USA > Maine > Cumberland County > Portland > Portland city guide > Part 5
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Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35
Portland's salt water-front yard and its fresh water side doors are tempt- ing testing grounds for ichthyologists, nearly 150 different species of fish having been found in Casco Bay or in the rivers and streams that drain into it. Mackerel, sand, blue dog, basking, and nurse sharks have been seen in the waters of the bay, and several kinds of lamprey eels have been hooked off Small Point. Most common fish are cod, mackerel, and other market seafood, including shellfish; good shrimp netting grounds have recently been discovered outside Casco Bay. Shad run each spring up the Nonesuch River, a few miles outside the city, and fresh-water smelting during the spawning season is a popular sport with fishermen.
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HUMISTON-
HISTORY
The "Countrey of Aucocisco"
Based on the discoveries and explorations of the Venetian, John Cabot, and his three sons, Lewis, Sebastian, and Sancius, England, in 1497, laid claim to far-flung lands in the New World. Ignorant of the potential wealth in these new possessions, it was not until James I ascended England's throne in 1603 that interest was again revived in the distant land. In that year Captain Martin Pring, searching for "fish, sassafras, and fame," overshot his intended destination and sailed into a bay in the country of Aucocisco. His tales so stirred the hearts of acquisitive merchants, particularly Sir Fer- dinando Gorges, Governor of the Fort at Plymouth, that the Plymouth Company was chartered in 1606 for American colonization. In the hope of finding gold and copper, and whale oil for the lamps of England, this com- pany in 1614 outfitted Captain John Smith of Virginia fame. Landing at Monhegan Island, he found neither copper or gold, nor profitable whaling, but his explorations along the coast as far as Cape Cod resulted in the pub- lishing two years later of A Description of New England, wherein are found names familiar today, "New England" and Maine's "Cape Eliza- beth," the latter in honor of the ten-year-old daughter of King James. In time the name of the waters around the "Countrey of Aucocisco" was clipped by the English to Casco Bay.
In the meantime France, in 1603, had impressed her claim on America through Pierre du Gast, the Sieur de Monts, to whom Henry of Navarre had made a grant between the 40th and 46th parallels north latitude- Acadia. Not to be outdone and unwilling to accept the attitude of despair resulting from previous unsuccessful English attempts at colonization,
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Old Town Hall (1830's) in Market, now Monument Square
Old Exchange Building (1835-54)
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Cumberland and Oxford Canal Boat on Sebago Lake (1860)
Cumberland and Oxford Canal (1860's)
Soldiers and Sailors Monument and United States Hotel (1894)
NOINO
I J.H.HAMEL, PHARMACIST. X
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The Preble House (1892)
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Steamer Portland which sank in 1898
PORTLAND. .
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Ottawa House on Cushing Island, burned in 1917
Birthplace of Thomas Brackett Reed, demolished in 1938
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History
Gorges in 1616 sent out a ship headed by Richard Vines to ascertain the feasibility of a permanent colony; Winter Harbor, on the Saco River where they landed, proved his point.
Following the re-organization of the Plymouth Company six years later, Sir Ferdinando and his friend, Captain John Mason, drew as their conces- sion the region that now comprises Maine and New Hampshire between the Merrimac and the Sagadahoc rivers. In 1623 Christopher Levett received from them any 6,000 acres he might choose in this region east of the Pis- cataqua. Landing at the "Isle of Shoulds," he proceeded to the mainland, Piscataqua, and met Robert Gorges, son of Sir Ferdinando and newly ap- pointed Governor of New England, and others; here, the first government de jure, if not de facto, over New England was established.
A Century of Litigation
After examining the present Maine coast as far east as Cape Newagen, Christopher Levett decided an island in Casco Bay was the ideal place for the city he intended to build. It is a debated question among historians as to which was Levett's island; House, Hog, and Mackworth each has its ad- herents. He described it as "an island lyeing before Casco River. ... " The confusion arises as to whether or not Casco River was the present Fore or the Presumpscot River; an ancient cellar gave House Island its name and bid for the honor. The native name of the island was Quack, a corruption of the Indian maquack, designating the red, iron-pigmented soil; in the summer of 1623 Quack was changed to York, the name of Levett's native town.
