USA > Maine > The beginnings of colonial Maine, 1602-1658 > Part 30
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1 Me. Hist. Society's Coll., First Series, IX, 314.
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THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE.
Province of Maine, and such a report the deputy governor would expect to make. Thenceforward, each went his own way, Sir Ferdinando still adhering to the fortunes of the king. No oppor- tunity, in which it was possible for him to manifest his loyalty to Charles, was overlooked. At one time he sought permission from the mayor of Bristol to bring within the city's defences a body of cavalry under Lord Paulet and designed to serve the king, but the mayor declined to gratify Gorges on the ground that that part of England had declared for Parliament, and not for the king. At another time he manifested his devotion to the interests of Charles in such a way that he was summoned before Parliament to answer for his conduct.1 On account of his age probably, he was not made to experience "the sadness of the times" as were Trelawny and others, and he was allowed to return to his home, probably accompanied with admonitions that he deemed it wise to heed. It was not sunshine with Sir Ferdinando, but clouds and thick darkness.
Not much has come down to us concerning the life of Thomas Gorges after his return to England.2 While his sympathies were with the Parliamentary forces, he seems not to have held any conspicuous position, either civil or military, until 1649, when he was made lieutenant colonel of a cavalry regiment in the Somerset militia. Both before and after the Restoration he was made a member of Parliament from Taunton. He lived an honored and useful life at Heavitree, near Exeter, where he died October 17, 1670. A monumental stone in Heavitree church marks the place of his burial.3 In his will4 he bequeathed to his son, Thomas
1 Barrett, History of Bristol, England, 414.
2 For the more prominent facts in his life, see Baxter's Sir Ferdinando Gorges, II, 186-190.
8 "Here lyeth the bodyes of Thomas Gorges of Hevitree, Esq. and Rose his wife. He departed this life the 17th of October 1670 and she the 14th of April 1671." Ferdinando, a son of Thomas Gorges, died at York, Maine, in February, 1683, "having come to New England as early as 1674, perhaps in the interest of his kinsman, Ferdinando, the grandson of Sir Ferdinando, and proprietor of the Province of Maine". Baxter, Sir Ferdinando Gorges, II, 189.
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AGAMENTICUS BECOMES GORGEANA.
Gorges, five thousand acres of land at "Ogungigg" (Ogunquit), "of which five thousand acres", with cattle thereon, the father took peaceable possession on August 18, 1642, the territory hav- ing been granted unto him by deed bearing date August 4, 1641.
Amid many discouragements, Godfrey, Garde and others upheld for awhile the interests of Sir Ferdinando at Gorgeana. But no assistance came to them from England. In the battles of Marston Moor (July 2, 1644) and Naseby (June 14, 1645), the Parliamen- tary forces were victorious. At Naseby especially, Charles I suf- fered overwhelming defeat. Indeed, so decisive in that action was the result that the king was unable at any later period to rally his forces upon any other great battlefield of the civil war. A few months later the counties were cleared of royal troops and their garrisons capitulated. Raglon Castle held out the longest against the Parliamentary troops, but surrendered in August, 1646. Meanwhile, "in these sad seasons", Sir Ferdinando Gorges found employment1 in writing his Briefe Narration, in which he reviewed his long connection with colonial enterprises. It is the work of an old man and furnishes abundant evidence of the writer's failing mental powers and his enfeebled condition by reason of his advanced age; but, notwithstanding, it is a record of great value with reference to colonial beginnings upon the coast of Maine. Having finished this task, Gorges rested from his labors, and patiently awaited the final call. It came in the springtime of 1647. His will2 was dated May 4, 1647, and his burial in the parish church at Long Ashton followed ten days later. In the last words of the Briefe Narration Gorges gave fit- ting expression to his most serious thoughts as he approached the close of life : "I end and leave all to him, who is the only author of all goodness and knows best his own time to bring his will to
4 The will is inserted in full in Baxter's Sir Ferdinando Gorges, II, 190- 192. See also York Deeds, Book I, Part II, folios 5, 6, 7.
