USA > Maine > The history of Maine, from the earliest discovery of the region by the Northmen until the present time; including a narrative of the voyages and explorations of the early adventurers, the manners and customs of the Indian tribes, the hardships of the first settlers, etc > Part 19
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1 "There were slain at this time somewhat above forty of the English and twelve of the friendly Indians that assisted; very few escaping, but were either killed right out or dangerously wounded." - Hubbard's History of New England, p. 634. See also Belknap's History of New Hampshire, vol. i. p. 128; Collections of Massachusetts Historical Society, vol. vi. p. 263.
2 History of Wells and Kennebunk, by Edward E. Bourne, LL.D., p. 138.
4
CHAPTER XII.
WARS AND WOES CONTINUED.
Ravages of the Indians -The Naval Expedition - Peace proclaimed - Losses by the War - The Purchase of Maine by Massachusetts - The Regime of Mr. Danforth - North Yarmouth incorporated - Baptist Church established - Menaces of War - Employment of the Mohawks - Sir Edmund Andros - Thomas Dungan - Tyrannical Acts - Attack upon Baron Castine - War renewed - Fate of Waldron - Expeditions to Quebec and Montreal.
T THE savages were now sweeping all opposition before them. They ravaged the coast from Casco Bay to Wells. Prowl- ing into the harbors by night, they seized twenty fishing vessels. Most of these were from Massachusetts. Each of these vessels had on board four or five men and boys. Taken by surprise at midnight, as a dozen Indian warriors leaped from their canoes upon the deck, they could make no resistance.
Immediately a vessel of war was despatched, manned with forty seamen, to pursue and capture the foe. This was indeed like chasing a flea upon the mountains. They recovered most of the fishing vessels, which the savages had abandoned with- out burning them ; 1 but not a solitary Indian was anywhere to be found. It was feared that the French would take advantage of these calamities to extend their sway to the Kennebec. Sir Edmund Andros sent a military> force from New York to Pemaquid, to take possession of the country, and erect a fort. He was quite successful in securing the confidence of the natives in the immediate region around, and a beneficial traffic was
+1 " The Indians, finding their inability to manage such kind of vessels, much too heavy for them to wield with paddles, grew soon weary of that sport, and were pretty willing to return the vessels to the English, after they had pillaged out of them what was for their turn." - Hubbard's History of New England, p. 635. 206
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introduced. They brought in fifteen captives, and surrendered several vessels which they had taken. Thus pleasantly, in fra- ternal intercourse, the autumn and winter passed away at Pemaquid. Other tribes heard of these blessings of peace, and desired to share in them. Three English commissioners met Squando, and the sagamores of the Kennebec and the Andros- coggin tribes, on the 12th of August, 1678, at Casco.1
The articles of peace were few and simple. All hostilities were to cease. Every English family was to pay one peck of corn annually, as a quit-rent for the land they had gained from the Indians. Major Phillips of Saco, who had very extensive possessions, was to give one bushel each year. All captives on each side were to be surrendered without ransom. Some of the English regarded these conditions as humiliating to them ; but all considered them as preferable to the continuance of the warfare which was desolating the colonies. King Philip's war was thus, ere long, brought to a close in Massachusetts as well as Maine. It was generally admitted that the sagamores were not unjust in their demands.
The Indians had certainly a possessory right to the country which the English had invaded. Large tracts of territory had been obtained from them by purchases of very questionable legality. In many cases there was no question as to the fraud by which the English title-deed had been gained. In the war, the success of the Indians in Maine had been so remarkable as to warrant them in assuming the tone of victors. Under these circumstances their exactions were by many deemed mod- erate.2
The losses sustained during the war, by the inhabitants of Maine, were enormous. Two hundred and sixty were killed, or carried into captivity from which they never returned. There were, undoubtedly, many others who thus perished, of whom no record was made. The numbers severely wounded have never been counted. The settlements at Cape Neddock, Scarbor- ough, Casco, Arrowsic, and Pemaquid, were laid in ashes. One
1 Neal's History of New England, p. 407. See also History of New Hamp- shire, by Jeremy Belknap, vol. i. p. 129.
2 Williamson, vol. i. p. 553.
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THE HISTORY OF MAINE.
