USA > Maine > York County > Kittery > Old Kittery and her families > Part 10
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1Richard Leader was formerly employed in Ireland about mines and came to New England in 1645 to superintend iron works at Lynn, Mass. He had wife and two children and called Richard Cutt "my brother." He went to London in 1652 with remonstrance to Cromwell against the usurpa- tions of Mass. He was in Kittery in 1653 and 1654 and had five grants of land. Robert Jordan was appointed to administer his estate 27 Dec. 1661. A daughter. Ann, married Mr. Clark of Portsmouth and had a daughter Sarah. She calls herself "only surviving child" in 1670 .- See Dean's Capt. John Mason. pp. 92-3.
George Leader was brother of Richard. He settled at Newichawannock in 1652 and was juryman in 1664. Feb. 13. 1652. Joseph Mason brought action in Norfolk County against Richard Leader for tresspass. "for build- ing and erecting certaine houses on our lands att Newitchewanick. . & for cutting downe our tymber there to erect a saw mill in our Antient possessed place whereon wee formerly began and do intende to peeed in ye like worke imeadiately."
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lands adjacent within the limit of a quarter of a mile on both sides of the river. The Leadlers set up a gang of nineteen saws, which made such an impression upon the people round about that the place was called "Great Works." It is called so on the town records 2 Feb. 1663, and the river itself soon came to be known as the Great Works River, which name abides.
After the death of the Leader brothers the mill fell into dis- use. An inventory made in 1669 mentions "A broaken house ready to fall, & a barne much out of repayre, two orchards with out fence with a Tract of Lands lijng on both sides the River esteemed at foure hundred Acers more or less granted by the Town, Meddow at Tottanocke & at boabissa pond, & Whittes & Parkers Marsh, the broaken Mill with the Irons & Vtensills, the Falls and Tymber grant, the Smyths shopp with bellows Anvell, beckorne vice Sledge Hammer & some ould Irons, ffoure halfe hundred wieghtts, An Iron beame, an ould Copper & an ould Kettle, & two ould Iron potts." The whole was appraised at £493.1
Eliakim and William Hutchinson, brothers, got possession of the property and rented it to various tenants,the chief of whom was Roger Plaiste !. Sept. 19, 1717, Martha Lord, aged about seventy-seven years, deposed that "She very well remembers mr Tuckers living at Great Works after mr Leader Left ve place which was upwards of sixty years agon And further this Deponat Saith that mr Rogers Plaisted dweld at ye Same place fifty Seven years agone or thereabouts and he & his Sons have Mostly been in Possession Ever since. And further Saith that ve Town of Ber- wick from Sturgeon Creek up to Toziars above Salmon falls hath been inhabited above Sixty years."2 May 23. 1720, Daniel Good- win, aged sixty-four and upwards, testified that Roger Plaisted rented Great Works mills of Hutchinson fifty years agone, and after him Thomas Dowty and several other tenants of Hutchin- son." John Lamb's landing place is mentioned in Goodwin's tes- timony. This was on the Great Works River, near the head of
York Deeds. II. 60. York Deeds. VIII. 237. Records at Alfred. Me. 9
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OLD KITTERY
the land granted to Leader, a "place Called John Lamb's Landing Place where Hee burned Char-Coales."1
The next settler north of the mill grant was Humphrey Chad- bourne, who bought of the Sagamore Roles or Rowls, 10 May 1643. "Half a Mile of Ground which lieth betwixt the Little River & the Great River to begin at the Norther Side of ye old Ground." "Mr. Roles doth except a Parcel of Ground called by the Name
LITTLE JOHN'S FALLS.
Comphegan wch he doth keep for himself." Three years later Roles confirmed a sale to Chadbourne of his fish weir at "Little John's Falls." reserving for himself the right to as many small alewives as he wanted and "Half ye great Alewives that shall be taken at that Ware from Time to Time for ever." These falls are the succession of rapids in the Newichawannock River, oppo- site the land bought by Chadbourne .?
The tract of land called Quampliegan, or Quampeagan, was the private estate of Sagamore Rowles, it seems. March 19, 1650, he sold it to Thomas Spencer for five pounds. It was "a
Ci. York Deeds, III. 92.