1 The words occur in a letter written by Gorges at Ashton, June 1, 1646. See Baxter, Sir Ferdinando Gorges, III, 299.
2 Ib., II, 149, 150.
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THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE.
be made manifest, and appoints his instruments for the accom- plishing thereof, to whose pleasure it becomes every one of us to submit ourselves, as to that mighty God, and great and gracious Lord, to whom all glory doth belong." 1
1 Sir Ferdinando Gorges, II, 81. It may be asked why it was that one who stood in high favor with two of England's kings, and in close official rela- tions with men of prominence and influence, received only scanty notice in contemporary history. The explanation is doubtless to be found in the fact that in the great movements of his time Gorges was on the unpopular side. In the fight for free fishing he was clearly in the wrong, and while in the civil war this was equally true, he was too old to have any important part in it. Equally was he on the losing side in his new world enterprises. It was the Puritan colony of Massachusetts bay and not the Province of Maine that was aided by the time spirit.
CHURCH AT LONG ASHTON, IN WHICH SIR FERDINANDO GORGES WAS BURIED.
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CHAPTER XIX.
CLEEVE SECURES AN ALLY IN COLONEL RIGBY.
T HE relations between Winter and Cleeve were still unfriendly and even hostile. Unquestionably, if Cleeve had been left in peaceable possession of his lands at Machegonne, the earlier conflicts would not have been renewed. But Winter, with- out any ground for the assertion, insisted that Cleeve, whom he had unsettled at Spurwink, was a trespasser also in his present location. Moreover, he now had an able assistant in Rev. Robert Jordan, who, on coming to Richmond's island as the successor of Rev. Richard Gibson, had espoused Winter's cause with an inten- sity of interest, and a disposition to overreach not equalled even by Winter himself.1 The situation, therefore, was one that could not fail to awaken in George Cleeve many anxious, disturbing thoughts. It was not in Cleeve, however, to lose heart in the face of opposition and even possible defeat; and he entered at once upon a search for ways and means with which to strengthen his hold upon Machegonne. In so doing he recalled earlier grants of land in the vicinity, and among them the already mentioned Lygonia patent,2 of which the patentees in coming hither made no use on account of dissatisfaction with the location, and so" "van- ished away". This patent covered territory forty miles square, extending from Cape Porpoise to the Sagadahoc river, and not only included but antedated the Trelawny patent. What if the grantees, or their survivors, could be induced to part with the patent, and it should become the possession of one friendly to
1 Trelawny Papers, 314-320.
2 It was known as the Plough patent, a name derived from the name of the vessel that brought hither the company of Husbandmen in whose inter- est the Lygonia patent was obtained.
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THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE.
Cleeve's interests? The answers suggested by such a considera- tion took a strong hold upon Cleeve's mind and heart; and he was not long in outlining a course of procedure for himself that promised results of which up to this time he had not even dreamed.
Animated by the hopes that were thus awakened, Cleeve sailed from Boston for England June 4, 1642. On his arrival in Lon- don, he lost no time in putting himself in communication with such original grantees of the Lygonia patent, or their survivors, as he could find. Some time doubtless was spent in the necessary search; and also later in negotiations with reference to the pur- chase of the patent. Settlements in the Province of Maine had not as yet brought to their promoters large financial returns, but the prosperity of the Puritan settlements in New England aided Cleeve in his approach to those who were in sympathy with Puri- tan ascendency in England; and availing himself of opportuni- ties that opened to him on account of this ascendency, he at length made the acquaintance of Colonel Alexander Rigby,1 an influential member of Parliament, to whom he made known his plans and
1 Colonel Alexander Rigby was born in 1594 at Middleton Hall, Goosnargh parish (near Preston), county of Lancashire, England. He studied for the profession of law, and entered upon the practice of law ; but becoming iden- tified with matters leading up to the civil war, in which he advocated the popular cause, he devoted his attention largely to political affairs. In 1640, he was elected a member of Parliament, and soon by his ability and careful attention to business he obtained considerable distinction. In the progress of the civil war, he was made a colonel in the parliamentary forces. He was also a member of the Lancashire committee for sequestrating "notorious delinquent estates". He held many important public offices. When the king was brought to trial early in 1649, Cromwell nominated Colonel Rigby as one of the judges, but he declined to serve. In that year he was made one of the barons of the Court of Exchequer. He was also one of the two com- missioners appointed for the establishment of the High Court of Justice. He died in London, August 18, 1650, having with other officials been taken ill while attending court at Croyden in Surry. For an extended account of Colonel Rigby's life and services see three papers by Dr. Charles E. Banks in the Maine Historical and Genealogical Recorder for 1885 ; also a note by Hon. James P. Baxter in the Trelawny Papers, 365-367.
