USA > Maine > Cumberland County > Portland > The history of Portland, from 1632 to 1864: with a notice of previous settlements, colonial grants, and changes of government in Maine > Part 29
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 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77 | Part 78 | Part 79 | Part 80 | Part 81
Samuel Cobb, another of our early settlers, came from Mid- dleborough, in Plymouth colony in 1717, with his family. He was son of Jonathan and Hope Cobb, and born in Barnstable, April 6, 1686. He was a ship-carpenter, and was for many years an active and influential man in the affairs of the town, having sustained the offices of clerk, treasurer, and selectman.
1 This is the record of his age, on his gravestone, but is evidently a mistake, as it would make him a graduate at twelve, and a married man at eighteen.
2 Elizabeth, eldest daughter of the second Benjamin Larrabee, was born 1732, and died in 1827, aged ninety-five, widow of John Webb. Abigail, another daughter, never married, was born in 1747, and was living in 1832. Their father died in 1784.
341
CHARACTER OF EARLY SETTLERS.
ยท He died in 1765, having had five sons, and two daughters, viz : Chipman, Ebenezer, Samuel, Peter, James,' Hope, married to Benjamin Winslow in 1738, and Hannah, married to John Swett in 1736, and to Zerubabel Hunnewell in 1754.
These were some of the earliest settlers, to whom were soon added Samuel Proctor of Lynn, a son of the unfortunate victim of the Salem tragedy in 1692. John Pritchard from Boston, and Nathaniel Winslow from Plymouth colony, and numerous other respectable adventurers, whose posterity now adorn the places which their fathers subdued.
Twenty families had already gathered upon the Neck as early as July, 1718. After the government of the town was estab- lished, other settlers flocked in, and we find in February, 1720, grants were made to thirty-nine persons, the names of twenty- seven of whom do not previously appear .? The condition of these grants was, "that those who had not brought forward a settlement already, should do it upon their sixty acre lots with- in twelve months, and on their house lots within six months." Some of these persons never settled here, as. Mackey, Langdon, Burroughs, and Biard; the others or most of them became residents. Accessions were continually making to the popula- tion, and those who were deemed suitable, were regularly ad- mitted inhabitants by vote of the town, and grants of land made to them.
Travelers from the westward who came to the Neck by land, were obliged to travel on the old shore route, crossing all the
1 Peter was born in Falmouth, 1720, and James in 1723. Chipman settled in Gorham ; his grandson Benjamin having had twenty-one children by two wives, died in Gray, 1861, aged ninety-one.
2 The names of these twenty-seven are William Mackey, Joseph Langdon, Ed- mund Clark, Ebenezer Gustin, (son of John,) William Roberts, Andrew Biard, John Sawyer, Robert Burnells, Richard Richardson, Isaac Hoar, (son-in-law of Richardson,) Edward Hales, William Trumbull, Abraham Ayres, Samuel Buck- nam, George Burroughs, Daniel Ingersoll, Richard Jones, Ebenezer and Jona- than Cobb, (brothers of Samuel,) Peter Walton, Simon Lovitt, Richard Babston, Benjamin York, Adam Mariner, William Seavey, John Oliver, and John East.
342
HISTORY OF PORTLAND.
rivers near their mouths by ferries. It became important to place the ferry over Fore river under suitable regulation. In May, 1719, the town granted "the privilege of keeping the ferry over Old Casco river unto Mr. John Pritchard, for seven years next ensuing, upon consideration that he keeps a suffi- cient boat, and makes good ways down to low-water-mark, for the convenience of passengers landing. All to be done at said Pritchard's own charge, he attending to said ferry as the law directs."1 It was added, that "by reason of the difficulty of calling over the river, the privilege of the ferry on Purpooduck side should be given to John Sawyer, he keeping a good canoe for the accommodation of passengers." The ferry landing on the Neck was at the point on the east side of Clay Cove, near Pritchard's house, on Purpooduck shore, it was near its present location. At the end of Pritchard's term, the privilege was granted to Benjamin Wright with the further condition that he should carry passengers to meeting free. In 1729, the se- lectmen and the principal inhabitants of the town, joined in a petition "to our Superior Court of Common Pleas, now sitting in York," praying that the privilege might be granted to John Phinney, and also that he might be licensed to retail liquors.2
1 Pritchard came from Boston, in which place he had three children born by his wife Sally, viz : Eleanor, March 12, 1712, Joseph, March 14, 1714, Benjamin, May 21, 1716, and in Falmouth, Samuel, January 8, 1719, Paul, Septemher 5, 1721.