'York Deed-, I. 6. 7.
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Parcell of Land called by the Name of Quamphegon & bounded betwixt the two little fresh Creeks nearest adjoyning unto the same & the uppermost Bounds in Length to go to the First little Swamp that lieth at the upper End of the said Ground.1 The name was extended to the falls near the present bridge at South Berwick, and then to the river and to a region on both sides of the river. In a deed from John Clark to Thomas Abbot, 3 Sept. 1701, the parcel of land sold by Sagamore Rowles is described
--
QUAMPHEGAN FALLS.
as "bounded on ye Southwest side by ye brook next below the falls and by Humphey Chadbourn's ffarm and on ve Northwest end by land of John Crafford, the maine river and Salmon fall brook bounding the remainder." In a deed from Thomas Abbot to his son. 30 Jan. 1710, fifty acres are described as being "in Dover, at a place commonly called by the name of Quamphegan." John Lovering and son John had dwelt there since 1663.2
As early as 1652 Capt. Thomas Wiggin and Mr. Simon Brad- street had erected a saw-mill here. Thomas Broughton" dis-
1York Deeds. I. 18.
York Deeds, VII. 173 and Landmarks of Ancient Dover. p. 213.
"Thomas Broughton. merchant. of Boston, was a brother-in-law of Capt. John Wincoll. He owned largely in the mills at Sturgeon Creek and at Salmon Falls, as well as at Quamphegan. His wife's name was
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OLD KITTERY
puted ownership with them. He had bought Quamphegan of Spencer. The date of the deed is lacking, but the town con- firmed the sale of half of Quamphegan Falls by Spencer to Broughton, 7 Oct. 1751. It was "over against ye Falls whereon is planted a Saw Mill commonly known by the name of Capt. Wiggines & Mr. Bradstreets Saw Mill together with the sd Falls on which the sd Mill is planted my Propriety extending it selfe Halfe way over the sd River called by the name of Quamphegon River. The aforesd Land extending it selfe above & below the sd Falls bounded with Two Little Fresh Creeks or Rivers nearest adjoyning to the same."
June 9, 1659, there were granted by the town to Roger Plaisted one hundred acres at Salmon Falls, "bounded on the southeast by a fresh water brook that bounds Mr. Thomas Broughton's land." Plaisted, then, was the settler next in order on the river. The brook mentioned was Salmon Falls Brook, so often called. It is now locally known as Hog Point Brook. The same day sixty acres were granted to William Love, "adjoining to Roger Plaisted's lot, above the Salmon Falls." William Love was liv- ing here as early as 1655, when "William Love's Bridge" is men- tioned in a deed. He was taxed in Dover in 1658, was licensed to keep a public house of entertainment in 1680, in Berwick, and was one of the selectmen in 1683. His house was captured by Indians in 1689. Nov. 28, 1688, Samuel Willis, Esq., of Hart- ford, married his widow. Mary Love. She died before 1695, and Willis sold to John Taylor of Hampton, his "late wife's brother," the estate of William Love. Taylor sold it, two hundred acres, to Edward Sargent in 1697, and Sargent sold it in 1707 to Ichabod Plaisted. Thus the two original grants above named became united in the possession of the Plaisted family.
Mary, and the births of seven children are recorded in Boston. Besides these George, John, and Elizabeth Broughton, who had grants of land in 1672, in Berwick, were his children. George Broughton married Pearne or Perne , and had five children recorded in Boston, 1667-1677. lle died before 1701, leaving daughter, Rachel, who married Thomas Rew of Boston, Mary Broughton, Rebecca, who married Edward Cowel of Truro. Mas., and Sarah Johnson.
John, son of Thomas Broughton, born in 1647. as a deposition shows, married Abigail, daughter of Rev. John Reyner of Dover, N. H. He died before 1710, leaving Nathaniel of Boston, daughter Mary, wife of Jacob ffowle of Woburn, Mass .. and daughter Abigail Broughton. His widow, Abigail. had married a Mr. Kendall before 24 March 1709-10.
