USA > Maine > Waldo County > Belfast > History of the city of Belfast in the state of Maine v.I, 1770-1875 > Part 5
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42
HISTORY OF BELFAST.
General Waldo was the son of Jonathan Waldo, a wealthy merchant of Boston, who died May 26, 1731, in his sixty-third year, " leaving large donations to pions uses." For many years the family had great influence in the affairs of Maine. Their con- nections and high character gave them an enviable and deserved distinction. During the first half of the eighteenth century, Boston, where they resided, had attained to more cultivation and elegance than any other town on the continent. A historian writes, in 1740, that "a London citizen would almost think him- self at home there, when he observes the number of people, their residences and style of living, their wealth and conversation." Successful commerce, and the constant visits of educated for- eigners, imparted to its society a degree of refinement and intelli- gence remarkable in so new a country. In the midst of such influences, the greater portion of the life of General Waldo was passed. Born in England in 1696, he came to this country when a child. Like his father, he was an eminent merchant, having his place of business first on King, now State, Street, and after- wards in Merchants' Row, near the Swing Bridge.1 Upon the death of his father, who, as has been before stated, became a large proprietor of the patent by purchase, Samuel inherited his share, being then the owner of one-half of the whole domain. In 1744, Governor Shirley appointed him to the command of a Maine brigade of troops ; and, as the second officer to Sir William Pep- perrell, he distinguished himself at the capture of Louisburg. From that time he had the title of General or Brigadier Waldo. Three years later, he took charge of an expedition fitted out by Massachusetts against Crown Point.
The accession of General Waldo to so large an interest in the patent infused new vitality into the means undertaken for its development. By computation, three hundred thousand acres still belonged to the old proprietors. In 1734, he contracted with the Twenty Associates to purchase one-half of their shares ; and the indenture, which is still preserved, exhibits the signatures of the original grantees or their representatives. This left the Asso- ciates one hundred thousand acres, which he agreed to set off in any portion of the patent which they might designate ; the tract to be five and one quarter miles on Penobscot Bay, and extending thirty miles into the country. This arrangement remained uncompleted
1 Drake's Hist. Boston, 603.
43
.
THE MUSCONGUS OR WALDO PATENT.
until 1768 ; when, on making the survey, it was found that, at a distance of about twenty miles from the shore, the line eneroached upon the Plymouth Patent. In order, therefore, to complete the claim, what is now Montville, and also a small portion of Liberty, were added; which, with Camden, Hope, and Appleton, made up the requisite quantity, and became the undivided property of the " Twenty Associates."1 The one hundred thousand aeres belong- ing to the " Ten Proprietors " were set off in 1773. This tract included Frankfort, Winterport, Hampden and parts of Swanville; Monroe, and Bangor. At that time the north line of the patent was supposed or understood to extend above Treat's Falls, in the latter township.
General Waldo offered favorable inducements for European immigration, and it was through his means that, in 1749, German colonists established the town of Waldoboro'. Their descendants, whose patronymic names are retained, comprise many of the substantial citizens of that locality. In 1752, he visited Scotland, where his liberal terms were accepted by a large number of settlers from that country. The next year his son Samuel, styling himself by the high-sounding title of " Heredi- tary Lord of Broadbay," distributed circulars in the German language throughout Germany, inviting colonization.2 To actual settlers land was offered at merely nominal prices; its imme- diate value was not worth estimating. In 1747, when the Province House in Boston was burned, and a question arose about changing the seat of government to some other location, General Waldo, partly in earnest and partly in jest, offered the Legisla- ture a gift of " one hundred thousand aeres, and that adjoining the court-house, if they will build it at Penobscot, and rather than fail," he writes, " I would go to a further quantity, if well assured all the members would attend there !"8 It was owing to his influence that Fort Pownall was built, when not a single white inhabitant dwelt upon the shores of Penobscot River or Belfast Bay. As is well known, while upon a tour of observation to this portion of his estate, he died suddenly near Bangor, May 23, 1759, at the age of sixty-three years. His remains were entombed with military honors at Fort Point, where they still repose, un- marked by any monument. He was a man of commanding presence,
1 The deed is recorded in the Lincoln Registry.
2 Coll. Me. Hist., VI. 319, where a translation of the circular is given.
8 Parsons's Life of Pepperrell, 174.
44
HISTORY OF BELFAST.
tall, stout, and of dark complexion. His portrait, from which the accompanying heliotype was taken, formerly adorned the Knox mansion, and is now in the picture gallery of Bowdoin College. It was probably painted by Smibert, an eminent Scotch artist, who came to this country in 1728. Accomplished, active, and intelligent, Waldo had cultivated his mind by foreign travel. He had, it is said, crossed the Atlantic fifteen times. Soon after the close of the first French war, he passed a year in Eng- land with his old companion-in-arms, Sir William Pepperrell. Both were cordially received by the king, who bestowed high encomiums on their military services.