2 They set forth their reasons as follows: "Whereas the town of Falmouth pursuant to the directions of this Honorable Court, did order and vote that the ferry over the Fore river should be kept at the point commonly called the Ferry Point, on the eastwardly side of the cove called Clay Cove, that being a place far more suitable and convenient for that business than any other place in the whole town, which place is now in the possession of one Mr. John Phinney, who has for some time past been at a considerable charge in keeping said ferry, purely to oblige such who requested that favor of him; and we are humbly of opinion that he is a man very suitable and capable to manage such business, and also a man of very just and sober conversation : we therefore very humbly pray this Honorable Court to confer the favor of keeping this ferry on said Phinney, for the same term of time that the town hath fixed it in that place. and we further presume to intreat this Honorable Court to permit the said Phinney to supply
343
NEW INDIAN TROUBLES.
The ferry continued in that place until near the revolutionary war, when it was removed further west, not far from its pres- ent location. But long before this, the travel had changed its direction, and the principal western route entered the Neck over Bramhall's hill, crossing Long Creek and Fore river at Stroudwater, by bridges.1
The people had hardly become settled in their new habita- tions, before they were destined to encounter new troubles and difficulties from the Indians. The peace of 1713 was of short duration. The French, whose missionaries were ever active among the children of the forest, observed with alarm that the English were pushing their settlements into the midst of these dark recesses and trenching rapidly upon the territory over which the natives had been accustomed to pursue their game. They foresaw in this progress of English enterprise the downfall of French power on the continent. To avert this result the Governor of Canada employed the influence of Fathers Ralle and La Chasse to arouse the Indians from that repose into which they seemed inclined to settle and to stimulate them to jealousy and revenge. This is a serious charge against a civi- lized nation, but the evidence furnished by private letters from Vaudrieul the Governor of Canada and his agents, which fell into the hands of the English by the fortune of war, notwith- standing the different representations which Charlevoix and
1 The river was anciently forded by travelers on horse-back above where the Stroudwater bridge now is : a bridge there was erected previous to 1738. Stroud- water is a village about three miles from the Neck; it derives its name from Stroud, a village in Gloucestershire, England, situated on the river Frome, which at that place is called Stroudwater. Some of the settlers here, may have come from that place, perhaps Col. Westbrook himself, who lived there and whose name was very properly given to that part of ancient Falmouth, in the division of the town.
such as are in want with liquors till your next sessions, which favor, if granted, will lay under the greatest and most indispensable obligations of duty and thank- fulness to this Hon. House, your very humble petitioners and servants."
344
HISTORY OF PORTLAND.
other French writers give of these events, leave no doubt upon the subject.1
In 1717, at a conference held by Governor Shute with the Indians at Arrowsic Island, they distinctly stated their objec- tions to the English settlements being extended beyond certain mills which were then erected on the Kennebec, and to the construction of forts, established for the security of the inhabi- tants. At that meeting however, the treaty of 1713 was con- firmed and the existing difficulties were apparently removed ; perhaps they really were so in the minds of the Indians them- selves. But not so with the French; the cause of alarm remained, and they consequently continued their exertions to animate their savage neighbors to a course of conduct which brought upon them severe sufferings and the loss of many lives. The treaties of 1713 and 1717 are given at large in Maine His- torical Collections, vol. vi. pp 250, 260. In 1719, they re- newed their claims for the removal of the English from their lands, but a small force on the frontiers prevented an open violation of the treaty. In 1720, they were persuaded by the French to commit depredations, and parties from the Norridgewock and Penobscot tribes killed some cattle and threatened the lives of the English. The Nova Scotia In- dians proceeded to further extremities ; they surprised the Eng- lish at Canseau, robbed them of every thing and killed three or four persons. Further hostilities at this time were prevented by Col Walton of New Hampshire, who was detached with a force of two hundred men to guard the frontiers.2 In August, 1721, a party of two hundred Indians, accompanied by their spiritual leaders, Ralle and La Chasse, under French
1 Hutchinson, vol. ii. pp. 198, 237. Doug. vol. i. p. 199.
2 The government afterward sent Col. Walton, Major Moody, Captains Harmon, Penhallow, and Wainwright, to demand satisfaction of the Chief's for these out- rages. Patrick Rogers, in 1773, testified that he lived at Georgetown in 1720 or 1721, and at that time there was not one house that he knew of between George- town and Annapolis, except one at Damariscove.
