USA > Maine > Pioneers on Maine rivers, with lists to 1651 > Part 10
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35
& N. H. Hist. Col., 8-365.
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farm and house on the island were leased to John Hurd, who re- moved soon after to Agamenticus and built a dwelling of his own.
November 20, 1652, forty-one residents of Kittery united in the act of submission to Massachusetts authority .*
PIONEERS
AMEREDETH, JOHN, born at Dartmouth, England, 1615; cooper at Kit- tery, 1647; died January 26, 1690-1; widow Joanna, daughter of James Treworthy; children Joanna (Alcock) and John.
ANDREWS, JOHN, born 1600; planter at Pascataqua, 1636; Kittery Point, 1640; Brave Boat Harbor, 1649; died 1671; widow Joan, born 1621, married Philip Atwell, 1672; children Ann (Billings), Elizabeth (Man- waring), Joanna, John, Robert and Sarah (Mitchell).
BASTON (Boston), THOMAS, planter at Kittery, 1642; York, 1648; Wells, 1651-1678; Ipswich, 1679; children Daniel and Thomas.
CHAMPERNOONE, FRANCIS, son of Arthur of Dartington, England; merchant at Kittery, 1636; Greenland, 1640; married Mary Hoel, widow of Robert Cutt, after 1675; died 1686; buried on Champernoone's Island; widow Mary; no issue.
CRAFFORD, STEPHEN, Brave Boat Harbor, 1640; fisherman, drowned off the Isles of Shoals, 1642; widow Margaret married Thomas Willey, of Dover; daughters Sarah and Susan.
CROCKETT, THOMAS, born 1606-11, laborer at Newichawannock House, 1630-3; Kittery Point, 1640; died 1679; widow Ann married Diggory Jeffrey; children Ann (Roberts), Elihu, Ephraim, Hugh, Joseph, born 1651, Joshua, born 1657, Mary (Barton) and Sarah (Parrott).
CUTT, ROBERT, ship-builder, 1647; died 1674; widow Mary (Hoel) mar- ried Francis Champernoone, 1675; children Bridget (Scriven), Eliza- beth (Elliot), Mary, Richard, Robert and Sarah.
GODFREY, EDWARD, born at Barnend, England, 1589; merchant, in the service of Laconia Company at Little Harbor, 1632; York, 1633-1654; married widow Ann Messant at York; died in England, 1666; widow survived; son Oliver, by a former wife, in England.
GUNNISON, HUGH, servant of Richard Bellinghan, at Boston, 1635; wife Elizabeth died January 25, 1645-6; married Sarah, widow of Henry Lynn, May 23, 1647; innkeeper at Kittery Point, 1651; died 1660: widow married John Mitchell and Francis Morgan; children, born in Boston, Ann (Lynn), 1636, Sarah, February 14, 1637-8, Elizabeth (Seeley, Cowell), April 25, 1640, Deborah, September 18, 1642, Hester, February 20, 1647-8, Joseph, March 31, 1649, Elihu, February 12, 1649- 50, Mary (Rogers).
HALL, JOHN, planter at Dover, 1633; Kittery, 1640; died at Greenland, 1677; widow Elizabeth; children Joseph and Sarah.
HURD, JOHN, planter at Dover, 1633; Great Island, 1637; Kittery, 1640; died 1676; widow Isabel; children James, John and Warwick, who was shot March 24. 1646-7.
HURD, JOHN, tailor at Boston, 1639; Champernoone's Island, 1649; wife Mary; had new house at York, 1650; removed to Dover and died Jan- uary 17, 1688-9; widow Elizabeth, daughter of Joseph Hull, of York; children. born in various places, Benjamin February 20, 1643-4, William, Mary (Ham), January 26, 1649-50, Abigail (Jones), August 2, 1651, Elizabeth (Nute, Furber), September 15. 1653, Hannah (Nason), No- vember 25, 1655, John. February 24, 1658-9, Joseph, January 4, 1660-1, Samuel, August 4, 1663, Tristram. March 4, 1666-7, Nathaniel, Septem- ber 20, 1668, Dorcas and Elizabeth.
