USA > Maine > The history of the state of Maine; from its first discovery, A. D. 1602, to the separation, A. D. 1820, inclusive, Vol. I > Part 26
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t See these divisions .- Hubbard's N. E. p. 228,-233 ; and 1 Haz. Coll. p. 388.
VOL. I. 20
258
THE HISTORY
[VOL. I.
A. D. 1635. Governor General over the whole country. Several took new patents, particularly Lord Sterling, Sir Ferdinando Gorges, and John Mason.
Attack upon Massachu- setts Char- ter.
The rights and claims of the Massachusetts colonists were the greatest obstacles, apparently in the way, to prevent the comple- tion of the arrangement. Hence the council petitioned the king to revoke their charter, alleging, that it had been surreptitiously obtained, and was holden wrongfully ; that their territory in fact belonged to Robert Gorges, who when governor took actual possession of it; that the present claimants were downright in- truders, who after ousting his tenants, had extravagantly stretched their pretended grant from sea to sea, an extent of 3000 miles,- " riding over the heads of proprietary lords" and other freehold- ers, " whose allotments, to the extent of 80 or 100 leagues upon the Atlantic coast, had been assigned to them in his Majesty's presence :" and that they had moreover clandestinely obtained a charter from the crown, without the council's approbation ; thereby cutting in pieces the original foundation of the building, forming a new superstructure, with novel ecclesiastical polity, and strange laws ; whipping and banishing offenders,-burning their houses over their heads; and in fact, claiming to be absolute masters of the country.
The Plym- outh Coun- cil surren- der their Charter.
A decree, 'though entered against the charter was never carried into execution .* The Council had their last meeting, April 25, 1635, when only 16 members were present. They entered in their books, the causes of their proceedings, saying --- " we have been bereaved of friends, oppressed with losses, expen- ' ses, and troubles ; assailed before the Privy Council again and ' again, with groundless charges ; and weakened by the French ' and other foes without and within the realm, and what remains ' is only a breathless carcase, we-therefore now resign the patent ' to the king, t first reserving all grants by us made and all vested ' rights ;- a patent we have holden about 15 years.' The king, in anticipation of this event had on the 28th of April, appointed
* 1 Haz. Coll. p. 391-423. Hubbard's N. E. p. 180, 327, 272. Judgment was given that " the franchises should be seized into the king's hands." But it was after this overlooked till May 3d, 1637 ; Holmes' A. A. says, 1638, in p. 302, Note 4 .- Sec the Pleadings .- 1 Haz. Coll. p. 23-5.
¿ See this instrument of surrender, 1 Haz. Coll. 393-4, dated June 7, 1635. Sce also Hutchinson's Coll. of State Papers, 101-4.
259
OF MAINE.
CHAP. IV.]
11 of his Privy Councilors, Lords Commissioners of all his A. D. 1635. American Plantations, and committed to them the general L'ds Com- missioners superintendance and direction of colonial affairs .* This Board of Planta- presented Sir Ferdinando to the Crown, and procured for him poimed.
tions ap- a commission of Governor General over the whole of New- Sir F. Gor- England. Though sixty years of age, he was in full possession ges. Gov of his energies, both of intellect and body, and emulous of the N England General of appointment. A man-of-war, was in preparation to bring him hither, which was to remain here for the defence of the country. But in launching, she turned on her side and was broken; the enterprize thereby failed, and Sir Ferdinando never saw America.
Immediately in train followed the death of John Mason, one of his ablest coadjutors,-a gentleman whose exertions, merits Capt. John Death of and knowledge of American affairs, had given his character a Mason. well-earned eminence, in the general estimation of English mer- chants and adventurers.+ It was an event lamented more deep- ly by none other, than by Gorges himself. Mason had been governor of Newfoundland and Vice-President of the Ply- mouth Council; and had rendered himself only obnoxious to the people of Massachusetts, in consequence of his endeavours with others, to procure a revocation of their charter .¿ A few days before his death, Nov. 26, he finished his will, by which he made a bequest of Masonia to his grandaughter, Anne Tufton, and her heirs ; it being all the estate he claimed northward of Pis- cataqua.
It is not ascertained, that more than two or three of Royal char- ters actually passed the seals, in confirmation of the twelve pa- tents, though four of them fell within the present State of Maine, of which Gorges always exercised a provident care ; nor that any farther movements were made towards establishing a General Government, the event in which, he had taken so much interest.§ He now saw his mistakes and impolicy and endeavored to
* 1 Haz. Coll. p. 344-7 .- Hubbard's N. E. p. 264-8.
t 1 Belk. N. H. p. 28-3).
