USA > Maine > The beginnings of colonial Maine, 1602-1658 > Part 20
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1 Cleeve had seen this patent, and discovered its possible uses, when it was in the possession of Richard Dummer at Newbury. Baxter, Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, I, 189.
2 The Farnham Papers, I, 137-142.
8 The Trelawny Papers, 18.
4 Ib., 2.
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known as Prout's Neck.1 Here he lived with his wife Margaret, and his faithful friend, Henry Josselyn. In 1638, Cammock was in England,2 partly with reference to his patent, it would seem, as there was a disagreement concerning its bounds. On his return, he had as fellow voyagers, Sir Thomas Josselyn, the aged father of Henry Josselyn, and John Josselyn, Henry's brother. They accompanied Cammock to Black Point, and John Winter, on Richmond's island, writing July 30, 1638, to Robert Trelawny of Plymouth, England, makes mention of their arrival as follows: "Mr. Josselyn's father is now come over, and another of his sons with him, and doth purpose to live there with him; they live all yet with Captain Cammock. . Mr. Josselyn's father is an ancient old knight; he is four-score years old wanting but two."3 It is doubtful, however, if in coming hither Sir Thomas and his son John had in view anything more than a visit to Black Point, and such glimpses of England's new possessions as could be obtained in connection with such a visit, including a few days in Boston on their arrival in New England and at the time of their departure.4
Life at Black Point must have missed much by the departure of the "ancient old knight" and his versatile son John. Only glimpses of that life, however, are afforded us in the meagre records of that period. In one of these glimpses, we find Thomas Gorges, a nephew and deputy of Sir Ferdinando, confirming to Cammock March 15, 1641, by a deed, all the land granted to him by the council for New England, together with Stratton's island.5
1 Samuel Checkley of Boston, Mass., deeded this land to Timothy Prout of Boston, March 24, 1727. The original deed is in the John Wingate Thornton Papers in the State Library at Augusta, I, 32.
2 An Account of Two Voyages to New England, 1638, 1663, by John Josselyn, Gent., 9, 11, 12.
3 The Trelawny Papers, 140.
An Account of Two Voyages to New England, 1638, 1663, 13, 20, 25-27.
5 York Deeds, II, folios 85, 86. On this island opposite Black Point, John Stratton is said to have lived before the grant to Cammock. See Trelawny Papers, 199.
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Cammock thus obtained that for which he had long contended, and he had the satisfaction of seeing his boundaries securely estab- lished.
While on a voyage to the West Indies in 1643, Thomas Cam- mock died at Barbadoes. In making his will before leaving his home at Black Point, he bequeathed his property to Henry Jos- selyn, reserving for his widow five hundred acres. The widow subsequently married Henry Josselyn, her husband's counselor and friend, and Cammock's acres remained undivided.1
Connected with the grant made to Richard Bradshaw by the council for New England November 4, 1631, there is somewhat of a mystery. It was a grant of fifteen hundred acres "above the head of Pashippscot [Pejepscot] on the north side thereof", the consideration being the expense Bradshaw had incurred "in his living there some years before", and that he now purposed to settle at Pejepscot, with other friends and also servants.2 The original grant has disappeared, and the above extract from the records of the council for New England contains all the informa- tion that has come down to us concerning it. Aside from this extract there is no evidence whatever that Richard Bradshaw had lived at Pejepscot "some years before", or at any time before; or that he now purposed to settle there. What we do know concern- ing him, or may infer, is this, that with others who were seeking homes for themselves in this part of the new world, he had made his way hither from England, moved thereto by the opportunities for settlement that were opening here. Doubtless after his arrival upon the coast, he spent some time in seeking a favorable location for residence. Such a location he found on the southern shore of Cape Elizabeth, east of the Spurwink river. Its attractions were easily discoverable, and Bradshaw lost no time in obtaining from Captain Walter Neale (who was supposed to have authority in these matters) such a "delivery" of this tract of land as would
1 Trelawny Papers, 2.
2 Farnham Papers, 150, 151.
14
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give to him the right to claim it as his by pre-emption and occupa- tion.
