USA > Maine > Cumberland County > Windham > Sketches of the history of Windham, Maine, 1734-1935; the story of a typical New England town > Part 4
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In 1769 William Mayberry, mentioned earlier in this sketch, was looking for a place to settle and discovered a colony of these sagacious animals in a pond which they had made on a branch of Inkhorn Brook, on the east side of Canada Hill. The following winter he broke out the dam and killed the beavers. These were the last of which we have any record in Windham. The following spring the place where the pond had been came up to grass, and Mayberry built his log house there. He said that he chose this locality on account of the fine grass growing in the bed of the old pond. The dam is still to be seen for several rods, and the spot is still called "the Meadows."
While Mr. Mayberry lived there, he lost six calves one night through "wild cats," which were probably Canadian lynxes. His daughter Betsy told her grandson, Samuel T. Dole, that each calf had been bitten on the back near the shoulders, and that their hearts had been entirely torn out by the ferocious beasts. She also remembered that, in the fall of 1783, a large moose came out of the woods and fed with the cattle, then disappeared slowly into the forest.
Another night her father called them all to the door to listen to the howling of the wolves a few rods away. The next day a neighbor, William Campbell, reported the loss of three sheep.
Bears were the cause of much loss to the crops of the set- tlers. Once, while grandmother Betsy with her brothers and sisters was gathering ripe strawberries, they suddenly came upon a bear sleeping at the roots of a large pine that had been
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blown over by the wind. They hurried home and told their father. The bear had disappeared when they returned, but he set a trap made of logs that afternoon. The following day he had to hurry away early and forgot the trap. In the course of the forenoon the oldest son, John, a lad of twelve, found the trap sprung and empty. On looking around, he saw the bear limping nearby and apparently in great pain. John quietly returned to the house, slyly took his father's flint- lock, and returned to the place. Resting his gun across a log, he fired and killed the "Varmint." He then informed his mother of what he had done, and, in a short time, mother and children were all assembled around the dead animal, the mother scolding John one minute for his rashness, and praising his courage the next. They managed to skin the game and quarter the carcass. Then, having no wheeled vehicle, they dragged it home on a hand sled; and "many a good meal we had off him," said John, when relating his adventure later.
The last bear seen in this part of Windham was shot by Samuel Dole, senior, in 1790.
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WITCHCRAFT IN NEW MARBLEHEAD
T WO hundred years ago a belief in witchcraft was universal in New England. This superstition was not confined to the ignorant, but those who had received academic degrees from our best institutions of learning were among its firm believers.
The inhabitants of New Marblehead, like all others, had full faith that witches did exist. Every small neighborhood was afflicted with some person or persons, usually old women, who, with the aid of his Satanic Majesty, could control sick- ness, render certain children idiotic, spoil the cream in the churn, resolve soap into its original elements, and in like ways invert the processes of nature. They could charm money from secret hiding places, kill "the cattle on a thousand hills," and raise the Devil generally. By the use of a special instrument called the "witch bridle," they could force a vic- tim to do whatsoever they wished, if we are to accept the testimony of the victims. By its unholy power they could transform anything, from a man to a bootjack, into any kind of animal, instantly subservient to their will. In short, they were more dreaded by our ancestors than any other plague under heaven.
But every poison is supposed to have an antidote, so there were numerous charms of greater or less potency in counter- acting these magic spells. An old horse shoe, if well heated, was supposed to leave an imprint on some part of the witch's anatomy, and the name of God spoken aloud would cause an immediate stampede of the pests.
Among the collection of legends and traditions relating to his native town, Samuel T. Dole has seven relating to witch- craft. We believe that modern youth is far enough from the superstitions of those days, and is sane enough in other ways,
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so that one of these tales may be related here, as a specimen of the superstitions of an earlier day, and will be received in no spirit of credulity. For that reason only we here give
THE ENCHANTED CHURN (BY SAMUEL T. DOLE)
NE of the men I well knew in my boyhood was a neighbor whom we shall call by the fictitious name of John Hill. He was a well-to-do farmer and an upright man, but, like many of his generation, was extremely superstitious. He used to relate the following story with all apparent sincerity.
