USA > Maine > The Maine book > Part 4
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The actual summer extends from May 31 to September
Summer and Winter Rainfall 14, the period of general exemption from frost. Records kept at twenty-one different points show the mean rainfall for this period of summer to be 11.13 inches. The mean winter rainfall of the state at the above twenty-one points is 10.13 inches. The mean depth of snow at seven different points is 83.02 inches, corresponding to 6.91 inches of water. The total downfall for the four and a half months during which the snow falls is about 15.62 inches, 6.91 of which, as just shown, come in snow. Therefore, about 44 per cent. of the total downfall during the four and a half months of actual winter is snow. The per cent. during the three months of nominal winter, is of course, greater.
Distribution of Rain Rain is distributed with remarkable uniformity at differ- ent seasons of the year. Thus, the summer fall at twenty- one stations has been shown to be 11.13 inches; the winter fall at twenty-six stations, 10.13 inches. The receipts for spring and autumn are nearly equal, and are each about 10.50 inches. Of the aver- age 42 inches of rain received yearly, 25.20 are reabsorbed by the atmos- phere, and 16.20 pass off by the rivers to the sea.
It will be readily understood that the evenness of distribution of our rainfall is a very important condition of productiveness. On the one hand we are saved from frequent and protracted droughts, such as afflict the treeless sections of the West, and on the other we are spared from the excessive and sudden rainfalls where everything is endangered by inunda- tion. This equable rainfall is one of the great blessings we receive from our forests. Water-spouts, cyclones, whirlwinds, and "blizzards," which in their violence are so severe in many of the western states that neither man nor beast can face them for any time and yet live, are unknown in Maine. Our trees and wooded hills are sentinels of safety, and our quiet valleys are the abodes of peace and security.
Humidity of Climate The humidity of the climate is remarkable. The air, on an average, is more than three-fourths saturated with mois- ture. Even in the summer months the air generally con- tains 75 per cent. of the amount of moisture it is capable of holding at that temperature. In other words, it is devoid of dry, burning heat, in
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GEOGRAPHY
striking contrast with the scorching air of the treeless sections of our country and of our densely populated cities. This is why Maine is so much enjoyed as a vacation land by the large numbers who seek our hills, lakesides and forests during the hot months from the large cities of Bos- ton, New York, Philadelphia and Washington. During the months of July and August there is much fog along the coast, but in the interior, and throughout by far the larger portion of the state, the sky is usually bright and clear. In fact, brightness and sunshine characterize our climate, and the air contains an abundance of ozone.
Rivers The river system forms the grandest natural feature of the state. No other state in the Union has so many rivers and streams. Maine has 5,151 rivers and streams of a size sufficient to be marked upon the state map. The rivers are divided into two systems :
First. The interior river system: commencing at the western bound- ary, the Saco, 45 miles long, fed by 75 lakes represents 17,493 horse-power. The Androscoggin, 157 miles long, fed by 148 lakes and ponds represents 85,200 horse-power. The Kennebec, 155 miles long, fed by 311 lakes and ponds represents 101,000 horse-power. The Penobscot, 300 miles long, fed by 467 lakes and ponds represents at Bangor 55,600 horse-power. The St. Croix, partly in New Brunswick, is 97 miles long and is fed by 61 lakes. The St. John, in Maine 211 miles long, has a total length of 450 miles. It is fed by 206 lakes in Maine.
Second. The seaboard river system: there are eight rivers in this system; Dennys, 25 miles long, fed by 22 lakes ; Machias, 48 miles long, fed by 56 lakes; Narraguagus, 50 miles long, fed by 38 lakes; Union, 52 miles long, fed by 43 lakes; St. George, 35 miles long, fed by 72 lakes ; Presumpscot, 22 miles long, fed by 45 lakes ; Mousam, 25 miles long, fed by 14 lakes; Piscataqua, 40 miles long, fed by 22 lakes ; Royal River, fed by 6 lakes.
Lakes The lakes of Maine are famous for their extent and beauty. They form immense reservoirs for water which are the source of the state's water power. The total number of these lakes is 1620. This does not include a multitude of ponds scattered over the state. The lakes have a combined water surface of 3200 square miles. This gives Maine one lake to every twenty square miles of territory.
Islands The long extent of the Maine coast with its bays, coves and harbors, is filled with islands. There are more than four hundred ranging from 1100 to 16,000 acres.
