USA > Maine > Pioneers on Maine rivers, with lists to 1651 > Part 17
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¡ Me. Doc. Hist., 3-6.
¿ Me. Doc. Hist., 3-206.
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SPURWINK RIVER
ing pan and fowling piece for which his host, Thomas Purchase, was held to be accountable in a subsequent court proceeding.
December 1, 1631, when the Council of Plymouth granted the mainland at Cape Elizabeth to Robert Trelawney and Moses Goodyear, merchants of Plymouth, it was generally understood that the right of the Duke of Richmond in that territory had lapsed for failure to proceed with colonization. Goodyear was a son-in-law of Abraham Jennings, of Plymouth, who had operated formerly at Monhegan.
A few months after the issuance of their patent the Plymouth proprietors executed an agreement with Thomas Pomeroy and John Winter, both of Plymouth, to take legal possession for them.
Their tract extended along the coast from Cammock's bound- ary at Spurwink River to the Presumpscot, then called Casco River, and included "the Bay and River of Cascoe," with the mainland opposite the island formerly occupied by the pioneers of Levett in Casco Bay.§
Trelawney insisted that Levett had lost his previous rights at Casco by failure to comply with the seven-year period of oc- cupancy required of proprietors in the earlier grants, and as- serted that a patent of the same premises abandoned by Levett had been promised to him by the council two years before it was finally issued.
April 17, 1632, Winter arrived at Richmond Island from Eng- land as attorney for the proprietors and July 21, following, took possession of the mainland from Richard Vines of Saco. At the same time he requested Cleave and Tucker to vacate their house at Spurwink. A letter written by Trelawney to Gorges after April 2, 1637, alluded to that patentee's previous occupation of the concession in these words : "I have issued out £3900, & have binne these 7 yeares almost on itt."*
Winter returned to Plymouth in midsummer, but he left Andrew and Thomas Alger and John Baddiver in charge of the house at Richmond Island, where they were engaged subsequently in felling and sawing timber by hand, as well as in fishing.
Meantime, events of a startling nature were transpiring at the Eastward. About the time of Winter's departure a French buccaneer raided Plymouth plantation at Castine while its man-
§ Me. Doc. Hist., 3-1.
Me. Doc. Hist., 3-103.
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PIONEERS ON MAINE RIVERS
ager was absent at the westward. In the same raid the ma- rauders captured Dixie Bull with his ship and trading goods. Bull and his crew hailed from Dorchester, Massachusetts, but hovered constantly about the Northern Coast, or as Winthrop expressed it "kept about the east." The victims of this outrage were convinced that their misfortunes were traceable directly to some suggestion or complicity on the part of the planters at Pemaquid. They assumed that Shurt was envious of their coastal trade, which was conducted wholly by means of a small shallop.
Adopting the same tactics which they had supposed were used at Pemaquid, Bull and his sympathizers formed a coalition with the northern French planters and raided Shurt's trading house.
There were persistent rumors that the piratical crew pro- posed to sack Dorchester itself, where the magistrates had in- curred their early ill will. Even Richmond Island was mentioned as a point of attack because one of Trelawney's men had offended in some way, probably during Bull's eastern passage that spring.
But the winds proved unfavorable for their plans, and they were detained so long beyond Casco Bay that Captain Neal of Pacataqua started in pursuit with two pinnaces, two shallops and about forty men. He encountered a long spell of adverse winds at Pemaquid, and failed to apprehend the pirates, but on his re- turn in December he "hanged up" an Indian, called Black Will, who was supposed to be "one of those who had there murdered Walter Bagnall."+
March 2, 1632-3, Winter came back from England with Peter Hill, John Mills and John Wilkinson, prepared to remain through the winter. Thomas Alger and John Baddiver embarked for home on the return of their ship Welcome July 15, 1633.
Although Neal had ordered Cleave and Tucker to quit the premises at Spurwink they still persisted, in spite of the fact that the captain was recognized then as governor of the whole dis- trict from the Merrimac to Sagadahoc River.
During July and August a house was built on the island for Trelawney's employes. This building was described as forty feet long, eighteen feet wide, and fitted with bunks for summer fishermen. Winter reported to Trelawney, "We have made a pallasatho about our house of 15 foote high, & mounted our
+ Winthrop, 1-99.
