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 60
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64
Jewel's Island.
This attack wholly frustrated and prevented the settlement of North-Yarmouth for several years. The inhabitants soon remov- ed from the garrison to Jewel's Island-in hopes by repairing the fort there, to render themselves secure. But they were pursued by their inveterate enemies, and were barely able to defend them- selves successfully, against a violent attack. They were after- wards taken off by a vessel, and carried to Boston.
Twenty In- dians arrest- This bloody affair alarmed and aroused the people upon the ed at Saco. whole coast. The temper, and some threats of the Sokokis, ex- cited strong suspicions against them ; and it was believed, they had, contrary to the treaty, withholden the knowledge they pos- sessed of the intended rupture. To bring them to terms, and discover more perfectly the secret springs of these hostile move- ments, Benjamin Blackman, Esq. a justice of the peace at Saco, issued a warrant to Capt. John Sargent, by whom about eighteen or twenty of them were arrested, especially those who were the known ringleaders in. the last war, and all were sent under a strong guard to Fort Loyal. They were subsequently transported to Boston, and there discharged by Gov. Andros.
Reprisals at Sagada- hock.
To counteract this policy, the Indians began to make reprisals. Nine were made prisoners about Sagadahock ; the houses on the north margin of Merrymeeting bay were plundered ; and the in- habitants, who made resistance, were murdered in a barbarous manner. The Indians soon after killed several of their captives
* Mr. Willis states, that Capt. Gendell was sent thither with a compa- ny of men, to construct stockades on both sides of Royall's river, where he was attacked by 70 or 80 Indians ; and in the skirmish, several were killed on both sides-and John Royall was taken prisoner, and ransomed by Castine. -1 Coll. Maine Hist. Soc. p. 195.
609
CHAP. XXIII.] OF MAINE.
in a drunken frolic,* and sent the rest to Teconnet. Next, they A. D. 1688. proceeded to New-Dartmouth [Newcastle]-a town which had become remarkably flourishing. It had been patronized by Gov- ernor Dungan, and much enlarged and improved by Dutch emi- grants ; being accounted, as one author says, "the garden of the east."+ Within it was also a fortification, which proved to most of the inhabitants a timely asylum. In approaching the place, the Indians, September 5th, first secured Henry Smith and his fam- Sept. 5, 6. ily, and deferred a further attack till the next day ; when they made Edward Taylor and his family prisoners. To this interval evidently, may be ascribed, under Providence, the preservation of the people ; for they all had retired to the garrison, when the onset was made ; and the Indians, flouting in disappointment, set mouth and New-Dart- Sheepscot fire to the deserted houses, and reduced the whole of them ex- destroyed. cept two or three to ruins. As an instance of their perfidy and barbarism, they abused the man sent from the fort to treat with them, and then assassinated him. There was a fort on the banks of the Sheepscot river, which, with all the buildings were destroy- ed about this timet and the settlement entirely broken up. The
overthrow of these ancient plantations was truly a fatal catastro- phe. The Dutch settlers migrated from this quarter, never to re- turn ; and the places themselves, so lately and so long inhabited and flourishing, lay waste about thirty years. The concluding outrage of this year, was the captivity of Barrow and Bussey, with their families, between Winter-harbor and Kennebunk, who were probably carried to Teconnet, the general depository of prisoners.
The interposition and policy of Governor Andros, in this emer- Measures of gency, were attended with no memorable advantages. His dis- dros. Gov. An- missal of the Indian prisoners-his proclamation, October 20th, commanding the Sagamores to surrender the guilty Indians-his deputation sent to Falmouth and Maquoit for the purpose of treat-
* 1 Hutchinson's History, p. 326. + 2 Mather's Magnalia, p. 507-9. # Sullivan, [p. 165] by mistake, says " 1680;" but that. year was a time of profound peace .- In the winter following, [viz. in A. D. 1688-9] Gov. Andros placed a garrison at New-Dartmouth, or Newcastle, of 24 regu- lars and 60 militia ; he also left men in the fort at Sheepscot. Upon the revolution, in April, 1689, he says, of the fort at Newcastle, most of the men were drawn off, and others debauched-they seized their officer and carried him a prisoner to Boston, and thereupon the fort was deserted. VOL. I. 64
610
THE HISTORY
[VOL. I.
A. D. 1689. ing with them-his army of 7 or 800, led by him into the eastern country-accomplished nothing. Only the establishment of gar- risons, as previously stated,* were productive of any good effects. The Indians were scattered through the interior wilderness during the winter ; and in the spring, the reins of government, amidst a sudden revolution, as before noticed, were changed into other hands.
