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 36
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* 1 Hutch. Hist. p. 166-7.
+2 Mass. Rec. p. 170-191. - The Sargeants' pay was 2s. and a private's 1s. per day.
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A. D. 1653. the transportation of provisions, either to the French or Dutch, An embar- under penalty of forfeiting both vessel and cargo. La Tour go. complained of this measure, as an undeserved severity towards him in his necessities ; and the General Court so far relaxed their order, as to permit a small vessel to be freighted thither with flour and other provisions for his relief ; intending probably to make a merit of the favor and use it as a boon to secure his good-will, and gain the influence of the French missionaries, whose ascend- ancy over the natives was a cause of dread.
Cromwell, when made acquainted with facts and circumstan- ces by the agents from New-Haven and other informants, put in requisition three or four ships, for the reduction of the Dutch colony at Manhadoes ; and called upon Massachusetts to afford the necessary assistance in the enterprize. But so great and unavoidable were the delays, that the ships did not arrive in Bos- A. D 1654. ton till June, 1654. However, in obedience to the Protector's directions, the General Court, on the 9th of that month, passed re- solves for encouraging the enlistment of 500 men,* to be com- manded by Maj. Robert Sedgwick of Charlestown, a man of popu- lar manners and military talents, and once a member of the cele- brated artillery-company in London ; and Capt. John Leverett, of Boston, a correct tactician, and an animated patriot.t The ex- pedition was not unpopular, yet ere the forces were ready to Peace June embark, news arrived, June 23d, that articles of peace had been signed on the 5th of April,¿ and that all hostilities must conse- quently cease between the English and Dutch colonies.§
23.
Reduction of Nova Scotia.
If this were a disappointment, it was followed by an expedition far more interesting to the eastern colonists, than the conquest of Manhadoes ;- that was, the projected capture of Nova Scotia. Twenty-two years had elapsed, since the country had been ceded or resigned by the treaty of St. Germains to the French ;- an arbitrary transaction of the king, which the republicans in Eng- land and in the colonies of Massachusetts, New-Hampshire and Maine, heartily disrelished and secretly censured. Cromwell had a thorough knowledge of British rights, and the preceding intrigues of the crown; and though it was a time of profound
* 2 Mass, Rec. p. 226 .- 1 Haz. Coll. p. 587-595.
{ Elliot's Biog. Dic. p. 297.
§ 2 Mass. Rec. p. 233.
# 1 Haz. Coll. p. 589.
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OF MAINE.
CHAP. X.]
peace between him and France, he determined to subject the A. D. 1654. whole region of Nova Scotia to the government of the nation, as an act of justice.
Accordingly he gave secret, informal instructions to the cap- tains of the ships, before they left England, that when they had reduced the Dutch colony, *- to turn their arms against Nova Scotia and make conquest of it ; and consequently the expedi- tion was undertaken without loss of time.
The ships met with no resistance at Penobscot, nor yet at the river St. John, t the place of la Tour's principal fortress and immediate residence .¿ He was wholly unprepared to repel such an unexpected invasion ; and neither interest, nor ambition, nor any affection for his sovereign could arouse his opposition. In- deed, he manifested no great reluctance to undergo a change of masters, provided he could be protected in the enjoyment of his ease and his estate. The English in a few weeks subjugated the whole Province, § Port-Royal capitulating in August, || when the temporary command of the country was entrusted to Capt. Leverett.
The French complained of this, as an unprovoked outrage in time of peace, and laid the case before the English cabinet ; alleging, that they owned the country by cession, and also by a purchase of the English right, at the dear rate of £5,000 sterl- ing. But the court of the Protector refused to restore it ;- claiming it under an older and paramount title, and supposing the cession was never fairly made and completed, nor any engage- ment to pay purchase-money performed. The next season, the A. D. 1655. whole Acadian Province was confirmed to the English, " who vince con- The Pro- held it thirteen years ; after which it was re-surrendered under the English: firmed to the treaty of Breda .** During the French occupancy, M. Denys and le Borgne were part owners of the Province, the latter being
* 1 Doug. Sum. p. 306. + 1 Hutch. Hist. p. 169.
# 1 Doug. Sum. p. 306-7.
§ Mass. Letter Book, p. 103.
|| 1 Chalmers, p. 187.
T Holmes' A. Ann. p. 301.
