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 61
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Under these feelings of discontent, the discussion of the separation question was pushed on, and all the advocates for the measure were looking forward for some section of the Dis- trict to take the lead in the measure. One writer on the 27th
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at six hundred and thirty pounds, that is, three at one hundred and fifty pounds each, and the chief justice at one hundred and eighty pounds. The above esti- mate was exclusive of the pay of the representatives in each case, because as they were paid by their respective towns the item was supposed to be balanced. Another writer reduced the excess by a closer calculation to six hundred and twenty-two pounds, which he balanced by the advantage "of expending the money among ourselves."
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SEPARATION.
of August, 1785, observes, "I am convinced that the minds of the people are now ripe for the important question, and that a beginning is only necessary to insure a speedy and happy com- pletion of the measure now in contemplation ; this beginning must and will be made somewhere. Orientalis mentioned York; but they hitherto have declined. I wish as I ever have done, that Falmouth might have the honor of taking the first step. If they likewise decline, I would by no means have that operate as a hindrance to those other towns, that are now wait- ing and wishing to follow them."
Other propositions were made for the purpose of ascertaining the sense of the people upon the project, which at last resulted in the following notice, which appeared in the Falmouth Gazette of September 17, 1785, without date or signature : "Agreeable to a request, made and signed by a large and respectable num- ber of persons, to the printers of this Gazette, the inhabitants of the three counties of York, Cumberland, and Lincoln, are hereby notified, that so many of them as incline, or can con- veniently attend, are requested to meet at the meeting-house of the Rev. Messrs. Smith and Deane, in Falmouth, on Wednes- day the fifth day of October next, to join in a conference, then and there to be held, on the proposal of having the said coun- ties erected into a separate government; and if it should be thought best, to form some plan for collecting the sentiments of the people on the subject, and pursue some regular and orderly method of carrying the same into effect."
The request to the printer to make this notice was signed by the most respectable men on the Neck.
On the day appointed a number of persons from different parts of the District assembled at the meeting-house of the first parish in this town.1 They chose Peleg Wadsworth, chairman, and discussed the subject of separation in a dispassionate man- ner ; after which a committee of seven was chosen to prepare
' About thirty persons were convened .- Perley.
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HISTORY OF PORTLAND.
a circular letter to be sent to every town and plantation in the three counties, inviting them to send delegates to a convention to be held at the same place, on the first Wednesday of Jan- uary, 1786, "to consider the expediency of said counties being formed into a separate State." 1
Some writers endeavored to resist the current which seemed to be setting in favor of separation, believing that the time had not arrived for an event which they admitted would one day take place. "A friend to Justice" observed, "The United States are but just emerging from a cruel and expensive war; in which, perhaps, but few parts of America have been greater sufferers than the inhabitants of this eastern tract. Our treas- ures are exhausted, commerce embarrassed, money extremely scarce, and taxes enormously high ;" he further observed that although ingenious estimates had been made, he did not believe that taxes would be lightened. He proposed instead of calling . a convention to consider of a separation, that the people should unite in a petition to the legislature for a removal of all unnec- essary restrictions and burdensome inequalities from this part of the Commonwealth. Among thie grievances complained of as existing, were the following: That the records of the Su- preme Court were kept at Boston, to which it was necessary to go to get all papers necessary for evidence; that the expense of returning executions so great a distance caused a burden- some expense which fell generally on the poor ;1 that but one Supreme Court was held a year in York and Cumberland and none in Lincoln; that the distance from the seat of gov- ernment and the infrequency of conveyance prevented their receiving the enactments of the government in due season. Public opinion was in a most unsettled state on the ques- tion, and many towns declined sending delegates to the con-
1 It was said that the service of a writ of four pounds returnable in the old Commonwealth, was forty shillings, and the return of an execution from the eastern extremity of the country, three pounds.
