USA > Maine > Pioneers on Maine rivers, with lists to 1651 > Part 24
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* Me. Doc. Hist., 10-49.
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PIONEERS ON MAINE RIVERS
IRISH, JOHN, servant of Timothy Hatherly from Clisden, England, 1629; employe of Plymouth Colony at Cushnoc, 1634; Duxbury, 1637; received there land "due for his service," 1644; died at Bridgewater, 1677; widow Elizabeth; children Elias and John.
REYNOLDS, WILLIAM, employe of Plymouth Colony at Cushnoc, 1634; Duxbury, 1637; married Alice Kitson August 30, 1638; Salem, 1640; Kennebunk River, 1647; died 1675-9, when his heirs obtained land by reason of former service to the colony; children Job, John, born 1651, Mary (Langley), Samuel and William.
RICHARDS, JOHN, employe of Plymouth Colony at Penobscot and Cush- noc, 1630-8; had employe's grant, 1637; Saco Court, 1640-3; bought Arrowsic from Indians, 1649; owed an account to Thomas Richards, of Weymouth, 1650; freeman at Sagadahoc, 1654; sold Arrowsic to Clark and Lake that year; described as "Old Richards" of Kennebec, 1656; owed Plymouth Company at Kennebec for merchandise, 1659.
TALBOT, MOSES, employe of Plymouth Colony at Cushnoc; killed below the falls in Augusta in April, 1634.
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PHIPPS POINT, NOW OWNED BY GOVERNOR WILLIAM TUDOR GARDINER
283
SHEEPSCOT RIVER
SHEEPSCOT RIVER
The Indian name for this river was Aponeg. Its present name was derived from the words "sheep's cote," which type of cot or shelter was conspicuous along the shores, when the prin- cipal occupation of eastern pioneers was sheep raising.
In 1606, the chief of the province was Mentaurmet, father of Robinhood, who subsequently disposed of all his lands to the English. The considerations for the conveyances were so small compared with the extent of the tracts that James Stilson, who was related to John Brown of Pemaquid, maintained that the Eastern Country was "settled by people without purchase."
The first conveyance of Robinhood was executed in 1639, when he sold to Edward Bateman and John Brown, of Pemaquid, the whole of the present town of Woolwich, then called Nequas- seag, extending from Kennebec to Sheepscot River.
Soon after their purchase the grantees sold Phipps Point, situated on the westerly side of the latter river, to James Phipps and John White. The site is still known as the birthplace of Sir William Phips in 1651 .*
The residue of Nequasseag above Phipps Point upon the Sheepscot side was acquired later, through mesne conveyances, by Thomas Clark and Thomas Lake of Boston.
In 1662, Thomas Cleves and John Tucker, fishermen at Cape Newagen, obtained from Robinhood leases of two tracts situated above Phipps Point on the western bank at Couseagan. These grantees were engaged in their work upon the coast during the ishing season and did not reside upon the premises. After four years Cleves sold his lot to a Boston merchant. At that time it was bounded northerly by land at Wiscasset, bought from the indians by George Davis December 15, 1663.1
The next tract above Nequasseag was sold to Nathaniel Draper, of Damariscove River as he was styled, March 6, 1662-3, y Indians. It extended for six miles along the river bank, above and below the falls, and for five miles into the interior.}
* York Deeds, 17-190 ; Lincoln Deeds, 9-99.
+ Me. Hist. Gen. Rec., 7-20; Suffolk Court Files, 139279.
į York Deeds, 12-188; Me. Hist. Gen. Rec., 6-477.
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PIONEERS ON MAINE RIVERS
This territory had been appropriated before its purchase by English planters who had settled at Sheepscot with Draper. Some of these may have come from older Sagadahoc plantations. Two of the earliest were Robert Allen and Thomas Mercer, of whom the latter came thither from Cape Porpoise and secured one hundred acres of the Draper tract just above the falls.
Descendants claimed that Draper had possessed his land at Sheepscot for thirty-five years, when he was killed there in the Indian massacre of 1689. Computation fixes the date of his set- tlement at 1654, or about fifteen years after Bateman and Brown arrived at Nequasseag.