hundred and fifty men, women, and children, were taken captive, who, after months of often terrible sufferings, were finally restored to their friends. It is estimated, that, in the several colonies, six hundred men were killed, twelve hundred houses burned, eight thousand cattle destroyed, and seven hundred and fifty thousand dollars expended in military operations. The immense losses by the ravages of the war cannot be cal- culated.1
The purchase of Maine by the Colony of Massachusetts greatly annoyed the tyrannical king of England. The dissolute monarch was intending to make a transfer of the territory of Maine and New Hampshire, to his son the Duke of Monmouth, who was not of legitimate birth. He wrote angrily to the Colonial Government, -
" We were much surprised, while listening to the complaints of Mr. Gorges, that you should presume, without asking our royal permission, to purchase his interest in the Province of Maine, acquainted, as you know we are, with some of the effects of the severe hand you have holden over our subjects there." 2
The Province of Maine, purchased by Massachusetts, was supposed to contain about nine thousand six hundred square miles. Its measurement was eighty by one hundred and twenty miles.3 The question as to the government of the Province was involved in many difficulties. Civil power, it was said, could not be bought and sold ; and a public functionary could not delegate authority which he had received from the king.
It was finally decided to frame a civil code in conformity with the royal charter granted Sir Ferdinando Gorges. A president was to be chosen annually. There was to be a legis- lature consisting of two branches. The upper house was to consist of the president's council, of eight members. The lower house was to be composed of representatives chosen by the towns. The legislative body was to meet once a year.
1 Records of Massachusetts Government, vol. 4, pp. 147-359. See also, Hutch- inson's Collection of State Papers, p. 493.
2 Idem, p. 451.
8 Summary of British Settlements in North America, by William Douglass, vol. i. p. 389.
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THE HISTORY OF MAINE.
Mr. Thomas Danforth of Cambridge, deputy governor of ·Massachusetts, was appointed president. He was a gentleman of accomplished education and great moral worth. An English- man by birth, he had in early life come to this country, and had filled many offices of influence and honor. He was a firm republican in his principles, and was ever ready to resist the en- croachments of arbitrary power.1
Pres. Danforth found many difficulties to be encountered. There were, in Maine, many staunch royalists ; and all such were warm advocates of the ecclesiastical polity of the Church of England. These people were very unwilling to become the subjects of republican Massachusetts ; and bitter were the com- plaints which they were continually sending to the crown. The king threatened even to reclaim the Province. He wrote to the General Court, -
" It is marvellous that you should exclude from office, gentlemen of good lives and estates, merely because they do not agree with you in the congre- gational way; especially since liberty of conscience was the principal motive of your first emigration. Nor is this the only thing to be noticed. The title-deeds of Maine, we expect, will be surrendered to the crown, on the advancement of the purchase money and interest." 2
An active and implacable minority may raise outcries which it is very difficult even for a large majority to silence. Agents were sent over from England to spy out defects, and to manu- facture complaints. One Edward Randolph was despatched upon this mission, as searcher ; and he was particularly active in the service. He hunted up all individual outrages, exaggerated them, and ascribed them all to criminality of the government. These malignant aspersions were scattered broadcast throughout England. In response, the General Court with dignity re- plied, -
" Our lives and our treasures have been unsparingly sacrificed to rescue Maine from the utter ruin attempted by a barbarous and bloody enemy;
1 Biographical Dictionary of Rev. Dr. Allen, article Danforth, Thomas.
2 This important letter is given entire in Hutchinson's Collection of State Papers, pp. 519-522.
Hutchinson says that the price paid was twelve hundred pounds. The York Records represent it as twelve hundred and fifty pounds.
14
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THE HISTORY OF MAINE.
sacrifices for which we have never received nor requested of the provincials the least remuneration. We have, from many of them, the fullest assur- ances of their past satisfaction with our course, and of their desire still to be connected with us, and their unwillingness to hazard a change. And as we, without the least shadow of disloyalty, obtained title to the Province a twelvemonth after his majesty had decided it to be in Gorges, it is our duty to favor the inhabitants, and provide them with a free systematic admin- istration." 1
Upon the southerly shore of Casco Neck, there was a fortress called Fort Loyal. It was situated near the end of what has since been called King's Street. It had a small garrison, under command of Capt. Edward Tyng,2 and was well provided with the munitions of war. In August, 1680, Pres. Danforth, with Mr. Samuel Nowel3 and Mr. Nathaniel Saltonstall, as assistants, accompanied by sixty soldiers, sailed for Fort Loyal.4
On the 22d of September, the township of North Yarmouth was established. It took its name, probably, from Yarmouth, England. Its boundaries then embraced Freeport, Pownal, and Cumberland. This was the eighth town established, if we except Appledore, which embraced the Isle of Shoals, and which was incorporated in 1661, but which did not long retain its name. The history of Yarmouth is one of rather peculiar interest. There is a small stream here called Royall or Weste- custego River, about fifteen miles in length, taking its rise in New Gloucester. It has a good harbor at its mouth, where the ancient settlements were commenced. William Royall came over in 1630, and purchased this region of Gorges in 1643. In 1658 he settled on the east side of the river, and erected a fort ; but in the year 1676 the Indians laid all things waste. In 1680 the settlement was revived.