It was this tract, possibly, that Bradshaw sought to obtain from the council for New England, and that an error was made in care- lessly substituting Pashippscot for Spurwink1 in recording the grant, inasmuch as Bradshaw in all probability had resided at Spurwink sometime when he applied for a grant, and was intend- ing still to remain there in accordance with the purpose announced in the grant. But Richard Tucker 2 and George Cleeve 3 had fixed their eyes upon the same favorable locality for a settlement, and
1 Baxter, George Cleeve of Casco Bay, 41.
2 Worth, History of Plymouth [England], 85, mentions Tucker as with- out doubt a native of Devon, England. His name frequently occurs in the history of this part of colonial Maine, but generally in connection with the controversies concerning land titles, etc., with which he and his partner, George Cleeve, were inseparably connected for many years. Baxter, Tre- lawny Papers, 211, note, says concerning him : "He was evidently a man of far less importance in his day than Cleeve. Their interests in lands was not divided, for as late as 1662 he joined his old partner in a deed of land on the Neck [Portland], at which time he was living on Sagamore Creek, in Portsmouth, N. H., where he doubtless died, as his widow was living there in 1681."
3 Cleeve was a native of Plymouth, England (Worth, History of Plymouth, 85). He was not only acquainted with Gorges, who for so many years was in command of the fort at Plymouth, but he had doubtless talked with him many times with reference to the opportunities for settlement that were opening for Englishmen in the Province of Maine. In Cleeve, Gorges evi- dently found a man of energy and decision, and he was ready to give him information and encouragement. The enthusiasm of Sir Ferdinando with reference to the brightening prospects here was evidently contagious, and in 1630, with his wife and daughter, Cleeve made his way to the Maine coast. With what purposes he came as to location is unknown, but he is soon found on the shore of Cape Elizabeth, not far from Richmond's island, where his long and troublesome life on this side of the sea seems to have begun. The story of that life, Mr. Baxter has told in his valuable work entitled George Cleeve of Casco Bay, 1630-1667, published by the Gorges Society in 1885. In no other work has the life of the founder of Portland been narrated with such fulness of detail, or with such an intelli- gent understanding of the facts connected with the history of the period in which Cleeve lived and labored.
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Bradshaw's purposes failed of accomplishment. Tucker was ready with money considerations to obtain the pre-emption right that Bradshaw had secured by Neale's "delivery". Cleeve, too, re- garded himself as having a valid claim to the same territory by virtue of a promise which Sir Ferdinando Gorges made to him concerning a grant before Cleeve left England. But Tucker and Cleeve were not rival claimants. They joined their interests,1 and awaited a favorable opportunity for presenting to the council for New England a request for a patent covering the territory which they had pre-empted and occupied. Only failure and disappoint- ment, however, followed. Others had discovered the advantages of the location, and the coveted grant had already been made to them.
This grant, dated December 1, 1631, was in the name of Robert Trelawny2 and Moses Goodyear," prominent merchants of Ply-
1 Trelawny Papers, 206, 207.
2 Robert Trelawny, born in Plymouth, County of Devon, March 25, 1598, belonged to a distinguished family in the west of England. His father, Robert Trelawny, settled in Plymouth in the reign of Queen Elizabeth, became a successful merchant there, was thrice mayor of Plymouth, and his monument in St. Andrew's church (he died in 1627) records his benefactions to the poor as well as his civic honors. The son, who succeeded his father as a merchant, directed his attention to American business interests ; and when he secured his patent it was doubtless his purpose to enlarge his mer- cantile operations by availing himself of facilities there that now were within his reach. What he and his partner, Moses Goodyear, accomplished in con- nection with the patent is made known to us in a very interesting way in the Trelawny Papers, published by the Maine Historical Society in 1884. These papers were secured by the society through John Wingate Thornton, Esq., of Boston, Mass., who, about the year 1872, ascertained from the Rev. C. T. Collins Trelawny (died April 19, 1878), a descendant of Robert Tre- lawny, that in his ancestor's old home in the vicinity of Plymouth, known as Ham, and still occupied by the family, was a chest containing Robert Tre- lawny's papers. Mr. Thornton secured a list of these papers, and learned that they comprised not only many business letters, but the original patent of Richmond's island, etc., concerning which Willis (History of Portland, 33) supposed that the wife of a descendant of Robert Jordan, "needing some paper to keep her pastry from burning, took from a chest of papers Tre- lawny's patent, and used it for that purpose, which thus perished, like
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mouth, England. Doubtless they had had a part in the fishing and trading interests that for a score of years and more had attracted the attention of Plymouth adventurers. But with the enlargement of their operations they desired better accommoda-
many other ancient and valuable manuscripts". Mr. Thornton visited Ply- mouth and secured these papers-a gift from the Trelawny family to the Maine Historical Society. On receiving the papers in 1875, he commenced to arrange them for publication, and some pages of his manuscript had been printed, when his death, greatly lamented, put an end to a task upon which he had entered with great interest. General John Marshall Brown purposed to continue Mr. Thornton's work, but the death of his father laid upon him duties that compelled him to relinquish the task. Fortunately, Mr. James P. Baxter was willing to undertake the work. His equipment for it had been obtained by long study and research at the sources of our colonial history ; and as the result of his labors we have in the Trelawny Papers a storehouse of valuable information concerning fishing and trading interests on the coast of Maine in the third and fourth decades of the seventeenth century. Also in these papers we are made acquainted with some of the more prominent characters in that early period ; while from them we get many interesting glimpses of family life, the proceedings of colonial courts, and the various movements connected with political affairs. An interesting sketch of Robert Trelawny, by Rev. C. T. Collins Trelawny, occupies the opening pages of the Trelawny Papers.
