USA > Maine > Cumberland County > Windham > Sketches of the history of Windham, Maine, 1734-1935; the story of a typical New England town > Part 2
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Thomas L. Smith's comment on our early settlers is interesting: "The early settlers of this town were chiefly from Marblehead and Salem, towns whose inhabitants are distinguished for correct moral character, for liberality, industry, and enterprise. Many a hard fought battle by sea and land during the War of the Revolution bears honorable testimony to their bravery, to their attachment to their coun- try, its rights and liberties. Such is the character of the people from whom our ancestors, the first settlers of this town, originated."
In the Chute Cemetery, eleven miles from Portland, is a shaft of Italian marble with the following inscription :
"This Cenotaph was erected to the memory of Capt. Thomas Chute, the first settler of New Marblehead, Me., now Windham. He was born in London, Eng., in 1690 and came to Marblehead, Mass. previous to 1725.
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"He was one of the original grantees, and one of the com- mittee of location of the new township in 1735 and drew home lot number 12."
Capt. Chute died in 1770, aged 80 years. This monu- ment was erected in 1884 by a great-grandson.
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DIVISION OF THE COMMON LAND- BOUNDARY DISPUTES
O N the fourth day of July, 1735, and before a single move had been made by any grantee to make an actual settlement, the Proprietors voted to add another ten-acre lot to each original home lot "on the other side of the main road at the front of said lots." These "home lots" were together called "the first division."
In 1740 sixty-three hundred-acre lots were laid out north of the "first division." Twenty-three years later 140 more hundred-acre lots were laid out, having Pleasant River as their southern boundary, the Presumpscot on the west, and north to the Gray line. The last division of the common lands in Windham consisted of sixty-three seventy-acre lots. They adjoined the last division of hundred-acre lots, and were bounded westerly by Sebago Lake, northerly by Ray- mond, and easterly by Gray. In this division is the village of North Windham. It was long called "the Fourth Division" by the older inhabitants.
When New Marblehead was first granted, it was bounded on the east by North Yarmouth, on the north by New Boston (Gray), on the west and north by Sebago Lake and the Presumpscot, and on the south by Falmouth, which then included the present towns of Portland, Westbrook, and Falmouth. The Town of Falmouth claimed that the sur- veyors had taken away a part of its grant and given it to New Marblehead. This claim was taken before the General Court to settle. That body sustained the claim and took away from New Marblehead all the land lying between "Sacaripy Falls" and a point very near the mouth of Inkhorn Brook and restored it to Falmouth. Unfortunately, this strip of land contained the bridge across the Presumpscot, on which the Proprietors had expended considerable money.
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No sooner was this dispute settled than another arose between this town and New Boston (Gray). Smith, in his history of the town, says, "For a long time the settlement of this subject appeared to be as difficult to adjust as the boundary line between the State of Maine and Her Majesty's Province of New Brunswick - and threatened to involve the two towns in scenes of 'blood and carnage.' But, as no troops were marched by either party upon the 'disputed territory,' the difficulty was happily got under, without any loss of lives to either party, but not until it had made some very unwel- come requisitions upon the 'Treasury Department.' "
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THE FIRST SAW MILL
M ILLS for the manufacture of lumber and the grinding of grain are of prime importance in a new settle- ment. Following a meeting of the Proprietors, held in Marblehead March 25, 1743, some futile attempts were made to build a grist mill. At that session it was voted to give the sum of fifteen pounds to any person who, within six months, would establish a mill in the township suitable for grinding corn. That no response was forthcoming to this offer was doubtless due to the fact that the Indians had begun to be jealous of the further encroachments of the whites and threatened a war of extermination.
In 1744 King George's War broke out, and this prevented the settlers from making any improvements in erecting mills or even clearing their farms. During this and the succeeding troubles with the Indians they carried their corn (when they were fortunate enough to have any) to Saccarappa, and tradition has it that their means of transportation was in boats, which they paddled up and down the Presumpscot River. Without doubt the first grist mill in town was near the saw mill at Mallison Falls, but there is no record of its exact location. It was not built until after the last Indian war.
