died Sept. 23, 1800; Isaac, born May 8, 1797; Nancy, born March 4, 1801; Benjamin F., born April 18, 1803, died Oct. 9, 1822; and Lucy Maria, born Nov. 5, 1808.
Samuel Mc Keen was from Amherst, N. H. His father, by the same name, went there from Londonderry. The son lived several years in Windham, N. H., where he was deacon of the church. He married Jane, daughter of Hugh Graham, of the latter town. She died in 1811. Deacon McKeen was an original member of the First Church. He lived at the upper bridge. Ephraim and Isaac McKeen were his sons.
Alexander Mc Mullin. He lived on what is known as the " McMullin Hill," between nearly opposite the upper bridge and Waldo Avenue. He sometimes was called Doctor, although not a regular physician. Previous to 1805, he removed to Knox, and thence to Ohio.
James Miller. (See Chap. VII. on Proprietary History.) Robert Mitchell. " " " "
John Mudgett. He was a transient man, and is supposed to have removed to Prospect.
Benjamin Nesmith. He came here from Londonderry soon after 1770, and settled on lot No. 46, which Mathew Chambers and James McLaughlin drew. He was a member of the first board of selectmen, and was one of the committee of inspection and correspondence in 1777. His children were James, Benjamin, Jonathan, Thomas, Jane, and Mary Larmond. He died Sept. 18, 1800, aged sixty-six years. James Nesmith, from whom " Nesmith's Corner " derived its name, was his nephew.
195
INHABITANTS FROM 1784 TO 1830.
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