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 40
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Aware of these proceedings, the General Court in December, presented addresses both to the king and parliament. In one, Parliament. they congratulated him on his restoration to the throne of his fath- ers, and besought him not to permit unfavorable impressions to be made " upon his royal heart," by their accusers, till opportu- nity was allowed for defence; and in the other, they said they had extended their jurisdiction over the eastern planta- tions upon request of the inhabitants, after a careful survey of the patent, without any design improperly to enlarge their own do- minions, much less to impair the rights of any man.}
The Isles of Shoals, attached partly to Maine, and partly to
* Hutch. Coll. p. 322. + Hutch. Coll. p. 317.
# Hutch. Coll .- The General Court also sent letters to several noble- men and others " praying them to intercede in behalf of the colony." -- 1 Hutch. Hist. p. 194.
CHAP. XIV.] OF MAINE. 401
New-Hampshire, were at this period inhabited by about forty A D. 1661. families. Being places of note and great resort, the General Isles of Court, in May 1661, incorporated them into a town by the name of Shoals called Ap- APPLEDORE, and invested it with the powers and privileges pledore. of other towns. As before stated, the first settlers and their de- scendants were a moral and industrious people, distinguished for their intelligence and love of justice and the christian ordi- nances .*
The pious and popular ministry of the Rev. John Brock, Rev. J. among these islanders, for twelve years from 1650, is worthy of Brock. particular notice. He came to New-England when a youth, and was one of the graduates at Harvard College, in 1647. From early life, he was distinguished for his remarkable piety ; and in the pastoral office, he has been compared to the martyr Stephen, " full of faith and of the Holy Ghost." His animated discourses and frequent lectures excited and kept alive a glow of religious feeling in the heart; and gave a high relish to public worship. In his pastoral visits, his happy talent in conversation rendered him engaging and instructive to every capacity. A couple of anecdotes show some peculiarities of this godly man.
A fisherman of generous disposition, whose boat had been of great use in helping the people from the Islands to the house of worship on the Sabbath, had the misfortune in a storm to lose it. While regretting his loss, the man of God said to him, Go home contented, good Sir, I'll mention the matter to the Lord,-to- morrow you may expect to find your boat .- Considering its par- ticular service to the poor, he made it a subject of prayer ; and the next day, it was brought up from the bottom, by the flukes of an anchor, and restored to him .- One Arnold's child of six years old, lay extremely sick, if not really dead. Mr. Brock, suppos- ing he could perceive some possible signs of life, arose, and with his usual faith and fervor, prayed for its restoration ; using these words towards the close, O Lord, be pleased to give some token before we leave prayer, that thou wilt spare the child's life. Un- til it be granted we cannot leave thee :-- and the child sneezed, and afterwards recovered .¡
* Ante, A. D. 1639.
t Mather's Magnalia, p. 32 .- 7 Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc. p. 254 .- He died at Reading, 1688, aged 68. VOL. I.
38
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[VOL. I.
A. D. 1661. Quite the reverse was the character of Robert Jordan. He Jordan and had given Massachusetts repeated trouble; and now the political Thorpe.
changes evidently emboldened him in his irregularities. On a Sabbath after the close of public worship he presumed to baptize in Falmouth three children, though he was not then in priest's orders, having been suspended by Massachusetts. As he and Wales, their father, were holding offices under that colony, the General Court thought it their duty to make an example of the assuming man ; and after giving him a severe reprimand, com- manded him to transgress no more. The same Body also sus- pended one Thorpe from preaching, till his misdeeds could un- dergo a legal investigation before the County Court of Yorkshire. In fact, so powerful a preventive of "disorder, ignorance, and profaneness," was " an able and orthodox ministry" thought to be at this period, that the Legislature in 1661, enjoined upon Wells, Saco, and Scarborough, to procure religious instructers of that character, otherwise they must expect to suffer the animad- versions of the law .*
Decision in favor of Ma- and others. The committee of Parliament, reported upon the representa- son, Gorges tions of Mason, Gorges, Godfrey and others, that they were the lawful proprietors of extensive tracts in New-England, and had expended large sums of money in settling them ;- that the latter, a zealous friend and uniform supporter of the known laws of the realm, who had resided in the territories of Maine twenty-five years, and been a considerable part of that period, Governor of the Province, had been displaced from that office, and dispossessed of his lands and estate, about the year 1652, by the government of Massachusetts, which after stretching their patent three score miles beyond its settled bounds, had made actual en- croachments upon the eastern plantations, and compelled them " by menaces and armed forces," to submit to the usurped au- thorities of that colony ; that her inhabitants had been a long time, endeavoring to model themselves into a Commonwealth, in- dependent of the crown, exacting oathis inconsistent with their allegiance, issuing writs in their own name, coining money, and disallowing appeals to England ; and that in the opinion of many witnesses, Mason and Godfrey have themselves been damnified
* Mass. Rec. p. 472, 482-485 .- 3 Ib. p. 5, 13.