The first Draper dwelling was located opposite the lower point of Dyer's Neck; a later one stood about a mile above the falls. Whether the pioneer was the son of another person of the same name who was a member of the crew of the Falcon, char- tered by Thomas Pell, of New Haven, is not known, but that early trader had been engaged in the exchange of northern deer and bear skins for southern tobacco when he died in Virginia April 27, 1647, and, although survived by "kindred," he be- queathed his unpaid wages to David Selleck, a Boston soap boiler.§
Robert Allen, for whom Allen's Falls were named, may have come to Maine from Massachusetts to avoid persecution by the magistrates. In 1660, he affirmed at Bristol, England, that he had known John Brown, then of New Harbor, for seventeen years. Brown, however, had sojourned at Nequasseag from 1639 to 1654, and removed beyond Pemaquid to New Harbor soon after the latter date. Since Allen described himself as a resident of Sheepscot, the proximity of the residences of Allen and Brown accounted for their prolonged acquaintance, although the former appeared to have been more closely affiliated with Pema- quid plantation.
While Cleves and Tucker were early residents at Cape Newa- gen on the easterly side of the Sheepscot, the whole Boothbay shore, for seven miles, was owned by Henry Curtis, of Beverly, under a title from the Indians secured January 20, 1666-7. This tract contained 9,000 acres.i
Above Boothbay was a whole township acquired from the
# Mass. House Journal, 1731-87.
New Haven Rec., 1-451.
# Me. Hist. Gen. Rec., 7-18.
285
SHEEPSCOT RIVER
atives December 15, 1664, by George Davis who lived upon a part of it within the present limits of Wiscasset village. i
Above Back River was Mason's Neck, which had been ac- quired from the natives by John Mason January 20, 1652-3. The southerly extremity of this land was bought by John White, of Sheepscot, who sold half to Philip Bendall July 10, 1664, and Bendall conveyed it to Robert Scott the next year. Above the White premises was another tract bought from Mason by Wil- iam James and transferred to Thomas Gent .;
The next lot above Mason's Neck lay beyond the falls and on the eastern bank opposite Nathaniel Draper's house and was bought from the Indians January 3, 1662-3, by Elizabeth, the widow of John and mother of Thomas Gent.§
Eastward of the farm of Thomas Gent was the location of that of William Cole and farther inland on the river was Nas- someck, purchased from the Indians by William Dyer February 11, 1662-3, and styled "Dyer's Neck."*
July 26, 1665, Samuel Maverick as commissioner for New York wrote to Sir Henry Bennett: "Upon three rivers, the East of Kennebeck, Shipscot and Pemaquid, are three plantations- the greatest has not above 20 houses-and they are inhabited by the worst of men; they have no Government, and have fled thence from punishment; for the most part they are fishermen, and share in their wives as they do in their boats."fi
In spite of the unfavorable report the commissioners were instructed to require submission of the inhabitants of the East- ern Country. Damariscotta was not mentioned at that time and its few residents were combined with those at Sheepscot. The meeting was called at the house of John Mason September 5, 1665. As James Phipps had deceased before 1654 his name did not appear in this list of freemen. From the number of sub- scribers it is evident that Sheepscot, the largest of the three east- ern plantations, contained only fourteen dwellings. ##
Previous to the Indian Wars Sheepscot had become a pros- perous farming and grazing community. On the night of August 13, 1676, the natives attacked the home of Richard Hammond at Woolwich and a few hours later captured the garrison at Arrow-
+ York Deeds, 2-8.
Į York Deeds, 20-86; Me. Hist. Gen. Rec., 6-476.
York Deeds, 20-96.
York Deeds, 15-225, 227.
++ Sainsbury's Col. Pap., 2-313.
## Sullivan, 287 ; Appendix H.
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PIONEERS ON MAINE RIVERS
sic. A girl who was living in the Hammond household and Johr Dole, a boy employed at Arrowsic, evaded the savages, crossed the intervening rivers and apprised the settlers at Sheepscot and Damariscotta of the danger.
