USA > Maine > Cumberland County > Portland > Portland by the sea; an historical treatise > Part 9
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shattered but faithful patriot band, took up winter quarters at Valley Forge, twenty miles away.
The hardships of the Valley Forge winter have often been described but never exaggerated. Food was all the time inadequate, clothing was tattered, renewal of footwear there was none. For fuel there was only green wood from standing trees. An epidemic of small-pox threatened the lives of all. But the curious fact remains that, although at Philadelphia comfort and cash bounties were openly extended to any who would abandon the cause, there were no desertions. It was the mid- night of the Revolution. The example of the great commander alone held the forces together.
The suffering and sacrifice then endured gave opportunity for great results. In the spring Baron Steuben, trained under Frederick the Great, came to give to the troops intensive training. Recog- nition and aid arrived from France. The Congress assembled supplies, and the patriot army, un- subdued by hardships, had become fitted for any test. It is a surprising fact that upon the muster rolls, which still exist, we find in unquestionable proof that more than one-tenth part, namely more than eleven hundred, of those men were volunteers from Maine, and that the greater proportion of them came from Old Falmouth.
In the year 1779 the campaigns were mainly in the South. It was also an eventful and unfortu- nate year in this section. One-half of the crops had been cut off by a severe drought the previous season and Mr. Smith observes, "It is wonderful
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how people live for want of bread." In the summer a British fleet arrived and took possession of Bagaduce Point on which Castine is situated at the mouth of the Penobscot. This occupation endangered the whole coast. An expedition was organized, mostly of men and ships from Massa- chusetts, for its recapture. A regiment was raised in this section which contained a company from the Neck. General Peleg Wadsworth. afterwards a prominent resident here, was second in command. The story of this adventure is one of misfortune and defeat. There was lack of co-operation be- tween the land and the water forces, and only broken and disordered remnants that had escaped annihilation, returned. The British maintained a base of operations at Castine which kept up a series of attacks upon the Maine coast during the re- mainder of the war. Yet it is said this persistent town of ours continued its contribution of men and supplies for the general cause. As a patriotic example Parson Smith gave freedom to his slave, Romeo, who made a good record in the continental army.
The year 1780 went on with monotonous sameness. The lumber business was extinct. Only a few boats could creep out furtively for fishing. The shipping was but a memory. Depreciation of the paper currency obstructed any resumption of trade. Some feeble attempts were made to send out privateers, but in a harbor so open to attack such action could accomplish practically no results.
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In 1781 France sent a great fleet and army to assist the Americans.
The southern campaign between Lord Corn- wallis and his wary antagonist, General Nathaniel Greene, ended in the retirement of the British General to Yorktown with all his forces; and the brilliant stroke of Washington whereby they were surrounded there by the American and French armies and the French fleet, followed. The sur- render occurred October 16, 1781. This victory by the Americans was conclusive only because the British Whigs would countenance the war no longer. The English still had a large army and naval forces at New York, the keypoint of the situation. The Castine occupation was holding the coast of New England in fear. Charleston and Savannah were in their possession. British power was still unbroken, but the Whigs in Parliament, declaring that at Yorktown the decisive battle of freedom for England as well as for America had been fought and won, succeeded in passing a vote that no more military supplies would be furnished for the American war. France was wearied of the contest. Her people, who were paying three-fourths of their earnings in taxes, were discontented and restless, and she was willing for the colonies to make peace on their own account. Lord North resigned and King George threatened to abdicate, but on the third of September, nearly two years after Yorktown, a peace treaty, almost absurdly favorable to America, was signed acknowledging the independence of the colonies. The news was · soon after received in Falmouth. The British
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forces departed from Castine. The celebration here, as they recalled the havoc in lives and prop- erty caused by war, was fervent but subdued and was accompanied by a contribution for the poor and a public dinner.
XVII
FALMOUTH REVIVES AND PORTLAND BECOMES A TOWN.
A FTER the destruction of the Village upon the Neck in 1775 little effort was made to build up its waste places during the Revolu- tionary War. The naked chimneys of the burned buildings stood out prominently like monuments of ruin. It was some time also after the surrender of the army of Cornwallis before confidence was restored sufficiently for the inhabitants to venture to return. The British army of occupation after the capitulation at Yorktown continued to hold Castine, and the convenience of the undefended harbor here and the easy water approaches to the shore gave constant apprehension of attack. The militia organization of Maine was kept in con- dition for defence and raids along the coast, mostly of a petty kind, were frequent. In the accounts we have are references to reports from England indicating fears lest King George might succeed in his efforts to renew the war. Willis says the unsteady progress of negotiation kept up a feverish excitement in the public mind. April 19, 1783, suspension of hostilities was pub- licly declared and the treaty of peace was then only a matter of detail. The French had agreed that the Americans might make their own terms but, curiously as it seems, they were desirous of
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having the bounds of the new confederation limited upon the west by the Alleghany Mountains. Vergennes, the French minister, with a royalist statesman's foresight declared that otherwise a colossus of popular freedom would be created that would endanger all the monarchies of the old world. The opponents of the English King in Parliament continued to be extremely friendly to the colonies and at length in 1783 the treaty was signed.
