USA > Maine > Cumberland County > Windham > Sketches of the history of Windham, Maine, 1734-1935; the story of a typical New England town > Part 5
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"Therefore Resolved, That we declare ourselves to be true and legal subjects of our king, and are ready to do our utmost whenever we are called on to defend his royal person and interest.
"Resolved, That we look upon it our duty as well as inter- est, both for ourselves and posterity, to stand up in defense of those privileges and liberties that our goodly fathers pur- chased for us at so dear a rate as the expense of their own blood, and that we used formerly and still ought to enjoy.
"Resolved, That the town of Windham returns humble and hearty thanks to the town of Boston for the care and regard they discover for us and the whole province.
"Resolved, That the foregoing resolves be registered in the Town Clerk's office, that the rising generation may see what care their forefathers have taken to defend their liber- ties and privileges, that they may take like care if they are called to it as we are.
RICHARD DOLE, Town Clerk."
In January, 1774, and later in February of the same year, the people of Windham repeated the same sentiments in official form.
On September 21, 1774, a convention of delegates from Cumberland County met in Portland to take action on the serious situation existing between Great Britain and her
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Att & Town meeting (99 being Legaly warned the frend and other Inhabitants of the Town of windham mit together on Tuesday the 19 Day of this Instant onarch at June and Place mentioned in tale warning and acted on the Articles following vous ne ow Bunker moderator pr. I meeting
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Noted that mr zerubbabele Humewere I be a committee of and that capt caleb craffor
Mas (gut richard Mayberry) Japty for the Town Noted thatyou Thomas trott Voli that the soaac Hardy wind hamry Vita Mint this meeting be Desolo
Richard Dole Town Car
There are in bounce to the Precept to us sent by
With theriff of our Country of cumberland to warn the freeholders and other frhabitants of the Town of windhar Hly Qualified as the Law Directs & Vote in town affairs to la semble all the block house in Town on mondd the twentieth Day of this forstant may at four (Coch afternoon) to act on the following articles
( house a moderator for meeting
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to Choose or Elect some Person of persons if They ve (cure to Represent them in the defionantefions of the Great and gener Court or a prombly appointed to be held at the meting house in Watertown upon wednesday the twenty ownthis Instant
Day of may
David Barker, Wind ham may 16 176 . Thomas Trott
Jeles left onen Richard Hole Town Clerk.
Cumberland to windham onay 201776 Att a Town meeting being Realy warned the free holders and other inhabitants of this town timet together at time and Place and acte on the articles following voy Vous i chabod Hanson masterator for I meeting Poter note to send any respondentive this year
/
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Richar Dole Town Clark
Cumberland fs Windham 100 January 22177}
This may certify that / Margret Mayberry Administration Hath Real Twenty Pound of my Negro man named Forma it being the sum of his apprisal of my Thomas May Berg Erath Latly Deceast in wind ham and of hereby certify The above Named Lornon is free and his own man to witnes my hand
Margret Meayberg
Witness vin Richon Dole Joseph Weeks
Richard Dole Town (cirka)
Congress july 4 1776
ADECLARATION By The Representatives The UNITED STATES Of AMERICA. In General Cogress Assembled
When intcourse of human Events, it Becomes necefica For one people to dissolve the political Bands which Have connecte them with another, and to asume and The Powers of the earth the separate and equalitions To which the Land of nature and of Nature's go entre Them. a decant Reff lot to the opinions of Mankind regt ires that they how declare the causes which it Them to heleperation -
We hold these Truths to be self Evident, that all men ar Created equal, that They endowed by their creator with (enter) unalienable Rights, Mat, among these are Life, Liberty The Pursuit of Happiness : - that to secure. these Rights Good nments are instituted among men Deriving their Power's From the consent of the governed, that whenever any form of Government Becomes destructive of these anos, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish, it, and to institute New Government, laying its Foundations on Such Principles and organ ising its Powers in Such, form, as to Them. Thall Jum most, Likely to effect their Safty, and happiness. Prudence indeit was Dicate that governments long established should not be Change) for light and tronficht (aufes; and accordingly Experience hath hewn, that mankind are more hispan To Suffer, while Evils are Sufferable, than to right the path by abolithing the forms IN which, they are accustomed, Boste when along train of abujes and uporpations surfini
COPY OF DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE
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First Lords Day after they shall have Reviewed it :... and After Such, Publication Thereof, to Deliver the van. Declaration To the Clerks of their Several Towns or Districts; who are Hereby Required to Record the fame. in their Respecting Town of Destrul Books, there to Remain, as " Perpetua. Memoral there of
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In the Name and by order of the Council R. Derby Ju
A true Copy istest John Avery Dep. Secy
Jalen, Maffechusetts Bay: Printed by l. Russel By fire Authority Rich and Dole Ja
is unfit to be Ruler ofa (10) Free People! --- Nor have. we been wanting in Attention To our British Brethren. We have warned Them from Time to time Attempts by Their Legislature To extend an un worantable jurisdiction over us . we have the mind Them of the Carum - Stances of our Ermigration and settlement here, we have expected To Their Native Justice and Magnanimity , and we ยท charpenteved them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow ripations, which would inevitably interupt our comment huit correspondance . They to have been deaf to the voice Justice and of confanquifity. we must therefore acquegs! The Necessity which Denounces our Seperation and LoDD them, as we ist the Best of mankind, Enemies in war; in Scale", Friends, We, therefore. The Representatives of the south States of America. in General Congrep afsem bled appy afewthe Supreme fridge of the world for the Quick four Intentions , do , in the Name and by the Authority of the' good People of these colonies, solemnly Publish And Declare that these- United Colonies ard, and of Right ought To be Free and ridependant Hates; That They are absolved from, all allegiance to the British, crown and that all Political Connection, between, them and the . State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally Difolia And that as Three and Independent states, They have full; Power To levy war, Conclude Seacer Contract Alliances, establish, commerce, and to do all other Acts and things Which, Independant states, may of Right do. and for the Duport of this Declaration, with a film Reliance on The Pro- tution of Divine Providence we mutually Pledge to Each other our Lives our Fortunes and our Jarred Honour
Signed by order and in Behalf of the Conjuys John HANCOCK PrestoLA~ Attest Charles Thompson Secretary in Council July 17th, 576 Ordered. That the Declaration of Independence be Printed and a copy sent to the ministers of each, Farish,, of every Denomination, within this state; and That they severally be Required to read the same to their respective congregations as soon as Burne Service is ended in the afternoon, on the
FROM WINDHAM TOWN RECORDS
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colonies. Zerubbabel Hunnewell, Thomas Trott, and David Barker represented Windham at this convention. On the fol- lowing day a committee of the convention reported a list of grievances and recommendations to be presented to the sev- eral towns. Among other recommendations was one calling for the organization of militia companies and the purchase of ammunition. On this recommendation Windham took imme- diate action and at the annual March meeting elected William Knights, Captain; David Barker, Lieutenant, and Richard Dole, Ensign. The town also raised twenty-seven pounds for ammunition and chose Caleb Graffam to "fix up the Great Gun and Swivels." We have already commented on this somewhat humorous measure to defend the town from an invasion by the redcoats.
After the Battle of Lexington Windham chose a Com- mittee of Safety annually for several years. Men began to join the army at once.
Windham's copy of the Declaration of Independence did not reach the town for several weeks after the Fourth of July. It was at once inscribed on the town books, where it still remains.
Mr. Nathan Goold, of a well-known Windham family and later in charge of the records of the Maine Historical Society, has compiled a list of Windham soldiers in the Revolution. This record shows ninety-one names. In Dole's Windham in the Past may be read a complete record of the activities of Windham in the Revolution, along with a detailed account of the term of service and later career of many of these men. It may be said, in brief, that no town can show a larger percent- age of men in active service, in proportion to the population, than ours.
With the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown, on Octo- ber 19, 1781, hostilities ceased. The war was virtually over, and those who had survived the terrible ordeal returned to their homes. They were as "poor as poverty itself," but they
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possessed the consciousness of having well performed their part in the great drama of national independence, and could leave to posterity that richest of legacies, Freedom and Union.
One instance of how readily these old soldiers returned to their former occupations will serve as an illustration of their zeal and energy. Richard Dole, after returning from three years' service, arrived home late in the afternoon. The next morning at sunrise found him in his joiner shop at work on a job he had left unfinished when he joined the army. Others were equally energetic, and in a short time a season of activ- ity prevailed everywhere throughout the township.