Levett and his men built a stone house, fortified their island, and im- proved their friendship with the Indians whom they had met on their jour- ney to the east. They caught great quantities of fish and exchanged trifles for the native's furs. Leaving ten men on the island, Levett left for Eng- land the following summer, intending to return with his wife and children. The Indians had endeavored to persuade him to stay and take one of their women for a wife, but Levett was not interested. After his arrival in Eng- land he published A Voyage Into New England in which he remarked: "And if we will endure poverty in England and suffer so good a country as this to lie in waste, I am persuaded that we are guilty of a grievous sin against God." Levett, however, never returned to his Maine island, and his- tory is indefinite regarding the garrison he had left there.
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Portland City Guide
In 1628 Walter Bagnall, onetime servant of the revel-loving Thomas Morton, established himself on Richmond Island, having been ousted from Massachusetts at the same time as his master whose high jinks at his home at Merrymount scandalized the sober Puritans. Legends reveal that Bagnall was known as Great Walt because of his strength and stature and ascribe to him all the 17th century vices, which involved rascally commercial deal- ings with the Indians and "making merrie" with the Indian girls. For this latter offense, Bagnall was surprised one night at his island home by Chief Scitterygusset and a party of his braves, who murdered Great Walt, burned his buildings, and made off with all his portable goods.
In 1634 Gorges and Mason divided their territory, Mason keeping the western part, now New Hampshire, and Gorges the Province of Maine. Grants had been made indiscriminately, with frequent disregard to prior concessions. On the west side of the Saco River were Richard Vines, who had been made Gorges' deputy in the new province, and John Oldham; on the east side were Thomas Lewis and Richard Bonython. John Dye and others had been granted 40 square miles between Cape Porpoise and Cape Elizabeth. This latter area was known as the Plough Patent, so-called after the ship in which they had sailed and later, the Ligonia Patent in honor of Sir Ferdinando Gorges' mother, Cicely Lygon; it became the basis of much subsequent litigation. Richard Tucker took land on the east side of the Spurwink River in Cape Elizabeth, Thomas Cammock, a relative of the Earl of Warwick, on the west side at Black Point, and Arthur Mackworth on an island east of the Presumpscot River.
On December 1, 1631, the Council of Plymouth granted Robert Trelawny and Moses Goodyeare, Plymouth merchants, the land between Cammock's Spurwink River boundary and the Bay of Casco; included in this area was the land of Richard Tucker. The following year the Swift arrived from England with George Cleeve of Plymouth aboard. Setting up a partnership at Spurwink with Richard Tucker, they built a house, farmed, traded with the Indians, and prospered until Trelawny's agent, John Winter, appeared on the scene in 1632. Winter, a former fellow-townsman of Trelawny and Goodyeare, had been commissioned as agent to develop their new grant and was to receive an annual stipend and one-tenth of the profits. Of arbitrary temperament and finding Cleeve and Tucker on land he asserted was en- compassed in the Trelawny grant, Winter peremptorily ordered them to vacate. Tucker stubbornly maintained he had legally purchased his land
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History
from Richard Bradshaw, and he and Cleeve refused to leave. Winter made a trip to England in the latter months of 1632 and upon his return to this country the following year, finding Cleeve and Tucker still living on a claim they could not substantiate, he summoned Captain Walter Neale from Piscataqua to add his official weight to eviction proceedings. Winter thus planted seeds of distrust and enmity that existed until all concerned were dead.
Under John Winter's energetic supervision, the Richmond Island de- velopment became the most flourishing in the Casco Bay area. Two years after his arrival 60 men were engaged in activities connected with the fish- ing industry. Dry cod, pickled "core-fish," fish spawn, dried bass, and fish oil were shipped in great quantities to Spain, Portugal, and the Canary Islands, where they were exchanged for wine which was then carried to England. At this time many ships engaged in this trade were anchored in the harbor of Richmond Island. Beef and pork were plentiful, the original stock having been brought in by Winter on one of his English voyages.
About 1637-38 the Richmond, a square-rigged bark of 30 tons, was built and made its first trip. On July 30, 1638, Winter wrote in his journal: "The 26th of this moneth departed hence the Richmon, Narius Haukin maister, bound for the Bay, or the Duch plantation, or Keynetticot, where they may find their best markett. In her I have laden abord 34 pipes of wine, 50 Jarres of oyle, & most pt of our earthen ware; God send yt to good mar- kett." Several voyages were made to England until the bark was confiscated by the Crown in 1642, and Trelawny was imprisoned for his royalist sym- pathies. Other Trelawny ships traded along the Maine coast swelling the owner's purse with the sale of cargoes of fur, fish, lumber, and sassafras enough to cure all the gout in England.