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CHAP. XIV.]
at least £5,000, with what pretence of right, your committee A. D. 1662. have been unable to ascertain .*
Nevertheless, the General Court received from Charles a gra- Charles cious answer to their addresses, proclaimed him king, August His require- proclaimed. 7th, and according to his requirement sent to England two agents, ments. viz : Mr. Simon Bradstreet and Mr. John Norton.t These men, though well received, returned early the next summer, bringing with them the act of uniformity, by which about 2000 dissenting ministers were removed from their livings ; and also the King's letter, by which the charter of Massachusetts was fully confirm- ed .¿ It moreover ordered justice to be administered in his name ; the book of the common prayer to be used whenever wished ; the admission of any persons to the Lord's supper, who were sustain- ing fair characters, also their children to baptism ; and the per- mission of all freeholders, having competent estates, to vote in elec- tions, without regard to their religious persuasions. All these, which had in general been previously conceded to the people of Maine, were, with no unnecessary delay, allowed in practice, or subsequently sanctioned by enactments of the General Court.
The symptoms of revolution in Maine appeared every where Revolution strong. Although the towns, including Appledore, might send ten in Maine. or eleven deputies to the General Court, not one this spring was returned. The body politic was dissolving ; many men of influ- ence discovering great defection to Massachusetts. Indeed, it is said, that Gorges had resumed the Government of the Province by appointing several men to office ;§ and was united with others, in urging the king to commission and send over a Governor-Gen- eral of New-England including New-York.
To counteract these movements, the General Court displaced Opposed by Nicholas Shapleigh, and appointed William Phillips of Saco, Ma- Massachu- setts jor-commandant of the provincial militia ; and before the usual
* 1 Belk. N. H. app. p. 300. + 1 Hutch. Hist. p. 199-200.
İ Answer entire-Hutch. Coll. p. 377-80 .- The associates in 1662 were Henry Joscelyn, A. Preble, Ed. Rishworth, Humphrey Chadbourn and George Mountjoy.
§ 1 Hutch. Hist. p. 234 .- Note-The agent of Gorges, Mr. J. Archdale came into Maine with commissions to F. Champernoon, Robert Cutts and T. Withers of Kittery, E. Rishworth and F. Raynes of York, J. Bowles of Wells, F. Hooke of Saco, H. Watts of Blue-point, H. Joscelyn of Black- point, R. Jordan of Spurwink, Francis Neal of Casco and Thomas Purchas of Pejepscot, as councillors or magistrates.
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A D. 1663. time of holding the County Court in Yorkshire, directed Richard Waldron of Dover (N. H.) to preside and discharge the ordina- ry business of the term. The Legislature furthermore sent a precept to the people of Maine, which was promulgated through the recorder and the constables, to all the towns. It was in these words :---
" To the Inhabitants of Yorkshire."
"You and every of you are hereby required in his Majesty's " name, to yield faithful and true obedience to the government of " this jurisdiction, established amongst you, according to your cov- " enant articles, until his Majesty's pleasure be further known,"*
Early the next year, Massachusetts, in support of her author- ity, sent them a mandatory address, by which they were required to choose associates, clerks of the writs, jurors, town commission- ers, and constables ; to yield due obedience to the laws and the legislative commissioners; and to discharge their duties with fidelity whether official or civil, The excitement had now in a good degree abated. Three deputies were returned to the Gen- eral Court from the Province, viz ; Roger Plaisted for Kittery, Edward Rishworth for York, and George Cleaves for Falmouth and Scarborough.
The Assistants, Thomas Danforth, William Hawthorne, and Eleazer Lusher, who were appointed to hold the Yorkshire Court Trials of of- this year, were instructed to confirm any officer, whether civil or military, whom they could approve; and to punish every one pretending to possess or exercise adverse civil authority, unless he could show it derived immediately from the king.t
fenders.
