USA > Maine > The beginnings of colonial Maine, 1602-1658 > Part 17
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Already Levett had settled upon Quack as the location of his colony, and on the next day, the wind being fair, he set out on his return, taking with him Cogawesco, also his wife and son, "bow and arrows, dog and kettle, his noble attendants rowing by us in their canoe". On his arrival at Quack, now called by Levett, York, he was welcomed by the masters of the fishing ves- sels there, and at once commenced the erection of a house, which he fortified "in a reasonable good fashion." Where the house was located, he does not record; but Maverick, writing about 1660, and referring to his visit to Casco bay in or about 1624, says it was "on an island lying before Casco river",1 now sup- posed to be House Island.2
But clouds soon settled down upon the little settlement. The master of one of the vessels in the harbor, "a great ship with seventeen pieces of ordnance and fifty men", evidently an English trading vessel, was monopolizing those traffic privileges of the vicinity, which Levett insisted were his own by reason of his pat- ent of land, in accordance with which he had now located. Defied
amongst whom he got his language. He became profitable to them in acquainting them with many things concerning the state of the country in the east parts where he lived, which was afterwards profitable unto them ; as also of the people here, of their names, number and strength ; of their situation and distance from this place, and who was chief amongst them. His name was Samasett". History of Plymouth Plantation, Mass. Hist. Soc. Ed., 1913, I, 199. It was Somerset, who made the Pilgrims acquainted with Squanto or Tisquantum.
1 New England Hist. and Gen. Register, January, 1885.
2 Baxter, Christopher Levett of York, 105-107, has an interesting note concerning the location of Levett's fortified house.
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THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE.
by the master of the vessel, Levett reported the case to his asso- ciates of the council for New England as a fit occasion for the council's vindication of its authority.
Levett completed his house and fortifications, and then, prob- ably in the summer of 1624, leaving ten men in charge of his interests in Casco bay, he took passage for England, doubtless in one of the returning fishing or trading vessels upon the coast. There he attempted to enlist his countrymen in the settlement whose beginnings he had made at York. But the times in Eng- land were unpropitious for colonial enterprises. Prince Charles, after an unsuccessful attempt to conclude a marriage arrangement with the princess Maria of Spain, -an unpopular proceeding,- was now seeking the hand of Henrietta, a sister of the king of France, who had rival interests in American territory. More- over, the discouraging report concerning affairs in New England, brought back by Robert Gorges, had not been helpful to such an enterprise as Levett had in hand ; and he failed to awaken enthu- siasm in his appeal for assistance. Accordingly, he found him- self compelled to seek employment elsewhere. This he obtained in the autumn of 1625, receiving an appointment as captain of a ship in the expedition against Spain under the command of Lord Wimbledon-an unsuccessful affair.
After his return from this service, Levett's thoughts again reverted to his interests in Casco bay, but no way for his return opened. What, meanwhile, had become of the ten men whom he left in charge of those interests is unknown, as no information concerning them has come down to us. Probably, as Levett failed to return to Casco bay, they closed the house and finding employment upon some fishing or trading vessel, it may be, they succeeded at length in making their way back to England, or repaired to one of the small settlements beginning to spring up here and there along the coast soon after Levett's return to Eng- land.
Levett found no such settlements in his explorations from the Piscataqua to Cape Newaggen. Fishing vessels there were in the
175
VARIOUS SCHEMES AND LEVETT'S EXPLORATIONS.
coast harbors, but none until he reached Quack, where upon the islands the fishermen had doubtless set up their stages. Two ves- sels had made their anchorage at Sagadahoc and nine at Cape Newaggen. From the master of one of the vessels at Cape New- aggen, Levett had learned that at Pemaquid there was a Barn- stable vessel, "Witheridge, Master".1 At Monhegan and Dam- ariscove the number of fishing vessels was much larger.
But it was inevitable that fishing interests in the waters along the coast would lead to settlements upon the main land ; and clear and definite proofs of the beginnings of such settlements have now been reached.
1 Christopher Levett of York, 102.
CHAPTER XI.
BEGINNINGS HERE AND REAWAKENINGS IN ENGLAND.
T should be noticed, however, that connected with these infant settlements now springing up on the Maine coast there was no organization like that which planted the colony at James- town in Virginia, or that which attempted to establish the Popham colony at the mouth of the Kennebec. It was not even as it was with the Pilgrims at Plymouth-a body of men and women who, not finding in the old world those conditions of civil and religious liberty under which they desired to live, sought such conditions in the new world, and associated themselves together for this pur- pose. Here, even formal association preliminary to such begin- nings was lacking, and only individual enterprise, pure and sim- ple, is discoverable.