3 Little is known concerning Moses Goodyear beyond what is mentioned above. In the Trelawny Papers, 416, there is an abstract of Mrs. Trelawny's title to lands in New England. This was not the wife of Robert Trelawny, Goodyear's co-partner, as she died before her husband, but a Mrs. Trelawny of a later period, who was interested in establishing a claim to the land granted by the council for New Engand to Robert Trelawny and Moses Goodyear. In this abstract occurs the following: "Robert Trelawny, surviv- ing Moses Goodyear, who died the 26th day of March, 1637, became entitled to the whole lands granted them in jointenancy." This is a clear state- ment concerning the death of Moses Goodyear, Robert Trelawny's co-part- ner. Winter, writing to Robert Trelawny at Richmond's island, October 7, 1640 (Trelawny Papers, 243), says : "and they [Thomas Gorges and Richard Vines] have charged their bills upon Mr. Moses Goodyear, of Plymouth, the elder", etc. Accordingly, there was in Plymonth, in 1640, a Moses Good- year, the elder, probably the father of Moses Goodyear, who was associated with Robert Trelawny in fishing and trading operations at Richmond's island. In Worth's History of Plymouth [England], 312, there is this record : "Moses Goodyear, merchant, left under will in 1663, two sums of 50€-one to the Hospital of Poor's Portion, and the other to the Old Alms-
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tions than they as yet possessed. Neither Trelawny nor Good- year had been on the New England coast. From time to time, however, others whom they knew had made their way hither and returned. When Thomas Cammock was in England, seeking a grant of land at Black Point, he visited Robert Trelawny at his fine residence in the vicinity of Plymouth.1 This visit gave Tre- lawny a favorable opportunity for obtaining desired information with reference to business interests upon the coast of Maine. Evidently on his part there were many inquiries concerning loca- tions and business advantages. To Trelawny's questions Cam- mock had ready answers, and Richmond's island and the well- wooded shores of Cape Elizabeth in full view of Black Point were doubtless mentioned as possessing just those advantages that Tre- lawny and Goodyear coveted as a suitable fishing and trading station.
No time was lost by these enterprising merchants in securing such a grant as Cammock had suggested, and favorable action by the great council for New England followed December 1, 1631, just one month after the grant of Black Point was made to Cam- mock. The grant included all the territory between the grant made to Cammock and "the bay and river of Casco, extending and to be extended northwards into the main land so far as the limits and bounds of the lands granted to the said Captain Thomas Cammock", together with liberty to erect and maintain stages and places for preserving fish "in and upon and near the islands commonly called Richmond's island2 and all other islands within
house, his direction being that these sums should be laid out in the purchase of freehold lands for these two charities." The writer is inclined to consider the Moses Goodyear of this record as Moses Goodyear the elder, and the father of Moses Goodyear, who died in 1637. This will is in the manuscript collection in the office of the city clerk of Plymouth. It should be added that Moses Goodyear was a son-in-law of Abraham Jennings, the first owner of Monhegan.