As a consequence both settlements withdrew to Cape Newa gen the next day. Subsequently, the inhabitants on the easterr bank withdrew to Massachusetts. Hubbard reported that "Those of Shipscot taking this Warning escaped away as soon as they could, leaving their Cattel and their Dwellings as a Prey to the Indians."
The records of Scituate recite the names of the principa planters and divulge the importance of their individual losses The refugees were described as "Strangers from Shipscot River' who were in need of municipal aid. The following property was listed as destroyed at the Eastward :
"Mr." (William) "Dyer left all behind him, who sowed 1 bushells of wheat, planted a bushell and a half of Indian corne sowed 9 bushells of peas, left 56 hed of Cattell, 30 swine, and household goods, and tackling for a plow and carte."
"John White, and John Lee his son in law, sowed 10 bushell of wheat, planted 2 bushells of Indian corne, 5 bushells of peas 17 hed of Cattell, 16 swine, one horse."
"Philip Bendall sowed 9 bushells of peas, 5 or 6 of wheat 16 hed of Cattell, 6 swine."
"Widow" (William) "Cole, 2 oxen, cowes, 2 heifers, sowe 6 bushells of wheat, planted 3 bushells of Indian corne."
Others who abandoned the east bank of the Sheepscot wer Elizabeth, widow of John Gent, and her son Thomas, who es caped to Boston. At a meeting in the latter town six years late some of these eastern refugees voted to return to their deserte farms at "New Dartmouth." They proposed to build a fort o Gent's, otherwise known as "The Great Neck," and surround i with homesteads in close formation.
By the terms of the compact Walter Phillips was required t surrender all claim to the site of the new village or submit to th general restrictions prescribed therein. So far as known, th superior rights of Phillips were derived from Indian deeds. H did not subscribe his name to the settlement contract.
The new pioneers, providing live stock and provisions fo
* Hist. of Scituate, 402.
287
SHEEPSCOT RIVER
the undertaking, began the plantation at Sheepscot in 1683. Some of the old settlers had deceased and were represented by children or widows.
The plantations of Sheepscot and Damariscotta were again deserted on the same fatal day in August, 1689. At that time the northern Indians killed several members of the planters' families, among whom were William Dyer and Nathaniel Draper. The attack on Sheepscot garrison was recounted many years later by a daughter of the latter.
Her version of the incident was preserved by Mary Varney, of Boston, who testified that she had heard Esther (Draper) Roberts "tell of her living in Fort or Garrison where they were surrounded by the Indian Enemy and were affraid of going from Fort or Garrison least they should be made captives. She then ventured without with two pails to get some water, and saw a number of Indians, one of whom was going to fire at her, when she heard others say repeatedly 'no shoot Esther Draper,' in con- sequence of which she safely got in to her place of security, where she, with other females, dressing themselves in men's ap- parel, assisted the only two men that were then with them in defending their Garrison surrounded by the Enemy, who were doing their best to subdue it."
After the death of Draper his widow married Robert Scott, whose wife appears to have been killed in the same tragedy. Scott's child Samuel was then but a year old, as appears from the record of his decease at Wrentham, Massachusetts, dated Novem- ber 6, 1755, when he was in his sixty-eighth year.
PIONEERS
ALLEN, ROBERT, deposed at Bristol, England, 1660, that his residence was Sheepscot and that he had known John Brown, of New Harbor, for seventeen years.
CURTIS, HENRY, planter, bought the westerly half of Boothbay, amount- ing to 9,000 acres, from the Indians January 20, 1666-7; living there 1672-4; children Henry and John, born 1655.
DAVIS, GEORGE, mariner at Lynn, 1650; bought Wiscasset from the In- dians, 1663; wounded by the natives at Arrowsic, while on a fishing trip eastward, 1676; only child William.