A saw mill is almost as necessary as a grist mill, nor could sawn lumber be so easily transported on the river as meal. From the first beginnings of the township attempts were made to have a saw mill built. At last four men, Ebenezer Hawkes, William Goodwin, Isaac Turner, and Ebenezer Stacey, made an agreement with the Proprietors to build a saw mill. These men were given outright the mill privilege at Nagwamqueeg* (Mallison Falls) and ten acres of land adjoining. They began at once, but the Indians inter-
* Nagwamqueeg - Canoe Landing.
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fered with their work, claiming the land on both sides of the river above Saccarappa, and that the necessary dams inter- fered with the free passage of fish, whereby their food supply was endangered. Chief Polin went to the Provincial Gov- ernor at Boston on August 10, 1739, and complained of this and other abuses. The Governor gave them assurances that
SITE OF FIRST SAW MILL
passages for fish should be made in the dams. The Indians came back, only partly crediting these statements. This, however, caused a temporary lull in their warlike demon- strations, and the contractors were able to go on with their work of completing the mill. On December 14, 1740, they reported the mill completed and ready for business. It stood just above the rocky bluff near the site of the present woolen mill, at what is known as Mallison Falls, but was known to the Indians as Nagwamqueeg. It was the first mill of any kind erected in the township and was a great benefit to the settlers.
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While the mill and dam were being constructed, there were no houses in the vicinity, so they built a set of tem- porary buildings in which to board and lodge the workmen. Among other things provided for their sustenance was a barrel of beef. This the men pronounced of the finest quality, until, one unlucky day, the cook produced the hoofs of a horse that were in the bottom of the barrel. The hoofs were put back, the barrel headed up and rolled over the falls, which were then and there named Horsebeef. This name they bore universally until 1866, when they were called in the charter of the new company who had purchased the mill site, Mallison Falls.
The old saw mill had several owners at different times and remained, with repairs and alterations, until the spring of 1843, when the last of its massive timbers disappeared in the freshet of that year.
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THE OLD PROVINCE FORT
A LTHOUGH there were no open hostilities between the white settlers and their united foes, the French and Indians, when New Marblehead was first settled, it was perfectly evident to the whites that the red men were
PETER F. KEAN 1935
THE OLD PROVINCE FORT
dissatisfied at the rapid settlement of Maine and would seize the first opportunity to begin an attack upon them. As indi- cations of a war became more and more evident to the lead- ing men of the colonies, Governor William Shirley of Massa- chusetts, one of the ablest men of the time, began to provide
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means of defense for the settlements most exposed to the Indians.
On November 12, 1743, the House of Representatives voted one hundred pounds to New Marblehead, along with grants to other settlements, to build and arm a fort. As soon as they had obtained this sum, the settlers at once began its erection. It was located in the middle of the settlement, on the road, on Lot No. 33, that had been drawn for the support of the church. This was the highest point of land in the settlement. It is on the top of the hill, just south of the "Parson Smith House," now occupied in summer by Prof. Reginald R. Goodell and his sisters. We are showing you a picture of the site. It was completed and ready for occupancy in the summer of 1744. We are also giving you a pen-and-ink sketch of the fort, made from the printed description now given.
The fort was fifty feet square, two stories high, with walls one foot thick, the upper story jutting one foot over the lower, a tier of portholes being constructed just below the projection. There were two flankers, or, as they were called, "watch boxes," placed at diagonal corners. These were two stories high and twelve feet square, with walls the same thick- ness as the building. Each flanker had a swivel gun, so arranged as to cover two sides of the fort. The fort was sur- rounded on all sides by a stockade, made by setting posts ten or twelve inches in diameter and twelve feet long in the earth perpendicularly so near together that an Indian could not pass between them. The entrance to this stockade was through a heavy oaken gate, secured by strong bolts and bars. Inside this stockade, its muzzle pointing to the gate, was an iron nine-pounder gun to be used to fire alarms and to defend the gate.
War was declared between France and England in March, 1744, and, by the end of May, nearly all the settlers had moved into the fort. There they remained until after the
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treaty of peace was signed on October 16, 1749. After this they began to venture out to their old houses. Several new settlers came, and others who had gone to Portland, instead of into the fort, began to return.
The duration of peace was short, however, and, by the middle of 1750 all the eastern tribes of Indians were ready
SITE OF PROVINCE FORT
for war. As usual, they first attacked the eastern settlements, and, by September of that year, they had come to the neigh- borhood of Portland. Intervals of peace and war succeeded until near the close of 1754, when open hostilities broke out between the English settlers, on one hand, and the French and Indians, on the other.