"I had a neighbor whom I shall here call Wright, but that was not his real name. His wife was generally regarded as a witch in the community, and was therefore looked upon with great dread for her occult powers. The Wright family depended a great deal upon their neighbors for many small accommodations, and there were few who dared refuse any request they might make, because of the vengeance of Mrs. Wright.
"One day I started out quite early in the morning for the mill at Horsebeef, hoping to get some corn ground before a large number should assemble for the same purpose. I had some important farm work to do later that day, if possible. While I was passing the Wright place, out came the old lady and asked me to wait while she should get a bag of corn ready to take to the mill. I was in a tremendous hurry, as I have said, and mustered up courage enough to refuse. This excited the ire of the old lady, and, shaking her long, bony finger in my face, she screamed, 'John Hill, you'll be sorry for this !'
"Now, that morning, my wife had put her cream in the churn, and I had assisted her until the butter had nearly come, when I left for the mill. After I had come in sight of the mill, I saw an unusual crowd waiting their turn, for evi- dently eveyone else had come early, as I had, in order to have
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VIELE LEUTE
a fine day for their farming. There were so many ahead of me that I was obliged to wait nearly all day to have my grain ground, and so lost valuable time for my other work.
"On my return home, I found my wife still churning; and, upon inquiry, I found that, shortly after I had left home, the butter refused to gather and had finally become cream again. Then I knew that the 'old sarpint' was at her tantrums again, and I determined to teach her a lesson.
"After having tried all known remedies to break the spell, and having found none efficacious, I procured a well-worn horse shoe, heated it red hot, and put it into the churn. Believe it or not, the butter came good and solid in less than five minutes- and, furthermore, the old woman's hand was wrapped up with a burn for more than a week afterward."
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EARLY GROWTH OF THE TOWNSHIP-ACT OF INCORPORATION
T THE first stage in the growth of New Marblehead may be said to have ended with the arrival of the first minis- ter, Rev. John Wight, in December 1743, five years after Chute had brought his family into the forest. There were nine other families when Mr. Wight came.
The second minister, Rev. Peter Thatcher Smith, gives a list of thirty-nine families, when he was ordained in 1762. The names of Graffam, Hunnewell, Mayberry, Elder, Chase, Anderson, Evins, Hall, Mugford, Manchester, Bolton, Farrow, Crague, Stevens, Lowell, Noyes, Webb, Trott, Chute, Campbell, Walker, Bodge, Starling, Winship, Bayley, Maxfield, Miller, Knight, and Stinchfield appear on the list.
In 1760 the inhabitants of New Marblehead petitioned the Great and General Court of Massachusetts for a charter of incorporation as a town. On June 12, 1762 Governor Francis Bernard signed the act of incorporation ; that may be assigned as the date when Windham was born and New Marblehead ceased to exist. There is no reliable record to show why Windham was selected as the name of the sixteenth township in the District of Maine. The original town of Windham is in the shire of Norfolk in England. There are seven towns named Windham in the United States.
The population of the town steadily increased until 1860, when it is recorded in the census of that year as 2,635. Since that time there has been a decrease. In 1900 there were 1,929 persons in the town. This decrease may be attributed, in a great part, to a falling off in the manufacturing centers, due to disastrous floods, fires, and the use of water powers for industries that take but few men to run. The farming popu- lation has been more constant, except for smaller families, as everywhere.
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TOWN MEETINGS AND TOWN HOUSE
A S soon as the town had been incorporated, it was neces- sary to hold a meeting for the election of officers. The act of incorporation had been signed on June 12, 1762, and on the fifth day of July the first town meeting was held in Windham in the old fort. The following are some of the officers elected : Thomas Chute, Clerk; Caleb Graffam, Thomas Mayberry, and John Farrow, Selectmen; Abraham Anderson, Treasurer. There were field drivers, fence view- ers, tithing men, a sealer of weights and measures, and a con- stable elected. It is interesting to note that there was no school official in the town. The first mention we find of a school committee, performing the functions of school officers of the present, is in 1815.