345
NEW INDIAN TROUBLES.
colors and armed, went to Arrowsic and held a "talk" with Capt. Penhallow who commanded the fort there. This ended without satisfaction to either party ; the Indians being entirely under the influence of their priests, were permitted to do nothing which would infringe upon French power or influence. They left a letter for the Governor in which they uttered seri- ous complaints against the English for unjustly invading their property, depriving them of the country which God had given them, and threatening if they did not remove from their lands in three weeks, they would kill them, burn their houses, and destroy their cattle. The English endeavored to obtain a con- ference, but were unable to effect it without the presence of the missionaries. The Indians were accompanied by M. Crozier from Canada, and a son of the Baron de St. Castin. The government, irritated by the conduct of the French, de- termined to attempt the removal of what they apprehended to be the cause of all the trouble. For that purpose a force of three hundred men was raised in 1721, and sent to Norridge- wock under Col. Thomas Westbrook, with orders to seize Father Ralle and bring him to Boston. No other success attended this expedition than the seizure of the private papers of the Jesuit, among which was his correspondence with the Governor of Canada, which developed the secret machinations of the French to influence and send upon our defenseless frontiers a barbarous foe.1
This invasion of their headquarters exasperated the enemy in an unusual degree, and although the government, perceiving by the ill success of the expedition that they had made a false step, endeavored by presents to conciliate the chiefs, their ven- geance was visited in the following season upon the unoffend- ing inhabitants of the frontiers. In June, 1722, a party of sixty men in twenty canoes, captured nine families in Merry-
1 The Jesuits "strong box" which contained these papers is now in possession of the Maine Historical Society.
23
-
HISTORY OF PORTLAND.
346
meeting Bay, and committed depredations on the coast east of the Kennebec, which was soon followed by the destruction of Brunswick.' Immediately after information of this latter event reached Boston, the Governor and council made a formal dec- laration of war.2 Col. Walton of New Hampshire was the commanding officer of the forces on this coast, with whom Major Moody of this town was associated as second in com- mand. But disputes having arisen between Governor Shute and the House of Representatives, the unhappy consequences were felt even in the management of the military service. Complaints were preferred against Walton and Moody ; they were summoned by the House to answer before it, and the Governor was desired to dismiss them from the service. The Governor contended that it was his prerogative as captain gen- eral of the province, to appoint military officers, and superin- tend and control the military operations, and denied their right to interfere in it. They, on the other hand, threatened to withhold the resources for carrying on the war. In this diffi- culty, a sort of compromise was made by which the two prin- cipal officers were ordered to Boston, where they underwent an examination before the House; and finally after the departure of Governor Shute from the province, were dismissed from the service without any sufficient reason having been assigned for it, and Col. Thomas Westbrook of Portsmouth, New Hamp- shire, appointed to the chief command.3 The principal ground
1 September, they followed up their successes by attacking Georgetown; they were not able to take the fort, but they killed fifty head of cattle and burnt twenty-six dwelling-houses .- Hutchinson, vol. ii. p. 268 .- Penhallow. In 1722, thirty men were stationed at Falmouth, and twenty at North Yarmouth-William- son, vol. ii. p. 118.
2 July 25, 1722.
3 A committee of the House, in 1722, had reported that there was great laxity of discipline among the troops, that they were guilty of intemperance, and the officers were remiss in their duty,-they say, "We walked through the town of Falmouth twice in one night without being hailed, though there were several military companies in the place." In December, 1722, Major Moody petitioned
347
REMOVAL OF MILITARY OFFICERS.
of the opposition in the House to these officers, seems to have been that they were disposed to follow the instructions of the Governor rather than a branch of the legislature ; the com- plaints in fact proceeded from political and not personal con- siderations. The Governor was so much disgusted with the opposition he met with in the province, that he secretly ob- tained leave to return home, and left the country in January, 1723. The administration and the conduct of the war de- volved upon William Dummer, the Lt. Governor. Hence this war has been generally called Dummer's war.