In June, 1681, Pres. Danforth and his council met in general assembly. It is not now known how many representatives were sent from the towns. Four years after, there were twelve rep-
1 Records of Massachusetts Government, vol. iv. p. 469.
2 Williamson, vol. i. p. 563.
8 Rev. Samuel Nowel had been a Christian minister. He was a man of supe- rior mind and attainments, was universally respected for his virtues, and was ardently devoted to republican principles of government. - Hutchinson's Collec- tions, vol. i. p. 538.
4 Sullivan, p. 182; Williamson, p. 401.
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THE HISTORY OF MAINE.,
resentatives. Among other very judicious laws which were enacted, one imposed a fine of twenty shillings for every pint of intoxicating drink any one should sell to the Indians.
It seems probable that the Episcopal denomination was then the leading one in the State. In the year 1681 the Baptists first commenced operations. Several were baptized by immer- sion, in Kittery, and Rev. William Screven became their reli- gious teacher. He was born in England in 1629, and in early life emigrated to this country. He appears to have been truly a good man, of accomplished scholarship, and endowed with unusual powers of eloquence.
His preaching was successful, and converts were multiplied. The attention of the magistrates was arrested. Mr. Screven was summoned before them, charged with preaching without governmental authorization. He was fined ten pounds, and ordered no more to hold any religious service. His refusal to obey was deemed contempt of his Majesty's authority. It was therefore ordered, that -
"Mr. Screven, in future, forbear from his turbulent and contentious practices, give bonds for his good behavior, and stand committed until the judgment of the court be complied with."
It is humiliating to record such intolerance on the part of our forefathers ; but it should be remembered that it was the intolerance of the age, rather than of the individuals. Notwith- standing this persecution, a church of eight members was organized, and in September of 1682 they emigrated to Cooper River in South Carolina. It is pleasant to state, that, so far as is known, no other instance of religious intolerance has ever been laid to the charge of the government of Maine.1
Prosperity was rapidly reviving throughout the Province. Scarborough had risen from its ashes, so that it contained fifty- six ratable ·polls, many well-cultivated fields, and eighty cows. A tax was assessed, by the General Assembly, of two shillings on every one hundred acres of woodland, provided they were beyond the limits of any corporate town. It is said that thus
1 Williamson, vol. i. p. 570.
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THE HISTORY OF MAINE.
originated the custom of taxing unimproved lands at a lower rate than other property. It is estimated that the population of the Province in 1682 amounted to between six and seven thousand. New Hampshire contained about four thousand.1
On the 16th of February, 1685, the infamous king of England, Charles II., died. His brother succeeded him, as James II. A little before this, a very important purchase was made of the Indians, which was called the Pejepscot Purchase. By this transaction Wavumbee and five other sagamores conveyed to Richard Wharton a territory, as was supposed, containing about five hundred thousand acres, embracing not only the present towns of Brunswick, Topsham, and Harpswell, but ex- tending east to the Kennebec River. The boundaries were, however, so indefinite, as to cause subsequently much litiga- tion.2
Under Pres. Danforth, the legislative body had annual meet- ings ; and, for six years, the government was administered to the general acceptance of the inhabitants. A pretty strong garrison was maintained at Fort Loyal. Much attention was paid to securing to proprietors a legal title to their lands. Fort Loyal became the jail for Saco, Scarborough, Falmouth, and North Yarmouth.
In the spring of 1685, the Indians of Maine were thrown into a terrible panic by the rumor that the English were preparing to send an army of ferocious Mohawks for their utter extermi- nation. The terror was profound and universal. The saga- more of the Penacook tribe wrote imploringly to the governor of New Hampshire, saying, -
" If you will not let the Mohawks come and kill us, we will be submissive to your worship forever."