* Mass. Col. Rec .. 4-1. 116.
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JAMES, WILLIAM, planter at Salem, 1636; at Kittery with wife Elizabeth, 1647; sold homestead at Spruce Creek, 1651; Kennebec, 1654; Sheep- scot, 1665.
JOCELYN, HENRY, born 1606; Pascataqua, 1630-3; arrived at Berwick from England in the "Pide Cow" July 8, 1634; as agent for Captain John Mason; removed to Scarborough, 1638; married Margaret, widow of Thomas Cammock; sold homestead in 1664 and removed to Pema- quid, where he died in 1683, without issue.
JONES, ALEXANDER, born 1615; married a daughter of Thomas Walford; witnessed a deed at Sarah Lynn's house, 1645; sold land at Kittery to William James.
LAWSON, CHRISTOPHER, born 1616; Exeter, 1639; married Elizabeth, sister of William James; cooper at Boston, where he sold his house to Thomas Lake, 1648; wife went back to England, but he removed to Kennebec, where he bought land of Abbagadusset and Kenebis, 1649; sold eastern lands to Lake, 1650, and returned to Pascataqua, where he had acquired 14 shares in Dover patent; children Thomas, born May 4, 1643, and Mary born October 27, 1645.
LUCKHAM, JOHN, planter at Kittery, 1647; died July 8, 1647; no children. LYNN, HENRY, merchant at Boston, 1630; Pascataqua, 1631; York, 1640; died in Virginia, 1644; widow Sarah (Tilly) married Hugh Gunnison; children born in Boston, Sarah, August 20, 1636, Elizabeth, July 21, 1638, Ephraim, January 16, 1639-40, and Rebecca, February 15, 1641-2. MENDUM, ROBERT, born 1604; innkeeper at Duxbury, 1639; wife Mary; Kittery, 1647; died a widower, in May, 1682; child Jonathan.
MILES, JOSEPH, born 1619; cooper at Kittery Point, 1640-7; Dover, 1649; Kittery, 1652; married Mary Whelase February 18, 1661; Salem, 1668. MILLER, JOHN, servant of Alexander Shapleigh, 1636-1640; Sheepscot, 1665.
NEAL, WALTER, governor of Pascataqua, 1630-3; lived at Little Harbor in Rye, New Hampshire; left for England July 15, 1633.
NUTE, JAMES, sent by Mason, 1634-5; Dover, 1640; juror at Kittery, 1646; Dover, 1648-50; wife Sarah; children James, born 1643, Abraham, born 1644.
PALMER, WILLIAM, at New Plymouth in the "Fortune," 1623; Ports- mouth, 1640; Kittery Point, 1642; died at Great Island, 1685; widow Abishag; children Edward and Stephen.
POUNING, HENRY, ship-helper at Kittery, 1641; Dover, 1645; Boston, 1649; died 1664; widow Elizabeth; children, born at Boston, Elizabeth (Bridgham), 1649, Mary, 1651, Henry, April 28, 1654, Sarah, August 3, 1659, Daniel, August 27, 1661, and Ann, February 29, 1663.
REEVES, WILLIAM, born 1615; sailor at Salem, 1635; employed by John Treworthy, 1636, at Kittery Point; Boston, 1638; Kittery, 1665.
REYNOLDS, JOHN, fisherman; Kittery, 1640; constable at Isles of Shoals, 1647; married.
SEARL, JOHN, planter, 1647; married November 16, 1661, Catherine, widow of Thomas Warner; later married Mary, daughter of John Green; drowned at sea January 4, 1675-6; child John, born November 19, 1664. SHAPLEIGH, ALEXANDER, merchant of Kingsweare, England; bought Kittery Point of Gorges, 1636; arrived 1640; dead 1650; children Alex- ander, born 1606, Catherine (Treworthy, Hilton), born 1608 and Nicho- las, born 1610.
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SHAPLEIGH, NICHOLAS, born 1610; merchant of Kingsweare, England; son of Alexander; Kittery 1641-7; children born in Bristol, England, Nicholas, 1631, and Jeffrey, 1632, both died in infancy; widow Alice and nephew John succeeded to his estate.