AND HER FAMILIES
133
RIVER
WORSTER'S
TIMOTHY WENTWORTH
JOHN KEY
N
1
W
1
- E
RICHARD TOZIEK
SMITH PRAY
JOS
LOVE
WM.
ROGER PLAISTED
BK .
S
SALMON FALLS
SALMON FALLS
BUTLERS HILL
1668 JOHN LOVERING
QUAMPHEGAN
H. CHADBOURNE
SYLVANUS NOCH
T. SPENCER
CEM PARSONAGE
GREAT WORKS
RICH. NASON NATHAN LORD
DAN'L. GOODWIN
WM.GOODWIN
ETHERINGTON
PETER GRANT
F. HARLOW
THỊ ABBOT
JOHN GREEN
R. LORD
M. SPENCER
COX POND
M. SPENCER DAN'L. WADLEIGH
DAN'L. GOODWIN DAN'L. STONE
N. LORD
ELISHA PLAISTED
BIRCH BROOK
NICHO HODSDON
MILES THOMPSON 1656
THOMASON'S BROOK
-
BERWICK 1631-1700
LOVE'S BROOK
OR GREAT WORKS RIVER
DAVID HAMILTON
NEWICHAWANNOCK RIVER
JAS. WARREN JOHN TAYLOR
CH
J. COOPER ROB'T. GREY
.
ASBENBEDICK
ROAD
WITCHTROT
SLUT'S CORNER
PHILIP HUBBARD
S. BRACKETT
ROCKY HILL
JAMES STACKPOLE 1710
THOS. CANNEY
JAMES
-
JOHN WINCOLL
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OLD KITTERY
William Pile or Pyles had the next lot north of William Love and sold it to James Smith before 1663. It was granted to Pile 26 Oct. 1659 and contained fifty acres. James Smith willed it to his son, James, in 1687, and the latter sold it to Joseph Pray, 24 May 1703. It was then forty rods wide on the river and ran back till it included one hundred and thirty-six acres. The Prays long dwelt here.
In 1659 the town granted to Richard Tozier sixty acres "adjoining to William Pyles lott above the Salmon falls." Here Tozier had a garrison house, and here he was killed by Indians 16 Oct. 1675. The house was standing till within half a century. The house occupied by Charles Collins now marks its site. Nathan Lord, who married Martha Tozier, lived here.
Next above Tozier John Wincoll had a grant of one hundred acres 11 Dec. 1662. The same day fifty acres next north were granted to George Veasy, which he and wife, Mary, soon sold to Wincoll. The southern half of his own lot Wincoll sold to Benoni Hodsdon, 31 May 1671. John Wincoll came to Kittery from Watertown, Mass., and signed the submission of 1652. He was representative to the General Court in 1653. 1654 and 1655, and was often selectman. He returned to Watertown for a time and represented that town at General Court in 1658. With the Broughtons and John Hull he was interested in the saw- mills at Salmon Falls and had extensive grants of land and lum- ber above the Falls. He served many years as Justice of the Peace and Associate Judge and again represented Kittery at Gen- eral Court in 1675. 1677 and 1678. He was for many years a surveyor and laid out most of the original lots in Berwick. He was captain in the militia and in 1675 while he was with his company at Scarborough his house at Salmon Falls was burned by Indians. He served for a time as Clerk of Courts and Regis- ter of Deeds and of Probate. He was killed by a fall from his horse 22 Oct. 1604. He married Mary Etherington about 1675 and Olive, widow of Roger Paisted. before 1683.1
John Wincoll of Portsmouth, mariner, and wife, Deborah, sold the homestead of Capt. John Wincoll at Salmon Falls to John, son of James Smith, 6 March. 1709.
See York Deeds, IV. 86 and p. 11 of the Preface.
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Clement Short had a grant of the next fifty acres, II Dec. 1662. Clement Short, Jr., had a grant in 1685. Thomas Short of Boston sold this lot granted to his father in 1662 to John Key and William Grant. 25 Dec. 1706. This was probably the Thomas Short who married Elizabeth, daughter of Capt. John and Mehitable Frost of Boston.