DYER, WILLIAM, planter at Boston, 1637; wife Mary executed for her religion, 1660; bought land from the Indians at Sheepscot, 1663; killed by natives in August, 1689; children Christopher, the eldest, John, born 1648, and Mary, who married Samuel, son of Joseph Bowles, of Cape Porpoise.
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PIONEERS ON MAINE RIVERS
MASON, JOHN, born 1619; arrived in the "Philip," which sailed from Gravesend, England, June 20, 1635; married Mary, daughter of John and Elizabeth Gent; planter on Mason's Neck, which he bought from Robinhood, 1652; died 1665; widow married John Allen of Charlestown; children James and Mary (Manning).
PHIPPS, JAMES, gunsmith, bought Phipps Point from Bateman and Brown after 1639; died 1651-4; widow Mary married John White; the best known members of her first family were Anne, James, John, Margaret, Mary, and Sir William born February 2, 1650-1.
SCOTT, ROBERT, born 1634; planter opposite the Oyster Beds at Damaris- cotta, 1665; Gloucester, 1677; New Dartmouth, 1683; married Esther, widow of Nathaniel Draper, 1690; the only child, by a former marriage, was Samuel, born 1688.
WHITE, JOHN, partner of James Phipps, who married his widow; died on the premises at Sheepscot after the first Indian war; the survivors of his eight children were Peter, born 1653, John, born 1655, Benjamin and Philip, born 1662, and Sarah (Lane).
WHITE, JOHN, planter on the east side of Sheepscot River; the records of Scituate, where they took refuge in 1676, described the conditions of the abandoned farms of himself and neighbors at the Eastward; John Lee was a son-in-law and Lydia, his only grandchild, married Thomas Leaworthy.
DAMARISCOTTA RIVER, BELOW NEWCASTLE
289
DAMARISCOTTA RIVER
DAMARISCOTTA RIVER
The Indian name of this river was Apponick, as described in the geographical description of Moashan. In his account of the irst settlement of Sagadahoc, Purchase mentioned a visit to the country of Amniquin. That chief did not hesitate to strip his erson of valuable furs in exchange for a few worthless articles f English merchandise. The river was called Tamescot in the narrative, but the similarity of names is apparent.
That there were no early European settlements on this stream n the interior was indicated by the lateness of the Indian con- eyances. The territory on the easterly side, which was granted o Robert Aldworth and Gyles Elbridge in the Pemaquid patent February 29, 1631-2, was not defined by Walter Neal until May 7, 1633. The title passed through John Elbridge to his brother 'homas and finally lodged in Nicholas Davison, of Charlestown, eptember 3, 1657 .*
The first settlers moved up from Pemaquid and over from heepscot. The peninsula, known as Buckland's or Bucknell's eck, located on the easterly side of Corbin's Sound, now called ohns Bay, comprised two farms which belonged to George ucknell.+
John Taylor, aged 16, came from Gravesend, England, in le Philip June 20, 1635, in company with John Mason and Rob-
't Morgan, who settled in the vicinity.}
According to affidavits of John Allen, John Brown, Thomas ent and Robert Scott, the Taylor homestead at Damariscotta lid been in the settler's possession for at least fifty years of his l'etime. Subsequently, Thomas Gent married Sarah, one of Taylor's daughters, and occupied a part of it.§
Taylor lived above "Salt Water Falls" in Newcastle and may Ive settled there in 1635. However, the land occupied by him vas absorbed later by a greater tract which Walter Phillips bught from the Indians February 15, 1661-2. The grantee was hrn in 1619, had lived at Pemaquid and then at Winnegance
* York Deeds, 18-112; Suffolk Deeds, 3-50.
¡ Me. Hist. Gen. Rec., 8-180. Hotten, 94.
York Deeds, 16-112.
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PIONEERS ON MAINE RIVERS
(East Boothbay) that "he might be near the sea." His fina location was below the first fall in the town of Newcastle .*
In 1639, there were living at or near Winnegance Arthu Brown, Henry Champney, Walter Phillips, Richard and Rober Shute and John Taylor.
