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 8
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | 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
After the decision which separated Ligonia from the province of Maine, and the death of Gorges, the people in the western part of the State, in 1649, formed a combination for their own government, and elected Edward Godfrey their governor ;1 the first general court under this combination was held at Gorgi- ana (York) in July of that year. In consequence of the state of affairs in England, which deprived them of the aid of their chief proprietor, they petitioned parliament in 1651, to take them under their protection and confirm their indepen- dent government ;2 but parliament not regarding their petition, they were obliged in 1652, to submit to the jurisdiction of Mas- sachusetts. Hutchinson, speaking of this period and this prov- ince, says, the people were in confusion and the authority of government at an end.3
1 Sullivan, p. 320. Massachusetts Historical Collections, vol. i.
2 Sullivan, p. 322.
3 Hutchinson, vol. i. p. 163.
83
POLITICAL AFFAIRS OF THE PROVINCE.
We have no means of determining with precision how the government in Ligonia was constituted ; We find a general as- sembly in existence, and suppose it was formed upon the plan of that in Massachusetts, or of that proposed by Gorges ; that is, by assistants or counselors appointed by the president or his deputy, and deputies chosen by the people. In fact, Edward Rigby, the son of Alexander, in a letter written in 1652, to the province, speaks of the six assistants and the judges. The pro- ceedings of the assembly in September, 1648, are subscribed by George Cleeves, deputy-president, Wm. Royall, Henry Watts, John Cossons, Peter Hill, and Robert Booth.1 We meet with nothing in the records which indicate that the affairs of the province were not correctly administered, and conducted with- out confusion or interruption, until the death of Rigby, the chief proprietor, which took place in August, 1650.2 After the news of this event, the old opposition to Rigby's government was revived, and we may conjecture from Edward Rigby's let- ter, before referred to, that the object of the opposition was, to form a combination and establish an independent government ; he writes, that if they do "not desist from their private and se- cret combinations and practices and join with him, his deputy and other officers for the peace of the province, he will take such course as shall not only force a submission, but also a reparation for all their misdeeds." This letter was dated Lon- don, July 19, 1652, and addressed to "Mr. Henry Jocelyn, Mr. Robert Jordan, Mr. Arthur Macworth, Mr. Thomas Williams, as also to Robert Booth, Morgan Howell,* John Wadleigh, Jon- as Bailey, Thomas Morris, Hugh Mosier, and to all others whom
1 Royall and Cossons were from Westcustogo, now North Yarmouth, Hill and Booth were from Saco, and Watts from Scarborough.
2 Hazard, vol. i. p. 570. Sullivan, p. 317.
* [Morgan Howell's will / is proved April 1, 1667 .- York County Records, Book F. p. 28.]
84
HISTORY OF PORTLAND.
these may concern, these present in Ligonia."1 It appears by this letter, that Cleeves was then in England, for he says, "I shall with all convenient speed, not only send back Mr. Cleeves, but a near kinsman of my own."
How the government was conducted after this time we have no means of ascertaining ; Cleeves did not return until after February 20, 1653, and although the majority of the inhabi- tants of Cape Porpus and Saco submitted to the jurisdiction of Massachusetts in 1652, he contrived to keep up some show of power in the eastern part of the province until the submission of the remaining inhabitants in 1658.
The government of Massachusetts seeing the disordered state of affairs in Maine, in 1652, seriously undertook to establish a claim to the province as far east as Casco bay. Their attention was particularly called to the subject by a land title which was controverted in the court of Norfolk county, then extending to the Piscataqua. The judicial tribunal declared that they had no jurisdiction, the land lying in New Hampshire ; the subject was carried before the general court, which took occa- sion to order an accurate survey of their bounds.2 On the 26th of May the general court "voted that upon perusal of their charter, the extent of their line is to be from the northernmost part of the river Merrimack, and three miles more north, and thence upon a strait line east and west to each sea."3 In pur- suance of this declaration, the court appointed commissioners to ascertain the latitude of the head of Merrimack river ; the committee made their observations on the first day of August, 1652, and reported "that the head of the Merrimack, where it issues out of the lake Winnepusiaket, was forty-three degrees
1 Williams and Booth lived in Saco, and submitted to Massachusetts in 1653, Howell lived in Cape Porpus, and Wadleigh in Wells, and they severally sub- mitted in 1653. Morris and Mosier lived in Casco bay, and Bailey at Black Point.
