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 55
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At the October session, the affairs of Maine were made the October, subject of legislative discussion. The territory was extensive,f ment of Maine. and the value evidently much greater than the price paid. The General Court, not unacquainted with the intrigues of royal cab- inets, were jealous that if they in any way parted with the country, it might become the property of the French ; and finding the con- dition of their funds improving, reconsidered their order passed a year since for selling it, and resolved to keep it.
A great question then aroset-how shall the Province be gov- erned? It was argued by some, that all the assignable rights and interest of Gorges were pecuniary, not political; that allegiance was personal, and civil power vested in an individual, was not transferable ; and that a public functionary could never delegate his authority ; the sale and purchase of office being a manifest
* Hon. David Sewall, A. D. 1794 .- 3 Collo Mass. Hist. Soc. p. 9-10 .- 1 Coll. Maine Hist. Soc. p. 295-6.
+ Supposed to be " 9,600 square miles."-1 Doug. p. 389 .== 80 by 120 miles. Į Sullivan, p. 384.
The governa
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A. D. 1679. outrage upon every principle of civil liberty .- But other reasons and arguments, appearing to be more satisfactory, prevailed. For the royal charter to Sir Ferdinando, passed unto him, " his heirs and assigns," the jurisdiction as well as the property. Massachu- setts in her corporate capacity, had by lawful purchase, become the assignee and lord proprietor of the Province ; as Lord Balti- more was of Maryland, and the Penns of Pennsylvania. Still, it was plain the Province must be governed according to the pro- visions and stipulations in the charter-not as a constituent of Massachusetts colony ; for, 1. she by the purchase had recog- nized a right in Gorges; and 2. the north-easterly limits of her own territory, had, by a late decision in 1677, been restricted to an imaginary line, three miles from the mouth and north bank of the Merrimack .*
A. D. 1680. February. Gorges' charter as- sumed.
It was determined, therefore, by the General Court, in Febru- ary, 1680, to assume the royal charter granted to Sir Ferdinando Gorges ; and in conformity with its provisions, to frame a civil administration over the Province. For this purpose, the general oversight and direction of its affairs were, by a legislative ordin- ance, committed to the Governor and Board of Colony Assistants. The government they established, was this-to have a Provin- cial President, chosen by them from year to year, and two legis- lative branches ;- the upper one was to be a Standing Council of eight members, and the other to be a popular delegation, con- sisting of deputies chosen by towns as in Massachusetts. The Council, who were to be appointed by the Board of Assistants, and continue in office during their pleasure, were to be the judges of a Supreme Court, and magistrates through the Province. The legislative body was to meet at least once in every year.
Thomas
The Board of Assistants then proceeded to elect a President, Danforth P. and the choice fell upon THOMAS DANFORTH, at that time Deputy- President. Governor of Massachusetts.| He was a gentleman of handsome talents, and good education, and at this period, possessed a great weight of character. He was born in England, A. D. 1622, came over in early life, and before 1679, the first year of his
* 4 Mass Rec. p. 173-13.
{ As Mr. Danforth's residence was in Cambridge ( Mass.), when he was absent from Maine, his place was supplied by a Deputy-President, pro tempore. B. Pendleton, and J. Davis were Deputy-Presidents.
559
OF MAINE.
CHAP. XXI.]
being Deputy-Governor, he had been twenty years an Assistant. A. D. 1680. Besides being president of the board of Commissioners of the United Colonies, he had previously for several terms presided in the County Court of Yorkshire. His wisdom, firmness and prudence, qualified him to conduct difficult public affairs with success ; and his uncompromising opposition to arbitrary power, and his high-minded republican politics, rendered him preem- inent in popular estimation. He held the office of President of Maine, till the dissolution of the Massachusetts charter .*
To assist President Danforth in organizing and arranging the Province civil affairs of the Province, and holding a term of the judicial govern- ment. courts, the present season, the Board of Assistants, after the Gen- eral Election in May, appointed Samuel Nowel, a special commis- sioner. He was an Assistant this year, and the next, he was appointed against his will, to the office of joint agent with Mr. Stoughton to England. He had been a minister of the gospel,t was a man of reflection and good sense, and in politics, strongly attached to the high republican party of his times.