Complaints, unusual in number and novel in character, were presented to this court, many of which were the fruits of the late disturbances. Some ten or twelve were fined or otherwise punished, for acts of opposition to the government of Massachu- setts ; and several for their contemptuous or slanderous abuses of its authority or officers. James Wiggin, being indicted for swearing with a profane oath, that if his trencher of fish was poi- son, he would give it to the ' Bay magistrates,' was tried and
* 3 Mass. Rec. p, 53-58.
+ 3 Mass. Rec. p. 59 .- The associates, in 1663, were George Mountjoy, Humphrey Chadbourn, and Edward Rishworth .- A fine was imposed upon Robert Ford for saying ' John Cotton was a liar and had gone to hell,'- Sullivan, p. 373.
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sentenced to pay a fine and give bonds for his good behavior. A. D. 1663 When arraigned, he protested against the jurisdiction of the court, and said he was a marshal under Gorges, and they had no right to try him .- William Hilton of Cape Porpoise, was found guilty of tearing a seal from the warrant, issued for choosing a deputy to the General Court, and for this contempt of authority he was fined .* Even the town of Scarborough, as a municipal corpo- ration, was fined for acts of disobedience ; and unhappily among those who were arraigned, censured and fined for offences of this class and character, was Francis Champernoon, who had been a councillor under Gorges' charter ; Robert Jordan, the episcopal minister at Spurwink ; Maj. Shapleigh, who had commanded the Yorkshire regiment of militia and been an associate, and Fran- cis Small who was a man of wealth and enterprise.+
The dissensions and conflicts about the political powers, rights, and will of competitors, which always weaken the foundations of society, had in the present instance an effect to bring into doubt the validity of many land-titles and grants. To prevent disqui- etude therefore, the General Court, in 1663, confirmed to the ter-tenants nearly all the lands in Falmouth, and seem to have allowed purchases to be made of the Indians. Nicholas Shap- leigh and Francis Small, about this time, purchased of them a large tract between the Ossipee rivers, which have ever since been holden under their deeds.
For the purpose of enabling the rulers and proprietors of No- Nova Sco- va Scotia or Acadia, after the conquest by Cromwell's orders, to tia. defray the expenses of supporting the provincial government and garrisons ; it was generally expected, that they were to have the exclusive control and profits of the Indian trade.# This privi- lege, the General Court of Massachusetts fully confirmed, by passing a penal act against transgressors ; and for several years, the intercourse and commerce, coastwise, between New-England
* R. Boothe was presented by the grand jury, for saying of the Bay magistrates " they are a company of hypocritical rogues: they fear neither God nor the king."
t Sullivan .- There were a great number of other presentments by the Grand Jury for acts of opposition to the Massachusetts government. R. Jordan was presented for saying among other things, " the Governor of Boston is a rogue, and all the rest thereof rebels and traitors against the king."-Folsom, p 92-3. # 1 Hutch. Coll. p. 254 : A. D. 1654.
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A. D. 1663. and the province while Col. Temple was Governor, was pursued with mutual benefit and friendship. The generous dispositions and acknowledged abilities and merits of that gentleman, secured to him great credit and confidence among all parties. He seems to have been one who escaped the umbrage both of republicans and royalists. After discharging the duties of Governor, with so much reputation under the Protector, he was re-commissioned by the king, July 17, 1662, to the same office, with an equally ex- tensive jurisdiction, from the eastern extremity of the great pen- insula to " Muscongus on the confines of New-England," which he had previously possessed. The crown also secured to him an exclusive trade with the natives in his Province, and armed him with power to seize all persons found violating his rights, to con- fiscate their vessels and goods, and, after notice, to treat them as a common enemy. Also the General Court, ever desirous to promote a friendly correspondence with the Governor, strictly for- bade all violations of his rights, and gave him and his attorney the power and privilege of prosecuting offenders in any courts of the colony .*
The king and New- England.
Charles and the New-England puritans from the commence- ment of his reign, cherished a mutual fear and dislike of each other. He suspected their loyalty and attachment ; they, his disposition to assail their privileges. His ear was always open to accusers, while he was half-deaf to all the prayers and defen- sive reasons and truths they could offer. So violent and success- ful were the persecutions against the rights and claims of Mas- sachusetts in particular, that she not only feared the loss of New- Hampshire and Maine, but began to be apprehensive of having her own Charter taken from her. Therefore, the General Court appointed a committee of both branches, to keep it and a dupli- cate in separate places, thought by them the most safe and secure.+
A. D. 1664. Maine or- dered to be restored to Gorges.
On the 11th of January, 1664, Gorges obtained from the king an order to the Governor and Council of that colony, by which they were required forthwith to restore unto him his Province, and give him quiet possession of it; or else without delay assign their reasons for withholding it .¿ It was also rumored that several
* 3 Mass. Rec. p. 56-7.