2 Belknap, N. H. vol. i. p. 102.
4 Winnepisseoggee.
3 Hazard, vol. i. p. 564.
85
POLITICAL AFFAIRS OF THE PROVINCE.
forty minutes, twelve seconds, besides those minutes which are to be allowed for the three miles more north, which runs into the lake." Their next step was to ascertain at what point of the coast that parallel would reach, and observations for this pur- pose were made October 13, 1653, by Jonas Clark and Samuel Andrews, ship-masters, who conclude their report thus: "At the sea-side where the line doth extend there lieth a grayish rock at a high-water-mark cleft in the middle,' else the shore being sand without stones ; the line doth run over the northern- most point of an island as we guessed, not above two or three rods above high-water-mark, the island is called the upper Clap- board Island, about a quarter of a mile from the main in Casco baye, about four or five miles to the northward of Mr. Macworth's house."2
This claim was resisted by Godfrey's government in the west- ern part of the state, who protested against the usurpation ; but Rawson, the secretary of Massachusetts, wrote Godfrey in 1652, showing the grounds of their claim and their determina- tion to pursue it and occupy the territory. Godfrey, however, in the name of the government and people, declared that they would resist the encroachment and continue the exercise of their authority and rights, until the government of England should otherwise order.3* But the people not receiving sup-
1 This rock still remains, and is the point from which the dividing line be- tween the ancient towns of Falmouth and North Yarmouth commenced.
2 Massachusetts Records.
3 Hazard, vol. i. p. 564.
* [Godfrey's government sent a remonstrance to the Council of State in Eng_ land, against the claim of Massachusetts, in December, 1651. And November 6, 1652, again by order of the general court of Maine, represented to the coun- cil in England "That through the proceedings of Sir F. Gorges, they were forced to enter into a combination for government, as appears by their remonstrance and petition of December, 1651. Since which time all acts of government have been in the name of the Keepers of the liberties of England. Requests an au- dience for Richard Leader, agent of the province, with reference to the claims of Massachusetts to their government and the propriety of their land which they have quietly possessed for twenty years .- Sainsbury, vol. i. p. 392.]
86
HISTORY OF PORTLAND.
port from England, and weary of opposing the persevering efforts of their more powerful neighbor, finally yielded to the necessity of the case; the inhabitants of Kittery and Gorgiana signed the submission in November, 1652, and those of Wells, Cape Porpus, and a majority of those in Saco, July 5, 1653.'
Massachusetts having now extended her jurisdiction to the Saco river, continued her exertions, without relaxation, to spread it over the whole of her claim. But she was resisted in the eastern part of the province, both upon political and re- ligious grounds. The most influential men east of Saco river, were decidedly episcopalian in their form of worship, and look- ed with dread upon the uncompromising, and we may add, untolerating spirit of the puritan government of Massachusetts. Our principal settlers had brought with them from England the religious forms which prevailed in that country, and did not come to avoid them, as was the case with the colonists of Plymouth and Massachusetts. At the head of this party, were Robert Jordan, Henry Jocelyn, and Arthur Macworth, all firm in the faith, possessing great influence, and determined to re- sist while there was hope of success. On the other hand, George Cleeves and others were stimulated in their opposition, by the possession of power which they were anxious to main- tain. In 1654, Jordan was committed to prison in Boston, and about the same time, he and Jocelyn were summoned by the general court to appear before the commissioners at York, which they declined doing; in 1657, a letter was addressed to them by the government, but without effect, urging them to meet their commissioners at York, "appointed for settling gov ernment in the eastern parts."2
In 1655, Cleeves went to Boston in behalf of the inhabitants of Ligonia, to protest against the proceedings of Massachusetts. On the 24th of October, the government returned him a formal
1 Hazard, vol. i. p. 573. Sullivan, p. 319. Massachusetts Files.
2 Massachusetts Records.
87
POLITICAL AFFAIRS OF THE PROVINCE.
