USA > Maine > The history of the state of Maine; from its first discovery, A. D. 1602, to the separation, A. D. 1820, inclusive, Vol. II > Part 27
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the Province, and occasioned the passage of an act, by which A. D. 1749. the offenders, upon conviction, were to be punished with great severity .*
Our administration at this period was energetic and popular. Recovery of When Governor Shirley left the Province, the House expressed captives. ' an effectionate farewell, and strong wishes for his safe return ;' and in his absence, Mr. Phips proved himself to be a worthy and vigilant magistrate. After a call upon the people, through the medium of the newspapers, to produce the names of all who had been carried into captivity, and the places where taken ; Cols. Chandler and Heath, were sent into Canada to recover them and bring them home. A great sum, as ransom-money, sometimes £100 sterling, had been demanded for an individual, during the war ; and in peace, where the Canadians had pur- chased captives, they were unwilling to surrender them without a remuneration.
Great care was now taken, to keep the Indians tranquil. Trading Trading houses were again opened at St. Georges and Fort houses. Richmond ; all private traffic with the tribes was strictly forbid- den ; provision was made for supporting, as paupers, all friendly Indians, when needy and residing among the English ; and two broadcloth mantles were given to a couple of Indians by the name of Frambegan and Lovel, as presents, for going in behalf of the eastern tribes to Canada, and inviting the Indians of St. Francois to attend the late treaty at Falmouth.
Although the population in Maine and Sagadahock had sus- Trade and tained a loss, during the late war, of two or three thousand ; business. there were many considerations, which still afforded encourage- ment to survivors and residents. Ship-building revived, and schooners, first known about thirty-five years previously, were a class of vessels, which had been built in great numbers along our seaboard, and were found of great use in the fisheries ;- one of them in the cod-fishery being worth two shallops. So hardy and skilful were the eastern men in that business, that they could afford to undersell the French before the war. Men since had usually found a profit in their eastern adventures. The articles which the country afforded, lumber, potash, pitch, called 'raw ma-
* See these acts in An. Charters and Prov. Laws .- 17 Council Rec. 6 .-- Jour. of H. Rep. A. D. 1749, p. 59.
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A. D. 1749. terials,' furs and fish, were uniformly quick in market ; and in ex- changing them for pork and breadstuffs brought into our har- bors, the freighter acquired a profit without much risque.
Jonquiere sends troops easterly isthmus of that Prov- ince.
Nova Sco- tia. The means used to enlarge and multiply the settlements in Nova Scotia, and the energetic exertions of its government to bring the Acadians or French Neutrals,* into obedience, were circumstances indicative of its rising strength, and encouraging to its English neighbors. Yet when it was understood by the French, that Gov. Mascarene had ordered a Romish priest from Minas, on account of treasonable practices; and that he was requiring the Acadian people at Beau Basin, or Bay of Minas, Bay Verte, and the river St. John, to take the oath of allegiance to the British crown; M. de la Jonquiere, then in Canada, or- to the north- dered out a detachment to the north-easterly isthmus of the great peninsula. He pretended his men were sent there to cut fuel for the garrison at Louisbourg ; whereas his whole design was to take possession of the passes, and gain some advantage, while the question of boundaries was before the Commissioners at Paris. His habitual hatred of the English had been greatly provoked and increased, by misfortune and defeat in the late war ; while years had given something like venom to his inveteracy, and made him a fit instrument to execute the projects of a wicked The Indians king and vain ministry. Emboldened by him, a body of about 300 Mickmak and Marechite Indians, attended by a few villainous Frenchmen, besieged the English garrison in Minas, for three or four weeks, at intervals ; in which time they killed two men and took sixteen prisoners.t De la Jonquiere justified their conduct, and affected to espouse with great sincerity and warmth the inter- ests of all the eastern tribes. He even took a high affront when he heard, that 26 of the principal Indians at Pegwacket had been united to the English through the war, and that several were vol- unteers in the siege of Louisbourg. He declared, he knew they
attack an English garrison at Minas.
* Neutrals being the name assumed by the French settlers, or inhabitants of French extraction in Nova Scotia, who had engaged after the reduction of the country to the English crown, and the treaty of Utrecht, March, 1713,-that they would be faithful to the English government, and never take arms or sides against it,-being excused from entering into any war against France.
+ Mass. Let. Book, p. 87-91 .- Some of those who made the attack were "dwelling on the borders of the St. John's river."-1 Haliburton, p. 153 .- Also, did mischief at Canseau, Dartmouth, and even Halifax.
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were holden in duress by the English ; and he would not, he said, A. D. 1749. release captives, till these enslaved Indians were set at liberty. Jonquiere His suspicions, however, were not wholly unfounded ; for some of release cap- refuses to the natives, probably from St. Francois, who might wish to draw tives. others thither, did complain to him; and he appointed a French officer to go with one of them, and visit the supposed unhappy mortals. The Indian emissary, on his way, being ill-treated at Albany, by a party of rough sailors, hurried back to his brethren, and told them the story in a manner most likely to arouse their resentments.