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SPURWINK RIVER
ordinance" (two small cannon) "in platt formes with in our pal- lasatho for our defence from those that wish us harme heare."}
The dwelling at Spurwink was abandoned by Cleave and Tucker in the fall of 1633, and under the date of June 18, 1634, Winter wrote to his principals in England: "At the maine we have built no house, but our men lives in the house that the old Cleves built, but we have fitted him som what better, and we have built a house for our pigs."
Writing in the same letter, Winter said: "I have an Intent, God willinge, to Com home for England the next yeare, and I think so will all our Company that ar heare with me." The permanent residents at Cape Elizabeth at that time, including Oliver Weeks, who had left the employment of Cleave to serve Winter, were six.§
April 26, 1635, Narias Hawkins came to take supervision of the plantation and the old company returned to England, as pre- dicted by Winter. The new company was composed of John Billings, Oliver Clark, Sander (Alexander) Freathy and his brother William, William Ham, Narias Hawkins, John Lander and John Symonds .*
Under the date of August 10, 1635, Richard Mather, who came from the Eastward, on his way from England to Massachu- setts, noted in his daily memoranda: "When we came within sight of the island, the planters there (or rather fishers, for their chief employment was fishing,) being but two families, and about forty persons, were sore afraid of us, doubting lest we had been French, come to pillage the island, as Penobscote had been served by them about ten days before."¡
The inhabitants of Black Point and Richmond Island were loyal to the established church of England and signs of any dis- sension among the factions represented in the western colonies were matters of general interest at the Eastward at that time. There politics and religion masqueraded under the same banner. The Wheelwright controversy was one in which Massachusetts authorities were fearful of criticism in those neighboring com- munities where political sentiment was favorable to the Gorges administration.
¿ Me. Doc. Hist .. 3-31. 48.
Me. Doc. Hist .. 3-32.
Me. Doc. Hist., 3-97.
¡ Young's Mass. Chron .. 471.
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As an illustration, April 17, 1637, Edward Winslow reported to Governor Winthrop: "The last news is this whereat I am most grieved That all the late differencs betw. mr Wheelwright & yor selves in Church & Court are in writing at Richmunds Ile where" (Edward) "Turlany shewed" (Myles Standish) "six sheets of pap full written about them."}
The sequel of the Massachusetts contention was a bloodless one, in which the Wheelwright adherents were deprived of their arms and ammunition and left helpless in case of Indian assault. Fortunately, the natives were then at peace with the settlers.
Mills operated by water power were not an early convenience. The first saw pit, in which vertical saws were driven by man power, was mentioned at Kittery Point in 1637. July 10, 1639, Winter reported that there was no gristmill east of Massachu- setts Bay.§
Shipbuilding at Richmond Island was begun at an early date. The bark Richmond, finished there in 1639, was freighted at Casco with clapboards for England, whence it never returned to this country. The ship Richmond, completed two years later, was retained by Trelawney in foreign commerce.
An early settler at the mouth of Spurwink River on the west- ern bank was Ambrose Bouden, whose title was derived from the Cammock estate. He was an English sea captain who had conducted several fishing enterprises at Richmond Island, before 1643, in the interest of Trelawney. In 1640, his son John had distinguished himself at Scarborough as an expert fowler. At that time the house built by Cleave on the opposite side of the river was occupied by John and Benjamin Burrage, farmers em- ployed by Winter to manage Spurwink plantation.
PIONEERS
ALGER, ANDREW, born 1610; employe of Winter who arrived April 17, 1632; returned to England and came back in the "Speedwell," April 26, 1635; Stratton's Island, 1636-1645; bought Dunstan from Indians, 1651; killed by them on his own premises October 12, 1675; widow Agnes, born 1621; children Andrew, Elizabeth (Palmer, Austin), born 1644, Joanna (Oakham, Mills), born 1650, John, born 1640, Matthew and Mary (Ashton), born 1648.
ALGER, TRISTRAM, fisherman, arrived February 13, 1636-7, in the "Her- cules"; returned to his wife in England after 1641.
ALLEN, WILLIAM, fisherman, arrived from Millbrook, England, May 10, 1638, in the "Fortune"; went back to England two months later.
į Mather's N. E., 287.
§ Me. Doc. Hist., 3-172.
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AMORY, JOHN, cooper, arrived from Chudleigh, February 13, 1636-7, in the "Hercules"; returned to his wife in England the next year.