answer in which they urged their claim, exhibiting their patent and the report of the persons who had surveyed their bounds ; they stated that they desired to treat the inhabitants of the province which fell within their limits with civility and friend- ship, but insisted on their right to the jurisdiction over the ter- ritory to their utmost eastern limits. They say, "We have not endeavored to infringe the liberties of the planters of those lands, but have offered them the same with ourselves, nor to enrich or ease ourselves by taxing their estates, we expect 110 more than what they formerly did, viz: to bear their own charges; nor do we seek to put upon them that which we our- selves count unequal, viz : to be subject to such laws and con- stitutions made by others without their consent."1
Massachusetts was fearful that her attempts to extend her limits would be viewed with dissatisfaction in England, and in their instructions to their agent November 23, 1655, they say, "If any complaint be made by Mr. Rigby concerning our claim by virtue of our patent, as intrenching on what he calls the province of Ligonia, you may for the present make the best answer you may, for the reasons exprest in our answer given Mr. Cleeves' agent, which, if it satisfy not, you may crave lib- erty for our further answer." She was evidently desirous of getting possession of the territory, and relied upon her own strength and the weakness of her adversary, for the final issue.
In August, 1656, seventy-one persons, inhabitants of Saco, Cape Porpus, Wells, York, and Kittery, addressed a petition to Cromwell, praying to be continued under the government of Masssachusetts, alleging that they were "a people few in number, and those not competent to manage weighty affairs, our weakness occasioning distraction, our paucity division, our meanness contempt."2
In 1657, the general court appointed new commissioners,
1 Hazard, vol. i. p. 598.
2 Hazard, vol. i. p. 608.
+
88
HISTORY OF PORTLAND.
and issued a new summons to the inhabitants east of Saco riv- er, to meet them at York, which they failing to do, the com- missioners issued another notice requiring the inhabitants to appear at the general court, to be held in Boston, October 14, 1657. But instead of regarding this summons, Cleeves sent in a paper, " wherein he declared," as the court in their records state, " against. the legality of their proceedings and the reso- lution of the inhabitants to deny submission to them." The court then add, " We do hereby declare our right and claim to those parts, and the injurious refusal of the inhabitants there, concerning which we shall seriously advise what for the future may be most expedient for us, yet for the present, judge it best to surcease any further prosecution." 1
Notwithstanding this declaration, they did not long " sur- cease" further to prosecute their claim ; for in May following (1658) they appointed commissioners to proceed to the dis- puted territory to receive the submission of the inhabitants. This sudden change in their resolution was probably effected by a revolution in the feelings of the people, and by a desire existing here for a regular government. The preamble to the resolve by which the commission was appointed declares, " Whereas some complaints have been brought into this court by the inhabitants of the other side of the river Piscataqua, of divers disorders and inconveniences which do daily arise for want of government being orderly settled to the furthest extent of our line in the eastern parts, it is therefore ordered," ? etc. The commissioners were required "to repair to Black Point, Richmond's Island, and Casco, or some such one place, within the county of York, as they shall judge meet, there to take in the inhabitants thereof into our jurisdiction." 2
The people had undoubtedly become weary of the contro- versy, and their own government was unable to afford that
1 Massachusetts Files.
2 Massachusetts Records.
89
POLITICAL AFFAIRS OF THE PROVINCE.
security and protection which were needed, harassed as it must have been by the pressure of the claim so strenuously urged without, and the struggles of an active opposition within. We find therefore that when the commissioners held their court at the house of Robert Jordan, at Spurwink, July 13, 1658, a majority of the inhabitants of Black Point and Casco attended.
The commissioners in their return say, that having issued summonses to all the inhabitants residing within the line pro- posed, to appear before them, " After some serious debate of matters betwixt us, removal of some doubts, and our tendering some acts of favour and privilege to them, the good hand of God guiding therein, by a joint consent, we mutually accorded in a free and comfortable close." The form of the submission was as follows, "We, the inhabitants of Black Point, Blue Point, Spurwink, and Casco bay, with all the islands thereunto belonging, do own and acknowledge ourselves to be subject to the government of Massachusetts bay in New England, as appears by our particular subscriptions in reference of those articles formerly granted to Dover, Kittery, and York, which are now granted and confirmed unto us, together with some additions as upon record doth appear." 1 This was signed by twenty-nine persons, of whom the thirteen following lived in Falmouth, viz: Francis Small, Nicliolas White, Thomas Standford, Robert Corbin, Nathaniel Wallis, John Wallis, George Lewis, John Phillips, George Cleeves, Robert Jordan, Francis Neale, Michael Mitton, Richard Martin. The remain- der, with the exception of John Bonighton, who lived in Saco, were inhabitants of Black and Blue Points.
