USA > Maine > The beginnings of colonial Maine, 1602-1658 > Part 19
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1 Baxter, Christopher Levett of York, 74-77.
CHAPTER XII.
NUMEROUS GRANTS FOR SETTLEMENTS.
G ORGES seems to have had no part in efforts connected with the new awakening of England's interests in New England, to which reference has just been made. But he was no disinterested spectator of the movement hither that followed. Very soon he is found in communication with Captain John Mason concerning a division of the Province of Maine granted to Gorges and Mason by the council for New England, August 10, 1622. By an amicable arrangement made November 7, 1629, Mason received "all that part of the main land in New England, lying upon the sea coast, beginning from the middle part of Merrimack river and from thence to proceed northwards along the sea coast to Piscataqua river, and so forwards up within the said river, and to the furthest head thereof, and from thence northwestwards until three score miles be finished from the first entrance of Pis- cataqua river, and also from Merrimack through the said river, and to the furthest head thereof, and so forwards up into the land westwards until three score miles be finished ; and from thence to cross over all islands and islets within five leagues distance from the premises, and abutting upon the same or any part or parcel thereof." 1
To this tract of land, with the consent of the president and council for New England, Mason gave the name New Hampshire.2 The rest of the grant of August 10, 1622, namely the territory
1 Farnham Papers, I, 95-98.
2 Ib., 97. Ten days after this grant to Mason, the council for New Eng- land issued to Gorges and Mason a grant known as the Laconia patent. Sir David Kirke had accomplished the conquest of Canada, and Gorges and Mason hastened to acquire a part of the captured lands that bordered "upon the great lake or lakes or rivers commonly called or known by the name of the river and lake or rivers and lakes of the Irroquois, a nation or nations
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THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE.
between the Piscataqua and the Kennebec, extending from the sea coast up into the land as far as is stated in Mason's grant, remained in Gorges' possession, and was still known as the Prov- ince of Maine.
But settlers outside of the limits of Gorges' patent were earliest in evidence in the new movement toward the Maine coast. Those who had followed Brown, and had located with him on the eastern shore of the Pemaquid peninsula, were doubtless from the western counties of England, probably from Bristol and Plymouth. Fish- ermen sailing from those ports, and returning at the close of the fishing season, could not fail to tell the story of the trip, includ- ing their impressions of the country as they sailed along the coast, or as they landed at times here and there in its commodious har- bors. Among them, doubtless, were those who discovered the opportunities opening here for better conditions than were obtain- able in their English homes. The record is not available, in most cases it was never made; but from those hardy fishermen, and those who listened to their tales of new-world experiences, came hither the settlers in those early years.
The proclamation of the king, calling attention to England's interests on this side of the sea, gave an added impulse to English settlements on the Maine coast. Pemaquid began to develop into a prosperous community. It is stated that by 1630, no less than eighty-four families had located there, on the St. George's river and at Sheepscot.1 The first fort at Pemaquid, probably a stock-
of savage people inhabiting into the landwards betwixt the lines of the west and northwest conceived to pass or lead upwards from the rivers of Sagada- hock and Merrimack in the country of New England", etc. Neither Gorges nor Mason had any very clear idea of the territory thus granted to them ; but the rivers named, also the Piscataqua, were supposed to be water-ways into a very profitable region for Indian trade. The grant has a history on paper only. For the text of the grant, see the Farnham Papers, I, 98-107.
1 This is the statement of Sullivan, History of the District of Maine, 167; and Johnston, History of Bristol and Bremen, 64, adds, "Files in secretary's office, Boston". There are no such files in the secretary's office now, and search there and elsewhere has yielded no information upon which such a statement could be based. But the gain in residents at that point was
199
NUMEROUS GRANTS FOR SETTLEMENTS.
ade (but not so much a defense against Indian assaults as against outlaws and plunderers or French emissaries), must have been erected about this time, and doubtless upon the same site occupied by the later and more substantial structures connected with which are events that make this historic spot memorable for all time to come.