1 Trelawny Papers, 18.
2 To this island Champlain gave the name Isle de Bacchus (Voyages, Prince Society, II, 62). Winthrop says Walter Bagnall was living on Rich- mond's island in 1627. "Between this date and that of the visit of Cham-
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or near the limits and bounds aforesaid, which are not formerly granted to the said Captain Thomas Cammock".1
It will be noticed that only the use of Richmond's island was granted to Trelawny and Goodyear by the patent. The reason for this limitation is doubtless to be found in the fact that the members of the council, or at least some of them, had already committed themselves with reference to the disposition of Rich- mond's island ; for on the following day, December 2, 1631,2 a grant of that island, and fifteen hundred acres upon the main land, was made by the council to Walter Bagnall, whose connec- tion with the island has already been mentioned. Bagnall, it seems, had applied for a grant of the island, and doubtless had secured from Sir Ferdinando Gorges a promise that the grant should be made. Gorges, while holding to his promise, evidently allowed the grant to Trelawny and Goodyear to be recorded in such words that the use of the island was secured to them, while the title was held by Bagnall. In this way occasion was provided for endless controversies and troublesome litigations. Bagnall, however, died before his grant was made. His title, therefore, lapsed and Trelawny and Goodyear were left in undisputed posses- sion of a most desirable location for the development of large business plans and purposes.
plain in 1605", says Baxter (George Cleeve of Casco Bay, 19, 20), "it acquired its name of Richman's or Richmond's island. Dim and uncertain are the glimpses we get of this period. We have the names of several men who were living in the house at Casko in 1630, and for a brief moment the shadowy curtain of the past is lifted, revealing to us one George Richmond of Bandon- Bridge in Ireland, the cradle of Puritanism in that unfortunate land [ Tre- lawny Papers, 143, 144), but he suddenly disappears, leaving us perplexed and disappointed. Certain, however, is it that George Richmond was at the head of some enterprise, which employed men; which required the building of a vessel and the possession of a considerable stock of mer- chandise; and there seems to be reason to believe that he gave his name to this island, which was soon to become an important station for trade and a goal to which ships coming upon the coast should direct their course".
1 Farnham Papers, 1, 152-156.
2 Ib., 162, 163.
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Concerning the grant of two thousand acres of land at Cape Porpoise made by the council for New England to John Stratton, December 2, 1631, we have little information. Baxter says Strat- ton came hither from Shotley, Suffolk county, England.1 The earlier settlers, as the reader already has noticed, sought the islands on the coast before establishing themselves upon the main land ; and in all probability, before Cammock discovered the attractive- ness of Black Point, Stratton was in possession of the two islands 2 off Cammock's location, and already known as Stratton's islands. But when Cammock returned to England in order to secure a grant of Black Point, Stratton, possibly after consultation with Cammock, was impressed with the desirability of seeking in his own right a place for settlement on the main land. Cape Porpoise was not far away, and possessed advantages for fishing and trade that a man of Stratton's experience was not likely to overlook. Application, accordingly, was made for a grant of that location. The patent as issued gave to Stratton two thousand acres, "but- ting upon the south side of border of the river or creek called by the name of Cape Porpus, and on the other side northwards creek mouth of Cape Porpus, into the south side of the harbor's mouth of Cape Porpus aforesaid, with all commodities and privileges proper for his necessary occasions, as by his said grant more at large appeareth".3 The patent itself, however, long ago disap- peared, and that which "more at large" would appear if the orig- inal grant, or a copy, had been preserved, has disappeared with it, and only the above abstract of the limits of the grant has come down to us.4 According to these Records the considerations that moved the members of the council to make the grant were that Stratton "had lived in New England these three years past"
1 Trelawny Papers, 199.
2 The larger island is still known as Stratton's island; the other is called Bluff island.
3 Farnham Papers, 163, 164.
4 Records of the Great Council, Proceedings of the American Antiquarian Society, 1867, 100, 101.
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and had expended 1,000£ in transporting cattle hither, providing care-takers, etc. It is not thought that Stratton lived long in his new settlement as his name is on the list of inhabitants in Salem, Mass., in 1637. His "Stratton islands", he conveyed to Thomas Cammock in 1640.1 Of his Cape Porpoise grant, he was dispos- sessed by Thomas Gorges, who as the deputy governor of the Province of Maine was here in 1640-1643, representing the inter- ests of his cousin, Sir Ferdinando Gorges, in the government of New England.2 But Stratton may not have regarded this as a loss. Winter, writing to Trelawny from Richmond's island, July 7, 1634, mentioned the large number of new arrivals from Eng- land, but adds, "they all set themselves in the bay of Massachu- setts". It is possible that Stratton abandoned his acres at Cape Porpoise in order to join those who were making their way towards the more flourishing Massachusetts settlements.