Town meetings were held in the fort until 1788. In the following year the meeting was in the schoolhouse at what is now Newhall. This building was used until 1796, when the new Congregational Church was obtained for the purpose, as the largest building in town. In 1811 the Friends meeting- house, which stood nearly opposite the dwelling house of the late Nathaniel Cobb, became the town hall and remained as such for several years. The present town house was built in 1833. It is a brick structure fifty feet long and forty feet wide, with walls thirteen feet high.
Besides serving as the town hall, this building was used for the town high school until 1910, when the present high school building was erected. The author well remembers teaching English and Latin in the high school in the fall of 1896. We were crowded into one small room where the only assistant had his classes. External conditions were very unfavorable to the best results ; but, where there is the will to learn, such conditions do not matter so much. The various classes were there strictly for business, and they did excellent work.
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WINDHAM TOWN HOUSE
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THE DUCK POND
T HIS beautiful lake lies on the extreme easterly side of Windham. The south end is in Westbrook, and the easterly shore is in Falmouth. The pond is three miles long, and has an average width of a mile. Its shores are densely wooded with trees indigenous to our northern cli-
THE DUCK POND
mate. The waters are clear, cool, and of great depth, abound- ing in fish of an excellent quality. In former years pickerel and an occasional speckled trout rewarded the patience of the angler. About 1860 black bass were introduced and have increased so rapidly that but few of the original denizens of the lake are left.
Exceedingly romantic and inviting spots are to be found along the entire shore, which never fail to attract attention as one wanders on foot or sails along the placid waters. Many
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of these localities are now utilized for summer cottages and picnic grounds. At the head of the pond is a fine sandy beach, semicircular in form, several rods wide and bordered by shoal water, which renders it safe for bathing.
Tradition says that the first settlers found here a small band of Indians, who soon disappeared and were never after seen. If this is correct, they were probably a part of Chief Polin's band, whose headquarters were at White's Bridge, and who came here on account of the abundance and the excellent quality of the fish. Probably in that far-off time the pond had an Indian name, but no one knows what that name was. On the outlet is an excellent water power. There was first a clothiers' and wool carding mill ; next a paper mill and later a mill for the manufacture of wooden goods. The out- let empties into the Presumpscot River at Riverton.
Up to the beginning of the nineteenth century wild swans were among the water fowl frequenting the small ponds of Cumberland County. At that time Richard Knight of Falmouth shot a white swan, one of a pair which came to the Duck Pond every season. None have ever been seen there since.
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DUNCAN McINTOSH
A MONG the first settlers of what was known later as the Scotland School District in Windham was Duncan McIntosh. He was born in the Highlands of old Scot- land in 1737. The family tradition says that, when a young man, he married Jane Ferguson, the daughter of a neighbor and lived a short time in his ancestral home near the sea- coast in Argyleshire. It appears that Mr. McIntosh was a descendant of a family of Covenanters .; and, as such, he was persecuted for his religion. Finally, one night, he was be- sieged in his dwelling; and, being in danger of capture by overwhelming numbers, he literally cut his way through the opposing mob, and escaped with his wife to the seashore. There, by great good luck, they found a vessel about to sail for America, on which they took passage and, in due time, landed in Portland.
He had brought from his native land but a small part of the wealth he possessed and was obliged to begin life anew in a land of strangers. One thing, however, he had retained, and that was the broadsword, which had been his sole depend- ence in the hour of supreme peril. This weapon was, in 1895, owned by his great-grandson, B. F. McIntosh of Portland. The writer of this sketch, Samuel T. Dole, saw and handled it many times and listened to traditions of the family from the lips of one of its members who died many years ago. The old sword is a veritable relic of bygone years. It has a long, straight, two-edged blade of superb temper and a curious iron hilt, so constructed as to cover the entire hand, and was in- tended to cut or thrust with equal facility.
Shortly after his arrival in America, Mr. McIntosh pur- chased a lot of land at the head of the Duck Pond in Wind- ham, near the Falmouth line. There being no roads at the time, he purchased a boat, into which he loaded his household
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effects and a few tools and paddled across the harbor from Portland to the mouth of the Presumpscot River; thence to the outlet of the Duck Pond near Pride's Bridge; then up the outlet to the pond. He was compelled to tow. the boat by main strength a greater part of the way, after leaving the Presumpscot, in which labor, it is said, he was materially assisted by his wife, who was no weakling. After reaching
HOUSE OF DUNCAN MCINTOSH
the pond he quickly paddled the remaining three miles to the land he had purchased.
