USA > Maine > Cumberland County > Portland > Portland by the sea; an historical treatise > Part 12
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
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
200
PORTLAND BY THE SEA
to Portsmouth, a distance of fifty-one miles. The Boston and Maine was then extended so as to connect with the P. S. and P. at South Berwick. Hon. John A. Poor was the leading promoter of railroads here, and the suggestions made by him were responded to in Portland with courage and confidence. Our people were not anxious to create facilities for transportation and travel to Boston, as they believed that such opening would divert business from Portland rather than bring it here. Their principal efforts were directed to opening up better communications with the interior, and especially with Canada and the old trading places of New Hampshire and Vermont. The services of Col. Stephen H. Long, an eminent United States Engineer, were obtained and routes from the Maine seaboard to Quebec were surveyed. The severe commercial crisis of 1837-1839 gave a check to all commercial improvements here as elsewhere, but there was no abandonment of effort.
The great proposition of the building of the Atlantic and St. Lawrence Railway from Portland to Montreal was vigorously set on foot in 1844. The people and the city entered upon the grand project with enthusiasm and a charter was ob- tained February 10, 1845. Judge Preble and John A. Poor were sent to Canada and by statistical demonstrations and straightforward diplomacy secured the hearty co-operation of the Canadian government and business men. July 4, 1846, the first spadeful of earth was lifted by Judge Preble in the presence of a great assemblage. The road
PORTLAND IN 1850
201
STEAM POWER RAILROADS
was completed and opened to Montreal in 1853 and to Quebec in 1854. Subsequently it was leased to the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada for 999 years and it now forms a part of that system. The construction of this railway was carried forward to complete success in spite of extraordinary difficulties by the courage and per- severance of its loyal friends, and it has proved to be one of the most successful and satisfactory commercial enterprises in the history of the city and state.
In 1845 a charter was obtained for the Andro- scoggin and Kennebec R. R. Co. This was opened in 1849. It ran from the Atlantic and St. Law- rence R. R. at Danville Junction to Waterville, 55 miles, and there made connection with the Penob- scot and Kennebec R. R. which extended 55 miles to Bangor, and began operation in 1855. About the same time was built the Kennebec and Port- land R. R., reaching from Portland to the head of navigation at Augusta, a distance of sixty miles with a branch nine miles in length from Brunswick to Bath. This branch was first opened from Bath to connection with the A. & St. L. R. R. at Yar- mouth Junction, and was subsequently extended to Portland. These railroads are now a part of the Maine Central R. R. system. The York and Cumberland R. R. was chartered July 30, 1846 and built from Portland to the Saco River at Buxton. In 1860 it was reorganized as the Portland and Rochester R. R. and continued to Rochester, N. H. The Maine Central with its additions and branches
4
-
202
PORTLAND BY THE SEA
is now the great line of transportation east and west through the State of Maine.
The Portland and Ogdensburg was begun in 1869. This construction was the carrying out of the project of: John .A. Poor for connection through the White Mountain Notch with Ogdensburg, Vt., and the West. Its establishment was interrupted by the death of Mr. Poor and was subsequently revived and assisted by loan of the credit of the City of Portland. The increase of the city debt by reason of this loan was for a long time a burden upon the city finances, but time has justified the boldness of the operation. These later railroads, after a time of individual operation, came under control of the Boston and Maine, which began as a little, local organization and by its connections and leases became the great railroad of New England.
The opening of the Atlantic and St. Lawrence R. R. rendered it expedient to obtain more direct and easy communication across the city and con- nection with the deep water approaches of the harbor. This was a great undertaking for a city of the size and financial ability of Portland, but after an enthusiastic meeting of the citizens the project was adopted with great unanimity, and in 1850 a location was established by the city government which resulted in the building of present Commercial Street. This, as adopted, was 5,993 feet in length and 100 feet in width with twenty-six feet in the center reserved for railway purposes. It cost originally $80,000, and involved the adoption of a new and ample water frontage,
203
STEAM POWER RAILROADS
in place of Fore Street which had long given entrance to the wharves. It has been and still is of incalculable advantage to the city. In 1853 Kennebec Street was located with a width of seventy feet over the flats of Back Bay, from the old Deering bridge to the foot of Pearl Street. Two years later Lincoln Street, fifty feet wide, was laid out, partly over flats, and continued to Fox Street. These locations were assisted if not sug- gested by the adoption in Mayor Levi Cutter's administration of an outside arrangement of prom- enades and marginal ways, which included an exterior circuit of about five miles around the city's outer boundaries. This project exhibited a vision or foresight of the future development of Portland which seems little less than marvelous. The addition of Fort Allen Park and the betterment of the incline of Bramhall Hill have been made later.