When Levett was told by the Indians at Cape Newaggen that Pemaquid had been "granted", the reference evidently was to the beginning of a settlement that John Brown had made at New Harbor on the eastern shore of the Pemaquid peninsula. At that time, so far as is known, there was no such occupation at Pema- quid on the western shore of the peninsula; but in 1625, John Brown had been a resident on the eastern shore long enough to have become known as "John Brown of New Harbor"-this being his designation in the deed of a tract of land acquired by him from the Indians July 15 of that year. As the first deed of land within the limits of the territory of the State of Maine, and comprising most of the town of Bristol, all the towns of Noble- borough and Jefferson, also part of the town of Newcastle, 1 the document has especial interest :
1 Report of [Massachusetts] Commissioners to Investigate the Causes of the Difficulties in the County of Lincoln (1811), 23.
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REAWAKENINGS IN ENGLAND.
"To all people whom it may concern. Know ye that I, Capt. John Somerset and Unongoit [sic] Indian sagamores, they being the proper heirs to all the lands both sides of Muscongus river, have bargained and sold to John Brown of New Harbor this certain tract or parcel of land as fol- loweth, that is to say, beginning at Pemaquid falls and so running a direct course to the head of New Harbor, from thence to the south end of Muscongus island, taking in the island, and so running five and twenty miles into the country north and by east, and thence eight miles north- west and by west, and then turning and running south and by west to Pemaquid where first begun-To all which lands above bounded, the said Captain John Somerset and Unnon- goit [sic], Indian sagamores, have granted and made over to the above said John Brown, of New Harbor, in and for consideration of fifty skins, to us in hand paid, to our full satisfaction, for the above mentioned lands, and we the above said sagamores do bind ourselves and our heirs for- ever to defend the above said John Brown and his heirs in the quiet and peaceable possession of the above lands. In witness whereunto, I the said Capt. John Somerset and Unnongoit have set our hands and seals this fifteenth day of July in the year of our Lord God one thousand six hun- dred and twenty-five.
CAPT. JOHN SOMERSET [seal] UNNONGOIT, [seal]
Signed and sealed in presence of us,
MATTHEW NEWMAN, WM. Cox1
1 Both of these men probably came from Bristol, England, with John Brown. Of the former, Matthew Newman, nothing is now known. He may have died after a short residence in the new world, or he may have returned to Eng- land. Descendants of William Cox have been well-known residents of Bris- tol to the present day. Johnston, History of Bristol and Bremen, 55, 56. 12
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THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE.
July 24, 1626, Capt. John Somerset and Unongoit, Indian sagamores, personally appeared and acknowledged this instrument to be their act and deed, at Pemaquid, before me, Abraham Shurte.
Charlestown, December 26, 1720. Read, and at the request of James Stilson, and his sister, Margaret Hilton, formerly Stilson, they being claimers and heirs of said lands, accordingly entered.
Per SAMUEL PHIPPS,
One of the Clerks of the Committee for Eastern Lands". 1 An early document2 in the records of Bristol, England, men- tions this John Brown as a son of Richard Brown of Barton Regis in Gloucester, England, and adds that he married Margaret, daughter of Francis Hayward of Bristol. It is supposed that he came to the Maine coast directly from Bristol, probably in one of the fishing or trading vessels of that prosperous city. He not only became the possessor of the large tract of land above men- tioned, but, in 1639, he purchased of the Indians land3 at what was then known as Naquasset, now Woolwich, on the Kennebec, a little above Bath, but on the eastern side of the river, and thither he removed. A daughter, Elizabeth, married Richard Pearce,4 who, in 1641, secured an Indian title to land at Muscongus, a part
1 Johnston, History of Bristol and Bremen, 54, 55. An attested copy of this deed was recorded in York County Register, August 3, 1739. With ref- erence to the authenticity of the deed, those connected with the transaction offered the deposition of Simon Frost, formerly deputy secretary of the province under Josiah Willard, Esq., in which he testified that when he was in the office he drew from one of its books, called the Book of Records, the aforementioned deed which was there fairly recorded, and of which the deed aforesaid is a true copy ; and the deponent further testified that when the court house in Boston was burnt, about the year 1748, he had reason to believe the said Book of Records was consumed by fire. See Report of [Massachusetts] Commissioners to Investigate the Causes of the Difficulties in the County of Lincoln (1811), 16.