** Hub. N. E. p. 550 .- The names of the places captured, and particu- larly noticed, were Pentagoet, St. John's, Port-Royal ; La Heve, eastward of Liverpool on the south shore of the peninsula ; Cape-Sable, the south- western extremity of the peninsula ; fort la Tour, west of Cape-Sable ; Cape-Fourcha midway between the N. and S. shore, at the west end of the peninsula .- Lockwood.
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THE HISTORY
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A. D. 1655. a Governor of the country,-an arbitrary and a bigoted catholic. The priests bore rule ; and the soldiers, engaged in reducing the French settlements, reported, that they occasionally found scripts of the friars, and schedules of their rules and maxims, or modern " phylacteries," by which they resolved to govern their own con- duct, guide their disciples, and direct political affairs .*
La Tour's death and character.
La Tour, who was in immediate possession of the interior country, upon the bay Fundy, had "the Province previously confirmed to him by the court of France, on his renouncing the protestant religion."+ But he died not long after the late subju- gation :- a man of equivocal character, either catholic or pro- testant, as was most concomitant with interest. He possessed specious talents without honor, punctuality, or principle. He was a subject of great vicissitudes. D'Aulney captured and plundered his fortification, and kept his wife a prisoner till her death. For a period, he was a voluntary exile. After a second marriage, he rebuilt his fortress, which Donee demolished, be- cause it encroached upon the royal prerogative. Once and again was he wealthy, and as often poor, and sometimes distressed. He borrowed money in Boston, and afterwards of M. Belleisle, a rich French trader to North America, and mortgaged his pro- vincial possessions several times for security ; and yet he never made his creditors any payments. He left one heir and a large territorial estate.
Temple, Gov. of Nova Sco- tia.
After the French had conceded and confirmed the country to England, Cromwell erected it into a Province, and appointed Sir Thomas Temple, Governor. # It was a territory considered of great value ; and Temple and one William Crown aspired to become Proprietary Lords of it, or at least the owners of exten- sive tracts.
In the meantime, Stephen de la Tour produced such docu- mental evidence of his right to very large territories, as an inher- itance from his father, that Cromwell was induced to confirm his ancestral claim to the extent proved. But neither the father nor son ever exhibited any title to lands southerly of the Passama- quoddy waters, and a moiety of their northern possessions was embarrassed by Belleisle's incumbrance ; yet the soil of the great
* Hubbard's N. E. p. 550. + 39 Universal Hist. p. 256.
# 1 Hutchinson's Hist. p. 190 .- Temple was a kinsman of Lord Say.
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CHAP. X.]
peninsula, an immense region, principally remained ungranted. A. D. 1656. Some parts of this section might have been purchased by Temple and Crown, as we believe it was ; for we find that the Lord Pro- tector gave to them and la Tour a joint charter* in 1656, by which he granted to them and their heirs forever, 'the territory A joint ' sometimes called L'Accadia, and that part of the country call- Nova Scotia charter of ' ed Nova Scotia, from Merliquash [Lunenburg] to Penobscot, Temple and to la Tour, ' the river St. George, and the Muscongus-situated on the con- Crown. ' fines of New-England.'
It is stated by one author, f that the grantees were " heredit- ary" or proprietary governors ; and yet it is certain that on the 18th and 20th of September, the same year, (1656,) Cromwell directed Capt. Leverett, the commander at Penobscot and the river St. John, to deliver up the country to Col. Temple only ; adding, that he had received a commission to govern it, from Merliquash on the east, to St. Georges, near Muscongus, on the west .¿ In this way a large part of Maine fell within his juris- diction. However, before Sir Thomas embarked for America, he and Crown purchased of la Tour all the right and title of his father or himself to Nova Scotia, or Acadia, and took from him a regular legal assignment.§
Sir Thomas first came to New-England in 1657.|| In enter-
A. D. 1657. ing upon the duties of his office, he opened a lucrative trade in Col. Tem- his province, IT and continued Proprietary Governor ten years. He acter. ple's char- was a gentleman of humane and generous disposition, remarka- bly free from the bigotry and religious prejudices of the times. To cite an instance of his disinterestedness,-when the courts of Massachusetts were trying Quakerism, as a capital crime, in 1660 ; he went and told them, that if they, according to their own declaration, 'desired the Quakers' lives absent, rather than their deaths present,' he would carry them away and provide for them at his own expense. 'Yes, and should any of them return,' said he, 'I will again remove them.' ** Two years afterwards, he
* The charter runs to Claude, the father, and enures to the son .- See the charter in French .- 1 Haz. Coll. p. 616-19 .- Chalmers, p. 187.
t Palairet, p. 14 .- Or the charter might have been drafted before the father's death.