On the same day, December 2, 1631,3 the council for New England granted to Ferdinando Gorges, Lieut. Col. Walter Nor- ton and others, twelve thousand acres of land on each side of the Agamenticus river, together with one hundred acres of land adjoining for each colonist transported thereto within the next seven years, and who should abide there three years "either at one or several times".4 The location was a peculiarly attractive one. Ferdinando Gorges, the first mentioned of the grantees, was the son and heir of John Gorges of London and the grandson and heir of Sir Ferdinando Gorges. Referring in his Briefe Nar- ration5 to this grant, Sir Ferdinando says that Lieut. Col. Nor-
1 York Deeds, I, folios 85, 86.
2 For an interesting sketch of Thomas Gorges, and also his will, see Bax- ter, Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, II, 186-192.
3 "On account of changes among the grantees a new patent of nearly the same tenure was issued March 12, 1632." Farnham Papers, I, 159.
4 Farnham Papers, 159-161. Concerning a renewal of the grant to Edward Godfrey and others in 1639, see Calendar of State Papers, Colonial Series, I, 266. Search for the original of the grant of December 2, 1631, has not been rewarded.
5 Baxter, Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his Province of Maine, II, 57.
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ton, “ "strongly suggested to the business of plantation", made him acquainted with his plans and purposes, and asked his aid in obtaining a patent, expressing at the same time his desire that Sir Ferdinando himself would consent to become "an undertaker with him". Gorges declined any such close personal connection with the enterprise, but showed his deep interest in it by making his grandson, Ferdinando Gorges, his representative in connec- tion with the undertaking. A further glimpse of the enterprise Sir Ferdinando Gorges records in these words: "Hereupon he [Lieut. Col. Norton] and some of his associates hastened to take possession of their territories, carrying with them, their families, and other necessary provisions, and I sent over for my son my nephew, Captain William Gorges, who had been my lieutenant in the fort of Plymouth, with some other craftsmen for the build- ing of houses, and erecting of saw-mills".1
The hopes of Gorges with reference to his interests here were greatly strengthened by this plantation on the Agamenticus. At the first his thoughts with reference to an English settlement within the limits of his domain had centered in the region of the Sagadahoc. More and more they were centered here. The town that sprang up on the banks of the Agamenticus, and at first was known as Agamenticus, received at length from Gorges the name Gorgeana. Later, it came to be known as York, the name Levett gave to his settlement in Casco bay in honor of York, England, his birthplace, and which now was again bestowed to commem- orate on this side of the sea that historic English town.
Having made this grant near the southern limit of what is now known as the State of Maine, the council for New England returned to that part of the Maine coast which earliest received its attention ; and on February 29, 1631, issued to Robert Aldworth and Giles Elbridge a patent conveying twelve thousand acres of land "to be laid out near the river commonly called or known by the name of Pemaquid". The grant also included, as in the Agamenticus grant and upon the same conditions, one hundred
1 Baxter, Sir Ferdinando Gorges aud his Province of Maine, 58.
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acres of land for each person transported thither by those receiv- ing the grant of twelve thousand acres. The grant was made more specific by the statement that the twelve thousand acres were to be located "next adjoining to the lands where the people or the servants of the said Robert Aldworth and Giles Elbridge are now seated or have inhabited for the space of three years last past.1
In these words there is clear evidence of the growth of coloniz- ing efforts on this part of the Maine coast. Robert Aldworth and Giles Elbridge have already been mentioned in connection with the sale of Monhegan, which they purchased in 1626 of Abraham Jennings. Aldworth and Elbridge, prominent merchants in Bris- tol, England, bought the island for the purpose of securing greater advantages in the prosecution of their business interests. They now sought to enlarge these interests by establishing their varied operations on the main land. In fact, they seem already, in part at least, to have transferred their business interests thither, and only needed enlarged opportunities and facilities in order to develop a prosperous English community on American soil. In all probability they had received advice and encouragement in these proceedings from Abraham Shurt, whom they sent hither as their agent in the purchase of Monhegan. A resident of Pema- quid, he had been there long enough to become familiar with the advantages which the place offered for business purposes, and for introducing colonists to favorable locations for settlement. Unquestionably, too, large land-ownership had its attractiveness to English eyes. In all probability, also, the issue of the Mus- congus grant of the preceding year was not without influence upon Aldworth and Elbridge. They lost no time, therefore, in securing from the council for New England the grant that meant
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