April. A change of tion. In April, the administration of public affairs in Maine, under administra- the direction of Massachusetts, was resumed by President Dan- forth and the Provincial Council ; Maj. Frost and Col. Tyng were appointed to command the western and the eastern regi- ments ; and the forts underwent a review and thorough revision. Though Castine, according to report, had the preceding year, instigated the Indian fighters to hostilities, by furnishing every one of them with a roll of tobacco, a pound of powder and two pounds of lead ; it was still thought by many, that good manage- ment might prevent a war. Madockawando, his neighbor, a Sagamore of great power and influence, had strongly expressed himself in favor of peace, and promised to negotiate a treatyt.
June 7. Destruction of Dover.
But the awful destruction of Cocheco [now Dover]} in New- Hampshire, June 7, blasted every expectation. The seizure of 400 Indians at that place, more than twelve years before, was a transaction never to be forgotten,-never to be forgiven by sav- ages. Lapse of time had only wrought their resentments into animosities, malice and rage ; and an opportunity now offered, to satiate their revenge. Two squaws, that fatal night, begged lodg- ings within the garrison ; and when all was quiet, they opened the gates and gave the signals. In a moment, every apartment was full of Indians, and several rushed towards the door of the room, in which Major Waldron was asleep. Aroused by the noise, he sprang out of bed, though eighty years of age, and drove them through two doors with his sword. Turning back for his pistols, he was stunned by the blow of a hatchet, dragged into the hall, and seated in an elbow chair upon a long table. They then cut long gashes across his breast and loins with their knives, exclaiming with every stroke " I cross out my ac- count." His nose and ears they slashed off, and forced them into his mouth ; and when, through anguish and loss of blood,
* Ante, chap. xxii. A. D. 1689.
+ 6 Mass. Rec. p. 8.
# 2 Math. Mag. p. 511 .- 1 Belk N. H. 200.
611
OF MAINE.
CHAP. XXIII.]
he was falling from the table, one held his own sword under him, A. D. 1689. which put an end to his life and his misery .* Besides setting fire to the mills and five dwellinghouses, which were consumed, they killed twenty-three of the inhabitants and took twenty-nine captive, whom they carried into Canada and sold to the French.
first sold in
This merchandize of prisoners gave to Indian warfare and Captives Indian captivities, a new character. To prevent bloodshed, to Canada. preserve life, to take captive the greater number uninjured, and to treat them better,-these were some of the effects incident to the practice, when it became one ; for the premiums, which the Indians received of the French for a captive, bore some propor- tion to his appearance and worth. The sale, however, was not an unhappy event either to the country or to the captives them- selves, especially if they had the fortune to become family-ser- vants. Still they were not unfrequently urged and pressed by every seducing art, to embrace the popish religion, and some- times they were kept in confinement, until they were ransomed.
The inhabitants were always in danger of being killed or taken Manner of captive unawares. For the Indians never intended to be dis- fare. covered, before they did execution. Their courage was not manly-they feared to face their foes, or fight in the open field. By 'skulking' under fences near the doors of dwellinghouses, and lying in wait behind logs and bushes about woodland paths, they achieved their principal exploits. The time of attack was usu- ally at an early hour in the morning ; and it has been known by their own confession, after they have assaulted a house or sacked a neighborhood, that they have lain in ambush for days together, watching the people's motions, and considering the most favora- ble moment for making an attack. They were sparing of their ammunition-therefore their guns made a small report.+ In
Indian war-
* Major Richard Waldron, a native of England, was one of the early settlers in New-Hampshire. He had represented Dover in the General Court of Massachusetts, 25 years, and was sometimes speaker of the house. In 1679, he was elected by the inhabitants of Kittery, their deputy, though a non-resident. He was a man of true courage and military merit; and a long time commanded the New-Hampshire regiment. He was Vice- President under Mr. Cutts ; and in 1681, at the head of that Province. Seldom is a man more deserving, seldom more beloved .- See his Character in the Grafton Journal, N. H. June, 1825.
t Soon after the revolution, the troops stationed at Fort Loyal, it ap- pears, were withdrawn; and the fort left to the care of the people. In
612
THE HISTORY
[VOL. I.