+ 3 Ib. p. 89 .- 1 Hutch. Hist. p. 210-11 .- Chalmers, p. 254.
# 1 Hutch. Hist. p. 234 .- Note.
CHAP. XIV.
OF MAINE.
407
armed ships were preparing to cross the Atlantic, in which some A. D. 1664. gentlemen of distinction were to embark, and among them prob- ably, a Governor-General of New-England.
The project of formning an American Empire, embracing twelve Project of royal principalities, or Provinces, was revived soon after the res- pire. an A. Em- toration, and had been hitherto zealously pursued. To effectuate so important an establishment, and pacify conflicting and persevering petitioners, the king saw the necessity of reducing under his sub- jection the Dutch upon the Hudson, and of settling the trouble- some controversies in the eastern colonies of New-England ;- both which he undertook to accomplish.
the Duke of
In the first place, his Majesty, March 12, 1664, granted to his Charter to brother James, Duke of York and Albany, all the Dutch terri- York. tories upon the river Hudson, including Long Island, which he purchased of Henry, Earl of Sterling, son of Sir William Alex- ander, the original owner and patentee of Nova Scotia ;- to all which was given the name of New-York .* In negotiating with his lordship, the Duke became acquainted with the supposed west- ern parts and limits of the Nova Scotia Province ; and finding no royal grant extant, which covered the territory between St. Croix and Pemaquid, except those which were made when the New- England grand patent was dissolved, and the twelve royal Pro- vinces or divisions were projected and assigned, A. D. 1635; he caused this region to be inserted in the charter to James. It had been named the " County of Canada," and was intended for Sir William, in lieu of Nova Scotia, which had been taken from him by the crown and ceded to France.f
In the Duke's charter now granted, the territory is described Sagada- to be " all that part of the main land in New-England, beginning hock. " at a place known by the name of St. Croix, next adjoining to " New-England ; thence extending along the seacoast to a place " called Pemaquid and up the river thereof to its farthest head, " as it tendeth northward; thence at the nearest to the river " Kennebeck ; and so upwards, by the shortest course to the " river Canada, northward."}
This, besides being denominated ' The Duke of York's Prop- erty,' has been called "THE TERRITORY OF SAGADAHOCK :"
* 6 Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc. p. 187.
11 Trumbull's Conn. p. 266.
t Sec ante, A. D. 1635.
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A. D. 1664. But the Duke's agents called it "New-Castle," being the same name given to the south-western section of his patent on the Delaware. They also called it the 'County of Corn- wall.' *- By his thus becoming the territorial proprietor of these eastern and western regions of Sagadahock and New-York; the foundation was deeply laid for his appointment to the high office of viceroy over the whole intermediate country.+
The Duke, who was afterwards James II., continued his claim to his Sagadahock territory about 25 years, until his abdication ; when it reverted to the crown of England.
The Duke's patent.
This was a great encroachment upon the jurisdiction of Sir Thomas Temple, Governor of Nova-Scotia. Besides, if a line were stretched from the head of Pemaquid westward to Kenne- beck, it would cross the Damariscotta and Sheepscot at the upper falls, of those two rivers, and terminate at the Kennebeck nearly opposite the foot of Swan Island ; and in this way, the eastern moiety of the Plymouth claim above that place, would fall within the Duke's patent. It also embraced the greater part of the Pemaquid patent or "Drowne claim ;" all the "Brown" and some of the " Tappan right ;" and the whole of the Muscongus patent, to Beauchamp and Leverett.# The numerous islands along the seacoast are supposed likewise to be included, some of which were inhabited. The advancements in population, im- provement and wealth of these eastern plantations, though they were settled early, § had been quite gradual-probably owing in part to the evils suffered through inefficient legal regulations ; and therefore we find substantial reasons, why the people of the new Province were less opposed to a ducal or royal government.
Conquest of the Dutch colonists.
To subdue the Dutch Colonists at New-York, upon whom the duke was looking with the greater jealousy and dislike, on ac- count of their dissenting religious sentiments; the king despatch- ed thither four frigates and about 300 men, under the command of Colonel Richard Nichols, and Sir Robert Carr. Unprepared
* 1 Doug. Summ. p. 381 .- 1 Trum. Conn. p. 266.