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INTERESTING INCIDENTS ASSOCIATED WITH WINDHAM IN THE REVOLUTION
I N November, 1776, Capt. Richard Mayberry of Windham enlisted a company for three years' service in the Con- tinental Army. Of this company, eleven members, including the captain, were from Windham. They were Sergeant Josiah Chute, Corporal Ebenezer Barton, Privates James Jordan, William Mayberry, Robert Millions, John Swett, Peter Smith, Thomas Chute, David Mayberry, and Benjamin Trott. This "Windham Company" was Company 5, in Col. Benj. Tupper's 11th Regt. It was on the left wing of the army commanded by General Gates in the memorable campaign of 1777, which terminated in the capture of Burgoyne at Saratoga, on October 17th.
Windham men belonging to other companies, who served at Valley Forge, Brandywine, Germantown, Saratoga, and Monmouth, include the following "three year men": Richard Dole, Enoch Graffam, Enoch Hall, Job Hall, Eli Herbert, Nicholas Hughes, James Jordan, Elias Legro, Joseph Legro, Stephen Manchester (the "Indian killer"), Lonnon Rhode (Windham's "Colored Patriot"), and Edward Webb. Others served shorter terms, ranging from five days to twenty-four months.
September 24, 1777, the town voted "mileage to the Selectmen to Peekskill, Fishkill, and Cambridge, 46 pounds 2 shillings." This visit was probably made to look after the welfare of Windham soldiers there.
May 15, 1778. "Voted, six hundred dollars for those three men that is drafted to go to Fishkill."
January 12, 1779. "Voted 80 pounds for the support of those women whose husbands are in the army."
June 21, 1779. "Voted 13 shirts, 13 pairs of stockings, and 13 pairs of shoes for the army."
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December 4, 1780. "Voted 5011 pounds of beef for the army."
January 16, 1781. "Voted 2280 dollars, silver money for the soldiers that are to go into the army for three years." Also it was voted that the soldiers shall be paid ten dollars in silver money by the town per month, and twenty dollars in silver money as a bounty, and to pay them once in three months. By this vote it is shown that soldiers were paid by the town from which they enlisted.
The small value of the Continental Currency may be seen from the following statement of Jonathan Loveitt, one of the selectmen for 1781:
9 shirts 40 pounds 360 pounds
9 pairs stockings
24 pounds 216 pounds
9 pairs shoes
40 pounds 360 pounds
12 miles travel
36 pounds
3 days' time
63 pounds
Total
1035 pounds
In the same year the price of labor was fixed at $50 a day for a man; and oxen the same; while the use of a plow cost $25 per day.
From Smith's history of the town we quote the following :
"We may judge of the efforts put forth by the inhabitants of this town during the Revolutionary War, from the fact that there was but one company in town during the war ; that the number of men enrolled at any time did not amount to fifty-five, of whom more than thirty were known to be out on continental service and service of the state at one time, . that this town, small in numbers poor in pecuniary means, in one of the darkest periods of the Revolution, voted 2280 dollars in silver money to support the war, are facts that will stand forever forth as living mementoes of the devo- tion and attachment of this town to the cause of civil liberty."
"At one time there were but two pairs of shoes in Capt. Mayberry's company, which belonged to Josiah Chute, grandson of Thomas Chute, the first settler of this town.
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He was sergeant of this company and was wounded by a musket ball in the Battle of Hubbardstown."
"At the Battle of Eutaw Springs, according to the testi- mony of General Green, hundreds of men were as naked as when they were born. 'Posterity will scarcely believe that the bare loins of many men who carried death into the ranks of the enemy at the Eutaw were galled by their cartridge boxes, while a folded rag or tuft of moss protected the shoulders from sustaining the same injury with the musket. Men of other times will inquire by what magic was the army kept together ? By what supernatural power was it made to fight ?' . . . "
"The loss of men to Massachusetts in the field, in the camp, and in the prison ships has been estimated at a number between eight and nine thousand. Her own debt incurred was about five millions specie value, besides her proportion of the national debt, which was estimated to be as much more. The quota to Maine of these and other burdens was one-tenth. The men belonging to Maine who fell during the war must have exceeded a thousand."