It is safe to assert that the enterprise and perseverance of General Waldo hastened the development of the Penobscot Valley by at least a generation. He found the patent a wilder- ness : he left it a flourishing settlement. Over a century has elapsed since his death; yet, during that interval, he has neither been forgotten nor unhonored. A county and two thriving towns perpetuate his name, and one of the lofty granite hills which overlook his last earthly resting-place is called MOUNT WALDO. In whatever aspect he is viewed, as the sagacious merchant, the accomplished courtier, the military hero, or as the founder of settlements which were fostered and sustained by his influ- ence and exertions, a title to respect must be accorded to him which time can only strengthen and increase.
By the death of General Waldo,1 the patent descended to his
1 The following is a brief account of the Waldo family : -
1. Jonathan Waldo, of German descent, came from England about 1700, to Boston, where he died, May 26, 1731, aged sixty-two. His children were (General) Samuel and Cornelius. 2. (General) Samuel, born in England, 1696; married Lucy Wainwright, daughter of Francis Wainwright, of Ipswich, in 1722. She died in Boston, Aug. 7, 1741, aged thirty-seven years. He died May 23, 1759, aged sixty-three. 3. Children of General Samuel : Samuel, Jr., Francis, Ralph, Hannah, Lucy. Samuel, Jr., was born in Boston, graduated at Harvard College, 1743, and immediately after came to Fal- mouth, now Portland, and was elected in 1744 representative to the General Court, also from 1757 to 1761, and in 1764 and 1765. He was appointed the first judge of probate for Cumberland County, and held that position when he died, April 16, 1770, aged forty- nine. By his second wife, Sarah Erving, daughter of Hon. John Erving, of Boston, whom he married in December, 1761, he had four sons and one daughter : viz., Sally, born Nov. 30, 1762; Samuel, March 4, 1764; John Erving, Aug. 28, 1765; Lucy, Aug. 10, 1766; Francis; and Ralph, born in Boston, September, 1770, after his father's death. Sally married Judge William Wetmore, judge of probate for Hancock County until 1804, and after that judge of the Court of Common Pleas in Boston. He lived at one time on Orphan Island, subsequently called Wetmore's Isle, now the town of Verona, which was a part of the patent, and descended to his wife through her father. Judge Story married her daughter. Samuel resided in Portland, where he died Oct. 19, 1798,
SWaldo
45
THE MUSCONGUS OR WALDO PATENT.
four children : Samuel, who as oldest son inherited two shares : Francis ; Lucy, who married Isaac Winslow, of Roxbury, an ancestor of the United States naval commander distinguished in the recent rebellion by destroying the " Alabama;" and Hannah, the wife of Thomas Flucker, Secretary of the Province. It was by them that the land comprising Belfast was sold. Flucker, whose daughter became the wife of General Knox, afterwards purchased the shares belonging to Samuel. Mrs. Winslow died without children, and her interest descended to the remaining brothers and sister. At the commencement of the Revolution, Flucker and Francis Waldo took the side of the king, and removed to England with other loyalists. Under the confiscation acts, their property became forfeited to the State, and was admin- istered upon as though the owners had deceased.
In 1773, Henry Knox, afterwards famous in the annals of bis country, then a bookseller in Boston, became engaged to Miss Lucy Flucker, the second daughter of Thomas and Hannah (Waldo) Flncker, and the grand-daughter of General Waldo ; and they were married during the following year. Her father, aged thirty-four. His wife was Sarah Tyng : their children, Samuel, Francis W., Wil- liam T., and Sarah E.
His widow married, in 1804, Salmon Chase, the distinguished lawyer, who left her a second time a widow, in 1806.
John Erving died April 17, 1787, unmarried. Lucy married Alexander Walcott, of Middletown, Conn.
Francis, the second son of General Samuel, graduated at Harvard College, 1747, resided in Portland, where he was collector from 1758 to 1770, and representative in 1762 and 1763 ; at the commencement of the Revolution, he went to England, and never returned. His estates in Portland were confiscated under the absentee act, and sold in 1782. He died in Tunbridge, England, June 9, 1784.