SWADDEN, PHILIP, born 1600; servant of Robert Seeley at Boston, 1631; Kittery Point, 1633; Saint George, 1651; living 1673; no issue.
THOMAS, RICHARD (spelled Rice), born 1614; servant of John Treworthy at Kittery Point, 1636; married Elizabeth, widow of John Billings; liv- ing 1652.
TREWORTHY, JOHN, son of James, born 1618; arrived at Kittery as agent for his grandfather Alexander Shapleigh, 1636; married Penelope Spencer at Newbury January 15, 1646-7; governor of Newfoundland, 1651; children born at Newbury James and John, born 1649.
WHITE, PAUL, born 1590; mariner and merchant at Champernoone's Island, 1649; owned half of the island and land at Pemaquid that year; wife Bridget died in Newbury, 1664; wife Ann (Jones), 1665; died July 20, 1679; no issue.
WITHERS, THOMAS, born 1606; planter at Kittery, 1631; died 1685; widow Jane married William Godsoe; children Mary (Rice) and Eliza- beth (Shapleigh).
WORMWOOD, WILLIAM, planter at Kittery, 1639; wife Catherine, 1651; children Ann, Jacob, Margaret (Bussey) and William.
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AGAMENTICUS
AGAMENTICUS
Trimountain of the purple haze And filmy cloud-wreaths, dun and gray ; Reminder of those youthful days So dim and far away !
Mysterious mountain of the East, Bold landmark of the plain and sea, Enduring symbol of the past And of eternity !
Beloved mount of Aspenquid- On which at last he chose to die, In foliage forever hid Betwixt the earth and sky.
Memorial to one who sought A higher level for his race ; Where, though his realm survived him not, He still retains a place.
Fair mountain of the lights and shades, With peaceful grandeur in its heights, As restful as the star which fades At dusk on summer nights !
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YORK RIVER
The first distinct reference to the discovery of any part of York was that of John Verrazano in 1524.
He reported that to the northward of Cape Cod he had en- countered Indian peoples so "barbarous" that they could not be made to understand simple signs. He said that when he desired to exchange commodities with them his boats would lie under the cliffs, where the natives, as he expressed it, "used to come to the seashore upon certain craggy rocks, and * let down with a rope, what it pleased them to give us, crying continually that we should not approache to the land, demanding immediately the exchange, taking nothing but knives, fishhookes, and tools to cut withall, neither did they make any account of our courtesie."
In spite of some opposition a party of twenty-five armed sailors penetrated the wild interior for several miles.
After describing the natives and the locality in brief terms, Verrazano concluded: "We departed from thence, keeping our course north-east along the coast, which we found more pleasant champion and without woods, with high mountains within the land."*
It is evident that the "craggy rocks," where the natives low- ered their barter with ropes, were the cliffs at York, now known as "The Nubble." The high mountains mentioned were peaks of Crawford Range, which become visible after passing that point. In this vicinity, too, the change in the general course of a vessel would be a natural one since the coast line trends from the north towards the east into the Gulf of Maine.
It is more than a matter of tradition that "The Nubble" was the habitual resort of Indians during the summer fishing season. There food was not only readily obtainable, but it was abundant. It was, also, an ideal position for observation of the sea and the approach of coastwise vessels. In recent years, the discovery of numerous Indian relics upon the premises is evidence of the particular preference of the natives for that locality.
* Me. Doc. Hist., 1-264.
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Seventy-eight years later Bartholomew Gosnold sighted the same shore and Gabriel Archer, chronicler for his voyage, ob- served that it was about six o'clock, on the morning of May 14, 1602, when they first "descried land that lay north." A promon- tory to the right, now known as Cape Elizabeth, they named "the north land." Five leagues to the west was another "out point of woody ground" (Cape Porpoise), where the trees stood "very high and straight." The other extreme to the left, now called "The Nubble" and "lying twelve leagues west," they named "Sav- age Rock," since it was the spot where "the savages first showed themselves."
