USA > Maine > The beginnings of colonial Maine, 1602-1658 > Part 8
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37
The character of the service is also clearly indicated in the Relation. Though the words "sermon" and "preacher" are very suggestive of religious conditions in England at that time, and
1 He was designated by Rosier Tahanedo and was called by him "a chief or Commander". Gorges mentions him under the name Dehamda, while in the Lambeth Palace manuscript he is known as Dehanada.
73
THE POPHAM COLONY.
may have been due to the writer's habit of expression, it is prob- able that the preacher, Rev. Richard Seymour,1 was a clergyman of the Church of England. With such promoters as those most interested in the colony-Popham, chief justice of England, and Sir Ferdinando Gorges, an ardent royalist and churchman-it is not likely that English dissent would furnish religious leadership in the undertaking. If there were differences of religious belief among the colonists, these were laid aside; and devout hearts found abundant occasion in the experiences of the voyage for glad expression of thanksgiving and praise. It was certainly a most fitting service in connection with an enterprise that meant so much both for the old world and the new.2
On the following day, August 10, both captains-Popham in his shallop with thirty men and Gilbert in his ship's boat with twenty men-taking with them Skidwarres, passed round Pema- quid point, evidently to avoid the march across the peninsula, and visited the Indians at the place where Gilbert had met them two days before. As at the previous interview, the establishment of kindly relations with the Indians was the purpose of the visit; but
1 Concerning Rev. Richard Seymour there is no information known to the writer aside from his connection with the Popham colony. Bishop Burgess (Popham Memorial, Me. Hist. Society, 101-4) suggested that he was con- nected with the Popham, Gorges, Gilbert and Ralegh families, but the sug- gestion remains a suggestion only. A Richard Seymour matriculated at Brasenose College, Oxford, in 1588-9, but a biographical sketch of this Oxon- ian makes it clear that he did not become a clergyman, and so was not the Richard Seymour of the Popham colony.
2 In the King's instructions for the government of the colonies occurred these words, which Popham evidently had not failed to notice : "We do spe- cially ordain, charge and require, the said president and councils, and the ministers of the said several colonies respectively, within their several lim- its and precincts, that they, with all diligence, care and respect, do provide that the true word and service of God and Christian faith be preached, planted and used, not only within every of the said several colonies and plantations, but also as much as they may amongst the savage people which do or shall adjoin unto them, or border upon them, according to the doc- trine, rites and religion now professed and established within our realm of England". Brown, Genesis of the United States, I, 67, 68.
74
THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE.
apparently the memory of the natives, who were captured by Way- mouth with Skidwarres and Nahanada and had not been returned, lingered in the hearts of the members of the tribe, and there was an evident lack of cordial feeling. The visitors spent the night by themselves on the other side of the Pemaquid river. Better relations were not secured on the following day; and the visitors, leaving Skidwarres, who now expressed a determination to remain with his people, returned to their ships.
That night the vessels remained at the place of rendezvous. But the summer was rapidly passing, and the planting of the col- ony was now a matter of pressing interest and importance. Accordingly, on the following morning, Wednesday, August 12, anchors were weighed, and both vessels, moving out from their island harbor into the open sea, were headed westward down the coast. Pring's explorations of the preceding year had called attention to the river Sagadahoc as a larger and more important river than that which Waymouth discovered in 1605, and there- fore one upon which a more suitable location for the settlement of a colony could be found. It is a clear inference from the Relation that before the Gift of God and the Mary and John left England it had been decided that the colonists should proceed to the Saga- dahoc, and establish themselves there. In accordance with this decision, Popham and Gilbert now sailed westward, instead of moving in toward the main land and the river of Waymouth's exploration.
In reaching the sea, the Kennebec river, the ancient Sagadahoc, does not present an opening that is discoverable from vessels pass- ing along the coast. Popham and Gilbert had been made acquainted with this fact, and careful directions for gaining an entrance to the river had been placed in their hands. Accordingly, when night drew on, in order not to pass too far to the westward and so "over shoot" the mouth of the river, both vessels struck their sails and thus remained from midnight until morning. With the break of day, they were about half a league south of the
75
THE POPHAM COLONY.