Richard Gibson, an Episcopalian clergyman, was sent to Richmond Island by Trelawny and held services as early as 1637. Winter was attracted to the scholarly Gibson and felt he would make an excellent husband for his daughter Sarah. Sarah's charms failed to impress the young minister, for he married Mary Lewis of Saco. Chagrined by this choice, Winter decided that if the Reverend Gibson was not to be his son-in-law, neither would he be minister, so in 1640 he was replaced by the Reverend Robert Jordan. Sarah's imported gowns and her father's affluence were not overlooked by the new parson, who lost little time in making her his wife.
Simultaneous with John Winter's development of Richmond Island and
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Portland City Guide
the Spurwink mainland, George Cleeve and Richard Tucker, whom Win- ter had dispossessed, settled on 'The Neck.' In 1633 they built the first house erected by a white settler, thereby laying the foundation of the city that became Portland. This house stood at the foot of what is now Hamp- shire Street. Three years later, still smarting over their eviction by Winter and taking advantage of a shakeup in the Plymouth Council which gave control to Gorges, Cleeve went to England to establish ownership to his new home on "The Neck.' Asserting his right to claim land under the royal edict of King James, Cleeve convinced Gorges that his squatter rights were legal and obtained from him the first deed with definite bounds within which lies the present Portland. Cleeve's lease, dated January 27, 1637, was for 2,000 years. All the land including "The Neck' west to the Capisic River in Stroudwater, thence to the "falls of the Presumpsca" together with "Hogg Island," was deeded to Portland's original settlers on payment of £100. It was described as "a place known to the Indians as Machegonne, but henceforth to be called Stogummer . . . " The name was never used.
Gorges appointed Cleeve his deputy, delegating to him "the letting and settling all or any part of his lands or island between the Cape Elizabeth and the entrance to Sagadahock River, and go into the main land sixty miles." On his return to 'The Neck,' Cleeve as Gorges' sole deputy started ouster proceedings in a tactless manner against Arthur Mackworth who had previously been given his grant by Richard Vines, Gorges' first deputy. Mackworth considered Cleeve's action a piece of arrogance, and in later years this was to rebound with unpleasant results.
When King Charles I confirmed Gorges' title to the Maine lands in 1639, among the almost unlimited powers granted by him was the right to es- tablish a general court in the new province. The first general court ever to assemble in Maine was held in Saco in June, 1640, and Gorges was rep- resented in it by his agent Richard Vines, who, together with Sir Thomas Joselyn, Francis Champernone, William Hooke, Richard Bonython, Henry Joselyn, and Edward Godfrey, was authorized to administer oaths and to determine all civil and criminal causes. The first case on the docket was that of "George Cleeves of Casco, gen. plit: Jno Winter of Richmond Is- land, deft." wherein Cleeve took action against Winter for being dispos- sessed from his Spurwink holdings. Cleeve had the gratification of being awarded a small amount for damages, and both parties agreed to abide by the judgment of a referee. Winter, however, subsequently repudiated the
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History
agreement, and after his death in 1645 the judgment in Cleeve's favor pro- duced many legal encounters, proceedings described by an early wit as liti- gation "enough to have maintained a greater number of Lawers, than ever were the Inhabitants."
In 1642 when Oliver Cromwell was attempting to overthrow the English government, Cleeve realized his holdings and authority were again in jeop- ardy and made another trip to England. With a timely about-face from loyalist to republican ranks he suavely persuaded Alexander Rigby, high in Cromwell's favor, to purchase in 1643 the dormant Plough, or Ligonia Patent. Rigby appointed Cleeve his deputy in Maine, and Cleeve, always the opportunist, returned to Maine and arrogantly prosecuted his duties. He soon made enemies of the royalist sympathizers who were under the leadership of Richard Vines, Robert Jordan, son-in-law of John Winter, and the disgruntled Arthur Mackworth. The subsequent struggle for power by the principals of the Rigby-Gorges factions bewildered the local colonists and caused the people in the western part of Maine to form their own party under the leadership of Edward Godfrey. Petitions to England addressed by the leaders of these factions brought only the counsel that they should "dwell peaceably together ... " as England was embroiled in a conflict which threatened its internal structure. The death of Robert Trelawny in 1644, followed three years later by the death of Sir Ferdinando Gorges, who had been imprisoned for his loyalty to the king, left the royalist faction in Maine without its principal leaders. The resulting controversy and con- fusion gave Massachusetts Bay Colony in 1652 the opportunity to extend its power eastward to Casco Bay. The legality of this move was disputed for six years, but in 1658 the warring factions yielded to the conclusions of a commission whereby the jurisdiction of Massachusetts was accepted, pro- vided that religious differences would not deprive the Maine colonists of their civil privileges. One article of the agreement was: "Those places formerly called Spurwink and Casco bay from the east of Spurwink River, to the Clapboard islands, in Casco bay, shall run back eight miles in the country, and henceforth shall be called by the name of Falmouth."