Westward, Levett's York was still unoccupied. Richmond's island, at the northern opening of Old Orchard bay, was held as a trading station in 1627, and perhaps earlier, by John Burgess, senior. He was "lying sick" there in 1627, made his will on April 11 of that year, and probably died on the island. His will was proven in England, May 24, 1628.1 At some time in that year Walter Bagnall opened a trading station there. He may have been one of the men left by Levett in charge of his interests at House island, Portland harbor and vicinity.2 It has also been suggested 3 that before coming to Richmond's island he was one of Thomas Morton's merry crew, whose orgies at Merry Mount (on Massachusetts bay between Boston and Plymouth) were such a scandal both to the Pilgrims and the Puritans. Winthrop,4 who refers to him as "sometimes servant for one in the bay", calls him "a wicked fellow"; and other references to him by the early writers are no more favorable. This also seems to have been the estimate of Bagnall held by the Indians with whom he had trade relations. To such an extent had he cheated them in their trans- actions with him (as they at length learned), that they were incited by the discovery to avenge their wrongs; and in the fall of 1631, making their way one evening to the island, Scitterygus- set,5 an Indian chief, and some of his tribe, killed Bagnall and a man associated with him, plundered his house and then burned
undoubtedly large. Families were beginning to make their way hither. The center of the English fishing interests were in this vicinity.
1 Me. Hist. and Gen. Recorder, 1884, 62.
2 Me. Hist. Society's Documentary Series, III, 5.
8 Me. Hist. and Gen. Recorder, 1884, 61.
4 Winthrop, Journal, 30.
5 Concerning him see Willis, History of Portland, 26.
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THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE.
it.1 On being informed of the tragedy, Walter Neale, at Piscata- qua, sent a party thither in pursuit of the murderers. On their arrival they found at the island an Indian, known as Black Will, whom they hung in retaliation for the murders committed by the Indians. But it was soon ascertained, if it had not been learned before, that Indians could retaliate as well as white men; and in the winter following, finding an Englishman who was exploring
1 Thomas Morton, New English Canaan, 78, says, "A servant of mine [referring to Bagnall] in five years was thought to have one thousand pounds in ready gold gotten by beaver, when he died". May 11, 1855, a small earthen vessel containing gold and silver coins was ploughed up on Rich- mond's island. Specimens of these coins are in the possession of the Maine Historical Society, and a photographic representation of the vessel and some of the coins faces page 7 of the Trelawny Papers. In the Me. Hist. Soci- ety's Coll., Series I, 6, 137-147, Hon. William Willis gives an interesting account of these coins, their discovery, etc. The oldest is of the reign of Queen Elizabeth. Of the silver coins there were four one shilling pieces, sixteen sixpences, one groat or fourpenny piece and two half groats. The shillings have no date, but all the sixpences and some of the smaller pieces have dates extending from 1564 to 1593. Of the reign of James I, there were four one shilling pieces and one sixpence ; the shillings not dated, the six- pence bearing date 1606. Of the reign of Charles I, there were but one shilling and one sixpence, the last bearing date 1625. Of the gold coins there were twenty-one, of which ten were sovereigns of the reign of James I, and of the value of twenty shillings each ; there were half sovereigns or double crowns, of the value of ten shillings each ; seven were sovereigns of the reign of Charles I, and one was a Scottish coin of the last year of the reign of James as king of Scotland only, and dated 1602. It was of the size and value of the half sovereign or double crown. None of the English gold coins had dates, and all of the coins, both silver and gold, were much thinner and broader than modern coins of similar value. The impressions on those in possession of the Maine Historical Society are clear and distinct, especially upon the gold coins, which are less worn than the silver, and nearly as bright as when issued. In the vessel a wedding signet ring of fine gold was found, bearing the letters "G. V." and the figure of two united hearts with the words, "Death only Partes". Mr. Willis was of the opinion that the deposit of coins and ring was connected with the fate of Walter Bagnall. December 2, 1631, a grant of this island was made to Bagnall by the council for New England, but he was killed before receiving it. In the grant it was stated that he had been in New England seven years. See Farnham Papers, I, 162, 163.
