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 9
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TN the year 1633 the English established a trading-post east of the Penobscot, near where Machias now stands. The station was on the west bank of the river, a little above Cross Island. Mr. Vines of Saco was one of the principal owners of the merchandise collected there. The property was placed under the guard of five or six well-armed men. In establishing this post, it was doubtless one of the objects of the colonial proprietors to hold possession of the country.
Claude de la Tour, the French commandant at Port Royal, considered this movement as a trespass upon territory which had been granted to him by the king of France. He made a descent upon the place, and captured it after a slight defence, in which two of the English were killed. With his prisoners, and booty amounting to about twenty-five hundred dollars, he returned to Port Royal. The Plymouth Colony sent an agent, Mr. Allerton, to that place, to endeavor to recover the prisoners and the property, and to ascertain whether La Tour acted under the authority of the French Government. He defiantly replied, -
" I have taken them as lawful prize. My authority is from the king of France, who claims the coast from Cape Sable to Cape Cod. I wish the
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English to understand, that, if they trade to the eastward of Pemaquid, I shall seize them. My sword is all the commission I shall show. When I want help I will produce my authority. Take your men, and be gone."
Whether the prisoners were released, or were sent to France, is uncertain."1 Many of the traders were very worthless char- acters, who deemed it no sin to cheat an Indian. There is, in Casco Bay, but a short distance from Cape Elizabeth, an island called Richmands, sometimes spelled Richman's Island. It is about three miles in circumference, and contains about two hundred acres of pretty good land. In the year 1628 an Eng- lish emigrant, by the name of Walter Bagnall, took possession of this island without any title. His sole object seems to have been to trade with the Indians. " Bagnall," writes Winthrop, " was a wicked fellow, and had much wronged the Indians." 2
He had several boon companions with him, and became quite notorious, under the nickname of " Great Walt." In a three- years' trade he had amassed what was then considered a large amount of property. The Indians became much enraged by the wrongs inflicted upon them by this unscrupulous gang. In the year 1631 a chief, by the name of Squidrayset, or as some call the name Scitterygusset, with a few warriors, went to the island, killed the Englishmen, plundered the house, and, apply- ing the torch, left behind them but smouldering ruins. The savages, who had committed this crime, or, as they considered it, performed this act of justice, retired with their booty.
Walter Neal was the agent of the London proprietors, Gor- ges, Mason, & Co. He had two residences. One was at Kit- tery Point, and the other at Portsmouth, then called Strawberry Bank. Five men were associated with him. They carried on quite extensively the business of trade, fishing, salt-making, and farming.
As soon as Neal heard of the assassination of Bagnall and his gang, he sent a party to the island in pursuit of the murderers. They found a solitary Indian there, whom they seized, and hung by the neck till he was dead; with no evidence that he had any thing whatever to do with the murders. The perpetrators
1 Hubbard's New England, p. 163; Winthrop's Journal, p. 57.
2 Winthrop's Journal, p. 30.
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of the crime were probably then far away on the mainland. It is not strange that the unenlightened Indians should, soon after, have seized upon an innocent English traveller, wandering upon the banks of the Saco, and, in retaliation, have put him to death.1 But these outrages, far more excusable on the part of the ignorant Indians than on the part of enlightened Europeans, were rapidly engendering a bitter hostility between the two.
The following is the account which Drake gives of this trans- action. It illustrates the difficulty of ascertaining the minute details of many of these events, where the general facts are undisputed. We give the narrative slightly abbreviated : -
" Manatahqua, called also Black William, was a sachem and proprietor of Nahant. Out of his generosity this Indian duke gave this place to the plantation of Saugus. He was a great friend of the whites. There was a man by the name of Walter Bagnall, a wicked fellow who had much wronged the Indians, who was killed near the mouth of Saco River, probably by some of those whom he had defrauded. This was in October, 1631. As some vessels were upon the eastern coast, in search of pirates, in January, 1633, they put in at Richmand's Island, where they fell in with Manatahqua. This was the place where Bagnall was killed about two years before. But whether Manatahqua had any thing to do with it does not appear, nor do I find that any one, even his murderers, pretended that he was in any way implicated. But, out of revenge for Bagnall's death, these private hunters hanged Manatahqua. On the contrary, it was particularly mentioned that Bagnall was killed by Squidrayset and his men, some Indians belonging to that part of the country. This Squidrayset, or Scittergusset, for whose act Manatahqua suffered, was the first sachem who deeded land in Falmouth, Me." 2
The tribes, in the extreme eastern part of the State were intimately associated with the French, and shared with them their hatred of the English. They were much enraged with those in the vicinity of Piscataqua, accusing them of acts of hostility, and of sheltering themselves in a cowardly manner under the protection of the English. At one time they fitted out a fleet of forty war canoes to attack the Piscataqua Indians. This was in the year 1632. There were several conflicts. Af- fairs were daily becoming more and more complicated, and war-