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AN INTERVAL OF PEACE-THE WAR OF 1812
YE have seen how the veterans of the Revolution, on returning home, took up their regular vocations where they had dropped them, as far as possible. The recovery of prosperity was extremely slow at first. The cur- rency was almost worthless, and trade was conducted largely by barter. A new government was in the process of forma- tion. Windham, like every other community, was seeking the best way to regain its former prosperity and to develop its resources along new lines. Let us glance for a moment at the development of the water powers on the Presumpscot and Pleasant Rivers.
In his history of the town Smith lists thirteen falls on the Presumpscot in the Town of Windham capable of being developed for power. They are as follows: Wescott's, Eel- wier, Hubble, Steep, Harding's, Great Falls, Whitney's, Island, Dundy, Loveitt's, Gambo, Little Falls, and Mallison. Even today many of them have never been developed, while others have been drowned out by such high dams as we find at Great Falls.
Before the Revolution the following falls had been util- ized to a greater or less extent. Mallison (or Horsebeef) Falls had a saw mill. At Little Falls was another saw mill owned by William Knight and later by his son, Joseph. At Gambo was another saw mill owned by Jonathan Loveitt. Later Loveitt bought the falls that bear his name and, with his three sons, built and operated a saw mill there. Soon after the Revolution the power at Great Falls was first developed by Zebulon Trickey. Still later the power above Great Falls, commonly known as the Middle Jam, also had a saw mill that was operated until the great dam before men- tioned was built at Great Falls and drowned it out.
Pleasant River had no falls developed before the Revolu-
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tion. Sometime before 1800 the upper falls, called Jackson's, had a mill erected by John A. Knight. This was a saw mill with a grist mill attached. Soon after the beginning of the last century Samuel Varney had a saw mill at a point on the river known as the "Oxbow."
In 1781, just as the Revolution was approaching a close, Edward Anderson built a large saw mill at Anderson's Falls on Pleasant River. We here give verbatim Historian Smith's vivid account of this venture.
"Col. Edward Anderson caused an artificial outlet to be made from the south end of Little Sebago into Smith's Brook, which empties into Pleasant River, for the purpose of sup- plying the mills on the latter with an additional quantity of water. The outlet gradually increased in size, till two saw mills were erected on it. June 4, 1814, the water under- mined the mill-dam, swept it and the mills from their foundations, disrupted the bed of the stream, rent away with irresistible force the opposing barriers of nature, and forced its way into Pleasant River. In a few hours the outlet was increased 50 feet in depth and 200 in width. Thus this body of water (Little Sebago), which had been confined within its native embankments from time immemorial, rapidly disap- peared and was swallowed up in the waters of the Atlantic. The sudden eruption of this great body of water carried away one saw mill, one grist mill, and six bridges on Pleas- ant River, and also Gambo and Horsebeef bridges on the Presumpscot ; inundated the intervale and low lands, caused the water to run up Pleasant River and the tributaries of the Presumpscot, and made many who saw the laws of nature thus reversed and were unacquainted with the cause, believe the world would come to an end before 1843."
What amazes us is that one man, no matter how influen- tial he and his family might be, should be allowed to change the natural outlet of a large body of water like Little Sebago in order to get water for his private mill. Cry out as we may
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against monopolists today, that thing could not happen here in this present generation. Be that as it may, the Ditch (Smith's) Brook has ever since been the principal outlet of Little Sebago ; whereas before Anderson wanted water for his mill, that pond was many feet higher than it is now, as shown by traces of the old shore lines, and it emptied into the Basin Pond through the Little Outlet just south of the Kennard house.
Such was the situation as regards manufacturing at the close of the Revolution and in the years immediately follow- ing. So far as the other business interests of Windham are concerned, they were nearly all associated with the clearing and development of farm lands and the establishment of such small industries as are inseparable from village life. The population rapidly increased, and a condition of prosperity began and continued without interruption until a second war with Great Britain.
This war was declared June 18, 1812. The six causes, as set forth in the declaration, included the impressment of American seamen, violation of the peace of our coasts and harbors, plundering our commerce, issuing "orders in coun- cil," employing secret agents to destroy our union, and encouraging the Indians to war on our people.
In this war Windham was not called on to furnish any men for the army. The men needed were raised by voluntary enlistment. There were twenty men from the town who enlisted for five years, or during the war, and served in the regular army. Of these men Thomas Hardy died in the serv- ice, Merrill Knight was killed in action, and Joseph Knight was severely wounded. There were no other casualties.