A. D. 1689. the bolder assaults, they often yelled and shouted. One of their July: A skirmish at Saco. secret feats was at Saco. Four young men going out, in July, to catch and bridle their horses, fell into an ambush, and were all killed at the first shot. To bury the slain, a company of twenty- four men, well armed, proceeded to the place, upon whom a body of Indians fired from their covert, and sprang forward to the attack. A severe encounter ensued, in which they were at first driven to a swamp ; then returning with an auxiliary force and infuriated spirits, they compelled their antagonists to retreat, with a loss of six left upon the ground .*
August 2. Pemaquid destroyed.
The garrison at Pemaquid, under the command of Captain Weems, was a particular object of savage vengeance. Being only a kind of resting place for the inhabitants, it was poorly manned, since Brockholt and all the men, except Weems and 15 men, had left it, and in quite an unfit condition to repel an assault. One. Starkie, in passing from it, Aug. 2, to New-Harbor, was seized by a party of Indians, who threatened him, yet promised him favor, if he would tell them what he knew about the fort. To save his own life, he told them with too much truth, that Mr. Giles and fourteen men were then gone to his farm at the falls ; and that the people were scattered about the fort, and few in it able to fight. The Indians then divided into two bands ; one went and cut off Giles and his companions, and the other attack- ed the garrison with a fierceness and perseverance, that forced a
June, they stated to government that the men in the fort were few and worn down with fatigue and that they had only 20 balls for the great guns, and 3 1-2 bbls of powder,-but no provision-nor a musket belonging to the garrison .-- 1 Coll. Muine Hist. Soc. p. 197.
* 2 Math. Magnal. p. 512 .- About this time, the garrison-house of Do- minicus Jordan, son of Rev. Robert Jordan, at Spurwink, was violently assailed by the savages, which he defended with bravery and success. To intimidate him, an Indian called to him loudly, 'we are ten hundred in " number ;'-" I don't care," replied Jordan, " if you are ten thousand." A few years afterwards, perhaps at the commencement of the third Indian war, several Indians visiting his house, were received with familiarity, common in time of peace; when one inflicted a mortal blow upon his head, exclaiming, ' there, Dominicus ! now kill 'em ten thousand Indian ! The family were all made prisoners and carried to Canada ; and Mary-Ann, who married a Frenchman, at Trois Revieres, never returned. A son, of his father's name, Dominicus, lived on the old estate, at Spurwink, and was representative from Falmouth in the General Court, several years. He died in 1749, aged 66. Samuel, his brother, settled in Saco .- Folsom, p. 181.
613
OF MAINE.
CHAP. XXIII.]
surrender. The terms of capitulation were life, liberty and A. D. 1689. safety-all which were violated ; the savages butchering some, and making prisoners of others. About the same time, Captains Skinner and Farnham, coming to the shore, from a neighboring Island, were shot dead as they were stepping from their boat upon the ledge ; and Capt. Pateshall, whose vessel was lying in the barbacan, was also taken and killed .*
Reduced to despair by these fatalities, which were aggravated The eastern by fresh depredations of the Indians upon the Kennebeck, and by withdraw to inhabitants Acadian privateers upon the coast, the inhabitants eastward of Falmouth. Falmouth withdrew to that town, or removed to other places of more security. The forts eastward were abandoned, and a wide country, lately adorned with settlements, herds and fields, exhib- ited all the forms and facts of a melancholy waste.f
In defence of the remaining towns and settlements of the Committee Province, President Danforth, his Council, and the people, resolv- of safety. ed to use every precaution and effort. He appointed in cach of them a committee of six men,} whom he empowered and direct- ed to order scouts and watches ; to regulate and equip their mili- tia ; "to dispose of the people in forts and fortified houses ; and to do whatever else they in the exercise of sound discretion might judge expedient for the public safety. He also directed an account to be taken, of all the resident inhabitants within the Province, and of all who had left it.
To confirm, moreover, the fortitude of the people, and protect Massachu- etts sends 600 men them-to overawe or fright the enemy-and to settle and strength- en the garrisons ; Massachusetts ordered 600 men to be raised, eastward. by detachments from the militia or by voluntary enlistments, and gave the command to Maj. Swaine. His place of rendezvous was at Newichawannock, from which his forces, Aug. 28th, August 28.
* 1 Hutch. Hist. p. 352 .- Charlevoix [2 vol. of N. F. p. 417] says, the In- dians possessed themselves of ten or twelve stone houses and a street; and at night summoned the commander of the fort to surrender; when an Englishman sung out, " I am fatigued and must sleep first." -- It was under- stood there were about an hundred people that belonged to the fort and village ; but when they surrendered, (as he states, on the 20th of August,) the commander appeared at the head of fourteen men only, being all that remained of the men, attended by some women, and a few children.
t Math. Mag. p. 512.