Quite a part of the Falmouth people who had lost their dwellings had established themselves elsewhere, and did not return, but accessions to the population came rapidly. Mr. Smith stated the opinion that by the blessing of God the town might be restored to its former condition in fifty years, but new immigration developed immediately and in unexpected numbers. In 1784, the year after the peace treaty, fifty-eight dwellings, stores and shops were erected, and the influx from Mas- sachusetts and elsewhere continued increasingly until in eight years the village had as many inhab- itants as it contained at the time of the bombard- ment. The first brick building was that of Gen- eral Wadsworth, erected in 1785 on Congress Street and being with its enlargement the Long- fellow house which is now occupied by the Maine Historical Society.
Although the rather disconnected sections of
. the town of Falmouth had dwelt together in a good degree of harmony, the interests of the Neck were largely devoted to business and commerce and differed quite materially from those of the other
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parts. The large area of the municipality made attendance upon town meetings inconvenient, and there was something of natural jealousy felt with the prominence of the village. During the sixty- five years of representation in the General Court all the Falmouth members, except three, had come from the Neck. A general meeting was held in May, 1783. There was no opposition to the proposal for separation, and the terms and bound- aries were mutually and harmoniously agreed upon. The measure did not become a law, owing chiefly to the critical financial condition of the times, until July 4, 1786, when the Neck became a separate municipal organization by name of Portland. The boundaries were the same as those of the Machegonne of George Cleeve, with the addition at the west end, of the irregular farm of Moses Pearson. July 4, 1786, therefore, is the natal day of our Portland by the Sea.
Some diversity of opinion existed in regard to the name to be given to the new town. The sug- gestion was made that it receive the ancient appellation of Casco, and that of Falmouthport also found favor. It was recalled that the first English name given to the large and prominent island near the entrance of the harbor, now called Cushings Island, was Portland Island, and it was claimed that upon it Christopher Levett built his stone house in 1623. The opposite point on the Cape Elizabeth side was, from the earliest times, known as Portland Head and the main channel between them had long been called Port- land Sound. Without much discussion or objec-
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tion, therefore, the choice of name centered upon Portland. The population was then estimated at about two thousand.
The large township of Old Falmouth was, as has been said, never compact in its connections, and Cape Elizabeth had an individuality of its own. In 1733 the inhabitants were formed into a separate parish. Again in 1765, although the English law did not permit the incorporation of a new town as such, it was given independent privileges, and in 1776 it was by the General Court established as a distinct town. This of course included present South Portland. West- brook continued to be a part of the old munici- pality until, June 9, 1814, it was made a town by itself and called Stroudwater, which name was shortly after changed to Westbrook in honor of Col. Thomas Westbrook. Thus it continued until Deering was set off. in 1871. The remainder, being the present town of Falmouth, has con- tinued under the ancient name given in 1658.
As soon as peace was settled and the boundaries definitely known, immigrants began to pour into Maine from all parts literally by thousands. Yet, except locally, there was here as well as elsewhere no effective governmental authority. Hostilities had ceascd, the British troops had departed, the state organizations were working smoothly, but the states had no federal unity worthy of the name. Each of the thirteen colonies had grown up on its own distinct and separate basis and the interests of each differed from those of the others. They had been forced by the common danger to act
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together for a time, but their union had been in the nature of a league of friendship rather than that of a general government. Ever since the assembling of the Continental Congress in 1774 the several commonwealths had kept up their membership but without any specified authority, notwithstanding the fact that the Congress as such had made the declaration of independence, and had raised an army, and had issued paper currency, and done many other things under its implied war powers. With the termination of hostilities the Congress grew constantly weaker and sunk into practical impotence. Plainly, the states were drawing apart instead of together.
On the first day of March, 1781, Articles of Confederation had been ratified by all the states and went into effect, but while the compact defined the common rights of action it served also to limit them. The alliance was to be per- petual and there was to be a common citizenship, but each state must act through its own delegates, and not a single step could be taken without the consent of at least nine of the thirteen. Under the conditions stated in the compact such matters as wars and treaties rested with the general gov- ernment, but no means were provided for raising an army except by request made to the several states. Postal service was established, but with the proviso that it must pay its own way. The public faith was pledged for the payment of debts con- tracted by Congress, but no power of taxation was given nor authority for the raising of money. There was a president, but he had no more power
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than any other delegate. This organization was indeed as it was called "a rope of sand," yet for eight years it maintained a precarious existence.