1 Williamson's History, vol. i. p. 251; Hubbard's History of New England, p. 142; Winthrop's Journal, p. 30.
2' Drake's History of the Indians, book ii. p. 53.
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clouds were rising in all directions. Thoughtful men among the settlers, were filled with anxiety in view of the increasing perils. The Indians were becoming more and more unfriendly. The French were exerting all their influence to drive the English out of Maine.
English pirates were sweeping the coast. Robbery and vio- lence were everywhere. Gorges became greatly disheartened. His long-continued enterprises had brought him no returns. He testified before the Commons of England in the following terms : -
"I have spent twenty thousand pounds of my estate, and thirty years, the whole flower of my life, in new discoveries and settlements upon a remote continent, in the enlargement of my country's commerce and domin- ions, and in carrying civilization and Christianity into regions of savages."
In the year 1635 the vast territory of the Plymouth Council was divided into twelve provinces. The first four of these were within the territory of the present State of Maine. The first division embraced the country between the St. Croix River and Pemaquid. From the head of Pemaquid, the shortest line was to be struck to the Kennebec, and thence to follow up that river to its source. The second was a small division, extending only from Pemaquid to the Sagadahoc River. The third embraced the region between the Kennebec and the Androscoggin Rivers. We suppose that both these rivers were then considered as ter- minating at Merrymeeting Bay. The Sagadahoc connected that bay with the ocean. The fourth extended from the Sagada- hoc River to the Piscataqua. It embraced the previous dis- tricts of Lygonia, Saco, and Agamenticus. Thus the whole territory of what is now the State- of Maine was districted from the St. Croix, its north-eastern boundary, to the Piscat- aqua at its south-western terminus.1
On the 25th of April, 1635, the Plymouth Council held its last meeting. In surrendering its charter to the king, it entered upon its books the following melancholy record : -
" We have been bereaved of friends, oppressed with losses, expenses, and troubles; assailed before the privy council with groundless charges, and
1 Chalmers' Political Annals, p. 472; Hubbard's Narrative, p. 294; William- son's History, vol. i. p. 246.
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weakened by the French and other foes without and within the realm. What remains is only a breathless carcass. We now therefore resign the patent to the king, first reserving all grants by us made, and all vested rights ; a patent we have holden about fifteen years."1
The king appointed a new company to superintend colonial affairs. It consisted of eleven of his privy councillors, and they were entitled " Lords Commissioners of all His American Plantations." This new company appointed Ferdinando Gor- ges governor of the whole of New England. There were eight divisions, extending south-west along the coast to near the fortieth degree of north latitude. Thus, according to this arrangement, New England began near the Raritan River, in the present State of New Jersey, and was bounded on the north-east by the River St. Croix. Its northern boundaries were quite indeterminate.
Sir Ferdinando Gorges was a vigorous, energetic man of sixty years. He decided to take up his abode in the extended realms over which he was appointed to rule. A man-of-war was in preparation to convey him to his domains. By an accident in launching, the ship fell upon the stocks, and was badly broken. This delayed the voyage, and the feet of Gorges never pressed the soil of that new world which had absorbed so many of the energies of his long life.