There had been so great an increase in the number of inhabitants in the township that the fort would not hold them all in comfort. Accordingly, the houses of Thomas Mayberry, William Mayberry, John Farrow, William Bolton, and Caleb
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Graffam were made bullet proof and otherwise defensible against attacks from the Indians. The other families moved back into the fort. There they remained until after the death of Chief Polin, following which event, the Indians never made another raid into the township. The defeat of Montcalm on the Plains of Abraham near Quebec, on September 13, 1759, brought an end to the French and Indian wars in this part of the continent.
After the need of the fort as a place of refuge had passed, it was used for general assemblies of the settlers. It served as a meetinghouse for the Congregational Church for many years. After the incorporation of the town in 1762, all town meetings were held there until 1782. At the town meeting of that year it was voted to sell the time-honored structure at auction. By this action Abraham Anderson became the owner. He demolished the old fort and used its massive timbers for other purposes ; and the only trace of the ancient stronghold is a slight depression in the ground where it stood.
During the Revolution the town voted to instruct Capt. Caleb Graffam to "be the man to fix up the great gun and swivels as soon as possible." As this was all the ordnance in the possession of the town to repel a British invasion, this vote has been a source of amusement to men of later times. We must remember, however, that these weapons had pro- tected the fort in the Indian wars and were regarded with a feeling akin to reverence. It was all they had, and they deserve honor for their action. In the summer of 1776, the great gun and one swivel were carried to Portland and put on the privateer Reprieve. The other swivel is said by Thomas L. Smith to have been intentionally destroyed in town.
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TWO CAPTURES OF JOE KNIGHT
HILE the settlers were living in the fort, they were obliged to go out, generally under guard, and do their regular work on the farms. Four of the young men were captured at different times, William and Joseph Knight, brothers, William Bolton, and Seth Webb. Joe Knight was
SITE OF THE CAPTURE OF THE KNIGHT BROTHERS
twice captured, and the circumstances attending these events are of more than common interest. We are very fortunate in having these accounts from the lips of Joe's granddaughter, Mrs. Charlotte (Knight) Thomas.
On April 14, 1747, the Indians, who had not molested the settlers for many months, suddenly appeared and cap- tured the Knight brothers. They were little more than boys and were taken captive while looking for their father's cows near Inkhorn Brook. We have already given you a picture of
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the place, as nearly as we can locate it from the tradition. They were taken to the Indian settlements, and William was shortly released.
Joe was adopted by the tribe, as he took very kindly to their mode of life. He painted his face, wore their dress, and engaged in their sports and pastimes. They would often pat him on the shoulder and say, "Good boy, Joe." They went so far as to select a wife for him in the person of a youthful squaw and promised in time to make him their chief. Time passed, and his friends supposed him dead.
On August 3, 1751, peace was declared between the con- tending parties, with the condition that captives be returned. The parting between Joe and the young squaw is said to have been touching in the extreme. His longing for home had revived, and the "pious Aeneas" could not be restrained by pity or love. He travelled as rapidly as possible back to New Marblehead. There his return excited great rejoicing. What became of the youthful squaw history saith not.
Joe lived at home with his parents for five years. His father had built a saw mill at Little Falls, and there the sons assisted him at the work. In February, 1756, he was one day felling a noble pine on the edge of a clearing, nearly halfway between Mallison Falls and the present Maine Central depot at South Windham. Suddenly he saw an Indian partially concealed behind a nearby log. Frightened at the sight, he fled along the wood road in the direction of the mill at Little Falls where several men were at work. While he was running, an Indian suddenly rose from beneath a bridge across the road and discharged his musket at the fugitive, breaking his arm. Two Indians at once approached and made him their prisoner, one of them saying at the same time, "Me got you now, Joe."
They immediately entered the forest and shaped their course in a northerly direction, compelling Knight to keep pace with their rapid footsteps. At nightfall they halted,
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built a fire, and cooked some food. They then proceeded to dig a hole in the ground. Joe thought that his last hour had surely come. The hole rapidly assumed the proportions of a grave, and he supposed that he was to be murdered and his body hidden where it could never be found.