The next four lots were granted on the same date as the last three, 11 Dec. 1662, to John Key, James Grant, James Barry, and Micum Melntire in order, proceeding north. They were all thirty rods in breadth by the river side and extended into the woods two hundred and sixty-seven rods. Additional grants were made at the head of these lots a few years later. The lots of Barry and of Mclntire passed into the possession of Philip Hubbard in 1706, the former through William Goodwin and the latter through Daniel, son of Micum McIntire, who was one of the early settlers of York. When McIntire's lot was laid out, in 1662, it was "bounded on the north by several marked trees" and was, doubtless, the frontier lot. There is no evidence that McIn- tire or Barry lived on these lots.
The lot granted to James Grant was owned a few years later by Edward Toogood, and by him was sold to Timothy Went- worth in 1705. Wentworth's descendants still occupy this lot. Here he had a garrison. Toogood lived down in the field, nearer to the river. An old cemetery is close by. Toogood removed to Portsmouth.
Thus we have sailed up the river and gone around the falls, marking the estates of the first settlers. Thousands of descend- ants of almost every emigrant will be interested to know the pre- cise spot of the original homestead. The location has been indi- cated on the maps as nearly as can now be determined. The history of the region is not complete till we know the settlers on the New Hampshire shore, for the river was at first the highway, and often the nearest neighbors lived across in ancient Dover. On the west side of Salmon Falls Thomas Hanson and Ralph Twombly had grants in 1658. Edward Taylor lived just below, who later removed to Exeter. John Tuttle and Ezekiel Went- worth had grant of mill privilege here in 1701. On the Dover side of Quamphegan Falls livel in earliest times John Lovering, near the end of the present bridge. His son John sold the place
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OLD KITTERY
STACKPOLE'S LANDING AND THE LAST OF THE OLD WAREHOUSES.
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AND HIER FAMILIES
to Thomas Abbot, and from 1725 onward Benjamin Wentworth lived here. Below the Falls is a strip of land along the river called "Sligo" as early as 1708. At that time Henry Tibbetts had a hundred acres here, and next below him lived James Stackpole and his son. Philip. His farm now belong's to the estate of the late Samuel Hale. The accompanying illustration is presented to show the style of the old warehouses that once were seen at short intervals along the river. This was the last to be demolishe:1 a few years ago, and some thoughtful artist has preserved it. The place was called Stackpole's Landing in 1714.
Below Stackpole lived Thomas Canney, 2d, and Henry Hobbs built ships near by, and Thomas Wallingford lived at Madam's Cove. Then came David Hamilton and later Sylvanus Nock and the Sligo garrison house, about opposite to Richard Nason's. Next were the houses and lands of Lt. Hatevil Nutter and Benja- min Weymouth. This brings us to William Stiles' at St. Albans Cove, opposite Nathan Lord's. The land from here to Cochecho Point was owned by a company and had no settlers in the old time, that I can find. To locate the original settlers on Dover Neck and Bloody Point must be the task of a much needed his- torian of ancient Dover.
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OLD KITTERY
IX.
MUNICIPAL HISTORY.
It has been shown that there were no permanent settlers in old Kittery earlier than 1631 at what is now South Berwick, and a few years later at Kittery Point and at what is now called Leighton's Point in Eliot. Soon there was felt the need of courts and a duly established government. The first court for the Province of Maine was held at Saco in 1636. Its proceedings contain nothing that pertains to the history of Kittery. At the session held in Saco, 25 June 1640, there were present from Kittery James Treworgy, Edward Small, Nicholas Frost, John Heard. Philip Swaddow, William Everett, John Pickes, Andrew Heifor and Peter Wyer. The following from Kittery are mentioned as not appearing, Francis Champernowne, Stephen Crufford. John Lander, William Wormwood, John Andrews, Thomas Withers, John White, John Ugrove, Abraham Conley, Samuel Haynes, Edward Starbuck, John Hall, Thomas Spencer. Humphrey Chadbourne, and Thomas Brookes. Some of these names are never mentioned again as inhabitants of Kittery. and Champernowne. Starbuck and Hall were then living in Dover, N. H. It seems as though all the known inhabitants of the Province were required to make their appearance at Court on the 25th day of June every year. The functions of the Court were legislative as well as judicial. It made laws, appointed officers and rendered decisions in cases civil and criminal.