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NUMEROUS GRANTS FOR SETTLEMENTS.
up the Saco river, they meted out to him the same punishment that Neale's men had meted out to Black Will.1
But the new movement toward the coast of Maine was also soon in evidence by reason of the applications frequently made about this time to the council for New England for grants of land under the authority that the council received in the great patent for New England, November 3, 1620. Two such grants were made February 12, 1630. One of these was to Thomas Lewis and Rich- ard Bonighton [Bonython], the land granted being on the north side of the Saco river and included the land now occupied by the city of Saco. Lewis, it was stated in the grant, had already been at the charge of transporting hither himself and others for the purpose of seeking a favorable location for a colony, "and doth now wholly intend, by God's assistance, with his associates to plant there, both for the good of [his] majesty's realms and domin- ions, and for the propagation of [the] Christian religion among those infidels". They also purposed, at their own costs, to trans- port fifty persons thither within seven years next ensuing.2
The other grant was made to John Oldham and Richard Vines,3 and included the land south of the Saco river, now occupied by the city of Biddeford. Oldham, it is stated in the grant, had at that time lived in New England six years, had already at his own costs transported hither and established divers persons, and in effecting so good a work had labored hard and suffered much. Moreover, both Oldham and Vines had undertaken at their own expense to bring to the Maine coast fifty persons in the space of seven years next ensuing, here "to plant and inhabit", having in view the advancement of the general plantation of the country
1 Hubbard, General History of New England, 142, 145, 169.
2 Farnham Papers, I, 117-121.
3 Baxter, Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, I, 132, note, calls Vines the founder of Biddeford, which he named doubtless in honor of Bideford, England, in which locality the Vines family resided. Vines rep- resented the Gorges interests here for many years. Because of his rela- tions with Gorges he was in frequent conflict with George Cleeve, the founder of Portland.
202
THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE.
with provision for holding it as a part of England's territory.1
March 13, 1630, another grant, commonly known as the Mus- congus or Waldo patent, was made by the council for New Eng- land to John Beauchamp of London and Thomas Leverett of Boston, England. Beauchamp was one of the London adventur- ers in the Pilgrim enterprise, and in the agreement of November- 15, 1627,2 he is mentioned as one of the five who were deputed by the adventurers to receipt in full for the Pilgrim indebtedness, when the Plymouth settlers should have paid the eighteen hundred pounds for which they were holden in that agreement. Thomas Leverett, about the time when this grant of land was made, was. an alderman of the borough of Boston, England, and a highly esteemed friend of Rev. John Cotton, vicar of St. Botolph's. church in that place. He may have been one of those who accom- panied Mr. Cotton to Southampton, when John Winthrop's com- pany embarked for New England, and when Mr. Cotton preached the farewell sermon, "God's Promise to his Plantation". Subse- quently both Cotton and Leverett made their way to Boston in New England. At the ordination of Mr. Cotton as teacher of the church in Boston, Mr. Leverett was chosen one of the two- "Ruling Elders" of the church ; and he continued prominent in civil and religious affairs in Boston during the remainder of his. useful and honored life.3
1 Farnham Papers, I, 121-125. The same persons-William Blackstone, William Jefferris, and Edward Hilton-were authorized by the council to. give possession both to Lewis and Bonighton [Bonython] and to Oldham and Vines.
2 Bradford, History of Plymouth Plantation, Mass. Hist. Soc., Ed. 1913, II, 4, 7.
3 John Leverett, only son of Thomas Leverett, born in Boston, England, July 7, 1616, had a distinguished career. He was made a freeman of the Massachusetts Bay colony, May 13, 1640. His sympathies were with the Parliamentary party in England; and as early as 1644, he participated in the civil war there, having the command of the Rainsborrow regiment. Returning to his New England home, he was a selectman in Boston in 1651 ; member of the legislature in 1652 and 1653 ; major general of Massachu- setts military forces in 1663 ; deputy governor of Massachusetts in 1671, andi.
203
NUMEROUS GRANTS FOR SETTLEMENTS.
As expressed in the patent, the grant included "all and singu- lar those lands, tenements and hereditaments whatsoever, with the appurtenances thereof, in New England aforesaid, which are situate, lying and being within or between a place thence com- monly called or known by the name of Musrongruss, toward the south, or southwest and a straight line extending from thence directly ten leagues up into the mainland and continent thence toward the great sea commonly called the south sea, and the ut- most limits of the space of ten leagues on the north and northeast of a river in New England aforesaid, commonly called Penobscot, towards the north and northeast and the great sea commonly called the western ocean, towards the east, and a straight and direct line extending from the most western part and point of the said straight line which extends from Mecongoss aforesaid towards the south sea to the uttermost northern limits of the said ten leagues on the north side of the said river of Penobscot towards the west together with all islands that lie and be within the space of three miles of the said lands and premises or any of them", etc.1
Neither John Beauchamp nor Thomas Leverett, so far as appears, made any use of this grant; but through Thomas Leverett, the surviving patentee, the grant descended to John Leverett of Cambridge, Mass., "great grandson and heir-at-law of Thomas Leverett", who, in 1719, admitted other direct and lineal descend- ants of Thomas Leverett to membership in a land company known as "The Lincolnshire Company and Twenty Associates", under
governor in 1673 and until his death in 1679. See Memoir of Sir John Lev- erett, Knight, Governor of Massachusetts, by Charles E. Leverett, Boston, 1856.