June 2, 1651, Taylor and Nathaniel Draper were describe as residents upon "Damiriscove River." This might mean Pema quid. Draper had been living at the latter place in 1649; but h may have served elsewhere as agent for English merchants. H removed to Sheepscot in 1654 and bought his homestead ther from the Indians in 1662.1
In 1665, the land on the westerly side of the river at Winne gance was owned by Edmund Arrowsmith and Henry Champney both originally of Pemaquid.#
That same year John, son of the immigrant Brown, too. up his residence in Damariscotta below the fall. He was born in 1635 and had lived with his father for thirty years at Pemaquid Woolwich and New Harbor.§
On the river above the Brown homestead was that of Rober Scott, who was born in 1634 and married the widow of Na thaniel Draper after 1689.
Above the farm of Scott, and adjoining the Oyster Mounds were five hundred acres of land bought from the Indians by Sylvanus Davis June 14, 1659. The witnesses to this transaction were Edward Bateman, Edward Hall, Thomas Kimball, Walter Phillips, Philip Swadden and John Taylor. The tract was sold subsequently to Thomas Kimball, who lived there a few years and afterwards conveyed it to Phillips .*
Many years later Joh'n Pierce deposed that the families o Brown, Gent, Phillips, Scott and Taylor were the only ones liv ing at Newcastle and Damariscotta in 1665, and these planters all took the oath of allegiance at Sheepscot that year.tt
The river was abandoned soon after the outbreak of the first Indian war of 1675, and the refugees retired to Massachusetts where they, with many others from the Eastern Country, were admitted as freemen of the Commonwealth.##
* York Deeds, 18-2, 235.
Suffolk Deeds, 1-24; Aspinwall, 205, 209.
¿ Me. Hist. Gen. Rec., 7-16, 18.
$ York Deeds, 20-85.
** York Deeds. 16-113, 208.
** York Deeds. 18-281.
## Essex Rec., 6-399.
291
DAMARISCOTTA RIVER
DAMARISCOVE ISLAND.
From his reference to the name of Damerill's Cove, in 1614, it is obvious that Captain John Smith may have known something about the discovery of the place which has been lost to later generations. Humphrey Damerill was a master mariner of prominence, who died in Massachusetts, or at sea, in 1654. He may have been one of Smith's seamen who had discovered that haven. The Indian name for Damariscove Island, which lies near the mouth of Damariscotta River, was Agguahega and its area comprises about 200 acres.
The island is situated about three miles southerly of Linekin Neck and is usually visible from that point. Near its center it is nearly cut in two. On account of the uninviting aspect of its ledges and the absence of forest trees, the place presented a de- cidedly bleak and inhospitable apparance to strangers, but its proximity to the mainland and to the neighboring fishing grounds made it an attractive resort for all of the early mariners who were unable to obtain adequate stage room at Monhegan. Its har- bor, facing the southeast quarter, was not so well sheltered in case of sudden emergencies as were those at Cape Newagen and Winnegance, but its convenient access to and from the sea offset its other disadvantages to some extent.
During the long period of European visitation, Damariscove had only occasional inhabitants who were mainly dependent upon the fishing industry. The surrounding islands were not men- tioned in any of the early accounts of the locality.
In the early administration of foreign affairs the Council of Plymouth undertook to impose rigid restrictions upon fishing and trading on the New England Coast. The plan adopted in- cluded registration and the collection of a privilege tax for every British vessel bound thither. The volume of commerce could not have been large, for April 25, 1621, a parliamentary debate re- lating to the freedom of the seas disclosed that "The English, as yet, little frequent this" (region), "in respect of this prohibition ; but the Dutch and French who come, and will fish there, notwithstanding the colony."§
Yet, it was not uncommon for vessels to evade custom officers, and one of these ships was that of the London merchant, Thomas Weston, who was later accused of dispatching it to the Northern
§ Brit. Proc., 1-35.
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PIONEERS ON MAINE RIVERS
Coast without license, in 1621. At that time Weston was finan- cially interested in the settlement of New Plymouth.