Portland was from the first a commercial port. Shipbuilding and water transport were the basis of its principal industries. In the fifties this busi- ness reached its highest point, showing at its best two hundred and forty-six sailing vessels of all sizes and twelve steamers. The Portland Steam Packet Co., organized in 1844, did excellent business between Portland and Boston. The Maine Steamship Co. plied upon the route to New York. The International Line rendered ser- vice with the Eastern Maine coast and with the British Provinces. This steamship business, how- ever, varied considerably from time to time. Steam .craft was used upon the ocean after 183S and the
-
204
PORTLAND BY THE SEA
first Liverpool steamers came here in 1853. The Grand Trunk Railway has, with its branches, all the time made connections with a large volume of foreign trade and commerce.
In the fifties was a time of pronounced growth and prosperity, yet the older East was more and more feeling the intense competition of the ex- uberant West. In 1848 gold was discovered in California. Before the end of the next year 80,000 settlers, largely from the Atlantic coast states, had made their way there, and thereafter this section of the country was increasingly making its contributions financially, and what was of greater import, was sending abroad an exhausting amount of emigration from the ranks of its younger men.
The outline sketch of prominent public matters here given should not exclude consideration of other local growths and promotions that had come into existence during this period of the city's development. One of the largest establishments, which was an outgrowth of the West India trade, was the Brown Company's sugar manufactory, where molasses was by a new process converted into sugar. The Portland Company, which built up a national reputation in the construction of locomotives, boilers and machinery, began business in 1847. It still continues in spite of the existence of greater centers of production elsewhere. Among the innovations was the electric telegraph, first organized in 1845 and set in operation here two years later. The use of gas for lighting purposes was introduced by the Portland Gas Light Co. in 1849. This invention was at first quite generally
+
1
HENRY W. LONGFELLOW WILLIAM PITT FESSENDEN
NEAL DOW - THOMAS B. REED
205
STEAM POWER RAILROADS
opposed because of supposed danger from fires. Noteworthy wholesale mercantile houses were located upon the new Commercial Street and upon other streets and general business was in all lines enlarged. The two ends of the city became occu- pied for building and business purposes, and the section northward to Back Bay was covered with houses and various erections.
Portland continued to grow in municipal stature and reputation and in 1860 contained within its own limited area, and exclusive of adjacent localities which were like suburbs of the city, according to the census of 1860, a population numbering 26,242. It is hardly necessary to call attention to its newspapers and banking concerns, its educational and charitable organizations, and the civic institutions which had here come into existence and all of which were of high rank and quality.
The burning question of the extension of slavery and the establishment of the Republican Party of opposition had at this time aroused intense partisan-feeling throughout the country. Few places exceeded Portland as an arena of political debate, and for a while the activities pertaining to civil war and the preservation of the Union absorbed to a large degree the attention which might otherwise have been given to the affairs of common life.
:
1
XXIII
PORTLAND IN THE CIVIL WAR.
I T is a curious fact that the advent of the Civil War came almost as a complete surprise to the northern states, and, to some extent, it was also unexpected by the southern people. The half dozen years previous had been, with the exception of something of a financial panic in 1857, a time of exceptional prosperity and growth throughout the eastern, middle and western states. Portland, a growing city, was advancing steadily upon its placid way. The arrogant and aggressive posture of the slave-holding aristocracy had, how- ever, aroused the pride and conscience of the free states. Never had the country seen such a display of oratory and enthusiastic meetings as marked the progress of the Lincoln campaign. The Wide Awake companies with shining capes, torches and bands were everywhere in evidence.