Near the close of the war the "Windham Company," commanded by Nathan Goold, was ordered to Portland, in expectation of an attack from the British war vessels, then supposed to be off our coasts. Capt. Goold received his orders at 9 P. M., September 9, 1814. He at once collected his force and by 9 the next morning they were on Munjoy Hill, armed
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and equipped. The alarm proved false, and, after remaining there until September 24th, they were mustered out and returned to Windham. This company consisted of Nathan Goold, Captain; Noah Senter, Lieutenant ; William Legrow, Ensign ; three sergeants, four corporals, sixty-four privates, and a fifer.
The only Windham men in the Mexican War were Joseph C. Chute, Augustus Hall, and Charles Rand. Mr. Rand died in the service.
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GROWTH AND DEVELOPMENT OF THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM
E have already given an account of the first school and teachers. That school remained the only one in town until 1767, when it was voted that "those people that live upon the Hundred acre lots and have not had any benefit of the money raised for two years past for the support of a school or schools shall have their proper proportion of said money, which shall this year be raised for the use afore- said to be laid out for a school amongst their scholars." This school was held in some part of the district near Little Falls, later called District 2, probably in a hired house.
In 1778 it was voted to build a schoolhouse at Gambo. This was the second schoolhouse and the third district in town. It stood where the Newhall schoolhouse now stands. A fourth district was then made in what is now known as the Mayberry Neighborhood. Thus far the districts had followed the Presumpscot River northward, as the population spread in that direction.
There were three periods in the town's history when school districts were laid out to take care of the growth of the population. The last time the town was "districted" was in 1818. These districts were located and named as follows : District No. 1, or Anderson's, was on the river next to West- brook. No. 2 was at Little Falls and was later named the John A. Andrew District. No. 3 was the Gambo, or Newhall, District. No. 4 was the Mayberry District. No. 5 was Wind- ham Hill. No. 6, the Knight District, lay next the lower end of the Duck Pond. No. 7, called Kennard's, was on the Gray Road above Foster's Corner. No. 8 was at Baker's Corner. No. 9, called Dole's, and later Bodge's, lay between Nos. 1 and 6. No. 10 was called the Ireland District and lay in the northeastern corner of the town. Just south of the Ireland
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District was No. 11, called the Scotland District from Duncan McIntosh, the Scot who first settled there. No. 12, called Hardy's and later Canada Hill, lay between that hill and the Westbrook line. This district was very small, and the building was called the "Bandbox Schoolhouse." No. 13 was on Windham Plains. No. 14, later called Arlington, was the North Windham District. No. 15 was the Windham Center school. No. 16 was the Friends Neighborhood school. No. 17 took in the village of Great Falls. No. 18, called "Quebec," lay next to Raymond. No. 19, called the White School, or Anthoine's, lay between Windham Center and the Ireland District.
Among the outstanding evils of the district system was the difference in the length of the school year. Each district received a certain sum from the State for every person between the ages of four and twenty-one years of age toward the support of a school. The result was that the villages had a much longer term of school than the thinly settled farming districts. Every spring, shortly after the annual town meet- ing, the voters in a district met in the schoolhouse and elected an agent. This official hired teachers, paid for fuel, and attended to such repairs as were voted necessary. There was no free textbook system; every pupil bought his own books. The school committee examined teachers, decided what text- books should be used, and visited schools. Later, a superin- tendent of school was employed to do the visiting. He was elected at the annual town meeting and served a year. A school committeeman served three years, and one member of the committee was elected annually, as at present.
In 1893 the district system was abolished, and the pres- ent arrangement of school administration and length of terms was established. The free textbook system had come in just before this.
The town report of 1935 shows that the following schools survive from the old district divisions: John A. Andrew, Arlington, Newhall, Center, Friends, Hill, Ireland, Kennard,
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WINDHAM HIGH SCHOOL
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and Knight. Here are only nine of the nineteen districts of the 1818 division surviving. This goes to show that Wind- ham is following the trend of modern times and is trans- porting its pupils to central schools, where the attendance is larger and interest keener. Besides this, the present system is more economical. It is also very probable that there are not enough pupils in many of these old districts to maintain a school legally. An outstanding example of this is the Dole District. In a population table given in the appendix of this book you will see that there were 78 pupils there in 1840 - the largest district in town. By 1872 that number had dwindled to 36; in 1886 there were 20. For several years past there have not been enough to maintain a school by law.
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