# Those of Falmouth were Capt. Sylvanus Davis, and Brackett, Inger- soll, Clark, Gallison and Andrews .- 6 Mass. Rec. p. 68-9.
614
THE HISTORY
[VOL. I.
A. D. 1689. took up their march eastward. One of his officers was the brave Capt. Hall, who had distinguished himself in king Philip's war ; and one of his companies, consisting of 90 Natick Indians, was commanded by Captain Lightfoot. The garrisons were now sup- plied with soldiers, and furnished with ammunition, 'corn, rye, biscuit, salt, and clothing ;' and Swaine happily arrived in season to drive the enemy from Blue-point and Falmouth. In chasing the savages from Fort Loyal, Capt. Hall lost about ten of his best soldiers.
Benjamin Church.
Sept. 6.
President Danforth's orders.
Swaine was soon followed into the Province, and a part of his forces joined, by the celebrated Benjamin Church," at the head of 250 volunteers, English and Indians, whom he had enlisted in New-Plymouth and Rhode Island. He was commissioned, Sep- tember 6th, by the government of Massachusetts, with the rank of Major, to the chief command of all the troops in service. It appears furthermore, that President Danforth, then presiding in a session at Boston, holden by the Commissioners of the United Colonies, t superadded a mandatory order, addressed to all the authorities of the Province, which he presented to Major Church, in these words.
Sept. 16.
" Boston, September, 16th, 1689.
" To all sheriffs, marshals, constables, and other officers, mili- " tary and civil, in their Majesties' Province of Maine.
" Whereas, pursuant to an agreement of the Commissioners of " the United Colonies, Major BENJAMIN CHURCH is commission- " ed Commander-in-Chief, over that part of their Majesties' " forces, levied for the present expedition against the common " enemy, whose head-quarters are appointed to be at Falmouth, " in Casco bay :-
" In their Majesties' names, you, and every of you, are " required to be aiding and assisting, to the said Major Church in " his pursuit of the enemy, as any emergency shall require; and " so impress boats and other vessels, carts, carriages, horses, " oxen, provisions, ammunition, men for guides, &c. as you shall
* He was born at Duxbury, A. D. 1639, and died in 1718 ; a man of mil- itary talents, piety and influence. No one's name struck greater terror to the Indians.
t The Board consisted of Thomas Danforth, President and Elisha Cook, from Massachusetts ; Thomas Hinkley and John Walley, of Plymouth col- ony ; and Samuel Mason and William Pitkin, of Connecticut.
615
OF MAINE.'
CHAP. XXIII.]
"receive warrants from the said chief Commander, or his Lieu- A. D. 1689. "tenant so to do. You may not fail to do the same speedily and " effectually, as you will answer your neglect and contempt of " their Majesties' authority and service at your utmost peril.
"Given under my hand and seal, the day and year above " written, Annoque Regni, Regis et Reginae Willielmi et Ma- riae primo.
"By THOMAS DANFORTH, President " of the Province of Maine."
The United Colonies of New-England now made the war a Instructions common cause, and on the 18th, gave the commander his instruc- United Col. from the tions. By these, he was directed to keep out scouts and a for- onies. lorn hope before his main body, to avoid every ambush, to promise the soldiery, besides their stipulated wages, the benefit of all the captives and lawful plunder taken, and a further reward of £8 for every Indian fighting-man slain ; and in general to pun- ish all drunkenness and profanity, and see that the army observe the worship of Almighty God, by morning and evening prayers and the sanctification of the Sabbath. He was also instructed to cooperate with Major Swaine, in all practicable cases; and to consult with Capt. Sylvanus Davis, of Falmouth-a man of ac- knowledged acquaintance with the Indians and the eastern affairs .*
The Commissioners furthermore endeavoured to persuade the Mohawks brave Mohawks into the eastern service :- it might, as it was ob- served to them, open a new field of glory. But they said, No- we have fought our own battles with the French, and burnt Mon- treal to the ground. We are by treaty the allies of the English ; we promise to preserve the chain unbroken. Amity is a river re- freshing to us as to you-and we wish the sun ever to shine in peace over our heads. We have no will to go with gun and hatchet against the " Onagounges,"t-as the eastern Indians were collectively called by them.
The successes and cruelties of the Mohawks, and their un- changing friendship for the English, from whom they received a supply of weapons and ammunition, produced among the Cana- dians the sharpest and most inveterate feelings of revenge. M. de Callieres, the military commander of the country, having con-
* Church's Expedition, (edition 1710) p. 96.