ANDREWS, EDMUND, blacksmith, from Yealmpton, England, 1642-5.
BADDIVER, JOHN, laborer, employed by Trelawney to hold possession at
Cape Elizabeth during the winter of 1632-3; returned to England July 15, 1633, in the "Welcome."
BAGNALL, WALTER, trader at Mount Wallaston; Richmond Island, 1628; killed by Presumpscot Indians October 3, 1631.
BAILEY, JONAS, born 1607; planter, 1634; Scarborough, 1641; wife Eliza- beth; died at Saco, 1664; widow Eleanor, who had previously been the wife of George Dearing and John Jackson.
BEST, EDWARD, fisherman, arrived from Millbrook, England, May 10, 1638, in the "Fortune"; returned to England two months later.
BILLINGS, JOHN, fisherman, arrived April 26, 1635, in the "Speedwell"; Stratton's Island, 1636; Kittery Point, 1639; died 1646; widow Elizabeth married Richard Thomas; son John, born 1635.
BONE, THOMAS, fisherman, arrived from Saltash, England, February 13, 1636-7, in the "Hercules"; sailed for Newfoundland July 19, 1638, in the "Samuel."
BUCKNELL, ROGER, fisherman, 1638-9; left a wife in England. BUNT, GEORGE, fisherman, 1639-1641.
BURGESS, JOHN, master of a fishing vessel called the "Annes," who was taken sick at the island and made his will April 11, 1627; died at West- leigh, England, 1628; widow Joanna Bray; children John, Robert and William.
CANNAGE, MATTHEW, fisherman, 1634; fatally injured at his house on Monhegan by Gregory Castle in 1654.
CHAPPLE, ANTHONY, fisherman, returned to England in the "Fortune," 1638.
CHAPPLE, WILLIAM, fisherman, returned to England July 8, 1637.
CLARK, ANTHONY, fisherman, 1639; returned to England, 1641.
CLARK, OLIVER, fisherman, arrived April 26, 1635, in the "Speedwell." COBB, PETER, fisherman, 1639.
CUMMINGS, RICHARD, born 1603; fisherman, 1635; Isles of Shoals, 1645; married Elizabeth, daughter of Richard Bonython; died 1678; children Elizabeth (Foxwell) and Jane (Jose).
DEARING, GEORGE, carpenter, 1637; Scarborough, 1640; died soon and his widow married John Jackson and Jonas Bailey; son Roger, born 1646.
DUSTIN, THOMAS, born 1605; fisherman; arrived March 2, 1632-3, in the "Hunter"; Kittery, 1640; died 1678; widow Elizabeth; son Thomas, of Haverhill.
EDGECOMB, NICHOLAS, born 1592; fisherman, 1637; married Wilmot Randall; Scarborough, 1641; Casco, 1658; died 1681; widow survived; children John, Mary (Page, Ashton), born 1642, Christopher, born 1643, Joanna (Elkins, Pyncheon), born 1649, Michael, born 1651, and Robert, born 1652.
EDMUNDS, HENRY, fisherman; arrived from Millbrook, England, May 10, 1638, but remained only two weeks.
EDWARDS, WILLIAM, fisherman, drowned, 1637.
FIELD, RICHARD, fisherman, 1637; returned to England, 1641.
FISHCOCK, EDWARD, boatmaster, 1634; returned to England, 1637.
FREATHY, ALEXANDER, fisherman, arrived in the "Speedwell" April 26, 1635; Stratton's Island, 1636; returned to England, 1638.
FREATHY, WILLIAM, fisherman and brother of Alexander, arrived 1635; Stratton's Island, 1636; York, 1640-1671; widow Elizabeth; children Joan (Holmes), John and Samuel.
GARLAND, JOHN, born 1621; mariner, 1639; died at Hampton January 4, 1671; widow Elizabeth.
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GAUDE, MARK, fisherman, arrived from Saint Johns, England, May 10, 1638, in the "Fortune," and returned soon after.
GIBSON, RICHARD, clergyman, arrived from England in the "Hercules" May 24, 1636; married Mary, daughter of Thomas Lewis; Portsmouth, 1639; Isles of Shoals during the summer of 1642; returned to England that year.