The narrator added : "From the said rock, came towards us a Biscay shallop with sail and oars, having eight persons in it, whom we supposed at first to be Christians distressed. But ap- proaching us nearer, we perceived them to be savages * One that seemed to be their commander wore a waistcoat of black work, a pair of breeches, cloth stockings, shoes, hat and band, one or two more had also a few things made by some Chris- tians ; these with a piece of chalk described the coast thereabouts, and could name Placentia of the Newfoundland; they spoke divers Christian words, and seemed to understand much more than we ' could comprehend."
"Finding ourselves short of our purposed place, we set sail westward, leaving them and their coast. About sixteen leagues south-west from thence" (reckoning from Cape Elizabeth to Portsmouth Harbor) "we perceived in that course two small islands, the one" (Boone Island) "lying eastward from Savage Rock, the other" (Isles of Shoals) "to the southward of it; the coast we left was full of goodly woods, fair plains, with little green round hills above the cliffs appearing unto us, which are indifferently raised, but all rocky."
Brereton's account of the same voyage offered an explana- tion for the previous contact of the Indians with Europeans. His clear diction proved the writer to have been well educated. The statement was: "It seemed by some words and signs they made, that some Basques or of St. John de Luz, have fished or traded in this place, being in the latitude of 43 degrees." The forty-third meridian passes between the Isles of Shoals and the mouth of Pascataqua River .;
+ 3 Mass. Hist. Col., 8-73, 86.
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In 1603, Martin Pring, with William Brown who had been one of Gosnold's seamen, returned to New England and explored the coast, including York, Kennebunk and Saco Rivers.
In 1614, Captain Smith charted the entire seaboard from Cape Cod to Penobscot River. The Indian name for York River was mentioned for the first time in his statement that "Accomin- ticus and Passataquack are two convenient harbours for small barks." He remarked also that "a good Countrie" was to be found "within their craggie cliffs."
Ten years later Christopher Levett visited Pascataqua on his way eastward and his description, written in 1624, contained this paragraph: "About two leagues further to the East is an- other great river called Aquamenticus. There I think a good plantation may be settled, for there is a good harbour for ships, good ground, and much already cleared, fit for planting of corne and other fruits, having heretofore ben planted by the Salvages who are all dead. There is good timber, and likely to be good fishing, but as yet there hath beene no tryall made that I can heare of."
Levett, Underhill and Winthrop, who were all familiar with the coast, estimated the distance between Agamenticus and the original Pascataqua plantation at Little Harbor at about two leagues, or six miles. Maverick, however, who was a patentee of Agamenticus, specified in an involved description that the short- est distance between the mouths of the two rivers was three miles ; he had in mind the more easterly channel of the Pascata- qua at Kittery Point, while Little Harbor in Rye, New Hamp- shire, lay much farther westward.§
The Indian name for York River was spelled variously, but the fact that Winthrop adopted the form "Aquamenticus" proves that he had had access to Levett's earlier report when he began to collect the materials to be used later in a compilation of . his history of New England. Agamenticus mountain which he styled "The Three Turks' Heads" was called "The Mount of Sas- sanou" by Smith. The Indian namesake was a sagamore of prom- inence in Central Maine during the colonization period.
The natives of York were destroyed by a plague which raged from 1617 to 1619, inclusive. That the river had been a popular
į Baxter's Levett, 92.
§ 3 Mass. Hist. Col., 6-14; Winthrop, 2-29; Mass. Hist. Proc., 21-233.
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resort of the Indians was apparent from the wide areas of cul- tivation before the epidemic occurred.
SETTLEMENT.
York was included in the original grant from the Council of Plymouth to Gorges and Mason, in 1622, but the former, by a subsequent agreement with his partner, became sole proprietor.
December 30, or about five months after the issuance of the patent to Gorges and Mason, a similar concession of territory about Boston Harbor was bestowed upon Robert, the eldest son of the Maine proprietor. In 1623, under the patronage of Robert Gorges, colonists settled at Wessaguscus. Five years later their location was claimed by Massachusetts Bay Colony by virtue of the royal patent of 1628.