Į Mass. Letter Book, p. 104.
§ Palairet, p. 10-15. || 1 Hutch. Hist. p. 190. TT Sullivan, p. 158. ** He did not succeed to his mind, and the quakers, at least some of them, were executed .- 1 Hutch. Hist. p. 184 (Note +.)-He was a great friend to Massachusetts .- 1b. p. 194.
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A. D. 1657. was recommissioned to the same office of Provincial Governor, by his restored sovereign ; and at some period he seems to have been considered the sole proprietor of the country.
Mistakes in the charter of Crom- well.
It is worthy of particular notice in this place, that the phrase- ology and terms of Cromwell's patent to la Tour, Temple and Crown, have proved to be the grounds or causes of endless con- fusion, and severe conflicts. Both Acadia and Nova Scotia are mentioned, yet the limits and extent of them, as expressed, have long perplexed the ablest statesmen ; or in other words, the lan- guage of Cromwell's charter has been urged by opponents to shew, that Nova Scotia must have embraced another and greater region, than what is contained in the charter to Sir William Alex- ander.
It was beyond doubt the design of Cromwell to confirm the soil and freehold to the patentees, as vested rights, and for that purpose to express himself in the charter, so broadly and spe- cifically, that all French claims might be forever barred-never again to be revived with success. For, in the language of the charter, he granted the 'territory called Acadia, a part of the ' country called Nova Scotia, extending from Merliquash and in- ' cluding the port and cape la Heve, Cape Sable, port la Tour ' or l'Esmeron, Cape Fourcha, the cape, river or bay of St. Ma- ' ry's, Port-Royal, the region about the bay of Fundy, and the ' bay and fort of St. John's, the region of Pentagoet and the river ' St. George, near Muscongus, situate about the confines of New- ' England :'-In this, it was a great mistake and misfortune to have called Acadia a part of Nova Scotia, extending it to the river St. George ; or to have considered them " as two different countries, which were in truth the same."* For Acadia never had any other southern limit, than that of latitude in the 40th de- gree, mentioned in king Henry's charter to de Monts, A. D. 1603; whereas the southern extent of Nova Scotia, was well understood to be limited and bounded by the river St. Croix, as described, A. D. 1621, in the charter of king James to Alexan- der ; and both extended over the same territory eastwardly, to the shores below the gulf of St. Lawrence. A general recession afterwards, without limitation, laid open all the difficulties.
1 Chalmers, p. 188. - 1 Holmes' A. Ann. p. 368, Note 4
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365
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CHAPTER XI.
The New-Plymouth patent of Kennebeck-Dificulties there-A meeting of the people called-A code of rules and regulations adopted-A local Court established-The trade of the patent leased several years-The trade declines and becomes extinct- The patent sold-The period and value of the trade-The pop- ulation-Remarks.
THE trade and interests of the New-Plymouth colony at Ken- A. D. 1649 nebeck, were at this period, in a state of decline. The judicious to 1652. Kennebeck and rigid rules and regulations of the colonial government pre- patent, scribed, for cultivating an honest and honorable intercourse with the natives, were not strictly observed. There was a diminution of game and furs; an increasing number of traders; and an avaricious disposition manifested, by temporary residents, to ac- quire gains in any event. The parent colony was too remote to enforce her laws with uncompromising energy ; and the local administration of justice was a mere conservation of the peace. There was another fact of some importance. The territorial Difficulties right and title of the colony, especially her claim from Merry- there. meeting-bay to the sea, was called in question. Therefore, about this time, Jeremisquam, Sebascodegan, and other islands in the vicinity, were purchased of the natives; when the practice of obtaining 'Indian Deeds' became fashionable, till nearly the whole patent was covered by them. The execution of one was proved before the Governor of Massachusetts ;*- a circum- stance connected with others, which served to recognize the na- tives' rights to some extent, without regard to prohibitory laws.
Beset by discouragements on all sides, the Plymouth colony, in consideration of £50+ yearly rent, leased the trade three years, ending June 8, 1652, to a committee of five distinguished
* In A. D. 1648, a Sagamore conveyed to Governor Bradford, all the lands on both sides of the river to Wessarunset. Squam Island and others were purchased in 1649.
+ Sullivan, p. 144-5-296; and Book of Claims.