GILL, ARTHUR, shipwright, 1637-8; Boston, 1639; died in England, leav- ing family in this country; widow Agnes; children, born in England, Frances; born at Boston, John, November 16, 1639, Thomas, October 12, 1644, and Nathaniel.
GILL, PETER, fisherman, 1633; returned to England, 1634.
GOUCH, WILLIAM, fisherman, 1641-3.
GULLET, PETER, fisherman, arrived May 24, 1636, in the "Fortune"; died October 2, 1636; widow in England.
HAM, WILLIAM, fisherman, arrived from England in the "Speedwell," April 26, 1635; Stratton's Island, 1636; died at Portsmouth January 26, 1672-3; daughter Elizabeth (Cotton).
HAMMOCK, THOMAS, fisherman, 1638-1643; married Avis, widow of John Burrage; died in Scarborough, 1676.
HAMMOND, PENTECOST, fisherman, 1637-1641.
HANCOCK, HENRY, carpenter, 1638-1640.
HATCH, CHARLES, apprentice of Clement Penwell, of Newton Ferrers, England; wife in England, 1634-1641; died 1653.
HATCH, PHILIP, brother of Charles; fisherman; arrived from England in the "Hercules" February 13, 1636-7; servant of Nicholas Ball at York, 1650; died 1674; widow Patience; child Philip, born 1651.
HAWKINS, NARIAS, overseer, arrived from England in the "Speedwell" April 26, 1635; headquarters at Stratton's Island, 1636; left for Eng- land, 1639; master of the "Star" next year; wife in England.
HEARL, WILLIAM, fisherman, 1638-1640; died at Portsmouth, 1690; widow (Beaton) ; child Sarah (Cotton).
HEIFER, ANDREW, fisherman, arrived from England in the "Fortune" May 24, 1636; Kittery, 1640; wife in England; died at Black Point April 14, 1661.
HEMPSON, JOHN, fisherman, arrived in the "Hercules" from England February 13, 1636-7; remained until 1641.
HEWETT, NICHOLAS, fisherman for only ten days, 1642.
HILL, PETER, fisherman, arrived with Winter March 2, 1632-3; removed to Saco; died August 29, 1667; only son Peter, born 1635.
HINGSTON, PHILIP, fisherman, from Holberton, England, 1639-1643; Saco, 1653; deceased 1662; widow Margaret married George Taylor; children Philip, Meribah and Sarah.
HOLE, or HOWELL, JOHN, fisherman, arrived from England in the "Her- cules" February 13, 1636-7; merchant at Kittery, 1671-1690; died at Barbadoes; widow Elizabeth; son John, born 1633.
HOSKINS, JOHN, fisherman, 1634.
HUMPHREY, JEREMIAH, servant of Robert Jordan, 1648.
HURD, ARTHUR, fisherman, 1634.
JENKINS, REGINALD, born 1608; surgeon, arrived from England with Winter March 2, 1632-3; bought a house at Eliot of John Newgrove, 1650; wife Ann; children Jabez, Mary, Philadelphia, Sarah and Stephen. JOPE, SAMPSON, fisherman, 1637-9; wife in England.
JOY, RICHARD, carpenter, 1641.
KING, THOMAS, carpenter, arrived from Stonehouse, England, with Win- ter March 2, 1632-3; services hired from Nicholas Longworthy; built the house at Richmond Island. 1633; returned to England.
LAKESLEY, JOHN, fisherman, 1641-3.
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LANDER, JOHN, fisherman, arrived from England in the "Speedwell" April 26, 1635; Stratton's Island, 1636-8; Kittery Point, 1639; died 1646; probably drowned with Billings, who was his fishing partner.
LAPTHORNE, STEPHEN, fisherman, 1637-1640; returned to his wife and children in England, 1640.
LISSEN, THOMAS, fisherman from Plymouth, 1639.
LIBBY, JOHN, born 1602; fisherman, arrived from England in the "Her- cules" February 13, 1636-7; died 1683; widow Mary; children Abigail (Fickett), Anthony, Daniel, David, Hannah (Fogg), Henry, James, Joanna (Bickford), John, born 1646, Mary (Slaughter), Matthew, Re- becca (Brown), Samuel and Sarah (Tidy).
LOPEZ, JOHN, servant of Winter, drowned, 1637.
LUCAS, WILLIAM, fisherman, 1637-1641.