The jurisdictional encroachment of the Massachusetts Bay Colony met with little sympathy in the Casco Bay section as the inhabitants were large- ly staunch Episcopalians. The Puritan form of government was intolerant in religious belief, harsh in its enforcement, and allowed only Congrega- tional churchmen to vote. An example of the utter disregard of the earlier
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Portland City Guide
granted right of religious freedom was the summoning to General Court in 1660 of Robert Jordan, the Episcopal minister, who had baptised local children in the rites of his faith. This, and similar incidents, made the people of Falmouth apprehensive of their civil as well as their religious future.
In the meantime settlers to whom Cleeve and Tucker had made grants crowded into Maine, and by 1662 all the land around the Back Cove of "The Neck' was occupied by about forty families, or 400 inhabitants. Cleeve's son-in-law, Michael Mitton, had a deed to Peak Island together with other parcels of land in Falmouth. Anthony Brackett had a large farm near what is now Deering Oaks, George Bramhall owned all the land in that part of the city which now bears his name, and George Munjoy owned the emminence on the tip of 'The Neck' now known as Munjoy Hill and 400 acres in Stroudwater. Thaddeus Clark had a farm east of Bram- hall's, and the shore was fringed with the homes of new settlers. The first Congregational minister, George Burroughs, preached in the meetinghouse at what is now the corner of Fore and Hancock streets. Falmouth was on its way to become a prosperous settlement, developing each year the facili- ties with which its location was naturally endowed. Lumber was cut for England, mills were erected on the Presumpscot and Stroudwater rivers, and courts were ordained.
A series of lawsuits between Cleeve and the Reverend Robert Jordan took place after Jordan inherited the property of his father-in-law, John Winter, and reopened the land title dispute; he succeeded in reducing Cleeve to penury during the ensuing years. In one of these suits, Cleeve made a plaintive appeal to the court that had an element of tragic humor. He asked recovery from Jordan of his "house, cow, Bed and Bolster, and bed clothes, my brewing kettle, pott and other goods. ... " He continued his grievance against Jordan's deputy "who was starke drunke, taking my ket- tle and pott, being full of worte for beere, ready to tun up, and threw it about the house, and carried away said kettle and detaineth them to this day." Jordan's deputy apparently had been in an ugly mood, for he had un- cermoniously dumped the aged and ailing Mrs. Cleeve from her bed, which he took to satisfy the court's judgment. Yet, in the same year as his court battle with Jordan, when Cleeve appears to have been in dire straits, he was elected one of the commissioners of Falmouth by his party and in 1663-64 was deputy from the town to the General Court. Two years later Cleeve
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History
made his last court appearance, and his name fades abruptly from the records.
The next fifteen years in Maine were marked by a sturdy unwillingness to recognize the authority of Massachusetts. Confusion, license, and sub- version of law itself followed, and animated by a desire for an authorized government, an appeal was again made to England. For three years fol- lowing 1665 the authority of Massachusetts was abrogated, and persons ap- pointed by the restored Charles II were in power. They held court, but were unable to elevate the moral tone of a people who had been hardy adven- turers, contemptuous of law and order. When the commissioners relin- quished their charge and returned to England, Massachusetts re-established jurisdiction by force, to which the people gradually and grudgingly sub- mitted.