Portland as a commercial town, dependent upon trade and commerce, was to a large extent hampered by the financial situation. The con- tinental paper currency, already worthless, became merely an object of derision. The war had wrought destruction of property and had brought general poverty. To this was added the hopeless con- fusion due to the absence of a circulating medium of dependable value. The states had issued paper promises of their own, but these promises were of varying and uncertain worth. Expedients were attempted to compel the usage of the rejected currency. A law was passed to fix values and punish by fine or imprisonment traders who refused to accept paper money for goods. The merchants countered upon this by closing their shops and having nothing for sale, and the statute was repealed. Business reverted considerably to the practice of barter. Pork and cord wood were preferred to paper. We read of constant com- plaints made against the so-called "rag money," though the Massachusetts promise behind the shilling gave it a reduced valued.
After the rapid growth of the first two or three years in Portland there appears to have followed a period of depression, owing mostly to the un- stable condition of the currency. The town in- creased somewhat in its resident population and some new buildings were erected of private nature. During the Revolutionary War the court sessions
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were held at Mrs. Greele's tavern, then for a time at Samuel Freeman's great chamber. In 1785 a modest court house was erected upon a part of the present city hall lot. This was a square wooden building forty-eight by thirty-four feet in size, having an open hall below and a court room upon the second floor. It had a cupola or tower surmounted by a carved weather cock. This historic cockerel has been preserved and now surmounts the clock tower of the First National Bank. In front of the court house was a whipping post and a pillory. Upon a part of the soldiers' monument lot was a block house jail.
The shipping had during the war period dis- appeared. The states could maintain protective tariffs against each other and some, notably New York and New Jersey, did so. There was talk of secession. Portland was affected by a British Order in Council prohibiting trade with the West Indies except in English vessels. It was in 1785 offset by a Massachusetts statute forbidding carriage by English craft. This law was of great advantage to Portland. In 1787 there was not a ship owned in the town, but in two years tonnage amounting to five thousand had developed, and when the new constitutional government came there was continual increase.
The little town was full of energy and resolu- tion. It was a pleasant and convenient place for residence, but without the establishment of com- mercial relations with the outside world general affairs here, as well as elsewhere, were at a stand- still.
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The stagnant condition of business manifested in Portland was typical of the situation all over the country. The Shay's rebellion in Massachu- setts served as an object lesson. James Madison, it is said, made the first suggestion for appoint- ment of commissioners from all the states to consider the formation of a new general govern- ment. The proposition was received with general favor and in 1787 the fateful meeting of fifty-five delegates convened in Philadelphia. George Wash- ington was made president of the convention. From May until September the discussion went on with closed doors. An agreement often seemed impossible, but concessions were made on all sides, the impulse of patriotism prevailed and the result was the publication of the American Constitution, which Gladstone called "the most wonderful work ever struck off at a given time by the brain and purpose of man." After two years more of doubt- ful and strenuous contest it was ratified by the requisite number of states and subsequently by every one, and April 30, 1789, the great compact having become effective, George Washington, who had been unanimously elected President, was inaugurated and constitutional government began. The news of the full adoption of the new compact of nationality was celebrated here by "the ringing of bells, mutual congratulations and federal huz- zas." The rejoicing of the always public-spirited. little municipality was soon justified by results, both nation-wide and local. During the years of general and progressive change which followed the adoption of the constitution, Portland made
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substantial advancement. Its new form of munic- ipal administration as a city prepared it to meet successfully other and greater innovations which. were pending locally and in the country at large.
XVIII
RAPID DEVELOPMENT OF PORTLAND.
I HE early record of Portland reads like that of the voyage of a ship among the rocks and sand bars of a tortuous channel, now striking against a ledge and again becoming stranded upon an impassable shoal, but persistently and steadily finding its way until it comes out, in a more or less battered condition, upon the open sea. When this vigorous town by virtue of the advantages which nature had bestowed upon it, supplemented by the enterprise of its people, found itself a part of a federal union under popular control, it was plain that the opportunity had come for working out its own destiny.
One of the first and most beneficial things accomplished by the new government was the establishment of national financial solvency. This great achievement was due almost wholly to the initiative of Alexander Hamilton, the first Secre- tary of the Treasury. Daniel Webster declared that "he touched the dead corpse of public credit and it sprang upon its feet. Through his sagacious influence the state debts, as well as other obliga- tions incurred in the common cause, were assumed by the general government. The paper issues in all the states were generally in denominations of shillings. These had different current values ac- cording to varying credit. Such hard money as
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was in use here was of all kinds, English, French Spanish and German coins passed from hand to hand. There were pistareens, picayunes, doub- loons, pistoles, ducats, Spanish dollars and other coins of different amounts. Traders felt it neces- sary to keep a small pair of scales with which, after deciphering the inscriptions, they could weigh the various pieces. By the national coinage act of 1792 the dollar, similar to that of Spain, was adopted as the unit with a decimal system of coinage. This new basis of values was accepted without objection, and in commercial places like Portland went far to build up a feeling of nation- ality and common interest.