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SEPARATION.
vention.1 This town, at a meeting called for the purpose, elected Peleg Wadsworth, Stephen Hall, John Waite, Enoch Ilsley, and Samuel Freeman as delegates, and a committee was appointed to draw instructions to be given them; the in- structions reported by the committee were unfavorable to sep- aration : when the report was announced, the article under which the choice was made was again called up and dismissed ; the persons chosen however took seats in the convention. This body met at the time appointed, January 4, 1786, and was or- ganized by . the choice of William Gorham of Gorham, presi- dent, and Stephen Longfellow, Jr., of the same town, clerk. A committee of nine was then chosen to state the grievances under which the eastern counties labored in their connection with Massachusetts, and to form an estimate of the expense of a separate government. The committee reported the several subjects of grievance which followed from their connection with Massachusetts, but avoided making any estimate of the expense of an independent government, on the ground that it was un- certain what form the people would adopt. The convention added to the report a vote recommending a full representation of all the towns to the General Court, and another earnestly inviting them to send delegates to an adjourned meeting of the convention to be held in September following. They ad- journed without testing the opinions of the members upon the question of separation ; it having been thought advisable from the small number present, not to bring the subject immediately before them.2
! About half the towns and plantations only were represented .- Falmouth Gazette, January 7, 1780.
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2 The number of delegates chosen was ten from York, twelve from Cumber- land. and eleven from Lincoln, about twenty attended; the largest towns in the District, as York, Wells, Falmouth, Scarborough, and North Yarmouth, were in the opposition. Only three towns in York were represented, viz., Fryeburg, Brownfield, and Wells; the county of Lincoln had the largest representation. North Yarmouth transmitted to the convention a letter, assigning their reasons for declining to send a delegate, and for their opposition to the measure. They
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HISTORY OF PORTLAND.
The governor of Massachusetts, at the opening of the ses- sion in 1786, noticed the attempts at separation in his speech to the General Court, and a committee was raised to report a bill declaratory of the allegiance which the inhabitants owed to the government, and of the ill consequences of a dismem- berment of the Commonwealth. During the interval of ad- journment, the merits of the question were discussed with more feeling and more ability than at any previous period, and all the arguments adduced on both sides which the case seemed to admit. Judge Thatcher of Biddeford took an active part in the discussion. This town, the separation from Falmouth having then taken place, appointed new delegates, viz., Peleg Wadsworth, Samuel Freeman, Stephen Hall, Daniel Davis, and Stephen Codman, who, after a protracted and animated debate in town meeting, were instructed to oppose "to the utmost of their abilities," any dismemberment of the Commonwealth. The convention, by the election of new members, being con- sidered a new body, was reorganized by the choice of Judge Gorham for president, and Stephen Longfellow, Jr., for clerk.1 The convention prepared an address to be transmitted to the several towns and plantations, and the form of a petition to the legislature, in which they say that the grievances under which the people in the District labored, "cannot be remedied in their present connection with the other part of the Common- wealth. Our local situation, the nature of our commerce, and the jarring of our interests render it necessary, in order to an effectual removal of them, that we should be erected into an independent State." The inhabitants of the towns were re- quested to act upon the subject one way or the other, and
I The number of members returned was five from York, sixteen from Cumber- land, and ten from Lincoln; the convention continued but two days in session.
supposed that the charges of government would be at least four times as much as then paid; another reason was, "the want of a sufficient number of gentle- men of ability in important matters of government," which "must render their councils weak if not contemptible."-Falmouth Gazette, March 9, 1786.
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SEPARATION.
transmit their proceedings to the convention at their adjourn- ment on the 31st day of January, 1787.