1 Political Annals of the United Colonies, by George Chalmers, p. 404.
2 Wharton was a Boston merchant. He affirmed that the line extended from the Upper Falls of the Androscoggin, which he declared to be Lewiston Falls, entirely across the country, in a north-east line, to the Kennebec; and that it in- cluded all land between the two rivers, as far south as Merrymeeting Bay. On the west it embraced territory four miles wide down to Maquoit. It also included the land on the west side of the Kennebec, south of Merrymeeting Bay, down to Cape Small Point; and on the eastern side of the Sagadahoc, to the ocean, in- cluding Arrowsic, and several other islands. - Summary of British Settlements in North America, vol. i. p. 230.
1
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THE HISTORY OF MAINE.
Suspicion led to animosity on both sides, and to various un- friendly acts. Even the panic-stricken flight of the Indians was deemed an indication that they were preparing for another war. Capt. Hook of Kittery wrote to Capt. Barefoot of Ports- mouth, under date of the 13th of August, 1685, saying, -
" From information received by a foot-post, there are just grounds for apprehending some designs of the heathen against us. 'They have,' he says, ' lately been guilty of affronts in the vicinity of Saco, threatening the people, and killing their dogs; and, within the last three days, they have gathered up all their corn, and moved off, bag and baggage.'"
A council was held, which was promptly attended by the sagamores, who declared that they had no desire for war, and wished only for the continuance of peace.
The sagamore of Penacook, Kankamagus by name, usually called John Hawkins, or Hoykins, was present. He had written the letter to Gov. Cranfield of New Hampshire, to which we have above referred ; and it was signed by fourteen of his princi- pal men. He lived upon the Androscoggin, with another dis- tinguished chief by the name of Worombo,1 or Worombos.
The chiefs of four tribes were present at the council. They not only manifested no antagonistic spirit, but seemed ready to assent to any terms which the English might dictate. They even yielded to the following extraordinary demand, that -
" Whenever the Indians shall remove with their wives and children, with- out giving timely notice to the English, they may be apprehended, or war may be made upon them till the sagamores shall render satisfaction." 2
. 1 " Kankamagus was a faithful man as long as he could depend upon the English for protection. But when Gov. Cranfield of New Hampshire used his endeavors to bring down the Mohawks to destroy the eastern Indians, in 1684, who were constantly stirred up by the French to commit depredations upon the English, Kankamagus, knowing the Mohawks made no distinction where they came, fled, and joined the Androscoggins. Before he fled his country, he addressed several letters to the governor, which discover his fidelity as well as his fears, and from which there is no doubt that he would always gladly have lived in his own country, and on the most intimate and friendly terms with the English, -to whom he had become attached, and had adopted much of their manner, and could read and write, - but for the reasons just stated."- Drake's Book of the Indians, book iii. p. 106.
2 History of New Hampshire. By Jeremy Belknap, vol. i. p. 186. See, also, Hutchinson's History, vol. i. p. 316.
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THE HISTORY OF MAINE.
Affairs in Massachusetts were in rather a chaotic condition. The king had annulled the Colonial Charter, had put an end to the General Court, and had appointed Joseph Dudley president of Massachusetts, Maine, New Hampshire, and Rhode Island. Dudley was a graduate of Harvard College, a man of superior abilities, and of boundless ambition.
After a brief but unpopular administration of but about five months, he was superseded by Sir Edmund Andros. The local government in Maine now ceased, and was not resumed until 1820, when Maine was finally separated from Massachusetts.1
Andros, it will be remembered, had been the appointed gov- ernor of the Duke of York, now James II., over the colonies at the mouths of the Manhattan and the Sagadahoc Rivers. He was the fitting servant of his master, imperious and tyrannical. He turned his special attention to his Sagadahoc province. He took formal possession of the country, and made preparations to defend it against any enemy, whether Indians, French, or Dutch. Nothing of especial interest marked his administration. He was arrogant and tyrannical, and was very unpopular.
In 1683 Andros was succeeded by Col. Thomas Dungan. He was a much better man, and cherished far more elevated views of human rights, and still he was at a very considerable remove from the Massachusett's principles of republican equality. In New York he convoked a legislative assembly ; but, at Sag- adahoc, he appointed two commissioners, John Palmer and John West, whom he invested with plenary powers.