Name The State of Maine has a name which antedates the names of all other states except Virginia and Massachusetts. The manner in which the name was given has been a subject of much contro- versy. Many historians assert that the name first appeared in the charter granted in 1639 by Charles I to Sir Ferdinando Gorges and that it was
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bestowed in compliment to the queen of England, a daughter of Henry IV of France, who was connected by title or estate with the province of Meyne in France. Others have claimed that French colonists gave the name in memory of this same province. It is now, however, a matter of authori- tative record that the title "Province of Maine" was first used in the grant made by the Council of New England to Sir Ferdinando Gorges and Cap- tain John Mason in 1622. Long before the appearance of the title in this grant, the word "main" in the sense of mainland had been in common use among the early explorers along the New England coast, and it is from this use that the name is derived. Residents of the islands along the coast to this day speak of "the main."
From the original by Harry Cochrane
PEMAQUID IN 1607
CHAPTER VIII
COLONIAL MAINE
The Pilgrims landed at Plymouth in 1620. The history of Maine antedates that memorable event. Martin Pring, an English explorer, was
on the coast of Maine in 1603. De Monts, a Frenchman, landed with colo- nists on the island of St. Croix, below Calais, in 1604. Waymouth, with a band of English explorers, was at St. George's Island Harbor and ascended the St. George's river in 1605. Pring was here again in 1606. The Pop- ham colonists established themselves at the mouth of the Kennebec in
1607. There were Jesuit colonists on the Penobscot in 1611 and at Mount Desert in 1613. English fishermen and traders were then on the coast from year to year. Capt. John Smith was at Monhegan in 1614. Long after the landing of the Pilgrims, Maine held an independent position.
The grant of the Province of Maine to Sir Ferdinando Gorges and Captain John Mason, by the Great Council of New England, was made in 1622.
Christopher Levett secured from the same source in 1623 a grant of six
north side of the Saco river, including the site of the present city of Saco, them, was known as the "Kennebec Purchase." A grant of land on the trol the Indian trade of the river, and which later, having been sold by a grant of land on both sides of the Kennebec, which enabled them to con- thousand acres in Casco Bay. In 1629, the Pilgrims at Plymouth secured
was made by the Great Council in 1630 to Thomas Lewis and Richard
Bonighton. Also, in the same year, land on the south side of the Saco,
including the site of the present city of Biddeford, was granted to John Oldham and Richard Vines. That also was the date of the Muscongus Patent, granting lands at Muscongus to John Beauchamp and Thomas Leverett, a grant later known as the Waldo Patent. The Lygonia Patent,
covering a tract of land forty miles square, extending from Cape Por-
poise to the Androscoggin River, bears the same date. The Black Point
Grant to Thomas Cammock, a nephew of the Earl of Warwick, was made in 1631. So also in the same year a grant of land on the Pejepscot river was made to Richard Bradshaw; another of land on Cape Elizabeth to
Gorges, Walter Norton and others; also two thousand acres at Cape Por- Agamenticus river to Ferdinando Gorges, a grandson of Sir Ferdinando Robert Trelawny and Moses Goodyear; another on the east side of the
poise to John Stratton; also land at Pemaquid to Robert Aldworth and Gyles Elbridge. In 1632, grants of land on the Pejepscot river were made
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COLONIAL MAINE
to George Way and Thomas Purchase. In 1634, in the final division of the Patent for New England by the great Council, number seven, includ- ing the territory between the Piscataqua and the Kennebec, was assigned to Sir Ferdinando Gorges. In 1636, Gorges leased to George Cleeve and Richard Tucker "a neck of land called Machegonne," now Portland. The royal charter of the Province of Maine to Sir Ferdinando Gorges by Charles II, designed to confirm the allotment made to Gorges in the divi- sion of the Patent for New England, was granted in 1639. During the decade and more that followed, affairs were in a disturbed state in the province because of the conflict between the King and Parliament. As the power of the royalist party in England weakened, George Cleeve in 1643, in opposition to the Gorges interest, enlisted the aid of Colonel Alex- ander Rigby in resuscitating the Lygonia Patent of 1630, and received a commission as Deputy President of the Province of Lygonia. Other inter- ests were pressing. In this unsettled state of affairs civil government of necessity languished, and in 1651 the General Court of the Province of Maine appealed to Parliament for protection.