In 1630, some of Gorges' colonists were still living in Massa- chusetts, although they looked to his father for their protection. December 9, of that year, Sir Ferdinando Gorges, perturbed by previous acts of usurpation on the part of the colony, had ex- pressed the hope that "his people & planters (by vertue of his sons pattent)" might be permitted to "live quietly & uninjured." William Jeffrey was one of his "old planters" who had expressed great dissatisfaction with the treatment that had been accorded by the new government .*
Colonel Walter Norton and his associates, then living at Charlestown, Massachusetts, were the first persons to solicit grants at York from Gorges. The grand patentee explained his proposed participation in the following language: "I gave him (Norton) my word I would be his intercessor to the Lords for obtaining him a Patent for any place he desired, not already granted to any other."
Edward Godfrey, a near relative of Norton and one of the first governors of Maine, claimed to have been the first settler who had ever built a house at York. In a petition to the General Court of Massachusetts in 1654 he asserted that he had been in- terested in the settlement of New England for "above thirty-two years," as "an adventurer on that design."
Henry Gardiner, one of the Pascataqua patentees, claimed that Godfrey was a London merchant who had joined with some
* 4 Mass. Hist. Col., 6-3.
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of Robinson's "Tenants of Amsterdam" in their attempt "to set- tle a Colony nigh Cape Cod" at New Plymouth. t
Godfrey claimed to have settled at York in 1630, but it is well known that he came to New England in company with Wal- ter Neal in the Warwick at that time and that he was employed as a merchant at Pascataqua by the Laconia Company. He had charge of the fishing industry at the Great House in Little Har- bor, but insisted that he had built the first house at York, prob- ably a fishermen's hut of temporary character at Brave Boat Harbor or on Stage Island, which were directly accessible to the Isles of Shoals.
Hence, it was Godfrey who had induced Norton to secure a location at Agamenticus from the Council of Plymouth through the intercession of Gorges. December 1, 1631, grants were ceded on both sides of that river. With reference to these concessions the grand patentee remarked later: "I was contented my grand- son Ferdinando should be nominated together with him and the rest" (Norton and his associates) ; "to whom was passed a Patent of twelve thousand acres of land upon the east side of the river Agomentico, and twelve thousand of acres more of land on the west side to my son Ferdinando."§
The grantees on the eastern side of the river were Ferdi- nando, son of John Gorges, of England, Ralph Glover, Thomas Graves and Walter Norton, of Charlestown, John Bursley and William Jeffrey, of Wessaguscus, and Samuel Maverick, of Win- nisimet. The charter was revised March 2, 1631-2, when the council struck out the names of other English patentees and in- serted that of Dixie Bull, a merchant of London. Some of the partners were brothers, brothers-in-law, or otherwise related by blood or marriage connections .*
At the time of the grant John Gorges, father of the first pro- prietor on the east side of the river, had acquired title to the premises claimed by his deceased brother Robert in Massachu- setts, but his rights had been usurped by the new colony. Burs- ley, Jeffrey and Maverick, members of Gorges' colony at Wes- saguscus in 1623, were concerned as tenants. Obviously, some or all of the other patentees at York had once belonged to Gorges'
+ N. E. Vindication, 24.
Me. Hist. Col., 1-390; N. H. State Papers, 1-68.
Me. Hist. Col .. 2-49.
Essex Ant., 17-98.
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colony at Wessaguscus and the later grant in Maine was pro- vided to furnish a refuge in case of their eviction from precari- ous tenures in the Commonwealth.
October 18, 1632, Godfrey and Thomas Cammock, described as hailing from Pascataqua, carried sixteen hogsheads of corn to the mill at Watertown in Neal's pinnace. This grain may have been raised from some of that delivered at Pascataqua by Henry Fleet that spring.
In a letter from England, dated December 5, following, the Laconia Company confided the care of the house at Little Harbor, which was then utilized chiefly as a fishing station, to Godfrey, and suggested that he increase the number of fishermen em- ployed there on its account.
These items indicate that Godfrey was living at Pascataqua plantation very late in 1632 and that the Massachusetts colonists did not remove to Agamenticus until the next year.