It was plain that the establishment of trading centers in the New Country would soon render the scheme of the council in- operative and for that reason the members of that organization could not have been expected to be particularly anxious to ad- vance western colonization.
The first plantation at New Plymouth was the result of pri- vate enterprise and May 2, 1621, it was claimed in parliament that Sir Ferdinando Gorges and Sir John Bowser had not settled "one man there" (in America), "in theis 70 years." Not only was this charge undisputed, but the following year arrangements were made to begin immediate colonization; presumably, from fear that otherwise the charter itself might be annulled.
Since it was common knowledge that but few natives then in- habited "the Coast, for two hundred Leagues together" Leonard Peddock was dispatched by the council "to dyve into the bowels of the Continent" and "search and finde out what Port, or Place, is most convenient to settle our mayne Plantation in, where wee meane to make the Residencie of our State and Government."*
At the same time the Virginia Company sponsored an expedi- tion by Thomas Jones, master of the Discovery, who provided the major part of the requisite funds.
Meantime, Weston was not idle. Divorced from his self-serv- ing but unsatisfactory connections with Plymouth Colony, he undertook to found a private settlement in Massachusetts. With this intent he formed a partnership with John Beauchamp, an- other London merchant associated with the first colony, and they sent over a fishing vessel called the Sparrow, in which were "six or seven" advance agents prepared to explore the Northern Coast and select a favorable site for a settlement.
The Sparrow sailed from London and arrived at the East- ward in May, 1622, but owing to poor anchorage and stage ac- commodations at Monhegan withdrew to Damerill's Cove .;
This harbor, which lies within the southern end of Dam- ariscove Island, was called "Dambrell's Cove in Canada" by Vir- ginians and afforded a safe and convenient refuge for deep-sea fishing craft.
When Phineas Pratt, one of Weston's agents, landed in the
* Purchase, 19-283.
Bradford, 2-72.
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DAMARISCOTTA RIVER
cove the number of vessels in the vicinity had increased to about thirty, but none of the mariners were familiar with the coast of New England. This is apparent from the predicament of Pratt, who sought a pilot to navigate a boat to the southward.
The agent's description of the situation follows : Thomas Weston "sent forth a ship for ye settleing a plantation in the Massachusetts Bay, but wanting a pilote we Arived att Damo- ralls Cove. The men yt belong to ye ship, ther fishing, had newly set up a may pole & weare very mery. We maed hast to prepare a boat fit for costing. Then said Mr. Rodgers, Master of our Ship, 'heare ar Many ships & at Munhigin, but no man yt does un- dertake to be yor pilate; for they say yt an Indian Caled Rum- higin undertook to pilot a boat to Plimoth, but thay all lost thar Lives.' Then said Mr. Gibbs, Mastrs Mate of our ship, 'I will venter my Live wth ym'."#
The incidental remark of Rogers, to the effect that "heare ar Many ships" (at Damariscove) "& at Munhigin, but no man yt does undertake to be yor pilate," substantiated the statement of Captain Smith, made the same year, that "all these Ships, till this last yeare, have bin fished within a square of two or three leagues, and not one of them all would adventure any further."§
The outcome was that Pratt, with six companions and a few hardy sailors, set their course for Massachusetts in an open boat with John Gibbs, mate of the Sparrow, as volunteer guide. After some examination of the Isles of Shoals and Agawam at Cape Ann, they selected Wessaguscus as the place for Weston's settlement and began construction of the community buildings.
About the first of July the Charity, in command of William Reynolds, and the Swan, from London, reached their rendezvous at New Plymouth. The former vessel landed about fifty pas- sengers for the Wessaguscus plantation and proceeded to Vir- ginia with others. Thomas Morton, a barrister from Clifford's Inn and not a mechanic, remained at Patuxet while new buildings were being erected. The Swan was left in the country to trade from New England to Virginia for the benefit of Weston's Colony. At the close of its season the Sparrow, which had been fishing and trading with fishermen and Indians at Damariscove, was sold by Weston, with its cargo, in the Southern Colony.
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