Thus far, in these beginnings of colonization, Maine had maintained an independent position. But at this juncture of affairs the colonists of Massachusetts Bay saw an opportunity to extend their dominion in this direction. The charter of the Bay colony established its northern bound- ary three miles north of the Merrimac river. This was now interpreted to mean three miles north of the source of the river, and a line drawn east from this point to the sea brought the land covered by the Gorges and Cleeve interests within the jurisdiction of Massachusetts. In 1652, the General Court appointed Commissioners to determine the line, but not without protest and opposition on the part of the colonists of Maine who were in sympathy with the above interests. Gradually the Government of Massachusetts was extended northward. Kittery and Gorgeana yielded submission in 1652; Wells, Cape Porpoise and Saco in 1653; and Black Point, Blue Point, Spurwink and Casco in 1658.
The materials of the history of Maine during this period of inde- pendence are to be found largely in England. Something in gathering these materials, has already been done by the Maine Historical Society. Much has been done by the Hon. James P. Baxter. Added researches will doubtless have their reward. All possible sources of information should be carefully examined, and the materials for the history of this early period in Maine life and achievement should be made accessible to those who are interested in it.
To this newly acquired territory, Massachusetts gave the name York- shire, or County of York. Subsequently, after the overthrow of the Pro- tectorate and the restoration of Charles II, the colonists in the former Province of Maine requested to be placed again under the authority of
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the King, or of the heir of Sir Ferdinando Gorges. But the General Court of Massachusetts also sent a petition to the King, and matters were allowed to rest until 1664, when the grandson of Gorges obtained an order from the King requiring Massachusetts to restore the Province of Maine to Gorges or his Commissioners. After various efforts on both sides, the territory meanwhile being brought under the jurisdiction of a provincial government independent of Massachusetts and the Gorges interests, the General Court of Massachusetts, March 15, 1678, purchased of Ferdinando Gorges, grandson of Sir Ferdinando, all his interest in the Province of Maine for twelve hundred and fifty pounds sterling. This purchase strengthened the hold of Massachusetts upon its former eastward posses- sions, and in 1680 the General Court proceeded to reorganize civil admin- istration in Maine with Thomas Danforth as President of the Province. But the charter of Massachusetts was annulled in 1684, and the govern- ment of the colony reverted to the crown. Charles II died in 1685, and James II appointed Andros Governor of New England. His career was cut short by a revolution in England, which drove James from the throne ; and William and Mary, who succeeded James, issued October 7, 1691, a charter, which incorporated, under the title of the "Province of. Massa- chusetts Bay," the Colony of Massachusetts Bay, the Colony of Plymouth, the Province of Maine and the territory of Nova Scotia. In this way the title of Massachusetts to the territory east of the Piscataqua was con- firmed, though on account of its remoteness and the distracted state of the country, Nova Scotia was separated from the Province of Massachu- setts Bay by the Lords of Trade in 1696, and it was made a royal province in 1713. Maine remained a part of Massachusetts until the separation in 1820.
This period in the history of Maine covers upwards of one hundred and fifty years. The historical sources of the period are to be found largely in the State House in Boston and in the various depositories of public records in London. Considerable work in gleaning information at these sources has already been done as in the earlier period; but much awaits our hands. Certainly no others can have so deep an interest in the his- tory of Maine as the people of Maine, and postponement only makes the task pressing upon us more difficult.
MATTHEWS
FORT WESTERN 1754
CHAPTER IX
INDIAN FORTS
When the Indian Wars broke out it was found necessary to guard against sudden and unexpected attacks. A system of forts was designed for this emergency. Following is a list of these forts, also the place and date of their erection.
Fort Charles. Erected 1667. Bristol.
Frankfort. Erected 1754 by Plymouth Company in Dresden, after- ward named Fort Shirley.
Frederick. Erected 1729. Pemaquid.
George. Erected 1715. Brunswick.
George. Erected 1779. Castine.
Halifax. Erected 1754. Three-quarters of a mile below Ticonet Falls, Winslow.
Hammonds. Northeast part of Arrowsick Island, next to Cross River, opposite Monseag Bay.
La Tour and Alexander. Erected 1630. Located on River St. John.
Loyal. Erected 1680. Portland.
Pemaquid. Erected 1667.
Penobscot or Pentagoet. Erected 16 -. Built by La Tour.
Pownall. Erected 1769.
Preble. House Island. Built at the same time as Fort Scammell, 1807-8.