Ralph, the third son, died unmarried, while a minor.
Lucy married Isaac Winslow, of Roxbury.
Hannah was first engaged to Andrew, son of Sir William Pepperrell. The match was broken off by her, and she married Jan. 14, 1751, Thomas Flucker, last royal Secretary of Massachusetts Bay. She left Boston with her husband and other loyalists, in March, 1776, for England, and died there in December, 1785. His death took place Feb. 16, 1783.
4. Children of Thomas and .Hannah ( Waldo) Flucker. Thomas, a lieutenant in the British army ; graduated at Harvard College in 1773, and died in 1783. Hannah mar- ried Nov. 2, 1774, Thomas Urquhart, a captain in the British army; from whom she was divorced, and subsequently married - Horwood. Lucy, born Ang. 2, 1756; mar- ried (General) Henry Knox, June 16, 1774, and died at Thomaston, June 20, 1824. Out of twelve children, nine of whom died in infancy or childhood, only three survived their father. Only one of these, Lucy F., born in 1776, who married Hon. Ebenezer Thatcher, and who died Oct. 12, 1854, left children surviving her in 1874; viz., Admiral Henry Knox Thatcher, and Caroline F., widow of Benjamin Smith, of New- burg, N.Y. - Willis's Portland ; Eaton's Hist. Thomaston ; Drake's Life of Knox.
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46
HISTORY OF BELFAST.
"a high-toned loyalist, of great family connections," was ex- ceedingly opposed to the match, as, indeed, were all of the young lady's aristocratic connections, who were Tories ; while Knox's sympathies were, as was well known, strongly enlisted in behalf of his countrymen.1 A second time she found it necessary to sacrifice her ties of kindred to those of a more tender nature. Estranging herself from all her relatives, accompanying her husband through the trying scenes of the Revolution, she shared with him its toils, its perils, and its rewards. Such are the vicissitudes of human condition that, in a few years, while her father and her uncle, Francis Waldo, the only surviving son of the general, exiles from their country, and divested of property, were dependent upon the bounty of the British Crown, the wife of the Revolutionary general had attained a higher position than any of which they, in their former wealth and influence, had over dreamed.
After the declaration of peace, the attention of General Knox was directed to the interest which his wife owned in the unsold portions of the patent, - being one undivided fifth. In 1791, having been appointed the agent or administrator of the estate of her father, - who is styled in the records of the Probate Court for Suffolk County " an absentee, late of Boston, deceased,"-he sold at auction the two-fifths derived from Samuel Waldo to Oliver Smith, of Boston. This portion the latter conveyed to Colonel Henry Jack- son, who, in 1792, transferred it to General Knox for $5,200. The next year, Knox bought of the other heirs and owners the two- fifths which belonged to Mrs. Winslow and Francis Waldo, the daughter and son of General Waldo; and thus, in his own right, became the owner of four-fifths of the whole patent, the remaining fifth belonging to Mrs. Knox.
It has been frequently stated that Knox obtained his title to the Waldo estate by some skilful managing in the General Court of Massachusetts. The assertion is entirely unfounded. He made sale of Flucker's interest according to law, giving bonds for the faithful performance of his trust and accounting with the proper authorities for the proceeds. His union of the different shares was fairly and honorably accomplished.
As the boundaries of the patent were very indefinite, it became necessary for the Commonwealth, and for all concerned, to ascer- tain its exact limits. Accordingly, the Legislature took measures for an accurate survey, and passed a resolve confirming to the
1 Drake's Life of Knox, 16.
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THE MUSCONGUS OR WALDO PATENT.