# " Capt. Mason, (says Winthrop's Jour. p. 101) was the chief mover in all attempts against us" [of Massachusetts ;] " but the Lord in mercy tak- ing him away, all the business fell asleep."
§ Gorges became quite coll after this, as to New-England, " minding only his own division," or province. He told George Vaughan, soon after this, that he intended to get " a patent of the king, from Piscataqua to Sagadahock."-1 Haz. Coll. p. 403.
260
THE HISTORY
LVOL. I,
N. England plantations,
A. D. 1635. account for his ill success .- ' We have (he says,) been endeavor- A view of ' ing to found plantations in a wilderness region, where men, bred ' up in a land of villages, farms and plenty, could hardly be hired " to stay ; or if 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 ' the 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.'*
By dear experience, he found, that foreign plantations, control- ed by great corporations, three thousand miles distant, did exhibit a very unpromising growth ; and that the best concerted schemes of government, formed at the table of cold calculation, were alto- gether uncongenial to the genius and pursuits of a people in a new country. Far removed from the pageantry of wealth, titles and luxury, and from the hostilities of rivals and persecutors, they acquired at once a relish for a rural life and civil independ- ence. Among men, enterprizing enough to leave their native homes, all notions of quit-rents and lordships, necessarily vanish- ed before the plain maxims of fee-simple-estates, and the plainer rights of conscience and equality. As Chalmers says, 'when ' the restraints were removed, and men left free to manage their * affairs, in the way most agreeable to themselves ; the colonists ' engaged in every laudable pursuit, and acquired an extent of " population, of commerce, of wealth and of power, unexampled ' in the annals of the world.'t
* Gorges' Nar. p. 48, 49.
t Chalmer's Annals, p. 9.6.
261
OF MAINE.
CHAP. V.]
CHAPTER V.
The French in Canada and Acadia-Razilla, la Tour and D' Aul- ney-Extent of their Claim-D' Aulney seizes upon Penobscot- Attempts to remove him-The French challenge a right as far as Pemaquid-New-Somersetshire, the province of Sir Ferdinando- William Gorges, Governor -- Administration established at Saco -- Eight Settlements in the present State of Maine-Population- Pequods destroyed-Emigration checked-Sir Ferdinando ap- pointed Gov. Gen. of New-England-His View of Colonial Af- fairs-George Burdet's Character-He removes to Agamenticus- Civil Government needed in the Eastern Country-An Earth- quake.
THE French called all their dominions in North-America, by A. D. 1627 the general name of New-France .* This immense region, of to 1635. which Canada, Acadia, and Louisiana, were only component French. American parts, was granted in 1627 to " the Company of New-France ;" Tour, and Razilla, la -a body of 107 associates, formed that year by Cardinal Rich- D'Auiney. elieu.+ By transporting labourers from time to time, into Can- ada, furnished with outfits of three years' necessaries, and by assigning to them lands and seeds enough to sow them, his pro- ject was, to augment the population of that province, within 15 years, to 16,000 souls. But this was only a statesman's dream ; for a war with England soon happening, and other events inter- posing, entirely dissipated the vision.
Acadia, or Nova Scotia, was still under the military command
* John Verazzani, a Florentine adventurer, in the service of the French king, who ranged the coast from Florida to Newfoundland, A. D. 1524, first gave it the name. He landed and took possession of Acadia, where the Indians killed him, and some say, ate him .- 40 UniversalHistory, p. 20.
t Jeffry's Hist. p. 101 .- The Company of New-France, granted to la Tour, in 1635, the lands at St. John's river,-being the third grant, or title, he had of the same territory .- 1st. From the French king; and 2d. from Sir William Alexander. The Company had been restored to their rights, A. D. 1633 .- Belk. Biog. p. 344.
Į Nova Scotia, called Acadia, is commonly accounted a part of New- France, which lieth on the south side of the river Canada .- John Ogilby's New World, p. 133.
262
THE HISTORY
[VOL. I.
A. D. 1635 of General Razilla,* whose residence was principally in the for- tress at La Heve, though his own patent adjoined St. Croix. A subordinate command of the country, eastward of this river, he had given to la Tour ; and of that westward, as far as the French claimed, he had appointed M. d'Aulney commander.
The French claim exam- ined.