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A. D. 1652, colonists,* viz. Gov. Bradford, and Messrs. Winslow, Prince, Millet and Paddy. Still the difficulties and embarrassments were not diminished ; and the colony spread her complaints before Parliament. To prevent encroachments and promote tranquil- lity, the Council of State " granted letters under the great seal, confirming and enlarging her trade within the patent ; and required all the English residents upon the river Kennebeck, to render im- plicit submission to the colonial government, in all their civil and social concerns." An attempt was then made to revive the trade ; and New-Plymouth, at the expiration of the first lease, extended it three years longer ; requiring the lessees themselves, or some of them, to reside continually within the patent, under a penalty of forfeiting the trade.
A. D. 1653. March 7. A conven- tion called there.
The next year, March 7, 1653, the General Court of that colony, appointed Thomas Prince, who was one of the Council, a commissioner to summon the inhabitants together at some con- venient place upon the river, for these purposes, viz. 1, to take the oath of fidelity to the governments of England and New- Plymouth, or otherwise leave the patent territory : 2, to be made acquainted with the colony laws, applicable to them, and establish suitable rules and regulations to guide and govern them in their civil affairs : and 3, to choose assistants, who were to aid the commissioner, in framing and executing the orders to be adopt- ed and settled.
A. D. 1654.
In pursuance of a warrant issued by the commissioner to the marshal of New-Plymouth, May 15th, 1654, the inhabitants upon the river Kennebeck were summoned to convene on the 23d, at the house of Thomas Ashly, near the margin of Merrymeeting- bay. Accordingly Prince, the commissioner, was met by 16 men of that immediate neighborhood,f to whom, after he had pub- lished his commission, he administered the oath, prescribed in the following words :- -
* Morton's Memorial, p. 135-147.
t Their names were these ; Thomas Ashley ; Thomas Atkins ; John Brown, [of Woolwich ;] James Cole ; William Davis; Emanuel Heyes ; William James ; Thomas Parker ; John Parker, [of Parker's Island ; THO- MAS PURCHAS, GENTLEMAN, of Pegypscot; John Richards of Jeremis- quam ; James Smith ; John Stone ; Alexander Thawyt; Thomas Webber, and John White .- It is supposed Atkins lived on a bay above Small Point, since called by his name.
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" You shall be true and faithful to the State of England as it A. D. 1654. "is now established ; and, whereas, you choose to reside within Regulations "the government of New-Plymouth, you shall not do, nor cause " to be done, any act or acts, directly or indirectly, by land or " water, that shall, or may tend to the destruction or overthrow " of the whole or part of this government, orderly erected or es- " tablished ; but shall contrariwise hinder, and oppose such in- " tents and purposes as tend thereunto, and discover them to " those who are in place, for the time being ; that the government " may be informed thereof with all convenient speed :- You shall " also submit to and observe all such good and wholesome laws, " ordinances and officers, as are or shall be established, within " the several limits thereof .- So help you God, who is the God " of truth and punisher of falsehood."*
This little convention of sworn freemen, under the Commis- sioner, as presiding officer, elected Thomas Purchas, Assistant, and John Ashly, Constable ; and established a code of succinct orders, or ordinances, classed in this manner .- Firstly-All capital crimes, such as treason against England or these colo- nies ; wilful murder ; solemn converse or compact with the devil, by way of conjuration or witchcraft; the wilful burning of houses ; sodomy ; rape ; and adultery, were to be tried by the General Court at New-Plymouth.
Secondly-The trials of other crimes were within the juris- diction of the Commissioner's and Assistants' Court .- Theft was punishable by restitution of three or four fold, according to the na- ture of the offence and the discretion of the local Court. The convicted drunkard was finable 5s. for the first offence-10s. for the second-and for the third, he was to set in the stocks. Pro- faning wilfully the Lord's day was punishable according to the assistants' discretion. As the Indians when intoxicated were often guilty of " much horrid wickedness," even " the murder of their nearest relations ;" it was ordered, that every inhabitant selling them any strong liquor, should for the first offence forfeit double, and for the second, four fold, the value sold : and for the third, he should forever be debarred the privilege of trading with them. If the wrongdoer were a stranger, his fine for the
* See the Records of Plymouth Colony, legibly copied by order of the General Court, and deposited in the office of Secretary of State-Boston.
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A. D. 1654 first transgression was £10, and for the second £20; one half Regulations to the informer and the other half to public uses.