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CLEEVE SECURES AN ALLY.
purposes. Apparently Cleeve had no difficulty in interesting Rigby in colonial undertakings, and inducing him to make the small outlay required in securing possession of the Lygonia pat- ent. The purchase was consummated April 7, 1643, when "John Dye, John Smith, Thomas Jupe, and others, survivors of Bryan Bincks and others, with their associates", granted unto Colonel Alexander Rigby, of Rigby in the county of Lancashire, "all their estate, interest and claim" in the Province of Lygonia, the name given to the new province.
Thus far Cleeve's efforts had been crowned with entire success. But provision must be made for the government of the new prov- ince. This received due attention and Colonel Rigby gave Cleeve a commission as deputy president of the province, Rigby retain- ing only nominal headship in recognition of proprietary control. Subordinate administrative officers were also appointed.
Cleeve had now secured all that he sought in making his way to England. But his eyes were not closed to certain obstacles which must be removed if he was to reach the results he had in view. Robert Trelawny, upon whom Winter had leaned in his persecution of Cleeve, was in a London prison, withdrawn from the world to such an extent that even his correspondence with Winter had ceased. But what of the men on the other side of the sea-Vines, Godfrey, Winter and others, Cleeve's most stren- uous opponents hitherto, -who were not likely to accept without question and added conflicts the new order of things about to be established ? Especially was opposition to be expected from Vines and Godfrey ; and in order to have the questions at issue settled at once upon his return to New England, Cleeve in a petition to the House of Commons-on his own behalf and also of other planters whose names he added, probably by request and for whom he "avowed"1-called attention to the action of Sir Ferdinando
1 After Cleeve's return and the contents of this petition were made known, the charge was brought against Cleeve that he attached to the petition the names of persons who had no knowledge of its contents and had not author- ized such a use of their names. Depositions, including such statements, will be found in Baxter's George Cleeve, 262-264. The petition itself, how-
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THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE.
Gorges in placing over the petitioners and other planters "several governors and other officers", who were exercising "unlawful and arbitrary power and jurisdiction over the persons and estate" of the petitioners and "the said other planters to their great oppression, utter impoverishment and the hindrance of the plan- tation in these parts".2 In certain "articles" affixed to the peti-
ever, shows that while Cleeve added to the petition thirty names, he did not indicate in any way that these were names of signers, for at the close of the list of names he added the words, "Avowed by me George Cleeve". In fact in one of these depositions, that of Francis Robinson of Saco, an explana- tion of Cleeve's action in adding these thirty names is given as follows : "And I do moreover testify that Mr. Thomas Jenner, minister of God's word, told me he asked Mr. Cleeve why he put men's hands to a petition that they never saw, and he said his answer was the Parliament bid him do it" (Bax- ter's, George Cleeve, Collateral Documents, 263). Mr. Baxter's remark (George Cleeve, 122) with reference to this action of Cleeve places the mat- ter in its true light. "We are not for a moment to suppose that the Parlia- ment ordered him to forge names to his petition, and certainly it would be nearly as unreasonable to suppose that he could have been so foolhardy, nay, such an imbecile as to say that Parliament bid him commit forgery; for a statement so palpably false to the weakest intellect would only submit him to instant condemnation. A better theory and one which meets all require- ments readily presents itself to the mind, and this is, that when Cleeve pre- sented his petition to Parliament, he was ordered to write upon it the names of such persons as he thought he could rely upon to aid in substantiating his charges, which he did by writing upon it the names of persons residing in the province and cognizant of the acts charged."
2 Inquiry with reference to this petition was made in the Public Records Office in London by Hon. James P. Baxter when he was collecting material for his George Cleeve of Casco Bay ; but he was informed that this was one among other papers of Parliament destroyed by fire at some period in the history of the Records Office. Fortunately, however, a copy of the petition found its way to this country, probably among the papers which Cleeve brought with him on his return, and that copy in recent years has come into the possession of the Maine Historical Society. It is herewith printed for the first time :
"To the right honorable, the knights, citizens and burgesses of the House of Commons assembled in Parliament :
"The humble petition of George Cleeve, gent, on the behalf of himself and others, the planters and inhabitants of New Somersetshire in New Eng- land, whose names are submitted :
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CLEEVE SECURES AN ALLY.
tion the "several oppressions, injuries and offences" charged upon these governors and other officers were recorded, and the members of the House of Commons were asked to take "the premises into due consideration and to cause redress thereof to be made".