These proceedings were brought before the town at a meet- ing held in December, and a vote was taken on the abstract question of separation, which stood eleven for and fifty against the measure.1
The convention met agreeably to adjourment, and the peti- tion to the General Court for an independent government, was put into the hands of a committee to present it or not, at their discretion. The meeting was thinly attended, and was again adjourned to meet at the same place on the first Wednesday, 5th day of September, following. It is not to be disguised that little success awaited upon the efforts of the friends of separation at this period ; a large majority of the people were opposed to the plan, regarding it with apprehension, in consequence of the embarrassed state of the Commonwealth in its political and financial affairs. The committee, in view of this state of things, did not present the petition at the session following the adjournment, but delayed it until the next session after.2 The convention at their adjournment in September, issued an ad- dress to the people, stating that the petition for separation was before the General Court, and that their deliberations on the subject would be assisted by being possessed of authentic infor- mation on the state of public opinion in the District relative to the question ; and recommended to the inhabitants of the sev- eral towns to express their sentiments freely by subscribing yea or nay to papers which would be issued for the purpose.3 In
1 The votes of thirty-two towns were returned to the convention. Those from eight towns were opposed to and those from twenty-four were in favor of the measure ; the votes of these thirty-two towns were six hundred and eighteen in the affirmative, and three hundred and fifty-two in the negative; eight towns which made no returns sent delegates, the opinion of the other towns was not ascertained ; there were then ninety-three towns in the District.
2 Samuel Thompson was chairman of the committee.
3 The returns made under this appeal contained about one thousand names, of which about nine hundred were in favor of separation.
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HISTORY OF PORTLAND.
March, 1788, the General Court took up the petition and com- mitted it to a select committee, but nothing further was done with it that session.
At the January session in 1789, the petition was recommit- ted after a short debate, in which Dr. Jarvis of Boston opposed the further action of the legislature on the subject, as it went, he said, to the dismemberment of the right arm of tlie Com- monwealth. Mr. Bowdoin, who was chairman of the committee, observed, that the towns represented in the convention were but about one-third of the town's in the eastern counties, and that there was only a small number of the people in favor of a separation. The prayer of the petitioners was not granted. The convention in the mean time had had several adjourn- ments, at which there was no attendance but that of the presi- dent, secretary, and the Portland members; and after the unfavorable result of their petition, it was thought unnecessary and inexpedient to keep alive that body ; no meeting was there- fore lield at the time of the last adjournment.1 - Thus expired the first efforts to procure an independent government in Maine, which were made by a few men, who took a deep and active interest in the measure, but who were not sustained by the great mass of the people.
The next attempt emanated from a meeting of the senators and representatives of the District, held in Boston in February, 1791. They first endeavored to bring the subject before the General Court by reviving the old petition of 1786, but it was so strongly urged that the petition did not represent the opin- ions of the people, that it was abandoned, and a number of the representatives united in an "address to the numerous and re spectable inhabitants of the great and extensive District of. Maine," recommending all the towns "to require their select- men to insert in their warrant for calling a town meeting in
1 Three members from Portland attended at the time and place appointed. One was appointed chairman, another secretary, and the third put a motion for adjournment.
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May, for a choice of a representative, an article for their town, at such meeting to take into consideration the propriety of petitioning the General Court at their next session, for their consent to our separation from Massachusetts, and of being forthwith erected into a distinct, separate, free, sovereign, and independent State ; and that the number who may respectively vote, at such meeting, for or against the question, may be taken down and minuted upon the town books, in order that the sentiments of the voters may be fully known and truly ascer- tained."
This recommendation received general attention, and many of the towns, especially those favorable to separation, had their votes on the question recorded. In Portland, an animated discussion took place and the subject was committed to the Rev. Mr. Deane, Stephen Hall, Daniel Davis, Daniel Ilsley, and Samuel Freeman, to report on the advantages and disadvan- tages of the proposed measure. The report of this intelligent committee embodies the principal arguments on the subject, and was favorable to separation ; they estimated the whole cx- pense of supporting a separate government at one thousand nine hundred and seventy-two pounds. When the report was made at an adjourned meeting, a further debate took place, and on a division the vote stood thirty-eight for and thirty-eight opposed to separation, the moderator gave his casting vote in the affirm- ative.1 The county of Lincoln was most decidedly in favor of the new government; they suffered more inconvenience from the great distance of the seat of government and the deposit of judicial records than either of the others.