It is said that Gorges never took much interest in New Eng- land affairs, save in the four districts in the State of Maine ; two of the most important of which he could almost regard as - his own personal property. In his interesting " Brief Narration of the Advancement of Plantations in America," he writes very sensibly and somewhat sadly, in view of past mistakes, -
" We have been endeavoring to found plantations in a wilderness region, where men, bred up in villages and farms and plenty, could hardly be hired to stay; or, if they were induced to become residents, they must be fed in idleness from their master's crib, yet with few or no returns. We have made the discoveries, and opened the fields for others to take the harvest. Trade, fishery, lumber, - these have been phantoms of pursuit; while there has been a criminal neglect of husbandry, the guide to good habits, the true source of wealth, and the almoner of human life." 2
1 This document is given in full in Hazard's Historical Collections. See also Hutchinson's Collections of State Papers.
2 Gorges' Narrative, pp. 48, 49.
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The French possessions in North America were called by the general name of New France. Acadia, or Nova Scotia, was under the military command of Gen. Razilla, or Rosillon, as the name is sometimes given. In the summer of 1635 he sent a man-of-war, under Capt. d'Aulney, to take possession of the Penobscot region, and to drive out the English.1 This man seemed anxious to redeem his character from the imputation of piracy, and to have it distinctly understood that he was acting as the agent of his home government. He broke up the set- tlement, and drove away the settlers, giving them a schedule of the property he had seized. It would seem that he claimed for France the whole New England coast. As he dismissed the plundered traders, he said to them, -
" Go and tell all the plantations southward to the fortieth degree, that a fleet of eight ships will be sent against them, within a year, to displace the whole of them. And know that my commission is from the king of France." 2
Razilla established a garrison here of eighteen men. The colonists at New Plymouth sent a large ship and a bark to drive out these invaders. Capt. Girling, who was intrusted with the command, was promised a sum amounting to about two thou- sand dollars, if he should succeed in the enterprise. But he found the French firmly intrenched. After an unavailing bom- bardment, in which he expended all his ammunition, he retired discomfited.3
There is considerable diversity in the details of many of these events which occurred two hundred years ago, when there were
1 " In 1626 the Plymouth Colonists erected a trading-house at a place called by them Penobscot, by the French Pentagoït, and by us Bagaduce and Castine. In 1635 they were dispossessed by the French, under D'Anlney de Charnisray, com- monly called D'Aulnay by the English, -a lieutenant under the Acadian gov- ernor Razilla." - The Centennial Celebration of Bangor, p. 23.
2 Hubbard's New England, p. 162.
8 "The reason, undoubtedly, why France at this time extended her claims no farther south than the fortieth parallel, was a fear of exciting the jealousy and hostility of the Spaniards. Spain, at that time, was the great military and naval power of Europe. There can be no doubt that the limiting of De Mont's charter to the fortieth parallel of latitude, seven degrees short of all her previous claims, was induced by a dread of Spanish interference." - Memorial Volume of Popham's Celebration, p. 78.
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but few scholars in the land, and when the narratives were vague and hastily written. In the annals of New Plymouth we find it stated, that the ship of about three hundred tons was called the " Great Hope." The name of the commander is given as Golding. Capt. Miles Standish, with twenty men, was in command of the Plymouth bark. He was to render all the aid he could in the recovery of the post, and was intrusted with seven hundred pounds of beaver-skins to be delivered to Gold- ing, or Girling, as soon as he should have accomplished his task. If Girling failed he was to receive nothing.
Capt. Standish led the way into the harbor. He was one of the most impetuous of brave men. Had he held the supreme command, he would have made short work of it. But Girling, without any summons to surrender, much to the indignation of Standish, kept at a great distance, and unavailingly bombarded the earthworks of the French, until he had not another shot to throw. He then would have seized upon the beaver-skins which he had not earned, but Standish spread his sails, and returned to Plymouth. The French kept the port, and Plym- outh kept its beaver-skins.1
It is difficult to reconcile the somewhat contradictory accounts which are given of this transaction. From some narratives we should infer that Girling's vessels remained impotently moored for a considerable length of time, before the French ramparts. At length a very polite official communication was sent by the French officers to the Plymouth colonists, stating that they would claim no territory west of Pemaquid. For many years the Penobscot remained the tacitly admitted boundary between the French and English possessions.2
The following is the account which Gov. Bradford gives of the attempt of the New Plymouth colonists to regain the port at Castine : -
" Girling would take no advice; would neither summon the enemy, nor permit Capt. Standish to do so ; neither would he have patience to bring his ship where she might do execution, but began to shoot at a distance like a madman, and did them no hurt at all. The which, when those of the plan-
1 Hubbard's New England, p. 162.
2 Hutchinson's History of Massachusetts, vol. ii. p. 164.
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tation saw, they were much grieved, and went to him, and told him he would do no good, if he did not lay his ship better to pass, for she might lie within pistol-shot of the house. At last, when he saw his own folly, he was per- suaded, and laid her well, and bestowed a few shot to good purpose.