The Lieut. Governor, after some opposition, in consideration of the exposed state of the country, having gratified the House by the removal of Walton and Moody from command, the war from that time was carried on with spirit; premiums were voted for scalps and prisoners,1 and money raised for the enlistment and support of troops. In January, 1723, soldiers were sta- tioned in Falmouth as follows: on the Neck twenty-four men in three garrisons, viz., at Major Moody's, Ingersoll's, and Wass's ; in Purpooduck, at Sawyer's, and York's, four men and a corporal ; "at Spurwink, at Mr. Jordan's, where a ferry
1 One hundred pounds for each scalp was voted to volunteers, and sixty pounds to regular soldiers.
for liberty to answer before the General Court the complaints made against him, and warrants were issued to summon witnesses, "touching the management of Major Moody and his company." In the council, the following questions were put to the members and the subjoined answers given: "Whether the complaints against Major Moody for indulging his soldiers in excessive drinking be proved? Ans. No. Whether he denied assistance to the inhabitants unreasonably when demanded ? No. Whether it was proved that the watch was not duly kept at his garrison in the night season, and that at some seasons when he was at home? Yes. Whether it was proved that Major Moody unreasonably drew off his men from Topsham ? No." The council voted that the Governor reprimand him about the watch, and request him to be more careful. In the House, the above questions were answered in the affirmative except the last; and this additional one also received an affirmative reply. "Whether he unreasonably denied Lieut. Hilton the whale boats to go in quest of the Indians?"
348
HISTORY OF PORTLAND.
is kept, three men under the care of a corporal." At Black Point, nine men and to be recruited. In September following, the garrisons at Purpooduck and Spurwink were increased, the former to twelve and the latter to nine men, these were placed under the command of Lieut. Dominicus Jordan. In February an expedition was sent to Penobscot under Col. Westbrook, and another to Norridgewock under Capt. Harmon, but both were unsuccessful. The enemy remained in their retreats un- til the weather became suitable to open the campaign, when they divided into small parties and harrassed the whole line of frontier settlements. In April, they took eight persons in Scar- borough and Falmouth, and killed some, among whom was Sergeant Chubb, of the Scarborough garrison. They-passed westward and committed depredations in Berwick, Wells, and York. In June they attacked Roger Dearing's garrison-house in Scarborough, killed his wife, Thomas Larrabee and his son, and took three of his children, and Mary Scammon, John Hun- newell, and Robert Jordan, prisoners. No further injuries were done in this neighborhood during the remainder of the season ; but on the opening of spring in 1724, the enemy were again found renewing their desultory attacks. In May they killed one man and wounded another at Purpooduck. In July they mortally wounded Solomon Jordan, as he was going out of the garrison at Spurwink ; the next day Lieut. Joseph Bean with a file of soldiers, went in pursuit of the enemy and over- took a party consisting of thirty men. These he attacked and having killed one of their leaders, the rest fled, leaving behind twenty-five packs, twelve blankets, a gun, and several other articles. The scalp of the slain Indian was carried to Boston, for which Bean and his company received one hundred pounds. The early part of the campaign had been unfortunate to the English ; numerous parties of the Indians were scattered over the country plundering and murdering the inhabitants and eluding all pursuit. The government, discouraged by the ill success which attended their efforts to check the progress of
349
DEATH OF FATHER RALLE.
this marauder warfare, determined to beard the lion in his den. For this purpose they fitted out an expedition in August of four companies, consisting of two hundred and eight men, com- manded by Captains Harmon, Moulton, Brown, and Bean, to proceed to Norridgewock, the headquarters of this warlike tribe. The undertaking was crowned with complete success ; on the 23d of August they surprised and entirely destroyed the settlement, consisting of the Catholic chapel, the cottages which were spread around it, together with all their canoes. The number of the enemy killed and drowned in the attack was about eighty, among whom was Father Ralle, who, as he was considered the principal cause of the cruel visits of his flock, was regarded as the greatest trophy of the war.1
This achievement was celebrated throughout New England as the greatest performed since Philip's war, and it was no less
I Father Ralle had lived among these people over thirty years, having first arrived from France at Quebec, in October 1689, during which period he had been unremitted in his exertions to convert the natives to the Catholic faith. A few years before the time of which we are speaking, he procured a chapel to be built at Norridgewock, the seat of a numerous tribe, in which he had placed a bell. His influence was very extensive, and deserved, not less for his zeal and entire devotion to their service, than for his learning and talents. He was mas- ter of the learned languages and wrote the latin with classical purity. He taught many of his converts to write and corresponded with them in their own lan- guage; he said "he knew all the languages in this vast desert." The French writers place him among the saints, while his English cotemporaries give him a place the very opposite. He died in the sixty-seventh year of his age. The dictionary of the Abenaquis language which he prepared is preserved in the library of Harvard College.