The cause was publicly advocated by William Symmes of Portland, in a series of essays over the signature of Alcibiades, and Daniel Davis published a pamphlet of over fifty pages, in which he warmly espoused the affirmative side of the question.
1 In this debate, the expense of a separate government was strongly urged against the measure; to obviate this in some degree, one of the other side, very zealous in the cause, replied that he would serve as governor two years for nothing !
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HISTORY OF PORTLAND.
Notwithstanding the subject had been so long before the public, its friends were exceedingly embarrassed by the uncer- tainty which hung over the true state of public opinion. They were continually met in the legislature and abroad with the objection that the majority of the people were opposed to the measure. While this state of things existed, it was found im- possible to make much progress. They were determined to bring the matter at once to the test, and with this view the senators and representatives from Maine, at the January ses- sion of the legislature in 1792, presented a memorial in which they prayed that an order might be passed for taking the sense of the people upon the question. After debating the subject several days, the prayer of the memorial was granted by a vote eighty-four to twenty-seven, and the first Monday of May, 1792, was appointed for the people in their several towns in the Dis- trict, to give their votes for and against separation, which were required to be returned to the Secretary of State's office.
The question was now directly presented to the people in a tangible shape, they must act one way or the other ; the papers were filled with labored communications on the subject, ap- pealing to the passion, pride, and prejudices of the people in a variety of aspects. The order did not pass the`senate until March 6, so that little time was left for discussion; but this was improved with great spirit.
The vote was taken at the appointed time, and stood in the different counties as follows :
York, 202 yeas,
991 nays.
Cumberland,
618
596 60
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Lincoln,
1090
501
Hancock,
163 66
345
Washington,
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91
2074 2525
showing a clear plurality against the measure of four hundred and fifty votes in the District.1 This result, so unexpected to
1 In Portland the vote was eighty-six yeas, fifty nays.
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SEPARATION.
the sanguine advocates of separation, suspended for a short time any further attempts on their part.
In October, 1793, however, a number of persons from various parts of the District being at Portland attending court, pro- posed to revive the subject, and for that purpose a meeting was called at the court-house in Portland, at which Gen. Wads- worth presided, by which a large committee was chosen to correspond with the towns in the district and invite them to send delegates to a convention, to be held on the last Tuesday in December of that year. The principal reason assigned for this new attempt is expressed in the first vote adopted by the primary meeting, "voted as the opinion of this meeting, that the time of revising the constitution of the Commonwealth, will be a proper time for erecting the five eastern counties into an independent government." Portland elected Samuel Freeman, Daniel Tucker, John Thrasher, Samuel Waldo, John Fox, and John Mussey, delegates to this convention. A strong spirit of opposition existed in the town, and three meetings were called on the subject ; at the first meeting the article to choose dele- gates was dismissed, at the second, three were chosen, and at the third meeting, three more; a much larger number was pro- posed with the avowed intention of voting down the project in the convention, two of the persons chosen, at least, Waldo and Tucker, were hostile to the separation.1
The convention which assembled at this call appointed Dan- iel Cony, chairman, and S. Freeman, clerk, but not being numerously attended, it was thought expedient to do nothing more than to recommend another convention to be held in Port- land on the third Wednesday of June following, to take into consideration the expediency of constituting the three counties, York, Cumberland, and Lincoln, into a separate State, thus excluding the two lower counties, Hancock and Washington,
! The towns represented were Fryeburg, Brownfield, Waterborough, Portland, Falmouth, Gorham, Hebron, Georgetown, Hallowell, Bowdoin, Winthrop, Read- field, Monmouth, Mount Vernon, and Winslow.
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HISTORY OF PORTLAND.
which were decidedly hostile to separation in any form. To this summons there was not a full response, but fourteen towns and three plantations were represented by twenty-five members. This town elected five delegates, viz., Thomas Motley, Salmon Chase, James Lunt, William Symmes, and John Bagley. Wm. Gorham was chosen president, and Nathaniel Dummer of Hal- lowell, secretary. The members present were favorable to separation, but as there was not a full representation, they did not think it proper to come to any decision on the subject ; they therefore adjourned to the second Tuesday of October, 1794, after having made a new calculation of the expense of a separate government, and prepared an address to the people to unite with them in discussing the question.' The people seem to have been weary of the continual agitation of the sub- ject.