Richmond. Erected 1719-29. Ancient establishment on Western side of the Kennebec, 13 miles below Fort Frankfort, nearly opposite upper end of Swan Island.
Saco. Erected 1693. Western side of Saco river near the Falls.
St. George. Erected 1707. Popham colony.
St. George. Erected 1719-20. Thomaston.
Scammell. House Island. Erected 1807-8. So named in honor of a brave colonel in the American Revolution.
Shirley. Erected 1754. See Frankfort.
Western. Erected 1754. Augusta, by proprietors of the Plymouth patent or Kennebec purchase, anciently called by the Indians, Cushnoc.
William Henry. Erected 1692.
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CHAPTER X
THE FIRST NAVAL BATTLE OF THE REVOLUTION
On the nineteenth day of April, 1775, the intrepid farmers of Lexing- ton fired the "shot heard around the world," and on the twelfth day of June, five days before the Battle of Bunker Hill, a sturdy Irishman on the easterly shore of the Province of Maine, with a handful of brave lum- bermen, river-drivers, farmers, and sailors, their hearts burning with the same flame of patriotism, successfully fought the first naval battle of the American Revolution, captured the first British war vessel, was the first to haul down the British flag in that great conflict for human rights.
One, whose name will be forever interwoven with the story of that stirring event, was Captain Ichabod Jones. In 1765 he was a shipmaster and a person of some means, living in Boston. During that summer, he made a trip in a schooner eastward, for both pleasure and profit, stopping at Mount Desert. While in that port, he learned for the first time of the Machias settlement and went immediately there, where he disposed of his cargo of goods to good advantage, loaded his vessel with lumber, and returned to Boston.
He continued to do an increasing and thrifty business along these lines until 1774, when the English Parliament passed what is known in history as the "Boston Port Bill," which was an enactment that no more merchandise of any kind should be landed at or shipped from the wharves of Boston.
This condition at the port of Boston necessarily interrupted Captain Jones' trade.
The spring of 1775 found him at Machias engaged in loading his two sloops, the Unity and the Polly, with lumber, but giving Captain Hor- ton of the Polly orders to touch at Cape Ann and Salem for a market, and failing there, to proceed to some port in Connecticut.
But, on arriving at Salem, Captain Horton found the whole coast in an uproar, and the inhabitants generally, especially in the large towns, in dire distress, and ready for almost anything except trade in lumber.
Captain Horton put into the port of Boston, where he met Captain Jones. These two then concluded to return at once to Machias with their families, their own household goods, and also a quantity of merchandise for the people there, who had become in a great measure destitute, by reason of the unsettled state of business during the past year.
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At this juncture, Captain Jones was in rather a troublesome quandary. He realized the necessity of carrying supplies to Machias, and he had a great desire to take his family there as well.
He also feared the ire of the Machias patriots when they should dis- cover him in their port under the protection of the English flag, for, in order to leave the harbor, he was obliged to have a permit from Admiral Graves.
This permit would be granted only upon condition that he return from Machias to Boston with lumber which the British desired to purchase for barracks for troops, and he must also submit to making the trip under the protection of an armed schooner, the Margaretta. She was a cutter of about one hundred tons, carrying forty men, commanded by Midshipman Moore, and also equipped with four four-pounders, in the holds, several swivels mounted, and a "sufficient number of hand grenades," besides muskets, pistols, etc. The object of this supervision of the cruise of the Margaretta was not only to see to it that Captain Jones carried out his agreement to return to Boston with the sloops laden with lumber, but also to protect him from trouble with the Machias people, if any should arise.
The two sloops convoyed by the armed Margaretta, flying the British flag, sailed into Machias Harbor June 2, 1775.
It was a bright and tranquil June day when the fragrance of broad meadows and pine woods filled the air, and the birds sang sweet and joy- ous notes, and waters of river and sea were still, and all nature rejoiced, as nature always does on glorious June days.
Entering the harbor of Machias on this June day, the captain of the Margaretta unnecessarily provoked a quarrel with the inhabitants in ordering them to take down their "liberty pole." A town meeting was called to see if the town would vote to remove the offensive pole and the town voted unanimously in the negative. It was evident that the deter- mination to rebel against the innumerable acts of the Crown designed to destroy Colonial liberty permeated every colony of the Province of Maine. Under the leadership of Benjamin Foster and Morris O'Brien it was decided to capture the English officers while they were in church on Sunday, June 11, 1775. A carefully laid plan was marked out and without doubt would have been successful had not a colored man, the body-servant of Parson Lyon, seeing some armed men crossing a foot-bridge near the church, made an outcry, and wild with excitement, leaped from the window. This broke up the meeting, and the officers, believing that an attempt was being made to entrap them, made their escape.