The following is the substance of the articles of agreement entered into between the inhabitants and the commissioners, and may be found at large on York Records.2
1 Massachusetts Records.
2 Book i. p. 78. The first volume of the collections of the Maine Historical Society, contains this document.
7
90
HISTORY OF PORTLAND.
1. The obligations entered into were to be void if the juris- diction of Massachusetts was not allowed by the government of England.
2. Indemnity and oblivion "freely granted."
3. The privileges granted to Dover, Portsmouth, Kittery, Wells, and Saco, granted to the people here.
4. In appeals to Boston, the appellant to have cost if he recover, if not, to pay treble cost.
5. To have copies furnished them of the privileges granted Dover, &c.
6. Their civil privileges not to be forfeited for differences in religion, " but their regulations therein must be according to penal laws."
7. Those places formerly called Black Point, Blue Point, and Stratton's islands, henceforth to be called Scarborough.
8. " Those places formerly called Spurwink and Casco bay from the east side of Spurwink river, to the Clapboard islands, in Casco bay, shall run back eight miles into the country, and henceforth shall be called by the name of Falmouth."
9. Falmouth and Scarborough shall immediately establish their bonds.
10. "The towns of Falmouth and Scarborough shall have commission courts to try causes as high as fifty pounds."
11. The two towns of Scarborough and Falmouth are to send one deputy yearly to the court of election, and have lib- erty to send two if they see cause.
The name Yorkshire is given to so much of the former prov- ince of Maine, as fell under the jurisdiction of Massachusetts, and in consideration of its extent, and the difficulty of obtain- ing the presence here of any of the assistants, it is granted, "1. That with the consent of the inhabitants of the aforesaid towns of Scarborough and Falmouth, we do constitute and ap- point the right trusty Henry Jocelyn, Esq., Mr. Robert Jordan, Mr. George Cleeves, Mr. Henry Watts, and Mr. Francis Neale,
91
POLITICAL AFFAIRS OF THE PROVINCE.
commissioners for the year ensuing, invested with full power, or any three of them, for the trial of all causes without a jury within the liberties of Scarborough and Falmouth, not exceed- ing the value of fifty pounds, and every one of said commis- sioners have granted them magistratical power to hear and de- termine small causes, as other magistrates and assistants, whether they be of a civil or of a criminal nature." Any of said commissioners were authorized to grant warrants, examine of- fenders, commit to prison, administer oaths, and to solemnize marriages, and any three of them were empowered to commis- sion "military officers under the degree of a captain." Jocelyn, Jordan, Capt. Nicholas Shapleigh, Mr. Edward Rishworth, and Mr. Abraham Preble, were invested with "magistratical power, throughout the whole county of York." Five associates were authorized to be chosen yearly for the county courts, instead of three, and a court was appointed to be held in September of every year at Saco or Scarborough, as well as at York.1
These and some other regulations, not important to be noticed, having been adopted, and the commissioners having de- clared that "the change of the government hath made no change in any man's former right, whether in respect of lands, chattels, goods, or any other estate whatsoever," they adjourned on the 16th of July, 1658. Thus the government of Massachusetts came into possession of the ancient province of Maine, as far. east as the eastern bounds of Falmouth, which she held, with the exception of about three years, until the final separation which took place in 1820.
ยท
Although the inhabitants had now generally submitted to her jurisdiction, there were many who carried in their bosoms a spirit of determined hostility to the power of Massachusetts. We believe it to have been founded chiefly in difference of reli- gious sentiments. Massachusetts at that time could hardly allow a neutrality on this subject ; none but church members
1 York Records.
92
HISTORY OF PORTLAND.
could be freemen, and those who did not, "after the most straitest sect of our religion," live puritans, were not tolerated. Many of our early settlers were episcopalians; Jordan was a priest of that persuasion, and had been the minister to the people here for many years, and although new settlers crowded into our plantations from Massachusetts, bringing the religious doctrines and feelings which prevailed there, still the attachment of many to the mode of worship under which they had been educated, was not and could not be eradicated. On this sub- ject, Massachusetts exercised her power with no little severity, and notwithstanding her guaranty in the sixth article before mentioned, "that civil privileges should not be forfeited for re- ligious differences," she did proceed to enforce her own doc- trines, regardless of the religious principles which prevailed here. Robert Jordan was frequently censured for exercising his ministerial office in marriages, baptisms, &c .; in 1660, he was summoned by the general court to appear before them to answer for his irregular practices, in baptising the children of Nathaniel Wallis, "after the exercise was ended upon the Lord's day, in the house of Mrs Macworth in the town of Falmouth," and was required "to desist from any such practises for the future."1
.It is not therefore to be wondered at that this party should seek the first favorable opportunity to throw off what they deemed to be the yoke of oppression. This opportunity was in a few years afforded as will be hereafter seen. *