Unfortunately the "articles" referred to in the petition have
"Most humbly showing that the petitioners and the rest of the planters there by virtue of her patent made by the late King James, bearing date the 3rd of November in the eighteenth year of his majesty's reign, and by other grant and assignment thereupon made, ought to be governed according to the rules and directions contained in the said patent.
"Yet, nevertheless, so it is, that Sir Ferdinando Gorges, Kt., hath of late years without any lawful authority set over your petitioners and the said other planters several governors and other officers, who contrary to the said her patent exercise unlawful and arbitrary power and jurisdiction over the per- sons and estate of your petitioners and the said other planters to their great oppression, utter impoverishment and the hindrance of the plantation in these parts. And these governors and officers amongst many other misde- meanors have done and committed the several oppressions, injuries and offences contained in the articles hereto affixed.
"Wherefore your petitioner on the behalf of himself and the said other planters most humbly pray unto your honors to take the premises into due consideration, and to cause redress thereof to be made and due recompense to the parties grieved.
"And your petitioner as by duty bound shall daily pray for your honor's good.
Richard Tucker,
George Frost,
Thomas Page,
Michael Mitton,
John Bonython,
George Puddington,
Arthur Mackworth
John West,
John Baker,
William Ryall,
William Coale,
Edward Johnson,
Arnold Allen,
John Smith,
Henry Lyme,
Henry Watts,
John Wadley, William Smith,
John Alcock,
Henry Boade,
Andrew Alger,
Willm Hayward,
John Wilkinson,
Thomas Raynolds,
Anthony Newland,
Henry Sympson,
Francis Robinson,
Richard Barnard,
Joseph Jenks,
Peter Weare.
Avowed by me
George Cleeve."
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THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE.
not come down to us.1 From the petition, however, as well as from the action of the House of Commons, it may be inferred that these "articles" presented charges of "oppressions, injuries and offences" against such prominent officials as Vines and Godfrey. But whatever may be the fact, it is certain that the Commons appointed a commission, consisting of four prominent residents in New England-Governor Winthrop, Arthur Mackworth, Henry Boade and Captain Edward Gibbons-to take these articles into consideration and render a decision upon the charges they con- tained.
With these papers from the House of Commons, the papers with reference to the transfer of the Lygonia patent to Colonel Rigby and his commission as deputy governor of the new Province of Lygonia, Cleeve once again set his face homeward. He would have been less than human if he had not contrasted the conditions under which he first embarked for the new world and those under which he now set sail, and his reflections must have given to him peculiar satisfaction. He indulged, however, in no feelings of bitterness or revenge. All that he claimed or desired was that the treatment he had hitherto received should now stop and bygones be bygones.
On his arrival at Boston, Cleeve had an interview with Governor Winthrop, and having made known to him the result of his visit to England, he endeavored to enlist his interest in the speedy and peaceful establishment of the new government of the Province of Lygonia. Unquestionably the sympathy of Winthrop and his associates was with Cleeve and the new order of things he desired to institute in the eastward settlements; but for prudential rea- sons they hesitated to manifest their sympathy while matters between the king and Parliament had not as yet reached a decisive issue, the General Court September 1, 1643, placing on record its attitude in the vote that it was "not meet to write to the eastward
1 They were written on a sheet or sheets of paper, and accompanied the petition, as is indicated in the petition itself. Their loss is greatly to be regretted as it deprives us of information not elsewhere to be found.
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CLEEVE SECURES AN ALLY.
about Mr. Cleeve according to his desire".1 It seems to have been understood, however, that Governor Winthrop would send an unofficial communication to Deputy Governor Vines at Saco, informing him of Cleeve's return with a commission as deputy president of the Province of Lygonia under Rigby's proprietary government ; and this was done doubtless with a diplomatic expression of hope for a peaceable adjustment of the differences that had hitherto existed.