The South was openly aggressive, but the preaching of the doctrine of secession had been often heard, and the impression was general that such talk was only for political effect. Although Mr. Lincoln in the national election of November, 1860, received a large majority over all in the electoral college, the combined popular vote of his three opponents was nearly a million more than he obtained. After the announcement of the result there was for a while an apparent calm
207
PORTLAND IN THE CIVIL WAR
upon the surface of affairs. In South Carolina alone presidential electors had been chosen by the legislature and not by the people. The state assembly which had made choice of the electors continued its session. When it was learned that the Republicans had won, it immediately called a state convention to consider the situation. On the 20th of December this convention met and without delay solemnly voted to repeal the act of May 23, 1788 by which the state had become a member of the Union. This was done by men who knew beforehand what they intended to do. There was no popular vote. In that section, especially, the people were accustomed to accept the policies agreed upon by their political leaders.
By the first of February six other states had followed the example of South Carolina. Each proceeded to withdraw from the Union, not by reference to the electorate but by action of its convention. Delegates from the seven states met early in February and organized a government of their own. Four other slave states hesitated and held aloof. At the request of Virginia a peace conference assembled in Washington. Members from the seceding states withdrew from Congress and the Cabinet, and their officers resigned their places in the national army. During the winter there was nothing but uncertainty and indecision throughout the North. Prominent radicals de- clared that it was better to allow the erring sisters to depart in peace and be rid of them and their accursed institution of slavery. Partisans of the South declaimed against any use of force. The
:
208
PORTLAND BY THE SEA
administration apparently did not know which way to turn.
Abraham Lincoln was inaugurated in March. His inaugural address was conciliatory, but was unfaltering in its declaration that the union of the states must be preserved. Every fortified place in the South, except Fortress Monroe, Fort Sumter in Charleston harbor, Fort Pickens at Pensacola and Key West was in possession of the secessionists. The old leaders were zealous in carrying out their plans, but in many places they found their support weak to a disappointing extent. On the 12th of April it was deemed expe- dient, in order to fire the irresolute southern heart, to order a bombardment of Fort Sumter, though it had only a little garrison and was almost destitute of supplies. The defence was courageous but the fortress was soon reduced. Four days later Pres- ident Lincoln issued his proclamation calling for the raising of seventy-five thousand volunteers to enforce the constitution and the laws. The states that had held themselves aloof then felt constrained to cast their lot with the Confederacy.
In the loyal states the fall of Sumter was like touching a lighted match to a powder magazine. All hesitation instantly disappeared and the re- sponse to the President's call for troops was phe- nomenal. In Portland, as well as elsewhere, the garments of all classes blossomed like flower gar- dens with rosettes of red, white and blue. Meetings were held and men and women impatiently offered their services to the government in any capacity. They were, however, wholly unprepared for war.
209
PORTLAND IN THE CIVIL WAR
In Maine the old militia musters had become objects of derision and had been abolished. Port- land had, chiefly for purposes of show and parade, several volunteer military companies. There were the Light Infantry, the Mechanic Blues, the Light Guards, the Riffe Corps and the Rifle Guards. Of actual training they knew very little. Upon the Governor's call these, with companies from other cities and towns, were mustered into the service and became the first regiment. As showing the lack of comprehension of the situation it may be recalled that the term of enlistment was for ninety days only. A rendezvous camp was constructed at Ligonia which was kept in use during the war. The city was soon alive with men in uniform. With little delay this regiment was hurried to Washington and the general cry was "On to Rich- mond." In July came the battle of Bull Run. Courage and enthusiasm were ample, but some who went into that contest had never before been drawn up in battle line. The result was a disas- trous rout. The patriot forces learned the serious- ness of the impending conflict. Mr. Lincoln then issued another call for five hundred thousand men to serve for three years.