"island of Sutquin".1 The writer of the Relation adds here two rude but good drawings of Seguin as seen from different points ; and in referring to the island he mentions the fact that the island is situated "right before the mouth of the river of Sagadahock". Popham and Gilbert, therefore, had an excellent guide to the mouth of the river. But Gilbert, in the Mary and John, not con- vinced that the island was "Sutquin", continued to stand to the westward in search of it. On the other hand, Popham, in the Gift of God, sending his shallop landward from the island which he held to be the "Sutquin" of his directions, found the mouth of the Sagadahoc, and at the close of the day brought his vessel safely into the river and anchored.
That night a heavy storm from the south broke upon the Mary and John, and with difficulty the vessel was rescued from many perils upon a lee shore; but at length a refuge was found under the shelter of two islands.2 Here Gilbert remained until Saturday, August 15, when the storm having spent itself, he headed his ves- sel again for "Sutquin". On his return, however, by reason of an offshore wind, he was unable to bring the vessel into the river. On the following day, Popham in his shallop came to the assist- ance of his consort, and before noon the Mary and John found anchorage in the Sagadahoc alongside of the Gift of God.
The location of the colony was now the matter of first import- ance with the colonists, and on the following day, August 17, Popham in his shallop with thirty others and Gilbert in his ship's boat and eighteen others-fifty in all-proceeded up the river in
1 This is the first mention of the island in the early narratives. Capt. John Smith (1616) calls it Satguin. According to the late Rev. M. C. O'Brien of Bangor, a recognized authority in the Abnaki language, this Indian name of the island means "he vomits". Evidently the Indians had long been familiar with the general condition of the waters between Seguin and the main land.
2 The vessel, it seems, was now in the vicinity of Cape Small point. Thayer (The Sagadahoc Colony, 62, note) says : "The outermost point or true cape must be regarded as one of the islands, though it is now joined to the main land by a low neck of sand. It is 400 or 600 yards in extent. Seal island, 350 yards in length, lies northeast, nearer the land."
76
THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE.
search of the most suitable place for the plantation. "We find this river", says the Relation, "to be very pleasant with many goodly islands in it and to be both large and deep water having many branches in it; that which we took bendeth itself towards the northeast". From these words it may be inferred that, after reaching Merrymeeting bay, the explorers passed into the Kenne- bec; but concerning the distance made in that part of the river there is no statement, or any words even from which an inference can be drawn. It is evident, however, that in their search the explorers found no place for a plantation preferable to that which was observable from the vessels in the river. Accordingly, after their return they "all went to the shore and there made choice of a place for our plantation, which is at the very mouth or entry of the river of Sagadahock on the west side of the river, being almost an island of a good bigness". The record affords no opportunity for doubt with reference to the place selected. It was at the mouth of the Sagadahoc, and on the west side of the river. The added statement, that the land selected for the plantation formed "almost an island of a good bigness", describes in general terms the peninsula of Sabino, "a huge misshapen triangle" between Atkins bay and the sea. Examination of this tract of land estab- lishes its fitness for plantation purposes.1 Just as clearly as the Relation establishes the general location of the Popham colony on the west side of the river, so another discovery, since that of the Lambeth Palace manuscript, enables us to fix the precise location of the fortified settlement, which Popham and his associates made at the mouth of the Sagadahoc.2
1 For very full particulars concerning the location, and especially for men- tion of erroneous opinions held by early writers, see Thayer, Sagadahoc Colony, 167-187.
2 Among the treasures secured for Brown's Genesis of the United States, by Dr. Curry in the library at Simancas, Spain, was a copy of "The draught of St. George's fort erected by Captain George Popham, Esquire, on the entry of the famous River of Sagadahock in Virginia, taken out by John Hunt the VIII of October in the year of our Lord 1607". When this plan was pub- lished in the Genesis (Houghton, Mifflin Co., Boston, 1890, I, 190), it was discovered that the generally accepted view as to the location of Popham's
The Draught of : Georges fort Erected by
Cappy ne George Pophim Esqueter one the entry of the famous River of Sagadabock in virginia taken out by John Hunt the vin day forhaben in the year of our lords 1607 .~
Par Oriental
Cyf
7. 7
A a domy Culueringo
Bakers
C. Minyons
D FEWCOM
the Procedente house
2. the Chapelf
3' the Admirals hout
4. He Munition house
.5 the Store howfe
6 the Munition It howje
> the vice Admiral howf
1
.8: the Buttery general.