MADDIVER, MICHAEL, fisherman, 1640-3; married Agnes, widow of Rich- ard Carter, of North Yarmouth; died 1669; children Joel and Catherine (Marr).
MARTIN, FRANCIS, son of John, former mayor of Plymouth; Casco gentleman, 1640; daughter Mary executed in Boston, 1646, on the charge of destroying her illegitimate infant.
MARTIN, RICHARD, fisherman, arrived from England in the "Hercules" February 13, 1636-7; married Dorothy, widow of Benjamin Atwell; died at Falmouth January 14, 1672-3; daughter Lydia (Corbin).
MATHEWS, NICHOLAS, fisherman, 1639-1640.
MELLIN, WILLIAM, fisherman, 1638-1642.
MILLS, EDWARD, fisherman, arrived from England in the "Hercules" February 13, 1636-7; returned to England, 1640.
MITCHELL, PAUL, sailor, from Sheviock, England, 1637; wife in England, 1643; drowned in Massachusetts on a fishing cruise November 18, 1653. NYLE, RICHARD, fisherman, arrived from England in the "Hercules" Feb- ruary 13, 1636-7.
OKERS, ROWLAND, fisherman, 1634.
PEVERLY, JOHN, one of Weston's men who came from Mount Wallaston, 1628; killed by Indians at Richmond Island October 3, 1631.
ROBERTS, JOHN, fisherman, drowned, 1637.
ROGERS, GEORGE, fisherman, 1637-8; servant of Thomas Gorges, 1640-3; Portsmouth, 1651; deceased that year; children Benjamin and four girls. SAMPSON, THOMAS, brewer, 1637; returned to a wife in England.
SARGENT, STEPHEN, carpenter, arrived from England in the "Fortune" February 13, 1636-7; returned to England, 1640; back again, 1641; drowned at the Isles of Shoals, 1649.
SATERLEY, ROBERT, fisherman, arrived from England in the "Fortune" February 13, 1636-7; wife in England.
SAUNDERS, ROBERT, of Plymouth, fisherman, 1639-1640.
SHEPERD, THOMAS, fisherman, arrived from England in the "Hercules" February 13, 1636-7; returned to England, 1642.
SHORT, TOBIAS, servant of Winter, 1639-1643.
STEVENS, BENJAMIN, husbandman, arrived from Landrake, England, in the "Hercules" February 13, 1636-7; returned to wife in England, 1641. SYMONDS, JOHN, born 1615; fisherman, arrived from England in the
"Speedwell" April 26, 1635; Stratton's Island, 1636; Kittery, 1641; mar- ried Welthen, widow of John Goddard; died at Salem, 1671; children unknown.
TOWNSEND, HENRY, fisherman, 1634.
TREBY, EDWARD, fisherman, 1639-1642.
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PIONEERS ON MAINE RIVERS
TRELAWNEY, EDWARD, of Bake, son of Robert, mayor of Plymouth, and brother of Robert, the patentee; arrived in the "Speedwell" April 26, 1635; returned to England, 1637; died 1643; widow Mary; children born in England, Anne (Toms), 1616, Eulalia, 1617, Elizabeth, 1619, Mary, 1621, Katherine, 1623, Dorothy, 1625, and Robert.
VINION, JOHN, fisherman, arrived from England in the "Hercules" May 24, 1636; returned to England, 1641.
WHITE, NICHOLAS, fisherman, arrived from England February 13, 1636-7, in the "Hercules"; House Island, 1661; Maquoit, 1662; died 1668-1671; widow Margery married William Haynes, of Scarborough; children Daniel, Margery and Samuel.
WILKINSON, JOHN, arrived from Plymouth March 2, 1632-3, in the "Wel- come"; Saco, 1640; Scarborough later; dead 1666.
WILLINE, ROGER, fisherman, 1637; arrived from England in the "Her- cules"; one of the first settlers of Cape Porpoise, 1641; Pemaquid, 1672; no record of his death.
WINTER, JOHN, arrived from Plymouth, England, April 17, 1632, on a fishing voyage; returned from Richmond Island that year and came back to the island March 2, 1632-3, with a few fishermen who had con- sented to "stay over" winter; wife Joan left at Plymouth, 1634; went back to Plymouth in 1635 and brought his wife the next year; died 1645; children John, Sarah (Jordan) and Mary (Hooper), who re- mained in England.