At the meeting in October, twenty towns and five planta- tions were represented, the subject of separation was debated for four days, when the sentiment of the convention was digested
1 Their calculation was as follows : "The amount necessary for the support of government as appears by the treasurer's repo tto the legislature in January last, is thirty thousand one hundred and twenty-two pounds thirteen shillings and six pence per annum. The proportion of this to be paid by the District of Maine, on the principles of the last valuation, will be about five thousand pounds. An additional sum, not less we presume than one thousand two hundred, is re- mitted to the general treasury from this District, in duties of excise. The sum total is six thousand two hundred pounds. The proportion of public taxes on the principles of the last valuation, to be defrayed by the counties of Hancock and Washington, is to that which is to be defrayed by the counties of York, Cum- berland, and Lincoln, nearly as sixteen to one hundred and forty. The probable expense of a new government is calculated as follows : Governor's salary three hundred pounds ; Lt. governor, one hundred and twenty pounds; secretary and treasurer, three hundred pounds; clerks of ditto, one hundred and forty pounds ; judges of the S. J. Court, eight hundred and fifty pounds ; attorney general, one hundred and fifty pounds ; legislative department, one thousand five hundred pounds; clerks of both houses, sixty pounds; messenger, thirty pounds; con- tingencies, one thousand two hundred pounds-four thousand six hundred and fifty pounds; difference in favor of a new government, one thousand five hundred and fifty pounds."
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SEPARATION.
in the form of thirteen resolutions, which stated the inconven- iences to which they were subjected from the union with Mas- sachusetts, their ability to support a separate government, that their prosperity required "a total separation," "and any expe- dient short of that would not be salutary, but dangerous, as it might amuse and deceive the people for a while."
A committee was chosen to prepare an address, which should embody the facts contained in the resolutions, together with a revised calculation of the expense of a new government, to be sent to all the towns, with a renewed invitation to join the con- vention by their delegates at the adjournment on the last Wednesday in January, 1795. At this adjournment an address was prepared, signed by William Gorham, president, attested by Salmon Chase, secretary pro tem., and with the other pro- ceedings of the convention published in a pamphlet containing thirty-one pages.
In the address the people were requested to think of the subject, and give in their votes upon it at the annual meeting in April; the convention was adjourned to receive the votes. Very little attention was paid to the recommendation, and the friends of the cause had the mortification of witnessing another repulse of their suit to the people. In this town the vote was taken May 6, 1795, on this question, "Whether it is now or soon will be expedient for the three western counties of the District of Maine to be separated from Massachusetts and formed into an independent State," and stood yeas, nineteen, nays, ten.1
No further public movement was made until January, 1797, when the subject was presented to the legislature in a number of petitions from different parts of the District, praying that the votes of the inhabitants should be given on the question. The petitions were committed and contrary to expectation, the
1 The legal voters then on the question were such as paid a poll tax and another tax equal to two-thirds of a poll tax. The exceedingly small vote shows that very little interest was taken on the subject in this town.
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HISTORY OF PORTLAND.
committee reported in favor of the prayer and a resolve was passed March 2d, authorizing and directing the qualified voters to assemble on the second Wednesday of May, and give in their votes on this question, "Shall application be made to the legislature for their consent to a separation of the District of Maine from the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and that the same may be erected into a State ?"]
At the same session an act was passed which obviated one of the grievances that had found a place in every catalogue which had been issued by the various conventions in the District ; this was the removal of the records of the Supreme Judicial Court from Boston to the several counties to which they apper- tained, and the clerks of the counties were authorized to authen- ticate copies, which had hitherto been done in Boston. This, although public convenience and justice required it, was re- garded as a public sacrifice to the pending question of separa- tion, and no doubt conciliated many opponents.
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