7
9. the promosies house
to the Sargent Mais how's
Is the Corporals houje 12. the kitefin denormal
13. the Smiths he
If the coupers howle
Is the Bake house
the Court of gourde
1) the Lake ,
is the Land gate
8
Tronchi
Occidental.
Cly
The garden place
Tranche:
u. joel
26 Paket
The Sinfe of fire & faces
+
y. the water gate to the yustone gate
M the Justice plane
. the rest or first lady ins
fre Sepodrinal
1. 20
etreturo general de Vervanger- secretaria de Estado-Legajo 2586-F.ยบ 1">
77
THE POPHAM COLONY.
The choice of this precise location of the settlement was made August 19. "All went to the shore" for this purpose, and after the selection there was a religious service. To the colonists this meant much more than that held a few days before on one of the islands of St. George's harbor. Then, the service was one of thanksgiving for their safe arrival in the new world. Now, they were about to lay the foundations of civil government; and as their own hopes, and the hopes of those most deeply interested in the welfare of the colony, extended into an unknown future, their preacher, in the presence of all the colonists, implored the blessing of God on the great undertaking upon which they now formally entered. "After the sermon", adds the Relation, "our patent was read with the orders and laws therein prescribed". The patent-if patent there was-must have been a copy of that granted by James I on April 10, 1606, providing for two colonies in America, designated as the first and second, the former known as the southern colony and the latter as the northern colony.1 The document is a lengthy one and its reading could have added little interest to the occasion, as its provisions were already known. But as the words in the Relation "therein prescribed" make the
fort was no longer tenable. In fact, an examination of the plan, and of the topographical features of the peninsula of Sabino, soon made it evident that the newly discovered plan could only be made to fit the plot of ground situ- ated a few hundred yards west of the present Fort Popham. When laid down upon this plot the plan fitted the location as a glove fits a hand. At the Popham celebration, August 29, 1862, the Maine Historical Society pro- vided a granite memorial of the Popham settlement for insertion in the wall of Fort Popham. As the construction of the fort was abandoned even before the close of the Civil War-so rapid was the advance in the requirements for offensive and defensive warfare in coast fortifications-the proposed memo- rial block remained uncalled for in the grounds of the fort until the approach of the tercentenary of the Popham colony in 1907, when the society obtained permission from the War Department at Washington to transfer the memo- rial to the rocky ledge, included in Popham's fort as indicated on the Siman- cas plan. The transfer was made, and with a slight addition to the inscrip- tion the location of Popham's fortified settlement was appropriately and accurately indicated.
1 Brown, Genesis of the United States, I, 52-63.
78
THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE.
patent the source of the "orders and laws" now read to the colo- nists, the writer doubtless had reference to the instructions of the King promulgated November 20, 16061 for the government of the colonies. These were prepared "for the good Order and Govern- ment of the two several Colonies and Plantations to be made by our loving subjects in the Country commonly called Virginia and America". A copy of these instructions was furnished to the heads of both colonies, southern and northern. The copy received by the Popham colonists has not been preserved. Hap- pily, however, the copy carried to Virginia by the Jamestown colonists has come down to us in full, with its provisions for orderly government, appointment of officers, administration of justice, trial by jury, punishment of offenders, etc., the founda- tion principles of the civil government which the colonists were to organize.
First of all, these instructions established in England a "King's council of Virginia", having full power to give directions for governing the colonists "as near to the common laws of England and the equity thereof as may be". This King's council was authorized to appoint for each colony a council, and the council was made the governing body of the colony. The president of the colony, serving one year, was appointed by the colonial coun- cil from its own membership. His successor, in case of death, or absence, received appointment from the council, and for any just cause the council could remove the president from office. In cases of criminal offense, the president and council pronounced judg- ment. Provision was made for reprieve by the president and council, and for pardon by the King. The president and council also had power to hear and determine all civil causes. They could also from time to time "make and ordain such constitutions, ordinances and officers for the better order, government and peace of the people", these always, however, to be "in substance con- sonant unto the laws of England, or the equity thereof". Then follow these words:
1 Ib., I, 64-75.
79
THE POPHAM COLONY.