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FORE RIVER
FORE RIVER
This important adjunct to Portland Harbor was known to the natives as Capisic River. In 1631, the western shore, known as Cape Elizabeth, was granted to Trelawney and Goodyear. The first settler on that side of the river was Michael Mitten, who married Elizabeth, only daughter of George Cleave. In 1637, the latter, as land agent for Gorges in his county of New Somerset, gave Mitten a lease of Peaks Island, which lies op- posite the mouth of the river.
The tract on the eastern shore was called Machegonne by the Indians and settlement was begun there, in the fall of 1633, by Cleave and his partner Richard Tucker, who removed thither from Spurwink River. According to a deposition of Henry Jocelyn, Cleave and Tucker were the first European occupants on the site of the City of Portland.
In 1636, Cleave who had become solicitous for his legal rights at Casco went to England, where he held conferences with Gorges himself and January 27, 1636-7, purchased from him the entire point situated between Fore and Presumpscot rivers. This tract had been called by the natives Machegonne, but it was re- named Stogumber, in honor of the English town of Tucker's nativity .*
While in London Cleave had retained Thomas Morton to ad- vocate the nomination of Gorges as royal governor of all New England, and Cradock, former governor of the Massachusetts Bay Colony, was asked to contribute to the expense of the cam- paign under a pretext that such an appointment would be bene- ficial to the interests of his colony .;
Although Gorges was appointed July 23, 1637, he never be- came active because the Massachusetts members of the commis- sion declined to serve on account of their conviction that the in- terests of Gorges in Massachusetts and Maine were inimical to their own.
Cleave, however, fortified in his own mind for the purpose,
* York Deeds, 1-95.
+ 4 Mass. Hist. Col .. 6-127.
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returned to Maine with the intention of summarily ending the controversy which had arisen between himself and Trelawney as to his titles at Spurwink and Machegonne.
By virtue of their deed the proprietors of Machegonne took seizin of the premises from Arthur Mackworth June 8, 1637. They had already occupied that point for about four years. Nevertheless, only twenty-two days later the rival proprietors of Cape Elizabeth, who had procured an extension of their former grant, took constructive possession as far east as Presumpscot River. On that occasion Richard Vines acted as attorney for the Council of Plymouth and Mackworth was one of the subscribing witnesses. Other influential planters who favored the title of Trelawney and Goodyear to Machegonne were Edward Godfrey, of York, Thomes Purchase, of Pejepscot, and John Winter, of Richmond Island.
On account of their political prominence in the district and because of their open opposition to his claim of ownership at Casco, Cleave at once cited all but Mackworth to appear in Lon- don, before a session of the court of Star Chamber to be holden October 11, 1637. At the hearing the complaint was dismissed for jurisdictional defects and resulted in the assessment of court costs against Cleave.
June 25, 1640, Cleave began litigation anew in a session of the Maine court which had been reorganized by Thomas Gorges. He proposed to establish his title over the rival claim of Tre- lawney, who on account of the death of Goodyear upon March 26, 1637, was sole owner at Casco by right of survivorship.
At the time of the suit the plaintiff alleged continuous occu- pation of the disputed premises for seven years. The defendant, who was represented by John Winter, asserted proprietorship by virtue of his original grant from the Council of Plymouth, which had defined his eastern boundary as the "River of Casco." Possession had been taken by the latter June 30, 1637.
During the trial testimony was introduced by Trelawney to prove that the Presumpscot was the "River of Casco" referred to in his grant.
The jury consisted of Arnold Allen, John Baker, Henry Boade, Thomas Cammock, William Cole, Richard Foxwell, Arthur Mackworth, Thomas Page, Francis Robinson, James Smith, John West and Thomas Withers. Some of the panel re-
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FORE RIVER
sided on the western side of the county. Mackworth should have known the facts, for he was represented as in possession of land on the easterly bank of the Presumpscot for "many yeares" be- fore 1635.
Winter maintained that his witnesses had frequented Casco Bay before the plaintiff had occupied any part of the premises, but charged that the statements of members of the jury were secretly considered in its deliberations, and that none of the jurors had known Casco "above 5 or 6 yeares at the most." This time limit, when compared with the testimony of Arthur Brown, who was the defendant's witness and an associate of Mackworth, is significant, for the deponent testified that he had lived at Pre- sumpscot but six years before the trial. Only seven years previ- ously Neal had found the place deserted.
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