+ 6 Mass. Rec. p. 71. - 1 Holmes' A. Ann. p. 477.
decline en- tering into the eastern war.
616
THE HISTORY
[VOL. I.
A. D. 1689. ceived the project of subduing the entire Province of New-York, by an attack upon the northern parts, with an army, and upon the south, by a naval force, went to France, and prevailed upon the king to afford the assistance requested. The fleet and troops arrived at Chebucta in Nova Scotia, and himself and Count Frontenac, who had lately been reappointed Governor of Cana- da, reached Quebec soon after the destruction of Montreal. Astonished and dismayed at the calamities and confusion of the country, they immediately felt the imperious necessity of aban- doning the expedition altogether ; and the fleet' returned to France.
September. Church's skirmishes at F'al- anouth:
Major Church arrived at Falmouth in the latter part of Sep- tember, though* not before Major Swaine and a part of his force had retired, to the rendezvous at Newichawannock. Land- ing his men near Fort Loyal in the dusk of the evening, Church disposed of them in the garrison and neighboring houses. Hall, Southworth and Davis, were some of his Captains ; and Num- posh commanded the Seconet and Cape Indians. The principal intelligence, he received of the enemy, was from Mrs. Lee, Maj. Waldron's daughter, who, after being made a captive at Cocheco, had been rescued by a colonial privateer. She stated, that the army of Indians she left, had 80 canoes, and they said their company consisted of 700 men. She saw several Frenchmen among them, and understood, the whole force was preparing to attack Fort Loyal. The truth of her story was confirmed by the report of a spy or scout, who said he had the preceding day, seen at a distance a large body of the enemy.
Church, fully acquainted with the Indian modes of war and fighting, marched his forces, an hour before day, towards the woods not far from the head of Back Cove, and halted them in a thicket, about half a mile northwesterly from the garrison. The Indians had already landed upon the other or westerly side of the Cove, and a scout had taken Anthony Brackett, f one of the principal inhabitants, a prisoner. A brisk firing was com- menced in his orchard, by an advanced force under Capt. Hall,
* This time is supposed to be correct from the whole narrative; though Church in his " Expeditions" is not particular as to time or place. Gov- ernor Sullivan has described some of the places .- Sull. p. 202.
+ Son of the one killed in the last war .- 2 Math .. Mag. p. 528.
617
CHAP. XXIII.] OF MAINE.
after they had forded over, which alarmed the town, and drew A. D. 1689. to him a reenforcement under Church himself, with an additional Skirmishes supply of ammunition. It seems the cove at this place was mouth. at Fal- narrow, and the Indians on the farther side were so near its mar- gin, that Church's men were able to reach the enemy with their shots, over the heads of Hall's soldiers. Church next proceeded in haste up the cove 80 or 100 rods, determined to pass over to the same side, join Hall, and attack the Indians in the rear. The latter, desirous to prevent it, met him and his troops, and advanced to attack them ; manoeuvring to prevent their junction with Capt. Hall, but being unable, they retreated into the woods. Major Church at this juncture, finding the bullets two large for the caliber of the guns, ordered casks of them to be cut into slugs,-still resolved to pursue the enemy. But as the day was far spent, he concluded finally to return, with his dead and wound- ed, to the fort .- The campanions of Southworth and Numposh, afforded Hall and his company timely and signal assistance. In the midst of the action, the Indian Captain Lightfoot, perceiv- ing, that their ammunition was nearly exhausted, passed over, and taking a cask of powder upon his head, and a kettle of bullets in each hand, repassed to them in safety. Church represents the enemy to have conducted with courage and considerable policy, during the action. They divided, and a party construct- ed an opposing breastwork of logs, which they stuck full of bushes to screen them from view, and prevent his cooperation with Hall and his company. The Indians in their flight threw themselves into a cedar-swamp; and the reason assigned by Church, why he did not intercept their retreat, was the intervening rough and bushy grounds. The loss to the English is said to have been 21 or 22 killed and wounded ;- of the former, six be- longed to Capt. Hall's company, and of the latter, six were In- dian friends .*
Major Church then proceeded to Kennebeck, which he ascend- The distress ed several leagues ; and returning, ranged the coast, revisited the of the peo. garrisons and sailed for Boston ; leaving 60 soldiers quartered at Fort Loyal, under the brave Capt. Hall. Many of the suffering people entreated him to take them away in his transports ; and
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.