Several obstacles lay in the way of their progress, which the General Court found it difficult to remove. There were royal- ists and episcopalians in the Province and elsewhere, always com- plaining to the crown against Massachusetts, and never willing to be her subjects ; and the king himself was still pursuing his de- mand of the country. In his address to the General Court, about this time, he says,-' It is marvellous that you should exclude ' from office, gentlemen of good lives and estates, merely because ' they do not agree with you in the congregational way ; espe- ' cially since liberty of conscience was the principal motive of ' your first emigration. Nor is this the only thing to be noticed. ' The title-deeds of Maine, we expect will be surrendered to the ' crown, on the advancement of the purchase-money and interest.
* He was after this among the most prominent opponents to Governor Andros' administration, and acted as president of the Council, when the people took the government from him. Restored to the office of Deputy- Governor, on the re-assumption of colony authorities, he continued to hold it till the charter of William and Mary ; under which, in 1695, he was appointed one of the judges of the Supreme Court of Judicature. He died at his seat in Cambridge, A. D. 1699, aged 77. His only son, Samuel, a graduate at Harvard, died in England, 1771 .- See the Biog. Dictionaries of Rer. Dr. Allen and Rev. Dr. Elliot. Article Danforth Thomas. + 1 Hutch. Coll. p. 535.
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A. D. 1680. . We likewise mention to you, " the acts of trade and navigation," ' passed A. D. 1672, for the whole of New-England, and inform ' you, we have appointed under them, our trusty and well beloved ' subject, Edward Randolph, collector, surveyor, and searcher.'*
Randolph's representa- lions:
Randolph, the evil genius of the country, who first visited it four years before, was already here, engaged in the exercise of his office. He was the emissary of the Lords Commissioners of foreign plantations, to whom he made long and exaggerated statements. He early undertook the vindication of Edmund An- dros, in all his measures as well at Sagadahock as New-York. To his judicious management, Randolph imputed the late peace with the Indians ; and represented, that if, according to his ad- vice, the Mohawks had been sooner introduced into the public service, the war might have been shortened and many of its ca- lamities averted. He even presumed to assert that the people of Massachusetts, especially " the Bostoners," had a strong antipa- thy to Sir Edmund, and at one time had greatly interrupted the trade between that colony and New-York ; and that while they were giving countenance to an illicit trade with the Acadians, they were exciting among the eastern inhabitants great jealousies to- wards that people, and encouraging a most shameful Indian traffic. Yes, said he, the Indians " to get their fill of rum and brandy, will strip themselves to their skins ;" and then the depositaries of the law will whip and fine them for drunkenness. In a word, Massachusetts, according to his representations, was coining money, making laws averse to those of the mother country, pur- chasing dominions, and aiming to be a free state.t
To such aspersions, the colony rulers were ready to repeat, as often as it was expedient, the facts previously stated to the min- istry, through the medium of a letter addressed to the Earl of Sunderland, in which they say, 'our lives and treasures have 'been unsparingly sacrificed to rescue Maine from the utter ruin ' attempted by a barbarous and bloody enemy ;- sacrifices for ' which we have never received nor requested of the Provincials ' the least remuneration. We have from many of them, the ful- ' lest assurances of their past satisfaction with our course, and of ' their desire still to be connected with us, and their unwilling-
* Letter, dated July 24, 1679, entire in Hutch. Coll. p. 519-22.
t See Randolph's Narrative entire .- Hutch. Coll. p. 477-511.
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CHAP. XXI.] OF MAINE.