" But now, when he was in a way to do some good, his powder was gone. So he could do no good, but was fain to draw off again; by which means the enterprise was made frustrate, and the French encouraged. For, all the while he shot so unadvisedly, they lay close under a work of earth, and let him consume himself. He advised with Capt. Standish how he might be sup- plied with powder, for he had not to carry him home. So Capt. Standish told him he would go to the next plantation, and do his endeavor to procure him some; and so he did. But understanding by intelligence that Girling intended to seize on the bark, and surprise the beaver, he sent him the pow- der, and brought the bark and beaver home. But Girling never assaulted the place more, but went his way. And this was the end of this business." 1
Sir Ferdinando Gorges had obtained what was considered an absolute property in the territory between Piscataqua and the Sagadahoc, called New Somersetshire. He sent his nephew, William Gorges, over as governor of this province. He was an intelligent, upright man, of much executive ability.
Saco was then the most flourishing settlement in the province ; and Gov. Gorges selected it as his residence. It is estimated that at that time the population of the place amounted to about one hundred and sixty. The first court was opened the 28th of March, 1636. It was held in a dwelling-house near the shore on the east side of the river. Six commissioners aided in the administration of justice. This court continued its sessions for about three years.2
There were then five settlements embraced in the province of New Somersetshire. The first was Agamenticus, or, as some- times called, Accomenticus. About eight miles north-west from the present harbor of York, there was a commanding eminence thus called by the Indians. It was a noted landmark for sea- men, as it was the first height caught sight of in approaching
1 Gov. Bradford's New Plymouth, p. 208. "The government of Massachusetts Bay had given Plymouth some encouragement that it would assist them to regain their trading-house; but when called upon it had various excuses for declining. Plymouth was in the wrong: the French had merely taken possession of their own territory." - Centennial Celebration of the Settlement of Bangor, p. 24.
2 Chalmers' Political Annals, p. 472; Folsom's Saco and Biddeford, p. 49.
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that region from the sea. It was a majestic swell of land, covered with a dense forest. From its summit one commanded a view of the Atlantic coast from Cape Ann to Cape Elizabeth.1
There was a short salt-water river here, affording at its mouth a safe harbor. Gorges, pleased with the description of the place, had obtained, about the year 1624, a grant of twenty- four thousand acres of land extending on both sides of the river. Here a small agricultural colony commenced its labors. The precise time of this settlement is not known.2
At Kittery Point there was another rambling settlement, called the Piscataqua Plantation. The inhabitants were scat- tered along the shore, and were mainly engaged in fishing and in the lumber business.
The third was called the Black Point settlement. It was a very feeble colony, consisting of but few families in the present town of Scarborough. Capt. Thomas Commock, or as some- times spelled Cammock, with Henry Joscelyn, had obtained a grant here of about fifteen hundred acres. The settlers, too poor to purchase lands, were generally their tenants.
The Lygonian Plantation, so called, embraced Richmand's Island, and a considerable extent of territory on the mainland. The population consisted principally of fishermen, hunters, and traders.3
There were, at the same time, on the Androscoggin, on both sides of the falls, a few scattered hamlets called the Pejepscot settlement.
The Pemaquid Plantation had been quite flourishing for five or six years ; and in various other parts of the territory now called Maine, settlers were scattered.4
The colonies of Massachusetts, New Plymouth, Connecticut, and even of New Hampshire, were in a more flourishing condi-
1 Williamson's Maine, vol. i. p. 96.
2 Gorges' New England, p. 16; Belknap's Biography, vol. ii. p. 378.
8 Sullivan's History, p. 305; Hubbard's Narrative, p. 294.
4 Williamson gives the following estimate of the probable population of Maine at that time : -
Piscataqua settlement, 200; Agamenticus, 150; Saco, including Black Point, 175; Casco, or Lygonia Patent, and Pejepscot, 75; Kennebec Patent, 100; Sagadahoc, Pemaquid, Sheepscot, St. Gorges, and islands, 500: Isles of Shoals and other places, 290: total, 1,400.