Razilla seemed to possess a nobleness of character; yet the manner of his seizing upon the Acadian province, or rather per- mitting some places occupied by the English to be plundered, gave them great and just offence. It is true, the third article in the treaty of St. Germains, was so artfully expressed, as to pro- vide for resigning Acadia, which had no certain limits, instead of Nova Scotia, whose boundaries were well defined. It was an advantage, however, in which, it seems, the French themselves had not at first any great confidence. For surely they must have been sensible, that Nova Scotia, by name, was the country in- tended to be surrendered,-or why had they delayed to extend their claim ?- Why pillage the trading-house at Penobscot, three years past, and that at Machias not till a year afterwards ?- unless it were to ascertain if such flagrant acts would be resented ?- No doubt, it must have been in consequence of a conviction they had done wrong, and had very questionable rights, that they per- mitted the New-Plymouth colonists to resume the occupancy of the former place, and quietly to hold it till the present time.
D'Aulney at Perob- scot.
But Razilla, perceiving no public resentments expressed at the outrage, and probably informed of the late territorial assign- ment to lord Sterling, despatched d' Aulney, this summer (1635) in a man-of-war, to take possession of the country. The vehe- ment temper and base cupidity of this man, prompted him at once, to rifle the trading-house at Biguyduce (Penobscot), of all its contents in a piratical manner ; sending away the traders and their servants with no better consolation, than a mere sched- ule of the goods plundered, accompanied with boastful threats : -Go now ' said he,' and tell all the plantations southward to the 40th 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."
To avenge the wrong and drive the French from Penobscot, Capt. Girling, master of the Hope, a large ship hired at Ipswich,
Called also " Rosillon," " Razilly."-I Hutch. Hist. p. 121.
263
OF MAINE.
CHAP. V.]
by the New-Plymouth colonists for the purpose, and joined by A. D, 1635. their own barque, was employed and sent thither, to whom they agreed to give £200, if he succeeded in regaining possession .* The enemy, 18 in number, having heard of the enterprize, had so securely fortified themselves, that though Girling vigorously prosecuted the attack, till his ammunition failed, he was unable to force a surrender.t
All the English colonists deprecated every approaching move- E. Colonists ment of the French. Their Romish religion, their love of arbi- French. and the trary principles, their connexions with the natives, their arrogant menaces, and predatory excursions, severally made their local nearness both dreaded and lamented, Massachusetts in particu- lar, resolved to render New-Plymouth every assistance, and make the expulsion of the French from Penobscot a common cause. She consulted with Capt. Sellanova, a gentleman of great military experience, ¿ and immediately made preparations for an expedition thither : but it was entirely defeated by an un- common storm and hurricane, which did such immense damage, in the fields and elsewhere, that provisions for one hundred men, could not be procured without great difficulty.
Afterwards the French treated the colonists with more forbear- ance and kindness.§ A crew of Connecticut mariners, for in- stance, being wrecked on the Isle of Sables, received from them many testimonies of humanity, and were even transported to La Heve, the residence of Razilla ; from which place, he gave four of them a passage to France, and furnished the others with a shallop to convey theniselves home. These generous acts were in the last days of his life-happily monumental of his worth and clemency. ||
D'Aulney was very much annoyed by Girling's vessels, still moored before his slender fortress ; and as soon as the unfortunate mariners, arrived there, from La Heve, he told them he should detain them till Girling departed. The stratagem succeeded ; T and when he dismissed them, he addressed a letter full of civil- ities to the Governor of New-Plymouth ; and subsequently, both he and la Tour, solemnly declared that they should never, without
Winthrop's Jour. p. 87. + Hubbard's N. E. p. 162.
į Massachusetts Rec. p. 115. § Hubbard's N. E. p. 164.
|| 1 Hutchinson's Hist. p. 122 .-- Winthrop p. 89 calls him " Mons. Com- mander of Roselle."
T Winthrop's Journal p. 89.
264
THE HISTORY
[VOL. I.
A. D. 1635. further orders, claim any lands westward of Pemaquid .* It is French certain, however, that the French had, at no time, any territorial Pemaquid. possessions westward of Penobscot river and bay,-waters which claim to were for many years the divisional boundaries between them and the English.+
Province of N. Somer- setshire. W. Gorges Governor.
1636.
A view of these limits, thus prescribed by the French them- selves to their claims, might well give encouragement to the bold and persevering spirit of Gorges.# By his first patent and the late assignment received of the Plymouth Council, April 22d, he obtained an " absolute property" in the territory, between Piscataqua and Sagadahock, or the two divisions in conjunction, called New Somersetshire ; and supposed he acquired also all the political or jurisdictional powers of government, which that Company possessed, before their dissolution. Hence, to organ- ize and establish an administration of justice, he sent over, in the year 1635 or 6, his nephew William Gorges, in the capacity of governor ; a man of sense and intelligence, equal to the impor- tance of the trust. It would seem, he entered upon the duties of his office at Saco. This was the most flourishing, and probably the oldest, settlement in the Province. It had now enjoyed a form of government several years ; which might originally have been a social compact or voluntary combination, for mutual safety and convenience. In the mean time Richard Vines had officiat- ed as governor, and Richard Bonython, as assistant.§ Thirty pounds were raised, the present year, by way of a tax for the support of public worship; and the inhabitants, assessed to pay it, were twenty-one. From these circumstances we may deduce by an usual calculation, that the whole number of souls in the settlement was about 150 or 60.||
* Mr. Winslow, Gov. of N. P. went to England to complain against the encroachments of the French and Dutch ; where Bp. Laud imprisoned him 4 months, because he was a Puritan .- Sullivan, p. 284 .- He went again in 1646.