' ness to hazard a change : and, as we without the least shadow A. D. 1680r ' of disloyalty obtained title to the Province, a twelvemonth after
' his Majesty decided it to be in Gorges, it is our duty to favor ' the inhabitants and provide them with a free systematic admin- ' istration.'*
Early in the year, Messrs. Danforth and Nowel repaired to Maine gof- York ;f and so far as we can learn from the mutilated records ernment. and slender evidences preserved, the former proclaimed his au- thority, exhibited his commission of Provincial President, and being assisted by Mr. Nowel, now reported an administration of government consisting of a Council, and an Assembly of Deputies, to be elected by the several towns .¿ But there were evidently many malcontents and objectors. Some preferred to be a con- stituent of the Massachusetts government, rather than its colony. No less than 115 of the inhabitants, resident in different parts of the Province, subscribed and transmitted a petition to the king, complaining of a tax of £3,000 as an intolerable burden imposed on three towns only, viz. York, Kittery and Wells, to defray the charges of the late Indian war, and praying his Majesty 'to re- 'establish among them his royal authority, and allow them to ' have a government of their own, according to the laws and con- ' stitutions of the Province, till his pleasure be further known.'s
It had, however, been ascertained, that the principal objection to the paramount jurisdiction of Massachusetts, would arise from the eastern inhabitants of the Province. Many of them were holding lands under the Lygonian proprietors ; and might foster jealousies and fears of being disturbed in their possessions. They had, too, in the previous administration of justice, received some special favors ; and a few were bold enough to utter threats of resistance, unless their rights, interests and privileges, were first fully secured to them.
Before the war, they were entertained with the prospect of a North-Yar- new settlement eastward of Falmouth, under a grant from Sir mouth. Ferdinando Gorges, or his son ; and the revival of the enterprize was now desired, both by them and the surviving grantees. It
* 4 Mass. Rec. p. 469, 489.
+ 1 Hutch. Hist. p. 296 .- Perhaps the first meeting was in March.
# Elliot's Biog. Dic. p. 146.
§ 1 Coll. Maine Hist. Soc. p. 302-3 .- See there the names. VOL. I. 58
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A. D. 1680. would be a frontier barrier eastward, against the Indians in the event of a rupture ; and would offer many advantages inviting to settlers .! The township was described as originally lying ten miles on the seacoast, or Magocook bay, from the south-eastern corner of Falmouth, and extending from the water, five miles in width on each side of Westecustego* [now Royall's] river ; and thence northerly, or back from the coast, about nine or ten miles, according to the run of the river, or 2 and 1-2 leagues in di- rect course at right angles from the shore. As requested, there- fore, the General Court at their spring session of this year, con- firmed it to Joseph Phippon and the other surviving proprietors.+ In this act of confirmation, were reserved to Massachusetts, all the rights and royalties, belonging by the provincial charter to the Lord Proprietor. It also required the proprietors, or their legal representatives, to assign to the President of the Province, 300 acres for a farm, in any part of the plantation, where he might make the selection; to pay, after the first seven years, annual rent-charge of five beaver skins forever; and to settle at least thirty families and a minister of the gospel within two years.
Casco. June 4.
The provincial charter itself was generally acknowledged to be excellent ;- containing more privileges, and less restrictions, than any other of similar character, which had received the royal signature. To conciliate the people of Casco bay, Governor Bradstreet addressed to them, from Boston, a letter, dated June 4th, in which he says-' As we have become the proprietors of ' the royal charter, and have concluded to settle a government in ' the Province according to its provisions ;} any opposing meas- ' ures will render the authors of them obnoxious to punishment. ' Let the emergency be avoided ;' for "you shall have protec- " tion, and all provision made for your security and improvement, " consistent with the principles of that charter and your greatest
*" 'Swegustagoc."-4 Mass. Rec. p. 373.
t The first set of trustees consisted of Bartholomew Gedney, Joshua Scottow, Sylvanus Davis and Walter Gendell, appointed, July 13, 1681 .- N. Yarmouth Records.