1 It is stated in the Farnham Papers, I, 126, that this patent was destroyed by fire about 1833, after it came into the possession of the Knox family. This is an error. Mr. Henry A. Pierce, of Boston, presented the original patent, on parchment, to the Massachusetts Historical Society in 1853. See Mass. Hist. Proceedings, II, 543. For a facsimile of the Mus- congus patent, see Bradford's History of Plymouth Plantations, Mass. Hist. Soc. Ed., II, 80.
204
THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE.
which the affairs of the Muscongus grant continued to be man- aged.1
Still another grant, commonly known as the Lygonia or Plough patent, was granted by the council for New England June 26, 1630. The patent itself, so far as is known, has not been pre- served, but that such a grant was made is recorded by Winthrop in his journal under date of July 6, 1631, as follows: "A small ship of sixty tons arrived at Natascott [Nantasket], Mr. Graves, master. She brought ten passengers from London. They came with a patent for Sagadahoc, but not liking the place came hither. Their ship drew ten feet and went up to Watertown, but she ran on ground twice by the way. These were the company called the Husbandmen and their ship called the Plough. Most of them proved Familists and vanished away."2
Among the Pejepscot papers in possession of the Maine Histori- cal Society is a document entitled Abstract of the Title of Edward Rigby to the Province of Ligonia.3 In this document, drawn up in 1686 by George Turfrey, attorney of Edward Rigby, a grandson of Sir Alexander Rigby, the recorded grantees are "Bryan Bincks, John Dye, John Smith", with whom were asso- ciated others whose names are not given. But Winthrop, who evidently saw the patent, adds to the above names Thomas Jupe and John Crispe. The date of the grant was June 26, 1630. As described in this Abstract, the territory granted by the patent was "the tract containing forty miles in length and forty miles in breadth upon the south side of the river Sagadahock with all bays, rivers, ports, inlets, creeks", etc., and this territory was to be known by the name of "the Province of Ligonia". With a singu- lar disregard of the fact that in 1622 the council for New England
1 See manuscript records of "The Lincolnshire Company and Twenty Associates", a land company organized for the management of affairs con- ducted under the Muscongus patent. This folio volume of 543 pages was presented to the Massachusetts Historical Society in 1853, by Mr. Henry A. Pierce, together with the original patent, as mentioned in the preceding note.
2 Winthrop, History of New England from 1630 to 1649, I, 58.
3 Farnham Papers, I, 133-136.
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NUMEROUS GRANTS FOR SETTLEMENTS.
had granted all the land between the Sagadahoc and the Merri- mac to Gorges and Mason, and that in 1629, in confirming the division of the land, the council had granted to Mason the terri- tory between the Merrimac and the Piscataqua, leaving to Gorges the territory between the Piscataqua and the Sagadahoc, the council now took from Gorges' territory a tract forty miles square and bestowed it upon this company of Husbandmen. But this action could not have been without Gorges' knowledge, as he was still an influential member of the council. Moreover, the name given in the patent to the territory thus granted was derived from the maiden name of his mother, a daughter of William Lygon, and it may be supposed to have been suggested at least by Gorges himself.1
From Winthrop's statement, it seems probable that the Plough colonists, upon their arrival on the coast, proceeded first to the Sagadahoc. This may have been in April or May, 1631, as Win- throp's record seems to indicate that a little time was spent in exploring the Sagadahoc, seeking a favorable location for a set- tlement. Doubtless they were familiar with the story of the ex- perience of the Popham colonists in 1607-8, and that was not an encouraging one. In the absence of other records we have only Winthrop's brief statement concerning their visit to the Saga- dahoc, including the remark that "not liking the place" they headed the prow of the Plough down the coast. In all proba- bility, therefore, the disappointed Husbandmen examined no other location within the limits of their patent.2
1 The council for New England paid little attention to these matters. The Lygonia grant included territory already granted to Levett in 1623, also to Lewis and Bonighton and Oldham and Vines in 1630.