t The French continued in possession of Penobscot till A. D. 1664. 1 Hutch. Hist. p. 49.
# Gorges granted to G. Cleaves and Ri. Tucker, Jan. 27, 1637, by deed a large tract of 1,500 acres and more, on the northern part of the pen- insula from Fore river, at the point near the ferry, to Purpooduck, extending thence to the Capisick river, S. E. of the mouth of Stroudwater.
§ 1 Belk. N. H. p. 291.
Il Sullivan, p. 219, 306, gives the names of the men taxed, Bonython Vines, and Thomas Lewis were taxed £3 cach ; Boad, Waldron and Wil-
265
OF MAINE
CHAP. V.]
Gorges, the Governor, commenced his administration at the A. D. 1636. dwellinghouse of Mr. Bonython, situated not far from the shore, on Gen. Court the east side of the river. Here he opened a court, March 28th, at Saco. present, Richard Bonython, Thomas Commock, Henry Joscelyn, Thomas Purchas, Edward Godfrey and Thomas Lewis, com- missioners ; who arraigned, tried and punished, or fined, for divers offences ; and if Gorges were exercising a power as extensive as his jurisdiction, every wrongdoer between Piscataqua and Sag- adahock was amenable to this tribunal :*- It being the first or- ganized government, established within the present State of Maine.t The court held sessions two or three years.
Settlements between
The Governor, in the discharge of his official duties, found it necessary to look into the concerns and conditions of the sever- Piscataqua al settlements in the Province ; which, including the one at Saco, George. and St- consisted of five .- I. Agamenticus, a place of Sir Ferdinando's particular patronage, originally settled by husbandmen and arti- sans, 12 or 13 years before, had assumed the appearance of pros- perity, with a slow but gradual increase of inhabitants .- II. The Piscataqua settlements, or plantation, consisting of families scat- tered from Kittery-point to Newichawannock, and the northern Isles of Shoals, were variously employed, though principally in the fisheries and the lumber business. These were first under the superintendence of Walter Neal, then Francis Williams, till the arrival of William Gorges .- III. Black-point settlement, begun
liams £2 each, the others £1 each. Oldham, one of the original paten- tees never dwelt there. Sullivan says, " several persons were fined for drunkenness and others punished for other immoralities."-If a " Court was holden under authority of the Province of Lygonia," as York Records seem to indicate, is it not probable, that William Gorges was entrusted with that patent ?--
* Chalmers, p. 472-3. John Joscelyn's Voyages, 200 .- At the head of the Pool, or Leighton's point, it is said a Court house stood at a very early period.
t The Court was continued for several days .- T. Williams was bound in the sum of £100, with sureties to answer to the suit of Mr. T. Lewis, at the next General Court, and a sufficient jury of this Province returned to try the same. There were several actions,-Mrs. Joan Vines vs. Bonyt hon and Lewis, about planting corn ;- W. Scadlock v. M. Howel, debt; T. Page v. J. Richmond, Trespass ; and there were orders passed against drunkenness ; against mischievous Indians, &c .- Folsom's Saco and Bidde- ford, p. 49-52.
VOL. I.
21
266
THE HISTORY
[VOL. I.
A D. 1636. about 6 or 7 years before, by Thomas Commock, Henry Joscelyn* and Mr. Gaines, consisted of several houses, and included Strat- ton's Islands .- IV. The Lygonian plantation, which embraced Richmond's Island and most of the patent to Robert Trelawney and Moses Goodyeare,f undertaken here six years previously and deserted the succeeding summer, by most or all of the plan- ters under the " Plough-patent," had not thriven. The inhabit- ants consisted principally of fishermen, hunters, and traders, whose dwelling-places are understood to have been at Spurwink, at Purpooduck, and on the peninsula, collectively called at the time, Casco. Thomas Bradbury and George Cleaves had agen- cies under Gorges, in 1636-7; and John Winter, as early as 1631, was the active agent here for Trelawney and Goodyeare.} -V. The Pejepscot settlements, originating in the enterprize of Thomas Purchas and George Way, who established their resi- dence at the head of Stevens' river, A. D. 1624-5, consisted at this time of very few habitations. They claimed on both sides of the Androscoggin, to the falls ; southwardly to Maquoit ; also the Merryconeag peninsula, Sebascodegan, and other Islands,§ upon which there might possibly have been several stages for fish- ermen .- VI. The people residing within the Kennebeck patent, were under the jurisdiction of New-Plymouth. ||
It is convenient furthermore to mention in this place, some par- ticulars of the settlements eastward, as far as Penobscot. 1.