After their work was done they bound the shattered arm firmly to his side, laid him at full length in the excavation,
SITE OF SECOND CAPTURE OF JOE KNIGHT
carefully packed the earth over him, except for his head, and retired to rest. At daybreak the Indians disinterred the cap- tive, who found, to his great joy, that this novel method of surgery had worked wonders in his case. The blood had ceased to flow, and the pain had, in a great measure, sub- sided, so that he could travel with comparative case. They kept to the north, and, after several days, arrived at the Indian village. There he remained a captive for several weeks.
During his former stay with the Indians, Joe had learned much of their language and patiently waited for a chance to
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escape. At last he overheard them planning to make a gen- eral attack on the white settlements from Brunswick to Saco, and resolved to get away and give warning of the impending disaster.
The war party set out on May 7th, leaving Joe with some old braves and squaws. He secured what food he could, and, paying no attention to threats from his guards, he ran swiftly away in the direction of the warriors. He caught up with them and followed at a safe distance, unobserved for two days. Upon their arrival at the Androscoggin, they halted, and Joe saw them take to the river. He then took the direct trail through the forest and travelled all night. Just as the sun was rising, on the morning of May 10th, his eyes were gladdened by the sight of a log house and a woman milk- ing a cow, while a number of men with muskets were stand- ing on guard. He had, by great good fortune, arrived at a strong settlement on the banks of Royall's River in North Yarmouth. Overjoyed at the sight, he hastened toward the place, when he saw every musket levelled at him, and a rough voice ordered him to halt. Too hungry after his three days' tramp to heed the warning, he leaped the fence at a single bound, seized the pail, and took a long and hearty draught; then told the astonished settlers his story.
They at once prepared to defend their settlement, while Joe hastened on to Portland to give warning. He then headed a party of scouts to meet the foe, whom he reported to be about a hundred and twenty in number. The Indians had, however, got wind of the report, and they found only a deserted camping place.
Parson Smith records the affair as follows: "May 10. This morning we were alarmed with young Knights, who escaped from the Indians three days ago, and got to North Yarmouth this morning, who brings news of 120 Indians coming on the frontier, who are to spread from Brunswick to Saco."
"May 23. Had a contribution in favor of Jos. Knights."
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1337823
A WINDHAM BOY'S TEA PARTY
N August 27, 1747, about twenty or thirty Indians raided the settlement of New Marblehead and attacked two young men named William Bolton and William Maxfield. Both were armed. Bolton discharged his musket at the enemy, and, before he had time to reload, they rushed forward and made him prisoner. Maxfield held back the foe at the point of his gun. He was severely wounded, but held out until a body of armed men arrived from the fort, attracted by the shots, and the savages retreated, with their prisoner, Bolton.
He was taken to Canada and sold to a French naval officer, who immediately took him on board a frigate in the capacity of a servant. Shortly after the frigate put out to sea, she was captured by an English frigate and carried to Boston. There Bolton changed masters and became servant to Lieut. Wallace, of the English ship. His situation became known to the captain of a coasting vessel belonging to Fal- mouth : he applied to the Governor of Massachusetts for his release, which was promptly granted, and returned to Fal- mouth (Portland) in his friend's vessel; from there to Windham, to the great joy of his parents.
Our tea story is concerned with his experience as servant to Lieut. Wallace. On one occasion Wallace ordered Bolton to make him a mess of tea. Now the lieutenant had recently purchased a pound of tea of the very best quality. Bolton had never seen any tea. He had been given a teakettle and the pound of tea. He poured the entire pound of tea into the kettle, filled it with water, and set it on the fire.
Everything progressed finely until the kettle began to boil. The leaves swelled, the cover bounced off, and the fragrant mess flew in every direction, causing a general stampede, and nearly frightening the cook out of his wits.
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Wallace, who supposed that a joke had been played on him purposely, foamed with as much violence as the teapot. He ordered Bolton to be lashed to the gangway and whipped. The French captain, who was being taken along as a prisoner, suspected that Bolton was innocent of any evil intention, and interceded in his behalf. Upon this Wallace asked him if he had ever made any tea before. Bolton replied that he had not, but supposed that he should do as his mother did when she made herb tea. At this the lieutenant was as much excited with laughter as he was before with rage and ordered Bolton released from his penalty.