It was published in the Memoirs of the American Academy at Boston, in 1833, under the supervision of the learned philologist, John Pickering, LL. D. The M. S. dictionary is a small quarto in Father Ralle's own handwriting. The following note is written over the first leaf .. "1691. It is now a year that I have been among the savages, and I begin to set down in order, in the form of a dic- tionary, the words I learn." -- See Maine Historical Collection, vol. 4. p. 495. I have in my possession the Catholics Vade Mecum, called Medulla Theologiac, for resolving cases of conscience, which belonged to Ralle and was taken in this expedition.
350
HISTORY OF PORTLAND.
distinguished in its consequences as breaking the power of a tribe which had exercised a commanding influence over Indian counsels, and over the fate of our settlements.1
The next and last considerable engagement in this war took place at Pequakett, now Fryeburg, in May, 1725, by a party of thirty-four volunteers, under Captain Lovell. The company un- fortunately fell into an ambush and many were destroyed ; but they rendered so good an account of their lives as to check all further depredations from that quarter during the war. Pau- gus, their cruel chief, and a number of his companions were slain. The English after sustaining themselves until the close of the day, against more than double their number, were left in possession of the field ; they lost ten killed and six mortally wounded, among whom were Captain Lovell, Lieut. Farwell, and Ensign Robbins : eight only returned home .?
Soon after this unfortunate affair, the government under- standing that the Penobscot Indians were desirous of peace, sent commissioners to St. George to meet the head men of that tribe. A conference was held there, which resulted in a cessation of hostilities, and proposals for a peace to be entered into at Boston. A delegation of the tribe soon after proceed- ed to Boston, and a treaty was executed December 15, 1725. By one of the articles, it was agreed that the treaty should be ratified at Falmouth, in the following May, by all the east-
1 A detailed account of the expedition may be found in Hutchinson, vol. ii. p. 279, and Penhallow, p. 108.
2 Rev. Mr. Symmes of Bradford, published an account of this unfortunate af- fair at the time. See also Belknap N. H. This event was commemorated at Fryeburg, in May, 1825, by a large collection of people from different parts of the state; the late Gov. Lincoln delivered a poem and Charles S. Davies, Esq., of this town, an oration on the occasion ; the latter was soon after published. A procession moved to the scene of action on the margin of a pond, where appro- priate remarks were made by Col. Bradley of Fryeburg, a public dinner and a ball in the evening lent their attractions to the day.
Two of our inhabitants, Matthew and William Scales, who had moved to North Yarmouth, were killed there in April, this year, in an attack on the garrison.
351
RATIFICATION OF PEACE.
ern tribes. The time of the ratification was subsequently postponed to the 20th of June, and again to July, at which time Lt. Gov. Dummer, with a majority of the council, and a number of the representatives, together with Lt. Gov. John Wentworth of New Hampshire, accompanied by a committee of the council and house of that state, and Paul Mascarene, delegated by the Governor of Nova Scotia, proceeded to Fal- mouth. The Indians did not arrive until July 29th, when forty of the Penobscot tribe came in, and in the afternoon of that day the conference commenced. Several days were spent in negotiations, which were closed on the 4th of August, and on the 5th, the peace was publicly ratified in the meeting-house. A public dinner, furnished by government, was given at the . commencement, and another at the close of the negotiations ; the commissioners of Massachusetts and the Indians remained here a week after the ratification in interpreting the treaty and "fully settling some other matters," when the latter were trans- ported by government to St. George, and the commissioners sailed for Boston.1 Tbe Penobscots on this occasion acted for the Wawenocks, the Arreguntonocks, and the St. Francois. Penhallow, an accurate observer, says, "in these conferences the discretion and prudence of the savages was discernable." One instance of their prudence and sagacity, deserves to be noticed. "One of the first things," says Penhallow, "that the Indians desired of our governors, was, that they would give order that the vessels in the harbor, as well as the taverns ashore, might be restrained from selling any liquors to their young men." The Governor approved of this precaution, and gave the order accordingly. When the first day of the con- ference, which was Saturday, was over, the Governor said to them, "To-morrow is the Lord's day, on which we do no busi- ness." Lorou, their speaker answered, "To-morrow is our Sabbath, we also keep the day."
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.