1 Massachusetts Records.
* [We cannot dismiss this portion of our history that closes the useful con- nection which the worthy and most honored Sir Ferdinando Gorges had with this ancient territory, without presenting a few prominent particulars of his hon- orable and active life. His connection with our history sufficiently appears in our pages. Sir Ferdinando Gorges "was the son and heir of John Gorges, of London," (Sainsbury,) and is said to have been born in Somersetshire, at a place or manor, called Ashton-Phillips, in 1573. We do not know upon what author- ity the last two facts are stated, but the period of his birth is not improbable ; and it is certain that he had estates and resided in Somersetshire. From cir-
93
POLITICAL AFFAIRS OF THE PROVINCE.
cumstances connected with his life, such as his being governor of Plymouth as early as 1600, I should suppose that he was born prior to 1573. He served un- der the Earl of Essex in the Spanish expedition when Cadiz was taken in 1596, as sergeant-major, corresponding to colonel. He was afterward appointed gov- ernor of Plymouth by Queen Elizabeth. He was removed from this office and committed to prison for complicity in the conspiracy of the Earl of Essex in 1601. But James 1, in 1604, restored him to the office. It is probable that this position, Plymouth being the port of early voyagers, introduced him to persons who were engaged in voyages of discovery to the American coast ; and his in- terest was greatly excited and increased by the return of Weymouth in 1605, with five natives from the Pemaquid country. The glowing descriptions given by the voyagers, who had visited in June the most beautiful part of our coast, and of the savages, gave particular force and direction to the adventurous spirit of this enterprising man, and he engaged with energy, and pursued with perse- verance, for forty years, the work of discovery and colonization of the eastern shores of New England. In July, 1637 he was appointed governor-general of New England, but he did not enter upon its practical duties; in 1639, he obtained his ample charter of the "province of Maine;" but the call for his services to aid the king in the great rebellion, diverted his thoughts and his exertions from his new province, to the strife of arms, in the midst of which, after doing valiant deeds for his sovereign, he perished in 1647, at about the age of seventy-five. He had at least two sons. Robert, the eldest, married a daugh- ter of the Earl of Lincoln ; received a grant of a portion of Massachusetts in 1622, with the appointment of governor of New England, to which he came and spent about two years. He returned in 1624 and soon after died. The other son was John, who succeeded to the Massachusetts grant, which he sold to Sir William Brereton in 1629.
Gorges had also three nephews, Thomas, William, and Henry, to whom he gave appointments and made grants in his American province. His grandson Ferdinando, inherited this province, which he was only too glad to sell in 1677, at twelve hundred and fifty pounds sterling, in consequence of the constant contention which the authorities of Massachusetts kept up for its title and juris- diction.
Mr Folsom, in his discourse on Gorges, second Maine Historical Collections, says "The Family of Gorges had an ancient seat at Wraxhall, in Somersetshire, six and a half miles from Bristol, (They resided at Wraxhall as early as 1260.) In the church at that place is a large altar tomb with figures of Sir Edward Gorges, K. B., and Annie, his wife, a daughter of John Howard, Duke of Nor- folk. In the same neighborhood, in the parish of Long Ashton, was the manor of Ashton Phillips belonging to Sir Ferdinando. The village of Long Ashton lies on the south-east slope of an eminence, called Ashton Hill, about five miles from Bristol.
In Camden's Britannia, it is stated that from the time of Ralph de Gorges, 1260,
94
HISTORY OF PORTLAND.
to about 1700, the family had been continued in Wraxhall, "and is lately reduced to an issue-female." The name still exists in Somersetshire, probably by the marriage, in 1350, of one of the Russells of Gloucestershire "with an heir - ess of the honorable family of Gorges," who assumed the name of Gorges. This Russell was of the family afterward raised to the peerage, and is now a, promi- nent constituent of the aristocracy of England.]-ED.
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.