Men still living can tell of the part taken by Portland in the time of the Civil War. It was, to be sure, far removed from the areas of actual conflict, but all the troops passed through the city, giving it a martial appearance and the apprehension and uncertainty of the outcome of events hung all the time like fearsome shadows over the activities of common life. As the months
210
PORTLAND BY THE SEA
passed slowly by, fears frequently became sorrow- ful realities. There were few families that did not have some representatives in the extended field of conflict and the lists of killed, wounded and missing were read with shrinking interest. The residents of the northern states were an unwarlike populace. They did not at first realize that the sub-divisions of an army, in order to accomplish anything, must act in unison, and that effective action cannot be had without intensive training. General Grant has said in his Memoirs that the South had a great initial advantage in the fact that her men who withdrew from the regular army were free to go to their several states and there make use of their military experience, while in the North the little regular army with its educated officers were long kept together in a separate division. In Maine many of the high commands were distributed as if they were political jobs. The old Jacksonian doctrine that official positions were proper spoils for the winning party was largely, though not altogether, in evidence. The Prussian Von Moltke declared that the first half of the American conflict was not war but a strife between armed mobs. The latter half was a period of stern and deadly combat.
After the battle of Bull Run there followed several months of enlistment and preparation. A blockade of the southern coast was declared with a hasty assembling and arming of ships. For this purpose Maine furnished a good proportion of vessels. Fort Hatteras in North Carolina was taken by a naval expedition and Port Royal in
211
PORTLAND IN THE CIVIL WAR
South Carolina was also captured. The South was content to remain upon the defensive. The Army of the Potomac was given a thorough mili- tary organization which it afterwards retained, but the slowness of proceedings created much dis- satisfaction. In the winter an expedition with supporting gunboats brought cheering success by the capture of Fort Donelson on the Cumberland River and places on the Mississippi. In March came the celebrated battle between the Monitor and the Merrimac in Hampton Roads. The sudden appearance of the iron-clad Merrimac and her easy destruction of the Cumberland and the Congress, finest of our naval vessels, caused panic and consternation in Portland as well as elsewhere, as it was supposed this new naval monster might and probably would create havoc in all coast towns. The unexpected arrival and success of the little, unknown Monitor seemed scarcely less than providential.
In the following spring began the campaign against Yorktown and Richmond, with bloody battles and doubtful success but attended with rumors and distractions which kept the home communities in constant suspense. An appalling picture of the realities of war was presented when some of the regiments, cut up and decimated, were sent home on short furloughs for recuperation. Then came additional demands for troops, usually for "three hundred thousand more." There was a time of terror when Lee, who had almost de- stroyed the Army of the Potomac, crossed into Maryland and was barely stopped in the sanguin-
212
PORTLAND BY THE SEA
ary battle of Antietam. In all of the thirty-two regiments of infantry, the two of cavalry, and the seven artillery batteries Portland had her vol- unteers, as it was considered best to mingle in all the Maine regiments the men from different parts of the State. Four war vessels were built and many naval recruits furnished here.
It would be a monotonous story to recite the shock and the losses occasioned by the December, 1862, disaster at Fredericksburg and those equally great at Chancellorsville in May following. Per- haps no period of suspense equalled that of the advance of Lee upon Washington by way of Pennsylvania, and the mighty struggle at Gettys- burg and the capture of Vicksburg which, though not realized at the time, really marked the begin- ning of the end. Throughout those years there were times both of triumphs and of disasters. There were the splendid naval victory at New Orleans, the taking of Mobile and other gallant and encouraging events, but all the time it seemed a doubtful balance, and the apprehensions and uncertainties of the conflict gave a feeling of hesitation to every initiative.
At one time the actuality of war seemed to be brought directly home to our city. This was the so-called Tacony affair. June 26, 1863, Lieu- tenant Read of the Confederate privateering navy came to the Maine coast on a visit of destruction. He abandoned and destroyed his own ship and transferred himself and his crew to a fishing schooner called the Archer which he captured. In this vessel he came quietly into the harbor in
1
213
PORTLAND IN THE CIVIL WAR
the evening and anchored off Fish Point. His purpose was to capture the Revenue Cutter Caleb Cushing and to set fire to wharves and shipping. Towards morning he with his party boarded and took possession of the cutter. It happened that there was no wind, and with their boats they towed this vessel out to sea where she became becalmed. The act was discovered from the Observatory and the news spread like wildfire. It was thought that a rebel fleet had come. Some local steamers were hastily furnished with arms and ordnance and started in pursuit. The Cush- ing, being a sailing vessel, could not escape. The raiders had not time to get at the ammunition on board and they thought one of the steamers was a . gunboat. Accordingly, they set the cutter on fire and abandoned her. The result was that the powder magazine of the Cushing exploded and the vessel sank. The invading crew were captured and, except for the destruction of the government ship, the bold adventure was a failure.