2 Our information concerning these colonists is exceedingly limited. Among themselves they were known as a "company of Husbandmen". But Winthrop, in his brief reference to them, while making mention of them at first in the words, "These were the company called Husbandmen", closes his statement thus : "Most of them proved Familists". Unfortunately we are not helped by these added words, inasmuch as the Puritans were accus- tomed to apply the term "Familist" very loosely, making it a convenient
206
THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE.
But two vessels, bringing added Husbandmen, left London for the Sagadahoc in the following year, one it is said March 9 and the other March 12, 1632.1 As the first company arrived at Boston, July 6, 1631, its members had ample opportunity, before the close of that season, for sending to London early information concern- ing their failure to find on the Sagadahoc a suitable location for the colony. Apparently, however, no such information was sent, certainly none that reached these added colonists or sufficiently disheartened them from making their way hither. These, too, soon "vanished away", as did the ten of the preceding year ; and after the record of a division of the assets of the company among those who had not "vanished away" we hear nothing more con- cerning the Husbandmen until April 7, 1643, when John Dye, John Smith, Thomas Jupe, and other survivors of the grantees of the Lygonia patent, transferred all their estate, interest and claim 'in the Province of Lygonia", to Sir Alexander Rigby.2 George Cleeve, now coming into prominence in connection with affairs in the Province of Maine, was instrumental in inducing Rigby to purchase the Lygonia patent; and it is this fact, and the added
designation for persons who never heard of Hendrick Nicholas or of any of his widely differing followers. But these Husbandmen could not have been in any wise very bad if they found in Familism what the last edition of the Encyclopedia Britannica, under the article Familist, says was to be found in it-"In an age of strife and polemics, it seemed to afford a refuge for quiet, gentle spirits and meditative temperaments". Richard Dummer of New- bury, who came to New England with the second company of Husbandmen, and afterwards was governor of Massachusetts bay, became an associate member of the company in 1638. He had in his possession the Plough patent, and by order delivered the same to George Cleeve after its purchase by Sir Alexander Rigby.
1 One account says the second vessel, the William and Francis, sailed April 8, 1632 ; and that among the passengers were Edward Winslow and Rev. Stephen Bachiler, the aged pastor of the Husbandmen in London, transferred to missionary labors in the colony.
2 Rigby saw service in the civil war in England in connection with the Parliamentary army, and was known as Col. Alexander Rigby. An extended notice of him will be found in the Me. Hist. and Gen. Recorder, II. See also Trelawny Papers, 365-367.
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NUMEROUS GRANTS FOR SETTLEMENTS.
fact that the patent came into Cleeve's possession, that give to it an interest in the history of colonial Maine that otherwise it would not have possessed.1
In 1631, in making grants of land, the council for New England was even more active than in the previous year. It was not until the latter part of the year, however, that this activity was mani- fested. The first of these grants was in the name of Thomas Cammock, a nephew of the Earl of Warwick, who at that time was president of the council. In this grant, which was made November 3, 1631, it is stated that Cammock had lived in New England "for these two years last past", and had there inhabited, planted and built "some convenient housing". It is supposed, therefore, that he came hither in 1629. It is known that he spent some time with Neale's company on the Piscataqua, and while he was there he is said to have taken up some land on the eastern bank of that river. In exploring farther up the coast, however, he found at Black Point, on the northern shore of Old Orchard bay, a more attractive location, and returning to England he obtained a grant of fifteen hundred acres on the east side of the Black Point [now Nonesuch] river and extending to the Spurwink river.2
Returning hither, in order to take possession of his grant, Cam- mock reached Richmond's island April 22, 1632.8 It is supposed that he did not at once occupy his Black Point grant, but returned to the Piscataqua and resided there, where he had the "conven- ient housing" mentioned in the grant of 1631, and where he secured a grant of land from Gorges in 1633. This land at the Piscataqua he sold to James Treworgy in 1636,4 and then, prob- ably, he took up his residence at Black Point on what is now
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