Several years later Bolton, now a prosperous farmer, saw a gang of boys in Portland annoying an old man, who appeared unable to defend himself, and went to the rescue. A few well-directed cuts with a whip dispersed the mob. To his astonishment, Bolton recognized in the old man his former master, Lieut. Wallace, now homeless and friendless. Bolton brought his old master home to Windham, took care of him until his death, and gave him a Christian burial.
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JOSEPH WIER -THE "SCOUT"
A NY account of Indian troubles in New Marblehead would be incomplete without mention being made of Joseph Wier, universally known in this part of Maine as "The Scout." In 1856 there was published by Charles P. Ilsley of Portland a volume of legends called Forest and
SITE OF "JOE WIER HOUSE"
Shore. The longest set of these stories is called "The Scout," and has as the hero the subject of this sketch. It is not our intention to give you the plot of the story having its scene laid here. We have many times seen the cellar of the house where the Scout's daughter is said to have lived. It is situated on top of the hill just behind the residence of the late Joseph L. Robinson. Here is a picture of the location. We assure you that the account given by Mr. Ilsley is well worth reading.
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FINAL CONTEST WITH THE INDIANS
T THE Indians who claimed sovereignty over the territory of what is now Windham and vicinity were a branch of the Sokokis tribe and were known to the settlers here as the Rockameecooks. Their headquarters had doubtless been on the shores of Sebago Lake time out of mind, a fact con- firmed by well-defined remains of winter encampments at different points along the shore. One of these dwelling places was near White's Bridge and has been fully described in a previous sketch.
At the time of which we are writing this band had become sadly thinned by disease and war, so that there remained but few, as compared with former times; these few, however, retained an old, deep-seated hatred for the whites, and their dominant motive was the complete annihilation of the ever- increasing foe.
Their chief, Polin, erroneously called Poland by the whites, was a man of more than ordinary talents, brave, subtle, and possessed of all the inherent cruelty of his race. He had visited Governor Shirley of Massachusetts and had stated many grievances, but had obtained little satisfaction from the interview. Mortified and enraged at his failure to receive what he considered justice, he resolved to make one more effort to regain his supremacy over the vast and beau- tiful realm where his tribe had dwelt in the days of their prosperity.
He well knew that in New Marblehead there was a strong fort garrisoned by men of resolute character, who were deter- mined to maintain their rights against all others. He knew that among them was the redoubtable Stephen Manchester, a man of boundless courage, who regarded him with profound hatred. It is stated that, at one time, when Polin and some of his warriors had encamped for the night near the fort,
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Manchester had determined to kill him then and there. He sharpened a small axe and concealed it beneath his coat ; and, taking his brother John with him, he visited the Indian camp to carry out his intention. On arriving there they met a disturbing situation. The chief was sleeping in the midst of a circle of sleeping braves. John, a mere boy, persuaded his brother to give up the attempt, but Stephen then and there took a vow to kill Polin when next they met.
INDIAN BATTLEGROUND
In the spring of that far-off year 1756, the old chieftain gathered a band of warriors near the present White's Bridge and the party came down the Presumpscot in canoes, landing in the vicinity of the little settlement in the gray dawn of a beautiful morning in May. Former visits had rendered him familiar with the habits of the settlers, and he waited in ambush for the day to advance, when the white men should leave the fort to do some spring planting.
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On that morning, the 14th day of the month, Ezra Brown and Ephraim Winship, accompanied by a guard, consisting of four men and four boys, left the fort for the purpose of planting corn on Brown's lot, a mile east of the fort. The lot was No. 21, in the first division of hundred-acre lots, and is now the property of Lyman K. Woodbury. There being no wheeled vehicles in the settlement, they were obliged to yoke the oxen to a sled on which they had placed their seed and rude farming tools, and were proceeding slowly toward their destination. On arriving at the lot, Brown and Winship, who were in advance of the others, had laid aside their guns and were in the act of letting down the bars, when they were fired on by a party of Indians. Brown was instantly killed with a bullet through the heart; Winship received a bullet through the left arm, and another destroyed the sight of one eye. He fell senseless to the ground. The Indians, supposing both to be dead, rushed forward and took their scalps, taking two from the head of Winship, who had a "double crown."*
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