# One account states, that the provincial government was settled, March 17th, 1680, and warrants issued for the choice of Deputies to the " General Assembly," to be holden at York; and the session commenced there, March 30th, 1680 .- Perhaps the eastern towns were not then reconciled, nor represented.
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CHAP. XXI.]
OF MAINE.
" good ,"-and to close, we, " your loving friends, commend you A. D. 1680. " to the guidance and protection of Almighty God."
Fort Loyal
To prevent, therefore, the usurpations and encroachments of August. Governor Andros, as well as to quiet the people of Casco," and settle a government through the Province, President Danforth, Mr. Nowel and Mr. Nathaniel Saltonstall, another Assistant, em- barked in August, from Boston, with sixty soldiers, in a ship and sloop, and proceeded to " Fort Loyal," then commanded by Capt. Edward Tyng. This was a public garrison, erected on the southerly shore of Casco-neck, [in Portland], in pursuance of a legislative order, passed four years before ;+ and now fur- nished with munitions of war. Here President Danforth and the two Assistants, as special commissioners, had a consultation with the inhabitants, in which they became acquainted with their wants and wishes, and made to them a proposition for convoking a Gen- eral Assembly of Deputies from the whole Province, at York, in the ensuing spring, agreeably to the provisions of the charter.
But according to one account, the freeholders in the Province of Maine, being summoned, met at York, March 17th, 1680 ; istration. and a commission, under the seal of the Governor and Council of Massachusetts, was openly exhibited and read, thereby declaring themselves the lawful assigns of Sir Ferdinando Gorges ; and giving notice, that they had erected and constituted a Court and Council, and deputed THOMAS DANFORTH, Esq. for the first year, President :- " to the end that the above named Province might " be protected in the enjoyment of their just rights and privileges, " according to the rules of his Majesty's royal charter, granted " unto the above named Sir F. Gorges, Kt." Warrants for the choice of deputies to the General Assembly to be holden at York, were issued for a session in March, or perhaps June. Major Bryan Pendleton was appointed Deputy-President, and author- ized with the assistance of other members of the Council, or Magistrates, to hold intermediate terms of the Court. Pendleton was among the earliest colonists of Massachusetts, and settled in Watertown, which he represented six years in the General Court of Massachusetts ; and in 1646, he commanded the mili- tary corps, since denominated the ' Ancient and Honorable Ar- tillery Company' in Boston. He resided in Portsmouth several
The admin .-
* 1 Hutch. Hist. p. 297.
t See ante, 1676, chap. xx,
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A. D. 1680. years ; from which he removed to Saco, in 1665. He signed a petition to the king as Deputy-President, in 1680, praying ' for aid in rebuilding the towns wasted and desolate,' by reason of the late Indian war. He died soon afterwards. He was succeeded in the office of Deputy-President, by John Davis of York. Dep- uties were chosen from year to year by towns, and annual sessions of the General Assembly were holden at York, for five or six years .*
Sept. 22. North-Yar- mouth.
The subject of the new township, among other things, was presented to the President and Commissioners ; and the follow- ing order, passed at their adjournment, shews in some degree the power they were authorized to exercise .- ' At Fort Loyal in ' Falmouth, 22d Sept. 1680; it is ordered, for the further en- ' largement and encouragement of the settlement on Westecuste- ' go river'-" that the waste lands lying between the said grant " and Falmouth, shall be added to the township; and also an " Island lying between the sea and said township, called New- " Damariscove. It is also hereby ordered and declared, that the " name of the said plantation shall be North-Yarmouth, t
" Pr. THOMAS DANFORTH, President."
* An election sermon was preached at the commencement of each an- nual session ; the one in 1683, being delivered by Rev. Shubael Dummer of York. It seems some towns sent two deputies, and some one, to the General Assembly, Saco sent, in 1681, John Harmon; in. 1682, John Davis ; 1683, Benjamin Blackman ; in 1684, John Sargent; and in 1685, George Turfrey, But it appears that Mr. Davis, however, was " disac- cepted as a scandalous person,"-for by a colony ordinance of Massachu- setts, the spirit of which seems to have been transferred hither, a deputy must be ' sound in the orthodox faith-and not scandalous in conversation.'