In 1686 they repaired to Pemaquid. Many of the inhabitants, who had been driven from their homes by the horrors of the war, had returned. The region was at that time called the County of Cornwall. The commissioners proved to be despotic men, " arbitrary as the Grand Turk." 2 They contrived, in vari- ous ways, to extort enormous taxes from the impoverished and war-stricken people. They took especial care of themselves and friends, appropriating from six to ten thousand acres of land to each.3 It is enough to make one's blood boil with
1 History of Portland. By William Willis, p. 258.
2 Mather's Magnalia, vol. ii. p. 510.
8 Hutchinson's Collection, p. 547.
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indignation to contemplate the leaseholds they forced from the people, and the rents they imposed upon them for the occupa- tion of their own homesteads. Thus they wrested from these settlers nearly three thousand dollars a year.
Mr. Sullivan gives us a copy of one of these leaseholds, in- flicted upon poor John Dalling of Monhegan, who had returned penniless to his burnt cabin and wild lands. It is drawn up with much legal formality, in the name of "Our most gracious sove- reign lord, James II., by the grace of God King of England, Scotland, France, and Ireland." After a ludicrously detailed account of the premises, John Dalling is authorized to plant his corn there, upon condition of -
" Yielding and paying therefor yearly, and every year, unto our sove- reign lord the king, his heirs or successors, or to such governor or other officer as from time to time shall be by him or them appointed to receive the same, on every twenty-fifth day of March forever, as a quit rent, or acknowl- edgment for the said land, one bushel of merchantable wheat, or the value thereof in money." 1
Dungan claimed the country as far east as the River St. Croix.2 A shipmaster from Piscataqua, not aware of this claim, and supposing that the region beyond the Penobscot belonged to the French, sent a cargo of wines there. As they were landed, without having paid duties at Pemaquid, Palmer and West seized and confiscated the cargo. This roused, not only the indignation of the French, but that, also, of the Massachusetts people. The clamor rose so loud, that the wines were restored.
Dungan's administration lasted five years. He influenced several Dutch families to emigrate to the Sagadahoc. In 1688 Sir Edmund Andros was appointed captain-general and vice- admiral of New England, New York, and the Jerseys. He formed a council of twenty-five members, five of whom consti- tuted a quorum. All legislative, judicial, and executive func- tions were blended in this department. There were no consti- tutional limits. The governor and his council did as they pleased.2
1 Sullivan's History of Maine, p. 163. 2 Hutchinson's Collections, p. 548.
' 8 " But a few months before, he had been appointed governor of Massachusetts, Connecticut, New Hampshire, Maine, Plymouth, Pemaquid, and Narragansett, or Rhode Island." - Summary of British Settlements in North America, by William Douglass, p. 374.
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The governor soon developed all the execrable traits of a despot. He seldom convened more than seven or eight of his council, and they were all the pliant instruments of his will.
The Church of England was recognized as the only legal form of worship ; and all who assembled for congregational religious service were threatened with the confiscation of their meeting- houses. Freedom of the press was restrained. The land-titles, generally, were declared to be invalid ; and it was proclaimed that new title-deeds must be obtained. The annoyances to which the people were exposed were innumerab e, and vexatious in the extreme.
Andros was alike greedy of wealth and of despotic power. The king, James II., from whom he derived all his authority, was an avowed Papist. But the people of England were not in sympathy with their monarch. Desiring to take military pos- session of the Penobscot and the St. Croix, Andros repaired to Pemaquid, where he had ordered the frigate " Rose " to be pre- pared for his expedition. The frigate, having sailed, cast anchor near the habitation of Baron Castine, at Biguyduce.1
The baron, with his family, fled into the woods, abandoning every thing. The ignoble governor plundered his house of all its valuables ; but he left untouched the Catholic chapel, with all its rich adornments.
Andros returned to Pemaquid, where he had invited the neighboring sagamores to meet him. They met in council. Andros, addressing the most prominent chief, a Tarratine2 sag- amore, said, -
"I warn you never to follow the French, or to fear them. Be quiet, live in peace, and we will protect you. Tell your friend Castine, that, if he will render loyal obedience to the King of England, every article taken from him shall be restored."
Andros was delighted with Pemaquid and its surroundings. He took an excursion among the islands, and ascended the Kennebec several leagues. He thought that Pemaquid was destined to be the chief mart for all the eastern country, and
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