Some have asserted that there was a combination, for government, of the inhabitants dwelling on both sides of the Pascataqua in 1640. This was, however, the Dover Combina- tion, and a few names are attached to it that before or after that date are found in Kittery, but in 1640 they were all dwelling in Dover. The "Piscataqua Plantation" in old records sometimes means the settlement on the east side of the river, and sometimes it means the settlement at Sandy Beach, or Rye, and Strawberry Bank, or Portsmouth, N. 11., but these settlements on both sides
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AND HER FAMILIES
of the river were never united under the government of one plantation or town.
Williamson says that "at the court of elections, Oct. 20, 1647, the Piscataqua plantations were formed into a town by the name of Kittery."1 I have searched the court records in vain for con- firmation of his statement. It is probable that the inhabitants of Kittery then began to act as a town. The earliest date on the town records is of a meeting held 19 March, 1648. The court record, dated 16 Oct. 1649, is as follows: "It is ordered by this Court and the power thereof that the Inhabitants of Pascataquack within the jurisdiction of this province have the full power of a township as any other towns within this jurisdiction have, and that all the inhabitants from Brabote Harbor and so eight miles above Newichawanocke with the Isles of Sholes to be within that township." The allusion to other towns within the jurisdiction is curious, since no other town existed. York had been char- tered as a city under the name of Gorgeana in 1641, and the town of York dates from 1652.
As to the origin of the name of Kittery some have guessed at it and stated their guesses as historical facts. I found a statement in Hon. Mark Dennett's manuscripts, written by Luther Jenkins, that "Kittery was named by Sir Ferdinando Gorges for his oldest daughter, Kittrina, and means a pleasant location along the sea coast." An interesting legend, or an abbreviated novel, has been published to the effect that one Kitty Rye lived in the vicinity of the present Fort McClary in 1630 and that a little later she was wooed and won by one Philip Wannerton of Strawberry Bank, who was joked by his companions for going over to see Kitty Rye. Thus the place came to be called Kittery as a modification of her name." I can find no evidence that any such persons ever lived. All this belongs to the realm of imagination. It is cer- tain that Alexander Shapleigh, who built the first house at Kit- tery Point about 1635, came from a place called Kittery Point in Kingsweare, near Dartmouth, England, and without doubt he gave the name to the spot where he built. Kittery Point was so called before the name Kittery was given to the township, in all probability.
'Hist. of Maine Vol. I. p. 303.
-Old Eliot Vol. II. pp. 21-23.
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OLD KITTERY
The town records give but little insight into the early history of the town. The principal business of the first town meetings seems to have been to confer grants of land. Old settlers were confirmed in the possession of lots they had cultivated for years, and new grants were made from time to time, to encourage lum- bering and shipbuilding, to attract new settlers, and to supply farms to young men who had grown to full age. Even the town officials elected are not fully recorded. The first election of Towns- men or Selectmen, was 16 July 1648, and Nicholas Shapleigh. John Heard and Nicholas Frost were chosen, all from what is now Eliot. showing where the greater part of the population then lived. In 1651 Thomas Withers, Humphrey Chadbourne and Abraham Conley were elected Townsmen; in 1652 they were Thomas Withers, Nicholas Shapleigh, John Wincoll, Nicholas Frost and Anthony Emery; in 1654 they were Nicholas Shap- leigh. John Wincoll and Anthony Emery : and in 1659 there were five. Nicholas Shapleigh, Thomas Withers. Richard Nason, James Heard and John Symonds. No other Selectmen are recorded before 1660. The fact that a grant of land was made, 14 Feb. 1648. by Nicholas Shapleigh, John Heard and Nicholas Frost as agents for the town, is evidence that these men were Selectmen also for the year preceding their recorded election.