2 Johnston, History of Bristol and Bremen, 54.
8 Ib., 237.
4 He was a son of John Pierce of London, but spelled his name Pearce. Ib., 50.
179
REAWAKENINGS IN ENGLAND.
of the same being within the bounds of Brown's purchase in 1625, the father-in-law being a witness to the transaction. Brown sold his land at Naquasset in 1646, and returned to his eastern posses- sions. In 1654, he was living at Damariscotta. In a deposition of Benjamin Prescott of Danvers, made in Salem, Mass., in 1765, Brown is mentioned as living during the last years of his life in Boston with his son, John Brown, Jr. Another daughter, Mar- garet, married Sander or Alexander Gould.1
Concerning Somerset, one of the Indian sagamores, from whom John Brown obtained the large tract of land described in the above deed, mention has already been made. Unongoit is known only in connection with this transaction.2
Abraham Shurt,3 before whom the acknowledgment of John Brown's Indian deed of land was made July 24, 1626, was not on this side of the ocean when the deed was executed, but came hither in 1626, and soon after his arrival took up his residence at Pemaquid, where he spent the large part of his long and useful life, engaged in business relations that extended to Massachusetts on one side and to Nova Scotia on the other. In his participa- tion in the acknowledgment of the above deed, Shurt appended no title to his signature, and probably claimed no legal authority for
1 History of Bristol and Bremen, 56.
2 It was creditable in Brown that he obtained possession of these lands by a recognition of Indian rights.
3 Johnston, History of Bristol and Bremen, 56, 57. Evidently he had been in Robert Aldworth's employ in Bristol. In his will, dated August 30, 1634, Aldworth bequeathed to him two hundred pounds in current English money, and mentions him as "my servant", meaning doubtless one in his employ. Abraham Shurt was a brother of George Shurt of Biddeford, Eng- land. Waters, Genealogical Gleanings in England, II, 983. In 1653, he was a witness to an instrument in which he is recorded as "Abraham Shurt of Charlestown" [Colony of Massachusetts Bay]. York Deeds, II, folio 84. He lived to a ripe old age. In connection with a deposition made by him, December 25, 1662, he is said then to have been "aged fourscore years or thereabouts". Accordingly at the time of this transaction, he was about forty-four years old. Johnston, History of Bristol and Bremen, 59, says, "It is altogether probable that he ended his days at Pemaquid".
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THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE.
the service he rendered ; but familiar with common English forms in business transactions, evidently a man of ability and integrity, he was doubtless recognized as the best fitted for the service of any of the residents on the Pemaquid peninsula.1
Shurt came to this country from Bristol, England, as the repre- sentative of Robert Aldworth2 and Giles Elbridge,3 prominent
1 John Wingate Thornton, Me. Hist. Society's Coll., 5, 195, wrote, "There was no precedent for the acknowledgment, or the formula, and Mr. Shurt is well entitled to be remembered as the father of American conveyancing". Nathaniel I. Bowditch dedicated his Suffolk Surnames to him. Mr. Thorn- ton learned later, however, that the same form was in use in England long before. Johnston, History of Bristol and Bremen, 57, note.
2 Robert Aldworth was a son of Thomas Aldworth, who in 1582, as mayor of Bristol, interested the merchants of that city in Sir Humphrey Gilbert's expe- dition to the American coast in 1583. The son was born in Bristol, November 8, 1561, and evidently inherited his father's business qualifications. One of the historians of Bristol (Barrett, History of Bristol, 688) mentions him as "a great adventurer in trade and successful in merchandise". He was master of the Merchant Venturers of Bristol in 1609, and served in the same office in subsequent years. He was one of those who assisted in sending Pring to the Maine coast in 1606. He was prominent also in civic affairs. In 1596 he was sheriff, mayor of Bristol in 1609, and alderman 1614-1634. As a mer- chant he was so successful that he might have retired with a competence at an early period in his business career, but he seems to have preferred to retain his connection with his extensive commercial interests because they furnished him with added means for large assistance to the poor of Bristol (Pryce, History of Bristol, 219), whom he remembered not only while liv- ing, but also in his will. His elegant mansion in Bristol, in the rear of St. Peter's church, which was purchased by him in 1607, and in part was restored by him at that time, is still standing and some of the rooms are shown to visitors. After Aldworth's death, which occured November 6, 1634, it was occupied by Giles Elbridge, and later by others. In 1698, it became that "spacious and general asylum for the poor, the old, the infirm, the diseased and the helpless", which has since been known as St. Peter's Hospital (Pryce, History of Bristol, 224, 225). Aldworth's costly monu- ment, surmounted by the arms of the Merchant Venturers of Bristol, is in St. Peter's church. On it Aldworth and wife are represented in effigy, kneeling and facing each other. The inscription to the wife is as follows : Martha Aldworth the loving and beloved wife
Of Robert Aldworth, merchant, adventurer & alderman of this citie of Bristol lyeth heere
.