Referring to Norton and his companions, Gorges continued, "Hereupon he and some of his associates hastened to take pos- session of their territories, carrying with them their families, and other necessary provisions." Godfrey in subsequent state- ments clearly indicated that possession was taken permanently in 1633 and that he participated in the event.i
In the settlement of York there was concerted action between the patentees in Massachusetts and citizens of Bristol, England. In fact, York later was called Bristol and made subject to ordi- nances similar to those of the British municipality of that name. While its electorate was small, the city officials were not wanting. William, son of Mayor Humphrey Hook, of Bristol, asserted that he with several others, en route for York, was landed at La Tour's fort at Cape Sable, and that the French captain gave them the free use of his pinnace to transport them across the danger- ous reach of the Bay of Fundy.}
On their way westward three of these colonists, Hook, Robert Knight and George Newman, met Governor Neal from Pascata- qua and were present at the delivery of the premises at Pema- quid to Abraham Shurt on May 27. When they arrived at York a few days later they found the patentees from Massachusetts already in possession.
+ Me. Hist. Col .. 9-342, 358.
Winthrop, 2-125.
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Late in June, Captain John Stone, of Virginia, arrived at York from Saint Christopher's Island in the West Indies with a cargo of young cattle. Some of these had been disposed of at Little Harbor, but the rest were left at York.
In September, after visiting Charlestown and vicinity where Norton had recently resided, Stone sailed for Virginia with Nor- ton as his passenger. When they arrived at the mouth of the Connecticut River a desire to trade with the natives induced them to proceed with their vessel into the interior, where the hostile Indians killed Stone and Norton and the six members of their crew. The massacre was afterwards detected by some Eng- lishmen who had encountered an Indian wearing the scarlet coat of Captain Stone. This event was one of the causes of the Pequot War.§
Godfrey, many years later, referred to Norton in his allusion to his nearest relative who had been killed by the Indians, but he did not name him nor state the circumstances .*
Captain Norton of Agamenticus had been a British soldier of distinction and the story of his death was characteristic of the man. After the Indians had disposed of Captain Stone, "They likewise killed all ye rest, but Captaine Norton defended him selfe a long time against them all in ye cooke-roome, till by acci- dente the gunpowder tooke fire, which (for readynes) he had sett in an open thing before him, which did so burne, & scald him, & blind his eyes, as he could make no longer resistance, but was slaine also by them, though they much comended his vallour.";
During the massacre the savages had taken possession of five loaded guns belonging to the vessel's crew and had dis- charged them at the English with fatal results. While the natives did not fully understand the proper methods of charging them, these weapons were accounted a serious menace to the public safety of the whole country while in their hands.}
Norton's widow Eleanor married William Hook and removed to Salisbury with her husband, but his only daughter Jane be- came the wife of Henry Simpson of Agamenticus. A court record of 1650 disclosed the death of the latter and her remarriage to
§ Young's Mass. Chron., 363; Winthrop, 1-122.
N. H. State Papers, 17-506.
Bradford, 2-203.
# 4 Mass. Hist. Col., 7-56.
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Nicholas Bond of the same town. Henry Norton, who was living at Agamenticus upon an adjoining lot, then recognized Jane (Norton) Bond as a "cousin." He was, presumably, the son of one of her father's brothers-obviously the child of one of the other patentees of Agamenticus of the same name. The only de- scendants of Captain, or Colonel, Walter Norton appear to have been derived through his grandson Henry Simpson.
Both patents at Agamenticus, like that at Pemaquid, were granted in consideration of agreements "to transport divers persons into New England, and there to erect and build a Towne." The requisite quota may never have been provided.
As sponsor for the undertakings Gorges himself was inter- ested in the development of the tract on the west side of Agamen- ticus River. His own statement in relation thereto was the following : "I sent over for my son, my nephew Captain William Gorges, who had been my lieutenant in the fort of Plymouth, with some other craftsmen for the building of houses and erect- ing of saw-mills * by which the foundation of the Planta- tion was laid. And I was the more hopeful of the happy success thereof, for that I had not far from that place Richard Vines, a gentleman and servant of my own, who was settled there some years before, and had been interested in the discovery and seiz- ure thereof for me."§
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