"Furthermore, our will and pleasure is, and we do hereby deter- mine and ordain, that every person and persons being our sub- jects of every the said colonies and plantations shall from time to time well entreat those savages in those parts, and use all good means to draw the savages and heathen people of the said several places, and of the territories and countries adjoining to the true service and knowledge of God, and that all just, kind and chari- table courses shall be holden with such of them as shall conform themselves to any good and sociable traffic and dealing with the subjects of us, our heirs and successors, which shall be planted there, whereby they may be the sooner drawn to the true knowl- edge of God and the obedience of us, our heirs and successors, under such severe pains and punishments as shall be inflicted by the same several presidents and councils of the said several colo- nies, or the most part of them within their several limits and pre- cincts, on such as shall offend therein, or do the contrary."
In other words, both the colonists and the natives of the country, in their mutual relations, were to be under a reign of law that would aim to secure the rights and happiness of all. In the King's instructions with reference to the government of the two colonies, the rights of the colonists, so far as personal liberty is concerned, received no recognition. The officers were to be elected by the King's council, and not by popular vote. Strachey, indeed, says that after the reading of the laws under which the Popham colonists were now placed, "George Popham, gent, was nominated president; Captain Ralegh Gilbert, James Davies, Richard Seymour, preacher, Capt. Richard Davies, Capt. Har-
low were all sworn assistants.1 Captain John Smith, however, puts the case very differently, when, in referring to the Popham colony in his General History of New England,2 he says : "That honorable patron of virtue, Sir John Popham, Lord Chief Justice of England, in the year 1606, procured means and men to possess it (i. e. that part of America formerly called Norumbega,
1 The Sagadahoc Colony, 67, note.
2 Richmond, Va., 1819, II, 173-4.
80
THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE.
&c.,) and sent Captain George Popham for president; Captain Rawleigh Gilbert for admiral; Edward Harlow, master of the ordinance; Captain Robert Davis, sergeant major; Captain Ellis Best, marshal; Master Leaman, secretary; Captain James Davis to be captain of the fort ; Master Gome Carew, chief searcher".
The natural inference from these words is that the officers of the colony were appointed in England by Sir John Popham. But the name of the chief justice is not included in the list of members of the "King's council of Virginia" which appears in the instruc- tions for the government of the colonies. In that council, how- ever, the Popham family was represented by Popham's son and heir, Sir Francis Popham. Captain Smith, making the above rec- ord in 1624, probably was in error in implying that the officers of the colony were appointed by Sir John Popham. The latter's enthusiastic exertions in financing the undertaking entitled him to honorable mention in any reference to the northern colony ; but unquestionably there is no ground for the inference that the King's instructions were not strictly followed in the appointment of all the officers of the Popham colony.
On the following day, Thursday, August 20, the whole company again landed, and work at once was commenced on the fort that was to inclose the colonist's settlement. It was a large earth- work, occupying the level plot of ground at the northern extrem- ity of Sabino head. President Popham "set the first spit of ground". The rest followed, and "labored hard in the trenches about it". As within the inclosure necessary buildings were to be erected later for the use of the colonists, there was need of busy endeavor in order to complete the required work before the winter opened.
On the next day, the colonists continued their work, some in the trenches and others in the woods preparing fagots for use in the construction of the fort. Thus early, also, under the direction of the head carpenter, those who were familiar with shipbuilding repaired to the woods and commenced to cut timber for the con- struction of a small vessel, which would be needed by the colonists
81
THE POPHAM COLONY.
on the return of the Mary and John and the Gift of God to England before the close of the year.