owners a tract equal to thirty miles square, according to the original charter, provided they would relinquish all claim to lands outside such bounds. This survey established the head line on the northern border of Thorndike, Jackson, Monroe, and Frank- fort, thus severing into two parts the tract formerly released to the "Ten Proprietors," and leaving only about forty-two thousand acres within the Waldo grant. But it was soon ascertained that a portion of the contemplated thirty miles square, comprising Palermo, Freedom, and Unity belonged to the " Kennebec Pur- chase," which had an older title than the Muscongus Patent. As an indemnity for this deficiency, Massachusetts assigned to the Waldo owners the public lands in four townships north of the original line; being the present city of Bangor and the towns of Hampden, Hermon, and Newburg, with a reservation of one hundred acres to each actual settler. The quantity thus set off amounted to about forty thousand acres.1
General Knox took formal possession of his estate in 1792. The patent then contained only nine incorporated towns. Many of the earlier settlements had been much retarded by British ag- gressions during the Revolution, or altogether abandoned. The roads were few ; and, between Thomaston and Penobscot River, a bridle path, indicated by spotted trees, furnished the only facility for travellers. But little attention was then bestowed upon agri- culture, the principal resource of the inhabitants being wood, which was sold at the shore for seven shillings a cord. In many of the plantations, great anxiety was manifested about land titles. " It had been customary, during the war," says Eaton, "to take up wild lands, on the express or implied understanding that a title would be given whenever the ordinary price was paid. This prac- tice, in the absence of the proprietors, bad been continued from necessity during the war ; and many persons had erected build- ings, and made valuable improvements on lots to which they had no right than by possession." Although a condition in the confir- mation resolve of Massachusetts required Knox to quiet the claims of actual settlers, and although he took all equitable and judicious measures for that purpose, yet he did not escape some of the difficulties which always occur in a change of landed proprietors. He found over five hundred lots occupied by " squatters," or per- sons without title, some of whom he ejected : to others he paid money for a relinquishment of their betterments. To obtain pos-
1 Williamson's Hist. Maine, II. 584.
48
HISTORY OF BELFAST.
session of Brigadier's Island, which was occupied by seven persons, who had divided the land into as many farms, and had felled the woods around the shore, he was obliged to pay three thousand dollars.1
Besides pacifying the old settlers, it was the studied policy of Knox to attract new ones. His widely published advertisements commend the patent for the fertility of its soil and the salubrity of its elimate, the latter of which he attributes to the virtues of the balsamic firs.2 As an inducement to immigration, he com- meneed, at Thomaston, various branches of business on an exten- sive seale, which gave employment to a large number of workmen, and afforded a market for the products of the soil and forest. His elegant mansion, on the banks of the Georges River, was built in 1795. Here, until his death, was dispensed that generous hospi- tality of which many eminent men, not only of this, but of foreign countries, partook. In honor of several officers who were his contemporaries during the Revolution, he gave names to the townships in his patent. Searsmont, before incorporation, was called Greene; and Belmont, Greene Plantation, from General Nathaniel Greene; Monroe, Lee, for General Henry Lee ; and Jackson, for Colonel Henry Jackson, of Massachusetts. For a short time, Troy bore the name of Montgomery, who fell at Que- bec; Thorndike, that of Lincoln ; Brooks, that of Washington ; and Washington, that of General Putnam. Jackson alone pre- serves its original title. It is to be regretted that the others were not retained.
General Knox died in 1806. His extravagance of living, added to a failure of many speculative interests, - and, it is said, the losses of his wife at the card-table, -involved him in pecuniary embarrassments some time before his death. In 1798, he was com- pelled to mortgage that portion of the patent now comprised in Waldo County to his friends, General Lincoln and Colonel Jaek- son, to indemnify them for liabilities assumed as his sureties. This mortgage, containing a power of sale, was in 1802 assigned to Messrs. Israel Thorndike, David Sears, and William Prescott, of Boston, who foreclosed it. In 1809, they established an ageney in Belfast for the better management of their lands, and appointed Phineas Ashmun, afterwards of Brooks, as their attorney. The lat- ter was succeeded by William Moody, who, from 1813 to his death
1 Travels of the Duc de Liancourt.
2 Eaton's Hist. Warren, 250.
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THE MUSCONGUS OR WALDO PATENT.
in 1839, occupied the responsible position. Colonel James W. Webster was the last agent for this vicinity. Through these pro- prietors, many of the land titles in our county are derived ; and their numerous deeds, " from survey and plan of Robert Houston," or Noah Prescott, have never been questioned. Belmont became the property of Samuel Parkman and Benjamin Joy, merchants of Boston. The latter also had a conveyance of a large portion of Troy.
Notwithstanding the immense domains acquired by General Knox, his estate proved insolvent ; and a dividend of eight and a half per centum was all that his unsecured creditors, whose claims exceeded one hundred and fifty thousand dollars, received. "Had he been permitted to attain the usual age of man, which his vigor- ous constitution seemed to render probable, the cloud that rested upon the latter part of his life would undoubtedly have been dis- pelled ; and the rise in the value of his property would have enabled him to realize all his anticipations, and to have left his family in opulence."1 Mrs. Knox survived her husband eighteen years, having been obliged to pass her widowhood in the strictest economy. The amount which Thorndike, Sears, and Prescott paid for the mortgage is not known. Under the direct tax law of 1815, the valuation of their unsold lands in Waldo County was one hun- dred and forty-eight thousand dollars. As an illustration of the price per acre, it may be mentioned that, a few years before, a part of the present town of Waldo, - or " Three-Mile Square," as it was then called, - containing about six thousand acres, was ap- praised at only eight thousand dollars.