Here, on a beach of beautiful white sand, he landed his worldly goods and prepared to make a home in the primeval wilderness. A few rods east from the head of the pond he built a log house and cleared a small patch of ground, which he surrounded with a log fence and planted to corn and gar- den vegetables. The soil was new and productive, and his crops grew rapidly. When he was nearly ready to harvest, the bears proved a source of no small annoyance. Attracted
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by the growing corn, of which they were very fond, they broke down the fence and were in a fair way to destroy the entire crop.
Now tradition says that one day Mrs. McIntosh went to the inclosure to get vegetables for dinner, carrying with her a keen-edged carving knife. On her arrival a huge bear, which had been making free with the growing corn, quickly ran toward a hole in the fence. On beholding the grim in- truder, the Highland blood of the good woman was roused to fever heat, and she determined on swift and sure vengeance. So, as his bearship was attempting to make his escape, she seized him from behind and by repeated thrusts of the knife actually laid him dead on the spot.
Afterward, on being asked if she were not afraid during the transaction, she replied, "No, no, I just caught him by the stub of the tail and jabbed him till he died ;" then added, "A rare bit of food the goodman and I had off the carcass."
Another tradition has it that Mr. McIntosh had brought from Portland a new scythe that had never been sharpened. The nearest grindstone was at the Province Fort, five miles away. He whittled out a dozen pine sticks flat, took them with a pot of grease down to the pond, sprinkled the greased sticks liberally with sand, and with them actually rubbed the scythe to a sharp edge.
Mr. McIntosh is described as a large-framed man, endowed with great muscular strength, active and energetic in character, with dark hair and deep gray eyes, clear-cut and prominent features. By hard work and rigid economy he became quite wealthy for the times and was greatly respected by all who knew him. He had several children. He died September 10, 1814, aged 77 years.
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EARLY HOMES, FURNISHINGS, CLOTHING, AND FOOD
A BRIEF account of the early manner of life of the first settlers should be of interest to the younger people of our town, although there is nothing peculiar to Wind- ham in these matters. They were the customs of New
COLONIAL FURNITURE AND WEAPONS
England pioneers everywhere, and many of them belong to the century they represent.
Our first settlers were men of limited means. Their houses were made of logs, roughly hewn on three sides and firmly locked at the ends; they rose to the height of a single story. The chinks between the logs were stuffed with grass, or clay, or some other suitable substance. The roofs were cov- ered with birch bark, over which were laid long shingles or
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splints. Some huts had floors of hewn timber; others had a dirt floor. Rooms were made by hanging bed quilts from beam to beam. An immense fireplace supplied heat, and there was no dearth of fuel. A pit in (or under) the floor served to keep vegetables from freezing.
Wolves, foxes, and bears robbed them of fowls, domestic animals, and crops. The principal crops were corn, barley, rye, oats, peas, and beans. Potatoes were not regarded with much favor. One settler is said to have remarked that a bushel of potatoes would last his family of seven persons all winter. Their meat came largely from the forest, and the fish from brook and river.
Clothing was made from wool produced at home and manufactured by the housewife on spinning wheel and hand loom. The style of dress for men is familiar in pictures of George Washington and men of his time. Women wore long full skirts, generally made of flannel and dyed to suit the wearer's taste.
We give you here a picture of some colonial furniture and implements owned by Mrs. Charles A. Smith, that have come down to her from the Lowell family, and have always been in the same house.
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VARIOUS CHURCH SOCIETIES
T should be remembered that, before we became a nation, a church tax was levied in many communities. This was for the support of the established church in that com- munity, whatever that church might be. In the Puritan towns of Massachusetts it was the church that now bears the
SECOND MEETING HOUSE
name of Congregational. In Windham there was such a tax. The First Amendment to the Constitution of the United States guaranteed religious freedom in the state for the first time in the history of any great nation.