Possibly the whole number might have been fifteen hundred. - Vol. i. p. 267.
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tion than the Province of Maine. Gorges was anxious to induce gentlemen of wealth and influence to emigrate to his domains.
In July, 1637, he made a grant of eight thousand acres of land in the present town of Bowdoinham, to Sir Richard Edge- combe. The troubles then existing in England, in both Church and State, caused many to seek civil and religious freedom by emigrating to the New World. It is estimated that during ten years, more than twenty-one thousand had sought a retreat on these shores. Even Oliver Cromwell had formed the resolve to take refuge in New England from the tyranny of king and court. The king became alarmed at the amount of emigration, and issued a decree that no one should leave his realms without taking the oath of allegiance to him, and of obedience to the decrees of the English Church.
On the 3d of April, 1639, King Charles I. issued a provin- cial charter to Sir Ferdinando Gorges, conferring upon him still more extensive territory in what is now Maine, with extraordi- nary powers and privileges. The region embraced in this char- ter commenced with the mouth of the Piscataqua River, and ran north-easterly along the Atlantic coast to the mouth of the Sagadahoc ; it then ascended through that river and the Ken- nebec, in a north-westerly direction, a distance of a hundred and twenty miles, which would make its northern boundary near the mouth of Dead River; it then ran south-westerly across the country to near a point on Umbagog Lake ; there it met a line running north from Salmon Falls River, a tributary of the Pis- cataqua, a distance of a hundred and twenty miles. Such were the limits of this province, so far as we can now ascertain from the descriptions of the charter. It also included the islands on the coast within five leagues of the main.2
The region was designated the Province or County of Maine. It contained about one-sixth of the present area of the State. Sir Ferdinando Gorges and his heirs were lord proprietors of the province. They were bound to take the oath of allegiance to the crown, and a few unimportant claims were reserved by the king.
1 Holmes' Annals, vol. i. p. 299.
2 This charter is given in full in Hazard's Collections, vol. i. p. 442.
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" The articles of faith and forms of ecclesiastical government, used by the Church of England, were established; and to the proprietary was given the patronage of all churches and chapels, and the right of dedicating them according to Episcopal usages." 1
There are two reasons assigned for the name of Maine, which was given to this Province. The queen of England had inher- ited a province of that name in France ; and, again, there were so many islands in that region, that it was common to speak of the main land, or the Maine.2
Thomas Gorges was deputy governor. He was a young man of accomplished education and of great social and moral worth. He was assisted by seven councillors ; the state officers, properly so called, consisted, in addition to the governor, of a chancellor, or chief justice ; a marshal, who commanded the militia; a treas- urer ; an admiral, who had charge of the naval force ; a master of ordnance, to whom military stores were intrusted; and a secretary. The latter office the governor took upon himself. He, with his six councillors, constituted a supreme court of judicature, and also, with eight deputies chosen by the several counties, formed a legislative assembly. Such, in brief, was the constitution adopted under the charter of the Province of Maine.3
The Kennebunk River divided the Province into two dis- tricts, - the east and the west. The first " general court " was opened at Saco on the 25th of June, 1640. But four council- lors were present. It is worthy of notice, that one John Win- ter, a trader, was indicted for charging a profit of more than five per cent upon the cost of the goods he sold.
Packs of wolves were howling through the forest. A tax of twelve pence was assessed upon every family between Piscata- qua and Kennebunk, to be paid in bounties for each wolf killed. All parents in the western district were also ordered to have their children baptized under penalty of being summoned to appear before the court, and answer for the neglect.4
1 Williamson's History of Maine, vol. i. p. 273.
2 Williamson's History of Maine, vol. i. p. 277.
8 See this Constitution more minutely developed by Williamson, vol. i. p. 281, and in Sullivan's History of Maine.
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