-
ALWORTHS MONUMENT ET FETEHE AVETAL.
ALDWORTH AND ELBRIDGE MEMORIAL IN ST. PETER'S CHURCH, BRISTOL.
181
REAWAKENINGS IN ENGLAND.
merchants of that city, who doubtless already had large fishing and trading interests on the coast and wished to avail themselves of better facilities in conducting their business. In some way it had become known to them that Abraham Jennings of Plymouth,
Under interred, to whose pious and everlivinge
Memory, and as a perpetual testimonie of his
Dear love and her matchless virtues, her Sorrowful surviving husband aforesaide Hath dedicated this monument. She died on May 2nd, 1619, aged 58.
The following is a translation of a Latin inscription on the central panel of the base of the monument :
Although this statue of the venerable man is silent
Learn, O reader and beholder who he was-
A famous merchant, a successful voyager through
Many seas, seeking rather the glory of his country
And the relief of the poor than thirsting for
The accumulation of hoards of wealth.
And, therefore, by the will of God,
He became richer, an exemplary magistrate of the city,
Full of honor and fidelity, serving Christ and God According to the teaching of the Church of England
(Which was dear to his heart); he closed his life in peace And now enjoys eternal peace beyond the stars.
In the panel under the effigy of Aldworth's wife are the following lines in English :
What riches, grace and nature coulde bestowe In her (that's here interred) as streames did flowe A second Martha one whose faith did even Wing'd with hope and love mount up to heaven, Heere sweetlie sleepes her dust her soule dievine Is fledd from hence and now above doth shine ; As loathinge earth shoulde longer kept inthrall From Christ, to be with whome is best of all, Where now shee lives in blisse and left us heere To mourne her losse yet joy to meete her there.
The entire monument was thoroughly cleaned and decorated in 1901. Formerly the whole of the monument was richly embellished with gilt and colors. Now, the figures are not painted, but the cushions on which Aldworth and his wife are kneeling are painted red, and there is some ornamentation in red and gold.
182
THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE.
England, who had secured the ownership of Monhegan as already stated, was willing to sell the island. Here were the facilities they desired to secure, and Abraham Shurt, in their employ, was com- missioned by them to proceed to Monhegan and purchase the property in their behalf. This he did, and he made payment for the same by a bill drawn upon Robert Aldworth for the sum of fifty pounds.
When he declared his willingness to sell the island of Monhegan, Abraham Jennings also let it be known that he wished to close out his business interests on the island by a sale of the stock of goods in his storehouse there. Such information reached the Pilgrims at Plymouth. Bradford says: "Wanting goods they understood that a plantation, which was at Monhegan, and belonged to some merchants of Plymouth [England] was to break up, and divers useful goods was there to be sold, the governor and Mr. Winslow took a boat and some hands and went thither". This was in the summer of 1626.
On their way they stopped at the mouth of the Piscataqua and called on David Thomson, who had established himself there as already mentioned. It was a somewhat regretable call on the part of Bradford and his associate, for, as the governor records, Mr. Thomson had not heard of the sale, and now "understanding their
8 Giles Elbridge married a niece of Robert Aldworth, and became not only his partner in business, but the sole executor of his will. In that instru- ment Aldworth mentions Elbridge as his "well beloved kinsman", adding "I have found him always true, honest and careful in managing of my busi- nesses and in his employment in mine affairs"; and to him, after making mention of various bequests to relatives, friends and public charities, he bequeathed the residue of his large estate. Elbridge was warden of the Mer- chant Venturers of Bristol in 1620, 1621, 1638, 1639, and treasurer 1633, 1634 and sheriff in 1629, 1630. A son, Thomas Elbridge, came to the Province of Maine about the year 1647, and will be mentioned later. Giles Elbridge died February 4, 1643-4. His monument in St. Peter's church, Bristol, adjoins on the left that of Robert Aldworth, and is of like design as the Aldworth monument. Indeed, the position of the Venturer's arms over the center of the Aldworth monument is the only indication that the Elbridge memo- rial is not a part of the Aldworth structure (Boucher, Transactions of Bris- tol and Gloucestershire Archaological Society for 1909, XXXII, 24).