Portland had been from the earliest times open to hostile aggression by way of its accessible and unprotected frontage upon the sea. Even the Indian and the French attacks were promoted by this vulnerable condition. In 1794 the United States Government took up the subject of coast- wise defence. It was a new nation and its rev- enues were small but systematic work was early commenced such as made a basis for future elab- oration. Under an appropriation made by Con- gress, a fortification was erected here on North Street with outlying battery below on Monument Street, which together mounted fifteen or twenty large cannon. This fort was called "the citadel" and received the name of Fort Sumner in honor of Gov. Increase Sumner of Massachusetts. The idea was probably borrowed from similar erections in Quebec and Halifax. It was the duty of the sentinels stationed there to watch for fires and
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give notice if any such appeared by the discharge of a cannon which would be a signal for the ringing of bells. The garrison had music at evening parade and is supposed to have been "the fort upon the hill, the sunrise gun with its hollow roar, the drum beat repeated o'er and o'er and the bugle wild and shrill" recalled by Longfellow in his poem "My Lost Youth." Such a fort would be of no account in the days of long-range rifled cannon, but with its outlying bulwarks might easily have stood off Mowatt's bombarding fleet in 1775, had it then been in existence. Fort Preble, at Spring Point, Cape Elizabeth, was begun in 1808 and named for Commodore Preble, and at about the same time Fort Scammel, across the channel on House Island, was built and named for Col. Alexander Scammel. These forts, as afterwards improved and supplemented by Fort Gorges in 1851, made for the times very re- spectable defences, though they became obsolete with the development of modern ordnance. A light-house was built on Portland Head in 1791, the first structure of the kind, and completed by appropriation from Congress. The point of Cape Elizabeth was somewhat later marked by the two lights and the harbor entrance well cared for in that respect.
Previous to the Revolution there was an irregular mail service by the way of Portsmouth. It went only when a sufficient number of letters were collected to pay the expense. In 1775, by the efforts of Benjamin Franklin, a general post office was established at Cambridge and postmen
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appointed to carry the mails by horseback. The first post rider arrived here June 10, 1775. The postage was costly and letters averaged for a while only about five a week. As late as 1790 there were but seventy-four post offices in the United States. In 1793 the governmental post office was established here, but as the roads were exceedingly bad the business done was small. Four days was allowed for mail carriage to Boston, and for about ten years there were but three deliveries a week from the West and one from the East. Parson Smith notes in his diary, one spring-time, that the mails were suspended five weeks by the bad trav- eling. With the opening of stage routes after 1800 the post office quickly assumed importance.
While these governmental establishments were being made effective the local and domestic affairs of the place were making large and substantial progress. Among other improvements was the opening of new avenues of approach to the town. The Neck was nearly surrounded by water, and had but two highway entrances, both leading over Bramhall Hill. The westerly public road passed through Stroudwater and the other led down Deering Avenue and turned easterly. Bridges were expensive and raising money by lotteries for such building was popular. This was first at- tempted but proved unsuccessful, and application for aid from the government produced no result. In 1794 a charter was obtained from the General Court for a toll bridge across Back Cove from Seacomb's Point, so-called, to Sandy Point, the present Tukey's Bridge location. The work was
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pressed so rapidly that in two years the bridge was passable for teams. At the same session of the General Court a similar act of incorporation was procured for a toll bridge across Fore River from Bramhall's Point, to be called Portland Bridge. Upon this the work was not completed until 1800 when it was opened for travel and the name changed to Vaughan Bridge, in honor of William Vaughan, its most energetic promoter, who had opened Vaughan and Danforth Streets across his land to make connection with the new place of crossing. In 1806 another bridge was built across the western end of Back Cove at Forest Avenue, which was named Deering Bridge, the waterway there being now filled in. Later, in 1823, the long bridge called Portland Bridge was constructed, making connection with present South Portland. This has recently been replaced by the fine million dollar bridge. All of these avenues of crossing were for a long time supported by tolls and became profitable to their owners, but were later taken over by the public and made free. The Martin's Point bridge across the Presumpscot River was constructed by the county.
To review the general growth of Portland at this time would be a matter of much detail. The construction of wharves kept pace with other im- provements of the town. The old, ruined wharves were rebuilt and practically all of the water frontage was occupied. All of these made con- nection with Fore Street, as present Commercial Street had not then been constructed. The occu- pied portion of the town was still the middle and
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