On Saturday, August 22, President Popham proceeded in his shallop up the river as far as Merrymeeting bay. From that large body of water, in his former exploration, he had entered the Ken- nebec, and noted its characteristics and opportunities for trade with the Indians. This time he turned westward from this point, and entered the ancient Pejepscot, now the Androscoggin. Prob- ably he proceeded as far as the falls at Brunswick. There, or at some other part of the river, he held a parley with a body of Indians, who informed him that they had been at war with Sasanoa, the chief of the Kennebec Indians, and had slain his son. He also learned that Skidwarres and Nahanada were in this fight. Having completed his exploration, President Popham returned with his party to the mouth of the river on the following day.
With the new week that had opened, the colonists continued the work upon which they had entered with so much energy and enthusiasm. Meanwhile Captain Gilbert had in contemplation exploration to the westward after the return of President Popham. By unfavorable weather, however, he was delayed until Friday, August 28, when, in his ship's boat with fifteen others, he sailed out of the river and proceeded westward along the coast. Men- tion of "many gallant islands", evidently the islands of Casco bay, is made in the Relation. It was a picturesque scene which Gilbert and his companions had before them, as in the afternoon, with a favoring breeze, they sailed past these many wooded islands. That night, the wind having now shifted and being strong against them, they anchored under a sheltering headland called Semeamis. Because of meager details in the Relation, the exact location of this headland cannot now be determined with certainty. Thayer, who has carefully sought for a location in the light of these scanty materials, expresses the opinion that it is to be found on some part of Cape Elizabeth, not far from Portland head light, in what is known as Ship cove.1
1 The Sagadahoc Colony, 69, note.
6
82
THE BEGINNINGS OF COLONIAL MAINE.
The next morning, Captain Gilbert, against a strong head-wind, continued his course along the coast. There was hard rowing in a rough sea, and progress was slow. At length as the day drew to a close, escaping the baffling billows that had assailed them so many hours, they came to anchor under an island "two leagues from the place" where they anchored the night before. The indications are clear that this island was no other than Richmond's island. Here Gilbert remained until midnight, and then, the wind having subsided, he and his companions left the island "in hope to have gotten the place we desired". But soon after the wind again swept down upon them-a strong wind from the southwest -and they were compelled to return to the anchorage they had just left. Concerning the desired place which Gilbert hoped to reach, there is no information. Something, evidently, he had learned from Pring, or earlier explorers, led him onward and the head-winds that beset him, and drove him back, brought disap- pointment.
The next day was Sunday, and the southwest wind being favor- able for the return to the Sagadahoc, the baffled voyagers directed their boat thitherward. Again they entered Casco bay, and again the writer of the Relation extolled its "goodly islands so thick & near together that you cannot well discern to number them, yet may you go in betwixt them in a good ship, for you shall have never less water than eight fathoms. These islands are all overgrown with woods very thick as oaks, walnut, pine trees & many other things growing as sarsaparilla, hazle nuts & whorts in abundance". The return journey was successfully made, and the mouth of the Sagadahoc was reached at the close of the day. It was a very favorable run from Richmond's island.
Attention was now given not only to work on the fort, but also to the erection of a storehouse within the inclosure. Any rela- tion with their Indian neighbors was a matter of very great inter- est. On the first day of September a canoe was discovered approaching the fort, but its occupants, when at the shore, acted warily, not allowing more than a single colonist to come near at a
83
THE POPHAM COLONY.
time. The writer of the Relation makes mention of two "great kettles of brass" that he saw in the canoe, an evidence apparently of earlier trading relations with European fishing and trading ves- sels on the coast.
A few days later, September 5, nine Indian canoes entered the river from the eastward. They contained about forty men, women and children, and among them were Nahanada and Skid- warres. All were kindly welcomed and entertained. The larger part of the visitors, after a while, withdrew to the opposite side of the river and made their camp there; but Skidwarres and another Indian remained with the colonists until night. Then, as both wished to rejoin their own people, Captain Gilbert and two other officers conveyed them across the river, and stayed that night with the Indians who were to depart in the morning. When, at that time, the Indians set out on their return to Pemaquid, Gil- bert obtained from them a promise that on a certain day, agreed upon by both parties, they would accompany him to the place on the Penobscot river where the "bashabe", or principal chief of that region, resided.
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.