As the end drew near events moved with deadly and destructive certainty. All the time in the Sanitary Commission and in the hospitals the women did their full part and in the last campaign the losses were constant and tremendous. Portland never faltered. Her contributions of men to the army and navy numbered by the official record 3,636, and her oversight of the families and dependents of her soldiers was unremitting. Never was there a greater celebration than that which followed the strain of the last campaign which ended in the surrender at Appomattox. Then
-
214
PORTLAND BY THE SEA
all the people, old and young, went wild with joy. Never, also, was there grief and sorrow more universal than that which was caused by the assassination of Lincoln, the pure patriot and leader, which followed so abruptly and so soon. Practically every place and flag was draped with emblems of mourning.
During the years of the Civil War Portland continued to enlarge. Specie payments were early suspended and metal currency disappeared. Mer- chants and individuals at first put out their written promises which passed from hand to hand. Then the government made its issues of green- backs with little postal bills for fractional change and national bank bills appeared in circulation. Paper money depreciated in value and wages and prices of commodities advanced. The waste of the war times made great demand for supplies of all kinds and this stimulated business and industry. It was not the soldiers only that won the war. They would have been helpless without the labor and production of those who did the equally necessary work on farms, in factories and in business.
In one respect Portland suffered great and permanent injury. The Confederate privateers, with swift vessels built in England and with British crews, swept our ships and commerce from the scas. When peace came the navigation laws of our own country forbade the return to American registry of vessels which had been disposed of to foreign purchasers and also the use of any others which were not owned entirely by our citizens.
٠٠٠ ٤
THE WAR MEMORIAL MONUMENT
-
4
11/01
---
----
1
215
PORTLAND IN THE CIVIL WAR
That piratical destruction and those unreasonable laws resulted in transferring to foreign flags the greater part of the ocean carrying business which long had made this port pre-eminent.
XXIV
THE GREAT FIRE OF 1866.
A T the close of the Civil War, though the nation and the municipalities were heavily in debt, business conditions, stimulated by the large disbursements made by the general gov- ernment and by the expansion of the currency, were generally active. Middle Street in Portland was then the main avenue and thoroughfare. It was regarded as a particularly handsome street and most of the places of commercial business, wholesale and retail, were located there. Nearly every larger establishment had both retail and jobbing departments, as traveling salesmen were then unknown and merchants from abroad came in person to make their purchases of goods. The principal buildings were of brick, commonly having ornamental granite pillars or stone fronts for the lower floor. With but few exceptions the struct- ures were two or three stories in height. The active business part extended to India Street. Offices of all kinds with the banks, brokerage houses, auction rooms and places of general affairs were principally confined to Exchange Street, where the buildings on both sides were for the most part of brick. Congress Street then held its old reputation as a route for travel with city hall, public buildings, churches and places of manu- facturing scattered along. The part west of Mon-
---
BEFORE THE FIRE OF 1866
MIDDLE STREET AND WOOD'S HOTEL
..
---
---
----
-----
.
- --- --
{ 1
----
- ----
---
----
----
1ª
· va
...
--.
217
THE GREAT FIRE OF 1866
ument Square was reckoned as the residential section, having also grocery stores and stables. Free Street and State Street were rather the prominent places for homes of quality and of professional people. The new city hall, in which was included the county court rooms and offices, had been finished in 1860 and was a fine and imposing erection. Its public auditorium was large and convenient for public gatherings. The custom house, post office, school buildings and churches were of ample proportions and of excel- lent quality. The lower part of the city, especially, was ornamented with grand old elms for which the soil seemed particularly well adapted, so that Portland was commonly called the Forest City. Longfellow mentions "the trees which o'ershadow each well known street." Below the post office on Middle Street John M. Wood had nearly com- pleted a large hotel of white marble which at- tracted much attention. In 1866 the prospects of the place seemed in every way of the fairest.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.