+ Sullivan, p. 285 .- Hutch. Coll. 422.
Į See an account of these Grants and Rights, ante, Chap. iii. A. D. 1620 -31, chap. v. A. D. 1637 ;- viii. A. D. 1650.
§ Walter Phillips lived at Damariscotta lower falls, (New-Castle); A. Shurte at Pemaquid ; John Brown, at New Harbor; Sander Gould, at Broad Cove, on Broad Bay ; George Davie, at Wiscasset point; and John Mason, at Shecpscot Great Neck-men frequently mentioned in this age.
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OF MAINE.
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to resist a force so formidable, or to repel an attack so sudden A. D. 1664. and unexpected, the garrison capitulated, August 27th, and Nichols assumed the government of the Province, as Deputy- Governor under his Royal Highness ;*- claiming the command also of his eastern territories at Sagadahock.
Commiss sioners.
Moreover, to settle the pretended controversies in the interior Royal of New-England ; to bring those to justice, who had traduced the government of the realm, and brought the 'christian religion into discredit among the gentile or savage inhabitants of the land ;' and to ascertain more perfectly the state and condition of his loyal subjects in the colonies ; the king, on the 15th of April, ap- pointed Messrs. Nichols and Carr, George Cartwright and Samuel Maverick, Commissioners, and empowered them to hear and de- termine all complaints, appeals, and other matters coming before them, whether civil, military, or criminal-to proceed therein " according to their good and sound discretion," and thus " settle the peace and security of the country."+
* Smith's N. Y. p. 11-22 .- See 5 Hume, p. 435 -- 7 .- 1 Hutch. Hist. p. 212, 289 -Chalmers, p. 386.
t See this commission entire .- 1 Hutch. Hist. App .- No. XV. p. 459-60. Hubbard's N. E. p. 577-8 .- 2 Haz. Coll. p. 638 .- Nichols was a military officer of experience, and possessed a generous disposition, a weight of character, and a versatility of talents, which eminently qualified him to be placed at the head of the commission. He was the most popular of the four ; and no decision of the others without him was to be valid. Carr, a high-toned royalist and episcopalian, was violent in his feelings and super- ciliuus in his deportment-a man nowise fitted for his station. He died immediately on his return home, three years after his appointment, and thus was buried in oblivion all the philippics he had prepared against the colonies. Cartwright, though " naturally morose, saturnine and suspi- cious," possessed an energy of intellect which brought him into the com- mission, and qualified him for the discharge of difficult public business. On his homeward passage, he was made prisoner by the Dutch, and all his papers, including his note-book, designed by him to be used against the colonies, were taken from him, which he was never afterwards able to re- cover. Maverick, an inhabitant of Massachusetts, was a stubborn and restless royalist, greatly disaffected towards his countrymen, both on ac- count of their puritan principles and their blindness to his merits. He had spent two years in England after the restoration, constantly informing against the colony government, and urging the necessity of this commis- sion. As a reward for his works, he was appointed one of the board. The last act of Maverick, mentioned, was his bearing a message, three years afterwards from Colonel Nichols at New-York to the government at Boston Maverick's wife was the daughter of Rev. John Wheelwright of Wells.
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A. D. 1664. 'Their ser- vices.
When Col Nichols was at Boston, July 23d, on his way from England to New-York, he made public the Commission; and hence it soon became known throughout New-England .* Great and unhappy overturns were apprehended : nevertheless, the Bos- tonians adopted some measures to favor the expedition against the Dutch, which however, was 'crowned with success before " the auxiliaries were embodied.'t
A. D. 1665.
Having settled the government of New-York, the Commis- sioners proceeded to Boston in February, where they were re- ceived with undissembled jealousy, and were soon encountered with direct opposition. For the General Court at a previous session in August, after resolving in a formal manner "to bear " true allegiance to his Majesty," determined " to adhere to their " patent so dearly obtained and so long enjoyed ;" and addressed a memorial to the king, urging the validity of their chartered rights, which he himself had been pleased to sanction, and complaining to him of a commission, filled with strangers and foes, whose only limits of power and rules of conduct were their own " dis- " cretion." 'Under the present administration, our people,' said the Court, ' enjoy great contentment with a few exceptions ; and ' what government under heaven, they enquired, ever long existed 'entirely free of discontented spirits and disturbers of the ' peace.'}
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