From this date, the history of the patent may be traced in a few words. The original mortgagees have long since passed away. Israel Thorndike, one of their number, who had a taste for agri- cultural pursuits, cleared, and for some time cultivated, a tract of twelve hundred acres in the town of Jackson, which he furnished with expensive buildings and choice breeds of stock. It is still known as the "Great Farm." His memory is preserved among us by the town which bears his name, as is that of David Sears by the towns of Searsmont and Searsport. All the lands which they owned are alienated excepting Brigadier's or Sears's Island, in Searsport, which has been retained as a summer residence by the Sears family, and is now owned by David and Henry F. Sears, of Boston, great-grandsons of the first mortgagee.
1 Drake's Life of Knox, 117. 4
50
HISTORY OF BELFAST.
CHAPTER IV.
FIRST PERMANENT SETTLEMENT ON PENOBSCOT BAY.
Eastern Maine a Wilderness in 1759. - Penobscot River only Avenue from Canada to the Atlantic. -- Defence proposed by Governor Shirley. - Governor Pownall. - His Friendship for America. - Prophesies her Independence. - Fort on the Penobscot urged by him. - Measures for its Construction. - Governor Pownall and General Waldo visit Belfast Bay. - First Mention of the River Passagassawakeag. - Ety- mology of the Name. - Conference with Indians. - Landing at Fort Point. - Formal Possession of the Country taken. - Leaden Plate, with Inscription, buried. - Sub- sequent Importance of the Act. - Death of General Waldo. - The Fort located. - Description and Engraving. - Named Fort Pownall. - Garrison. - General Preble. - Truck-house. - Episcopal Chapel. - John Preble. - Thomas Goldthwait. - Fort dismantled by Mowatt. -- Destroyed by Colonel Cargill. - Centennial Celebration in 1859.
U TNTIL 1759, the whole eastern section of Maine remained an unbroken wilderness. French colonies had, indeed, pre- viously existed at Mount Desert and Maja-Bagaduce; but they were only temporary. From Georges River to the St. Croix, the whole line of our coast, which is now dotted with flourishing settlements and the signs of a busy commerce, was unmarked by a single white habitation. Into the primeval forest which fringed the shores of our bay no civilized person had penetrated. No surveyor's chain had measured its boundaries, and the limits of the different grants and patents that appeared on paper were based on estimate or conjecture alone. For a long time, the French successes in Canada, and the consequent hostility of the Indians, - who, after fortifications had been erected upon other large rivers in New England, made the Penobscot the only avenue by which to conduct their sanguinary expeditions against the border towns, -rendered this portion of the country insecure, and discouraged attempts at its settlement. With a view to check these incursions, Governor Shirley, of Massachusetts, pro- posed the establishment of a garrison. here, eleven years before. On account of prevailing wars, which had exhausted the means of the Province, the plan was repeatedly delayed. It was renewed by Governor Pownall, who succeeded Shirley in 1757.
FIRST PERMANENT SETTLEMENT ON PENOBSCOT BAY. 51
Thomas Pownall, an earnest laborer in developing the resources of Maine, was the most popular royal governor Massachusetts ever had. He was a consistent and sturdy friend of American liberty ; but, as he did not give his confidence to the party of Mr. Hutchinson, his official position proved, in some respects, disagree- able, and in 1760 he solicited to be recalled. The last act of the General Court of that year was to name the town of Pownal- borough, now Dresden, in his honor. Upon returning to England, he became an active friend of the Colonies in Parliament, defend- ing them on all occasions against the powerful administration of Lord North. He prophesied, and boldly declared, that the inde- pendence of America was certain and near at hand. After the destruction of Falmouth, he wrote a letter of sympathy to the sufferers. A book was published about twenty years ago, endea- voring to connect him with the authorship of the Junius Letters.1 In 1862, Samuel J. Bridge, of California, presented to the State of Maine a portrait of Governor Pownall, which now adorns the rotunda of the Capitol at Augusta.
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