Like many other New England communities, Windham became a refuge for Quakers ; and, as in all these places, they were far from welcome when they first arrived. They objected to paying the church tax. In 1774 the Town voted,
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"That all persons who call themselves friends or Quakers, whom the headman of that society shall own to be of that society shall be exempted from paying ministerial taxes." Eighteen families were exempted in this way. In fact, Wind- ham is to be congratulated on refraining from persecuting them, as so many communities were in the habit of doing, and on giving them this exemption with so little hesitation. They erected a small church building near Windham Center, and later made an addition to it, in which they had an academy. The present meeting-house was erected in 1849.
The Freewill Baptists had a church building at Mallison Falls. Later they removed to the Gorham side of the river.
The Universalists started a church at South Windham in 1840 and raised a building there on September 1st of that year. The organization has had a prosperous career.
The Second Adventist Society came here in 1841-2. In 1872 the Chase Meeting-house was built as a union church for the General Baptists and Adventists, but the latter society has occupied it alone for many years.
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THE NEW KING AND HIS COLONIAL POLICY - WINDHAM IN THE REVOLUTION
A S we have stated in a previous sketch, there were no Indian attacks on Windham after the death of Polin in 1756. In September, 1759, came the fall of Quebec, with the collapse of French political influence on this con- tinent. In 1760 a new king, George the Third, ascended the throne of the English nation. It is always well to remember that New England was a thoroughly loyal member of the British Empire until this time.
George III was the exact opposite of his predecessor. Under George II, the Whig party had been in control of political affairs. The Whigs were liberal in their colonial policies, and there was no serious friction between America and England during their supremacy. With regard to their attitude toward the policy of taxation without representation, as it affected America, the Whig party became divided into two groups, soon after George III became king. The Old Whigs, with Edmund Burke as the leader, believed it was legally right to impose such taxes, but that it was inexpedient to do so. The New Whigs, under William Pitt, believed it was both illegal and morally wrong to tax the colonists with- out some form of representation. Opposed squarely to the New Whigs were the Tories, under Grenville, and later Lord North, who believed it was legal and expedient to tax the colonies without representation.
The alleged cause for this taxation was the claim that the colonies had benefited most by the results of the French and Indian wars and should be taxed to pay the cost of those campaigns, besides one-third of the cost for a standing army of 10,000 British troops to be maintained in the colonies. In his famous Speech on Conciliation with America, Burke shows conclusively that the colonists had paid much more
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than their fair share of the war expenses. Furthermore, the Americans objected seriously to having a standing army in their midst, both because it was unnecessary and was a threat over them. The Tories, with the support of the King, kept on levying unpopular taxes.
When Parliament repealed the Stamp Act in 1766, a Declaratory Act was passed at the same time, which stated that, in spite of repeal, Parliament had the full power to pass such acts as the Stamp Act, whenever it wished to do so. Any good modern American history will give a full explana- tion of the causes of the Revolution. They are more complex than many textbooks used to represent. We are only con- cerned with the part Windham played in this momentous conflict.
On February 16, 1773, the Town passed the following vote :
"Voted, to choose a committee to act on anything the town may think proper, in answer to the letter of corre- spondence sent by the town of Boston to this town, concern- ing the infringements which are made upon the rights and privileges we ought to enjoy, and to do anything the town may think right and proper in answer to this letter."
Richard Mayberry, Z. Hunnewell, Caleb Graffam, Thomas Trott, and Hugh Crague were chosen a committee for the above-named purpose. At an adjourned meeting held Feb- ruary 25th the committee made the following report :
"To the worthy gentlemen who are the committee of correspondence for the town of Boston :
"Gentlemen : We who are the committee for the town of Windham have considered your pamphlet which you sent to this town, and we report as follows: We understand that many towns older and much more capable than we are of judging of affairs have fully investigated the subject ; there- fore we think it needless for us to be very particular in the affair. But we agree with you gentlemen in your sentiments
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concerning the liberties and privileges which we ought to enjoy, and the infringements which are made of the same. We, the people of Windham, have suffered much by the Indians, and did expect no other from them, if we fell into their hands. But little did we think that unconstitutional and unbearable measures would be taken by those whom we depended on to protect and defend our interests and privi- leges, both civil and sacred, even to bring us and our posterity into the greatest bondage, slavery, and misery that people can well be under, even equal to or greater than the Egyptian bondage.
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