* Hubbard's N. E. p. 224 .- Commock was here early in 1633 .- Haz. Coll. p. 318 .- His grant, as it appears to have been laid out by Walter Neal, att'y, to the P. Council, A. D. 1624, and recorded in York Re- cords, contained 1,500 acres,-confirmed by Sir. F. Gorges .- Book of Claims, p. 59.
t The patent to Trelawney and Goodyeare, dated Dec. 1, 1631, embraced a tract between Spurwink and Casco, or Presumpscot rivers; also, Rich- mond's Island ; John Winter, their agent, being put in possession of the patent in 1632. George Cleaves and Richard Tucker, who had resided at Spurwink two years, being expelled by Winter, removed to the peninsula. # Sullivan, p. 305-11 .- Hub. Nar. p. 294 .- " The patentees took in as a partner, Mr. Richard Dummer, of Newbury, New-England, in 1638.
§ The deed of Warumbee and five other Sagamores, July 7, 1684, says, " Thomas Purchas came into this country near sixty years before, and took possession of lands from the falls to Maquoit."-Statement of Kenne- beck Claims, p. 9 .- It would seem, Purchas at length became sole proprie- tor.
|| The people being few and sparse on this patent, were never represent- ed in the General Court, at New-Plymouth .- Sullivan, p. 142.
267
CHAP. V.] OF MAINE.
Within the ' Sagadahock territory' were those upon the Islands- A. D: 1636. upon the river Sheepscot-upon Masonia and about Cape-Newa- gen .* These contained 50 or 60 families. 2. The Pemaquid plantation had been in a flourishing condition, ever since the pa- tent was granted, A. D. 1631. Monhegan, Damariscove and Hippocras,t appear to be appendages of it, and their inhab- itants amenable to its government. About the year 1633, and also 1659, Thomas Elbridge, a son of the proprietor, held courts at Pemaquid fort ; sitting in judgment upon wrongdoers and im- posing fines and penalties .¿ In his absence, Abraham Shurte officiated as agent and chief magistrate of the plantation more than thirty years.§ 3. There were a few settlers at the river St. George, and upon George's Islands, within the Muscongus patent ; though they consisted principally of fishermen.
If there were, in 1630, as one author has stated, " 84 families, besides fishermen, about Sheepscot, Pemaquid, and St. Georges, || the whole number of white people at the present time, between Piscataqua and Penobscot, must have exceeded fourteen hun- dred. T
Population.
July 4,1637.
The continuance of William Gorges in New-Somersetshire w. Gorges' was short,-probably less than two years; for, in July, A. D. home. 1637, the authorities of Massachusetts were presented with the transcript of a commission from Sir Ferdinando to them; by which six gentlemen therein named, were appointed to take into their hands the government of the Province and the superinten-
* Mason's will states Masonia to be near " Caphan of Waggan."-1 Haz. Coll. p. 335, 393 .- or Cape-Ne-wagen.
+ Hub. Nar. p. 280 .- Monhegan and Damariscove are probably the Isl- ands intended in the Lygonia patent, [Sullivan, p. 310,] though appendant to Pemaquid patent.
Į In 1659, Elbridge brought two actions in Yorkshire Court, against George Cleaves, of Falmouth.
§ Ante, A. D. 1631. || Sullivan, p. 167, 391.
T That is, allow 6 to a family, or to a freeholder ; Souls,
Piscataqua settlements, [41 signed the compact in 1640] at present, 200
Agamenticus [incorporated, A. D. 1639,] 150
175 Saco, including Black-point,
Casco, or Lygonia patent, and Pejepscot,
75
Kennebeck patent, 100
Sagadahock, Sheepscot, Pemaquid, St. Georges, and Islands 500
Isles of Shoals and other places, 200
Possibly the whole number might be 1500. 1400
268
THE HISTORY
[VOL. I.
A. D. 1637. dence of his private affairs. This was an extraordinary trust ; and as one of the commissioners had removed to Connecticut, and the name of another was incorrect, the residue declined an acceptance of the agency .*
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