183
REAWAKENINGS IN ENGLAND.
purpose, took opportunity to go with them, which was some hin- drance to them both; for they [the parties representing Jennings in the sale] perceiving their joint desires to buy, held their goods at higher rates, and not only so, but would not sell a parcel of their trading goods, except they sold all". The result was that "least they should further prejudice one another, they agreed to buy all", and divide the goods equally between them. This was done. Also "they bought a parcel of goats, which they distrib- uted at home as they saw need and occasion and took corn for them of the people, which gave them good content". The Pilgrims' expenditure in this transaction amounted to four hundred pounds sterling. Bradford gives this further information, that a French vessel, "in which were many Biscay rugs and other commodities", was wrecked that spring at Sagadahoc, and that those who were conducting the sale at Monhegan had secured from the wreck some things that were saved from the cargo, also some secured by the Damariscove fishermen. These also were purchased by Brad- ford and Thomson, and the total purchase of the Pilgrims at the sale amounted to more than five hundred pounds sterling.1
This large sum and that paid by Thomson furnish evidence with reference to the importance of Monhegan at this time as a trading station. There is no inventory of the sale, but the goods that were sold doubtless included such as the fishermen on the coast were likely to need during the fishing season; also such supplies as the scattered settlers, who had established themselves at favorable locations on the main land here and there, would need for themselves and for trading with the Indians.
At this time Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his associates in the
1 Bradford tells us that for the most part the Pilgrims raised the money for the purchases made by them at this time from the sale of "the beaver and commodities they had obtained during the preceding winter", and also by "what they had gathered up that summer" ; and the governor adds : "With these goods and their corn after harvest, they got good store of trade, so as they were enabled to pay their engagements against the time and to get some clothing for the people". History of the Plymouth Plantation, Mass. Hist. Soc., Ed. 1913, I, 449.
184
THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE.
council for New England were giving little attention to affairs on this side of the sea. Gorges was still in command of the fort at Plymouth and being a devoted royalist other interests engrossed his attention. His correspondence in this period illustrates the fact that he found abundant occupation in connection with public concerns, especially those pertaining to England's relations with France and Spain.1
James I died March 27, 1625, and was succeeded by his son, Charles I, whose marriage with the princess Henrietta Maria of France followed on May 11. His first Parliament assembled on June 18. It soon became evident that the new king and his advisers had learned nothing from the ill success that had attended
James in his dealings with the House of Commons. "We can hope everything from the king who now governs us", exclaimed Sir Benjamin Rudyerd in a moment of optomistic enthusiasm ; but the hope soon vanished. The declared purpose of the House to take up public grievances before proceeding to any other busi- ness enraged the king, and Parliament adjourned to meet in Oxford on July 11. As the king proceeded to levy the disputed customs in defiance of law, the members of the House of Com- mons, when Parliament reassembled, were in an angry mood. "'England", said Sir Robert Phelps, "is the last monarchy that yet retains her liberties. Let them not perish now". The king made answer by the dissolution of Parliament, which followed on August 12.
The second Parliament of Charles I assembled February 6, 1626. Sir Robert Phelps and four others, who had been prominent in asserting the rights of the House of Commons, were prevented from taking their seats in that body by Buckingham's act in mak- ing them sheriffs. But the new House, under the leadership of Sir John Eliot, was no less determined in its opposition to misrule than the last; and early in the session the attention of the king was called to the matter of grievances. His answer was not sat- isfactory, and May 24, 1626, Mr. Whitby, seeking still for gov-
1 Baxter, Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, III, 191-251.
185
REAWAKENINGS IN ENGLAND.
ernment action concerning "liberty of free fishing in the parts of America, with the incidents of timber, &c.," referred to the king's answer as a grievance.1 Strong opposition to Buckingham, the king's favorite minister, rapidly developed, and Sir John Eliot and Sir Dudley Digges were imprisoned in the Tower. The House of Commons, however, demanded their release, refusing to proceed with the affairs of the kingdom until this was done. Their release followed, but Charles dissolved Parliament June 15, thus widening the breach that already separated him from the representatives of the people, whose liberties he had sworn to maintain, and foreshadowing events that were to characterize his unhappy reign.
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