With paralyzing suddenness King Philip's War, which had been raging so fiercely in southern New England, broke with savage fury on Falmouth in September, 1675, the floodgates of Indian revenge providing an oppor- tunity for satisfying many actual and fancied grievances. The settlements on the east side of the Presumpscot, at Saco, Blue Point, Scarborough, and Spurwink were destroyed, many of the inhabitants, unable to escape, were killed or taken prisoners. The Reverend Robert Jordan made his escape to New Hampshire. The remaining settlers sought refuge on Bangs (Cush- ing) Island and subsisted on fish and berries for nine days. Upon petition to the Governor of Massachusetts, 1,500 pounds of bread were sent to the survivors by ship from Boston. A company of 170 soldiers and friendly In- dians sent by the governor for the protection of Falmouth remained only a month, and raids again became common. A treaty was signed April 12, 1678, which stipulated that each family pay the red men one peck of corn annually. After this treaty was signed the settlers returned to their homes, and preparations for a more adequate future defense were made. Fort Loyall was built at the foot of India Street, with Captain Edward Tyng in command. In 1678 the Commonwealth of Massachusetts paid £1,250 to the grandson of Sir Ferdinando Gorges for his rights and interests in the Province of Maine. Adopting a new form of government for the province, the General Court in 1680 appointed Thomas Danforth, then deputy gov- ernor of Massachusetts, President of Maine. That same year he held court at Fort Loyall and made grants of three-acre lots to about thirty persons, with the stipulation that they make improvements. Records of this meet-
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Portland City Guide
ing reveal a town government with Anthony Brackett, Thaddeus Clark, John Walley, and George Ingersoll as selectmen. At this time Captain Sylvanus Davis received a lot between India and Hancock streets, where later he opened the first store in town.
The English Court of King Charles II, resentful of the actions of the Massachusetts Colony following its purchase of the Province of Maine, maintained that this purchase included the rights to the soil but not the right to govern. Their theory was that only the aristocracy should rule, and, in 1684 suspicious of the town meetings and self-government of the new colonies, the English Court of Chancery, for a second time revoked the charter of the Massachusetts Bay Colony. Falmouth land titles were again held to be invalid, and hoping for an alleviation of these civil con- ditions, 16 influential men of this region joined in a petition to King Charles to set up his own government. The disappointing result of this plea was the appointment in December, 1686, of Sir Edmund Andros, Governor of New England and New York. The new governor's vacillating dealings with the Indians together with his futile expeditions to awe them resulted only in dissatisfaction among the colonial troops and his loss of prestige and power with the citizenry. The settlers on 'The Neck' neglected to pay their annual tribute of corn to the Indians and even allowed their garrisons to become undermanned.
The long-existing French animosity against the English, subtly inculcated in the Indian mind and now spurred to fever pitch, produced the French and Indian War that in 1689 caught Falmouth unawares. Captain An- thony Brackett's farm, now Deering Oaks, was the scene of the first at- tack; 21 men were either killed or wounded. Fortunately, Major Ben- jamin Church and his men, sent from Boston for the protection of Fal- mouth, arrived in time to repel the invaders. With the coming of winter, however, he was ordered back to Massachusetts.
Early in April, 1690, the French and their Indian allies began to gather on the islands in Casco Bay and opened hostilities a month later by ambush- ing a company of soldiers under Lieutenant Thaddeus Clark, who were scouting on Munjoy Hill; 13 were killed. The terrified inhabitants of The Neck' fled to the garrisons, but lack of ammunition then forced them to flee to the security of Fort Loyall. After burning the houses, the Indians laid siege to the fort and protected themselves from the fire of the fort's eight cannon by digging trenches below the walls. The siege continued for
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History
five days and four nights until diminishing food supplies and ammunition coupled with the loss of so many men at the outset and the fact that the enemy outnumbered them five to one, forced the commander, Captain Syl- vanus Davis, to ask for a parley. It was agreed that a safe escort to the nearest English village would be the price of the surrender of the fort. Al- though the French officer in command of the Indians promised to grant this request, when Captain Davis opened the gates of the fort to begin the journey southward, the Indians, inspired by the French, made a carnival of death in the Falmouth settlement. Only four besides Captain Davis were spared and taken to Canada. Behind the victors were left the ruins of Fal- mouth.
A New Falmouth Rises
Following this wanton destruction by the French and Indians, 'The Neck' was a wilderness for 26 years. A new charter granted to the Massa- chusetts Bay Colony in 1691 gave it control of the entire region between the Piscataqua and St. Croix rivers. The next year a reconnoitering expedition, under the command of Major Benjamin Church, accompanied by Sir Wil- liam Phips, the Royal Governor, removed Fort Loyall's cannon and re- mained long enough to bury the bleached bones of the massacred inhabitants. Seven years later Massachusetts signed a treaty with the Indians at Mare Point, on Casco Bay, which stipulated that a trading post be set up for the convenience of the local tribes. In compliance, a fort was erected on the east side of the Presumpscot River in 1700, and, to differentiate it from The Neck,' was called New Casco. Garrisoned by 36 men under the command of Major John March, it was the only coastal defense on Casco Bay. Major Samuel Moody succeeded March in 1707 and continued in command until the demolition of the post nine years later.
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