They hastened to their vessel, weighed anchor, and sailed away toward safety.
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THE FIRST NAVAL BATTLE OF THE REVOLUTION
The people of Machias then resolved to seize Jones' sloops and pursue the cutter. One of these, the Polly, was not in available condition, but they took possession of the Unity, Jones' other sloop, and during the remainder of Sunday and that night made preparations for the attack. They sent scouts to the East River village and neighboring plantations for volunteers, arms, and ammunition.
A messenger was dispatched to Chandler's River to procure powder and ball, and, as the men of that settlement were all absent at Machias, two girls, Hannah and Rebecca Weston, nineteen and seventeen years old, procured forty pounds of powder and balls and brought them to Machias, a distance of twenty miles through the woods, following a line of blazed or "spotted" trees.
In the early dawn of the following morning (June 12), the expedition started down the river in pursuit of the Margaretta. The crew of the Unity, so far as known, numbered about forty, and one-half of these had muskets, with only about three rounds of ammunition. The rest armed themselves with pitchforks, narrow and broad axes, heavy wooden clubs, mauls, etc. For provisions they had "a small bag of bread, a few pieces of pork and a barrel of water."
So sudden and impulsive had this undertaking been, that at first it was only an unorganized mob, but, while sailing down the river with a favoring wind, they were more contemplative, and completed their plans by choosing Jeremiah O'Brien as captain, and Edmund Stevens, lieutenant ; and, understanding that they had no powder to waste, they decided to bear down on the enemy's ship, board her, and decide the contest at once.
The Unity was well into the Bay when the Margaretta was first sighted off Round Island, and she, being the more rapid sailer, was soon along her side. The helmsman of the Margaretta, who was Captain Robert Avery, had fallen from a shot fired by an old moose hunter on board the Unity, by the name of Knight, and an immediate volley of musketry from her deck astonished and demoralized the enemy. The bowsprit of the Unity plunged into her mainsail, holding the two vessels together for a short time. While they were in this position, one of the O'Brien brothers, John, sprang upon the Margaretta's deck, but the vessels suddenly parted, carrying the audacious John alone on board the British vessel. It is said that seven of her crew instantly aimed and fired muskets at him, but he remained unscratched; they then charged upon him with their bayonets and again he escaped by plunging overboard, and, amidst a storm of bullets from the enemy, regained his own vessel.
Captain O'Brien then ordered his sloop alongside of the Margaretta. Twenty of his crew were selected to board her, armed with pitchforks, and a hand-to-hand conflict on her deck resulted in the surrender of the
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Margaretta to the Americans, and Jeremiah O'Brien hauled down the Brit- ish ensign flying at her mast-head.
In all the history of war, on land or sea, it is doubtful if there is a record of any adventure which exceeds this one for dauntless courage and a bold defiance of death.
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BENEDICT ARNOLD
CHAPTER XI ARNOLD'S EXPEDITION TO QUEBEC
When Benedict Arnold was leading the forces of the King against his former compatriots in Virginia, it is reported that among his prison- ers was a certain plucky and witty officer, who, in answer to Arnold's question, "What will the Americans do with me if they catch me?" replied, "They will cut off the leg which was wounded when you were fighting so gloriously for the cause of liberty, and bury it with the honors of war, and hang the rest of your body on a gibbet!"
The answer gave fit expression to the detestation with which all stead- fast patriots regarded the man who had done his best to betray their cause, but it also hints at the earlier fame which Arnold once deserved and enjoyed. The Arnold of Ticonderoga and Quebec, whose name was a synonym for bravery, determination and patriotic fervor, is not often remembered now. His good deeds are forever obscured by the shadow of his great crime. But it will help us to do full justice to that strange and unfortunate man, if we follow again the story of the gallant but ill- fated expedition which he led through the wilderness of Maine and Canada, and against the icy ramparts of impregnable Quebec. And while we do so let us not forget that had he fallen as did Montgomery before the citadel, his whole body, and not his shattered leg only, would have been entitled to burial with the most glorious honors of war. He would have been counted one of the noblest martyrs of the cause of liberty, not its despised and execrated Judas.
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