This is the 8th town in the Province. (a) Its name was taken, proba- bly, from Yarmouth, in England. The town records begun, A. D. 1680, [1st vol. folio, 324 pages,] and carefully preserved, contain many valuable facts. Three towns have since been taken from North-Yarmouth ;- viz. Freeport, A. D. 1789 ; Pownal, in 1808; and Cumberland, in 1821 .- See Sullivan, p. 182, 191 .- An early settler, was John Mare, at a point now in Brunswick, called " Mare-point." William Royall came over about 1630 ; made a purchase of Gorges, 1643; in 1658 he settled on the east side of Westecustego river, with J. Cousins, R. Bray, and John Maine. A fort was early built near the mouth of Royall's river, for the accommodation
(a) Appledore [see A. D. 1661] was properly the 8th town established ; but it seems not to have retained its name in subsequent years, and there- fore its number is omitted in the enumeration.
565
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CHAP. XXI.]
The report of the President and Commissioners, the general A. D. 1681. affairs of the Province, and the expediency of maintaining a January 7. garrison at Fort Loyal, were referred to a committee of seven garrisoned. Fort Loyal members, at the January session of the General Court, in 1681 ; when it was resolved that a garrison, well established, would be an asylum and safeguard of the people on any sudden incursions of the Indians, and also greatly encourage husbandmen "to replant themselves in this town and the vicinity ;" and that it ought to be maintained and continued at the charge of Massachusetts, provided the people of Maine would furnish and pay six soldiers to man it .*
Next, a form of government, like that under Sir Ferdinando Form of Gorges, was fully established, and a civil administration organ- in Maine. ized, under a commission from the Governor and Council of Massachusetts .- It seems the first Provincial Council, consisting of eight members, were BRYAN PENDLETON, CHARLES FROST, The Coun- FRANCIS HOOK, JOHN DAVIS, JOSHUA SCOTTOW, SAMUEL WHEELWRIGHT, and JOHN WINCOLN ;- EDWARD RISHWORTH was Secretary of the Province, or Recorder; and either he or
and defence of the inhabitants. But they were compelled by the Indians, in 1676 and in 1688, to abandon the settlement and the fort. The town was revived in 1680, and again in 1722, and resettled .- [See post, A. D. 1722.]-In the second year of the Spanish, or fifth Indian war, A. D. 1745, the inhabitants suffered severely by the savage enemy. Of the persons killed, were Messrs. Greely and Eaton. The house of John Maine, at Flying-point, was broken up and a child killed in its mother's arms. This point is S. E. of Harraseeket river, in Freeport; and three or four miles eastward of the settlement on the westerly side of Royall's river, towards its mouth. Subsequent to the capture of Canada and the close of the In- dian wars, the town has had a flourishing growth ; so that when it was di- vided, in 1789, it contained upwards of 3,000 inhabitants; having at that time a greater number than any other town in the county of Cumberland. The number in Freeport, in 1790, was 1330. The sole minister of North- Yarmouth, at this time, was Rev. T. Gilman. But on the 26th of June, 1794, there was set off from his Society the North-west Congregational Sa- ciety, and a meeting-house was built ; and on the 20th of June, 1797, a Bap- tist Society was incorporated for North-Yarmouth and Freeport; and El- der Thomas Green was settled. There are several Islands which are at- tached to North-Yarmouth ; especially Great and Little Gebeag. It was first represented in the General Court, in 1742, by Cornelius Soule, be- tween 1745 and 1766, by Jeremiah Powell, and in 1773, by John Lewis. Mr. Powell was an eminent man of his age, and many years a member of the Council.