The information called forth from Vines only an indignant response dated January 9, 1644. It was not sent, however, until after the arrival of Cleeve at Machegonne, now known as Casco. In his reply2 Vines assailed the present validity of the Lygonia patent. In its purchase, "Mr. Rigby (a worthy gent. by report)" had secured what in Vines' estimation was "no better than a broken title", resting upon claims that were utterly indefensible, and furnished another illustration of the "insufferable wrongs" he and others had received in connection with the "sinister prac- tices" of George Cleeve. Then followed mention of the latter's attempt to set up his authority in the territory covered by the Lygonia patent, -his appointment of officials, also "a court to be kept in Casco bay the 25th of March next" (1644). He had also sent his agent, Tucker, with a paper persuading all such as in any way were inclining to innovation "to set their hands to it for the better approving of what they have begun", and also to entreat Winthrop and the rest of the Massachusetts magistrates to defend them from French, Indians and other enemies, "which we con- strue to be Sir Ferdinando Gorges' commissioners". In addition to these "seditious proceedings", Vines called attention to Cleeve's assaults upon Gorges, using the "foul name of traitor", accusing him of counterfeiting "the king's broad seal", and so inflicting upon "that grave knight a deeper wound in his reputation". These and other grievances Winthrop was asked to take into con- sideration, Vines expressing the hope that if those opposed to
1 Massachusetts Colonial Records, II, 41.
2 Baxter, George Cleeve, Collateral Documents, 233-236.
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THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE.
Cleeve were forced to take such courses as "the necessity and the equity" of the case required, the governor would not think they had done amiss.
Evidently some allowances must be made for the excited state of mind in which Vines penned this letter. On the other hand, Cleeve in his attitude toward Vines and his opponents manifested a calmness of demeanor under the circumstances that was hardly to be expected, and which later led so careful a historian as Wil- liamson1 to say of Cleeve in his relation to this matter, "he adjusted his conduct by rules of strict prudence and moderation."
As to the validity of his own grant on the Saco, Vines had no occasion for anxiety inasmuch as the grant antedated the Lygonia patent. But it was otherwise with those who had settled on land within the limits of that patent, especially as Cleeve, when in England, had secured from Rigby a confirmation of his Mache- gonne grant,2 a procedure designed for the instruction of those whose titles were derived from a similar source. It was certainly an undesirable state of things. With two rival governments in the territory from Cape Porpoise to the Sagadahoc, it was not likely that either would exercise those helpful, restraining influ- ences which are desirable and needful in all civil relations, and of which there had been a lamentable lack in the scattered Maine settlements hitherto.
The beginnings of a movement for bringing to an end such a condition of affairs was made by Cleeve, who at his first court at Casco suggested that the question of governmental authority in the province should be submitted to the magistrates of Massachu- setts bay. The suggestion was approved by those present at the court and a letter was prepared, addressed to Cleeve and Vines, asking the Bay colony officials to arbitrate their differences, and pledging themselves to stand by the result "till it shall be other- wise made known unto them by a trial in England". In such a reference, however, Vines only could see a deep-laid plot on the
1 History of Maine, I, 296.
2 Baxter, George Cleeve, Collateral Documents, 246-250.
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CLEEVE SECURES AN ALLY.
part of Cleeve, and he declined to enter into the agreement on the ground that neither he nor any other had the right to attempt anything of the kind without the authority of Gorges ; and, in his letter to Winthrop, Vines added, "neither do I believe that your worship and the rest of your honored court will meddle with any trial of this nature".1
Evidently Vines had ground for this belief. While the sym- pathy of the leaders of the Puritan colony were with Rigby and Cleeve, it was of the greatest importance that they should have regard to existing conditions in the mother country. As yet no decisive battle had been fought between the forces of the king and the forces of Parliament. It was evident that even in the parlia- mentary army there were those who "did not want to beat the king too much",2 and Winthrop and his associates, notwithstand- ing their remoteness from the din and shock of arms, needed to be exceedingly careful not to imperil their own interests by acts on this side of the sea, for which later they might be called to answer in case Charles should abandon his present hostile attitude and so retain his crown.
But the matter did not end with Vines' refusal to consent to the suggestion made by Cleeve. When Tucker, who acted as Cleeve's messenger, appeared in Saco bringing a letter to Vines containing the proposal for arbitration, he was arrested for "peremptory and abusive language"; and when Tucker, indignant at the reception he received, refused to give security for his appearance at the next court at Saco, he was committed to the "Marshall". Security, however, was furnished on the following day, and Tucker was released. "He deserved much more", Vines wrote to Governor Winthrop, "but we forbear till we hear from your worship".8 If Vines expected any words from Winthrop approving of this treatment of Tucker, he was disappointed.
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