In 1652 William Hawthorne, John Leverett and Henry Bar- tholomew were appointed Commissioners to treat with the people of Maine, to get them to acknowledge the jurisdiction of Massa- chusetts. This commission failed, and another was appointed the same year. The second commission was composed of Simon Bradstreet. Samuel Symonds. Thomas Wiggin and Bryan Pendie- ton. Wiggin was from Dover and Pendleton from Great Island, now Newcastle, and these well understood the feelings and con- dition of the people of Kittery. The Commissioners summoned the men of Kittery to ". Assemble together before us at the howse of William Everet betweene seuen and eight of the clocke in the morning the 16th of this present Nouember." The inhabitants accordingly assembled and after some debate they signed a paper, a fac simile of which is here given. The original paper is about eight inches by six. It has thirty-four signatures, six of which are on the back of it. Just half of the number signed their own
141
AND HER FAMILIES
names. Since the other half made their marks in signature to deeds, it is evident that they were unable to write. In the report of the Commissioners an ostensible copy of this paper was pre- sented, but the names are arranged in different order, and, more- over, seven other names are added, namely, James Emery, Christian Remick, George Leader. Nathan Lord, Joseph Milles, Philip Babb, Antipas Maverick and William Everett. These did not sign the submission. Perhaps they were not present, though William Everett should have been at his own house. It is more probable that they were persuaded to agree to the submission a few days later and after the grant of the commissioners to the town had been made. Their report shows that many were reluc- tant to sign without stipulated conditions. It says, "After long Agitacon with the Inhabitants about the whole business in hand they offered to Come under the government of Massachusetts Provided that the Articles and Conditions tendered by themselves might be Received as the grounds thereof, which being wholly denved by the Commissioners who tould them they must first sub- mitt to the Government and then they should be ready to Affoord them such priviledges and Immunities as they should think meete to graunt : wherevppon at length they did submitt." We have seen that in the signatures the report of the Commissioners did not exactly correspond to the facts. It was an amended or doc- tored report. So it was in the matter of the conditions on which the submission was signed. Those conditions were formulated and dated a few days later, but they were talked over and well understood before and at the assembly at the house of William Everett. The men of Kittery did not throw themselves blindly and unconditionally upon the generosity and liberality of Massa- chusetts, and some were too stubborn or too shrewd to sign their names to any compact till the conditions were "nominated in the bond." The conditions were of great importance, as a careful perusal of the grant of the Commissioners shows.
The handwriting of that time is sometimes read with diffi- culty. The document is as follows :
At a Court holden at Kittery by mr Simon Bradstreet mr Samuell Symonds Captaine Wiggin & mr Brian Pendleton Com- missions from ve Genall Court of the Massachusetts in New Engl Novemb 16th 1652.
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OLD KITTERY
John Bursly complained of for speaking of threatening words against the Commissions & such as should submitt to ye gouernmt of ye Massachusetts.
a of witnesses viz Charles ffrost Michaell Brand
confest : And upon his submission he was discharged.
We whose names are written vnder do acknowledg our selves subject to the government of the Massachusetts Bay in New England.
William Chatburne
Tho Withers
Hugh gunison
John Wincoll
The mark NF of
John Simons
Nicholas ffrost
Charles ffrost
Humphrey Chadburne.
Richard Nason
Abraham Cunly [Conley ]
Robert Waymouth
Thomas Spencer
Jhon Greene
Anthony Emery
hujbrecht Mattone
Reginald Jenkins
Gowen Willson
John White
Willi Pallmer
Thomas Jones
Mary bachiller
Dennys Downing
Jeremiah Shires
Thomas Durston [ Duston ]
John Aandrews
Robert RM. Mendum
Daniell Paull
Nic: Shapleigh
John Hord
Daniell Daviss
the marke of
Ryse Thomas
John Deamunt [Diamond]
Thomas Spinny
John Bursley
Four days later the Commissioners issued the following grant :
Novemb 20th 1652
Whereas the Towne of Kittery hath acknowledged themselves subject to the government of ye Massachusetts in New England as by the sub- scription vnder their hands the writing whereof bearing Date the 16th of this Instant it doth appeare, We the Comission's of the gen'all Court of the Massachusetts for the settling of government amongst them, & the
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