* 4 Mass. Rec. p. 310.
goverminent
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A. D. 1681. EDWARD TYNG* belonged also to the Council. Major Pendleton of Saco, was chosen Deputy-President-as stated by the former account. Mr. Tyng, a worthy, well-informed and active citizen, had been an Assistant in the legislature of Massachusetts. He married the daughter of Thaddeus Clark, an emigrant from Ire- land to the peninsula or neck, in 1663,-a respectable freeholder and resident on what has since been called Clark's point [in Portland.] In 1684, under President Danforth's administration, Clark was a deputy to the General Assembly, from Falmouth. Messrs. Frost and Hookt were both of Kittery ; the former had represented his town several years in the General Court, and was now appointed Commandant of the Regiment :- The latter, sup- posed to have been the son of William Hook, one of Gorges' first Council, was Province Treasurer. Mr. Davis lived at York, had been the commanding officer of the militia company, and in the late war had distinguished himself as a brave and discreet soldier. He succeeded Pendleton as Deputy-President in the year 1681. Mr. Scottow, originally from Boston, dwelt in Scar- borough ; ¿- a name identified with the author of " the old man's tears."§ Mr. Wheelwright was a son of the ,Reverend founder of Wells, and afterwards a Councillor in the General Court of Massachusetts. Mr. Wincoln of Newichawannock settlement, in Kittery, captain of the town company, was a brave officer and had been several years a deputy to the General Court .- These Councillors, or Magistrates, called themselves Justices, as they held the judicial courts of the Province.
A general assembly.
'In June, the President and Council met in General Assembly, with deputies or representatives from the several towns ; where, after political subjects were discussed, they at length agreed upon the following propositions, and adjourned to August. The num- ber in the lower branch this year is not ascertained; but four
* 10 Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc. p. 181 .- If Mr. Tyng was not of the Council the first year, he was afterwards Councillor. He was now Captain of the garrison .- It is supposed the members of the Council were designated by the Massachusetts Board of Assistants, who acted as substitutes for the original Lord Proprietor.
t Hook now of Saco-thence removed to Kittery.
# Capt. Scottow was a man of great public spirit, and did much towards defending Scarborough against the Indians. From his name is Scottow's Hill .- MS. Letter of Rev. N. Tilton. § 3 Coll. Mass. Hist. Soc. p. 300.
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OF MAINE.
CHAP. XXI.]
years afterwards, there were 6 Councillors or Assistants, and 12 A. D: 1681. Deputies .*
settlement.
On the part of the Province, the articles were these :- 1. All Articles of public charges henceforth arising in the Province, whether for government, protection or otherwise, shall be defrayed out of the provincial treasury. 2. A garrison at Fort Loyal, sufficient for its defence, shall at all times be maintained at the charge of the Province, and the command of it belong to the Provincial Pres- ident. 3. All who have taken patents or leases from Sir Ferdi- nando Gorges, his heirs or agents, shall perform their respective covenants to Massachusetts, the present chief proprietor, in ac- knowledgement of her right to the soil. 4. All other inhabitants and residents shall severally pay into the provincial treasury for the use of the chief proprietor and the support of government, a stipend for himself and family, in this ratio,-that is, if a person's single county or province tax be 2 shillings or less, he shall ren- der 1 shilling-if it exceed 2s. then 3s. will be exacted of him. 5. To meet and defray the provincial expenditure, entitled " Pub- lic Charge," all persons, all estates, and all landholders, whether resident within or without the Province, shall be equally rated and taxed ; with the exemptions only of town commons and the public lands of the chief proprietor .- 6. On the part of Massa- chusetts ;- She must grant and guaranty unto the inhabitants of the Province, a full acquittal and discharge forever, of all claims and demands due for time past to the chief proprietor, by char- ter or otherwise ; and all townships and other tracts granted either by Sir Ferdinando Gorges, Massachusetts, or their respective agents, and all streams and mill-sites which may be hereafter granted, must be forever exempt from rent, and every other claim of the chief proprietor, or Provincial President ;- ex- cepting when the defence of them shall render an assessment ne- cessary and reasonable.t
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