Thirdly-In the prudential regulations established :- All fish- ing and fowling were expressly continued free to every inhabit- ant. If " beaver or moose" were presented to any one, for bar- ter by the Indians upon the river, a trade with them was to be free, provided no prohibited article was sold to them. All ac- tions between party and party were to be tried before a jury of twelve men ; but no civil cause above £20 sterling was tria- ble in the local Courts, without the consent of both parties ; such belonging to the jurisdiction of the Courts at New-Ply- mouth .- The next term of the commissioner's or local Court was appointed to be holden at the same place,* the Tuesday after the 20th of the ensuing May ; and probably from year to year in that month.
T'rade .
An exclusive right to the fur and peltry trade, and the fishe- ries within the patent, had exalted the expectations of the peo- ple at New-Plymouth, to a height altogether unreasonable. They would not believe those interests and enterprizes were un- dergoing a decline, which must assuredly disappoint their hopes. The public mind was full of conjecture ; till a strange jealousy called in question the wisdom, and carefulness of the lessees, though they were the first men in the colony.
Seven years' lease.
In February, 1655, all the towns in the government were re- quired to express their opinions upon the course which had been pursued, or ought to be adopted, and especially upon the expedi- ency of leasing the patent any longer. This educed a spirited though temperate legislative discussion, resulting in a further lease for seven years, at £35 annual rent, to be paid half-yearly, in money, moose or beaver at the current prices. By the leasehold-indenture, Bradford, Prince, and Willet, the lessees, engaged to improve the trade in a manner most beneficial as well to the country as themselves; and to resign the lease, if any town should be dissatisfied with the terms.
But nothing had the effect to abate the popular discontent and jealousy ; and the General Court, at the July session, appointed a committee of four, to confer with the Council, or magistrates upon the subject ; to inquire into all the affairs of the patent,-
* 1 Haz. Col. p. 586 .- New-Plymouth Colony records.
CHAP. XI. ]
OF MAINE. 369
the regulations and government within it-the agency of Mr. A. D. 1655. Paddy-and the accounts of the treasurer ; and to take meas- ures for securing the public powder and property, and repairing, particularly, Jones' river bridge.
This investigation had a beneficial influence upon public opin- ion. It was at length perceived, that the discouragements were in consequence of events and incidents, which it was impossible to control. The facilities in taking game, gradually diminished. The deeds of the Indians conveyed rights, which they could not understand. Their hunting grounds were sometimes occupied or claimed by English hunters or sportsmen. For it was necessary, that the lessees should often underlet to applicants, though they were equivocal characters. The business of hunting and trad- ing, was less profitable than formerly ; the value of commodities exchanged for furs being better understood. The Indians were ill-natured and jealous,-the proselytes, if not the dupes, of the catholic missionaries, who were without intermission among the tribes .*
Amidst these increasing evils, the trade was let, in 1656-7-8, A. D. 1656 at the same annual rent of £35; a sum which, though small, the to 1659. lessees found they could not afford to pay a fourth year. A man- ifesto was therefore issued, July 7, 1659, by the New-Plymouth executive, which publicly stated, that there were unhappily " troubles among the Indians" themselves upon the river, some having been killed or carried away, and all of them too much discouraged to pursue their hunting with any ambition ; that seri- ous losses were already apprehended from the cessation of trade ; and that the towns were in duty bound to instruct their dep- uties, what measures should be adopted to prevent its becoming utterly extinct.
At the October session, the trade was leased a year for the The trade paltry pittance of only £10, free of embarrassments and out- tinct. standing dues, upon condition of permitting the Indians never to owe at one time, more than 500 skins. This lease was the last.
nearly ex-
* Father Gabriel Dreuilletts, the first catholic missionary, to the Cani- bas Indians, commenced a residence in the wilderness of Kennebeck, in 1646 .- 1 Charlevoix, N. F. p. 435 .- This author also says, ' the Capuchin priests had a trading house and religious hospital at Pentagoet, in the same year, 1646.' Dreuilletts was succeeded by James Bigot and Vincent Big- ot, father and son, and by Father Rallè.
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A. D. 1660. The next year, the lessees took home their agents, laborers and estates ; and the General Court granted to any volunteers the liberty of trade upon the river, without lease or price, proposing to sell the whole patent for £500.
October 27. The patent sold.
A sale at last was negotiated by a Committee of three, appoint- A. D. 1661. ed for the purpose ; and on the 27th of October, 1661,* the patent was conveyed to Artepas Bois, Edward Tyng, Thomas Brattle and John Winslow, for £400 sterling ; the deed of as- signment being executed by eleven gentlemen who call themselves a committee.t
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