About this time, there was an accession of 3,760 inhabitants to Halifax set- the population of Nova Scotia, who settled principally about tled. Chebucto-bay, now Halifax. Their emigration was under the patronage of Parliament,-at the expense of £40,000 sterling to the English nation; and the administration of the Province was given to Edward Cornwallis, who was commissioned Gov- Cornwallis, ernor, and to a Council, formed agreeably to his wishes or nom- Governor. ination.
When Cornwallis was made acquainted with the outrages of the A. D. 1750 Indians at Minas, he resolved to chastise them as early the next spring, (1750,) as the weather would permit ; and with all the the French He drives severity their iniquities deserved. Suspecting some of the tribe trict of at Penobscot were concerned with them in their hostilities, he Chignecto. required the government of Massachusetts to declare war against them without ceremony or delay. By this he gave abundant proof of being a total stranger, both to colonial politics and sav- age warfare. But the General Court, mindful of the mutual ob- ligations in the late treaty, considered it quite questionable, if the Indians had in fact, violated any of its articles ; and therefore re- fused to comply with the Governor's demand, till their guilt was ascertained. This threw him into a fit of passion ; and he forth- with despatched a body of 400 regulars and rangers under Major Lawrence, to humble the base Neutrals and dislodge the " cursed" Indians and French* from Chignecto [Cumberland,]-a district situated between the basin of Minas and Bay Verte. At their approach, la Corne, the French commander, drew off his forces
* Cornwallis offered a reward of ten guineas for every Indian scalp .- 1 Haliburton, p. 157.
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from the dis-
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A. D. 1750. and such inhabitants as adhered to him* with their effects ; and after setting fire to the habitations of the remaining residents, he retired to the north-eastern isthmus. Here he firmly posted him- self-declaring that the territories on the northern side of the The French under la Corne forti- fy at the Bay of Fundy even to Kennebeck river, belonged to the French crown ; and that he should defend the country to the last ex-
isthmus. tremity. The French then erected three forts,-viz. on the 3 Forts. neck of the peninsula, Fort Baye Verte, near the eastern shore. Gaspereaux [since fort Monkton,] a short distance above; and Beau-se-jourt [fort Cumberland,] on the north side of the Mis- saquash, where it empties into Cumberland Basin. They also constructed another fortification, at the mouth of the river St. Cornwallis fortifies at Horton. John. Cornwallis likewise fortified at Grand Pre [Horton] ; and complained to the king, against the insolent French, the per- fidious Acadians, and barbarous Indians.}
Unsettled peace with the Indians.
These measures were the fruits of de la Jonquiere's nefarious policy ; in which, he perceived he was meeting with successes, which compared well with his wishes. The Marechites on the river St. John, were fully in his interest, ready to join his forces in any enterprize projected against the English-no matter how bloody or unprovoked, provided they could be the companions of French officers and partakers of the booty. That tribe and those at Passamaquoddy and Penobscot, were without doubt in league or in fraternity of the strongest ties. By their collective superiority in numbers and strength, they controlled the Abena- ques, of whom however, only the Canibas tribe now remained entire ; and none other owed the inhabitants of Maine and Saga- dahock more ill-will. The latter saw their people-once so pow- erful,-now small and feeble, and still felt jealous of their rights and sensitive of injuries ; on the other hand, the white people, having always in fresh recollection savage cruelties-and the loss of friends by savage hands, could wish the whole Indian race exterminated. In such a state of mutual dislike and irritability, the utmost watchfulness was necessary to avoid affrays and pre- vent a rupture.
But a bloody affair happened at Wiscasset, December 2, the
'La Corne was now at the head of 1,500 men ; he said he could command 2,500.
+ The English also built Fort Lawrence, on the opposite side of the same river.
# 1 Haliburton's N. S. p. 150-9-160.
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year past, which, though it was in itself of no very great mo- A. D. 1750. ment, filled the eastern inhabitants with fear and trembling. This The homi- was a violent quarrel between several white men and some of the casset. cide at Wis- Canibas tribe, in which one Indian was killed and two others badly wounded. So unfortunate was the affray, in point of time, as to occur within six weeks after the late treaty of Falmouth, and before peace had become fairly settled. Three of the white men, Obadiah Albee, Richard and Benjamin Holbrook, were taken into custody by Samuel Harnden, upon a charge of murder ; and being removed to Falmouth, were confined in the house of Gowen Wilson. The whole transaction was a topic in every one's mouth, though there was a strong current setting against every thing Indian ; and in a few weeks the prisoners effected their escape. Some called it a riotous rescue, others imputed it to the negligence and collusion of the keepers. The Lieuten- ant-Governor, hearing of it, offered a reward of £50 to such as would retake either of the fugitives, and £25 for the detection of any abettor. The General Court, when next in session, also took notice of the affair, and ordered Jabez Fox, Esq. of Falmouth, a justice of the peace, to examine in a legal form, into the con- duct of Harnden and Wilson, and deal with them according to law and the testimony. In the meantime the culprits, January 11, (1750) surrendered themselves ; and being removed to the gaol in York, were indicted and arraigned for murder, at a special term of the Superior Court, holden by resolve, the last week in Feb- ruary .* But there was no trial till the regular term in June ; Trial, ac- when Albee was tried and acquitted. The Court were quite dis- quittal, and satisfied with the verdict ; and the Legislature ordered the other discharge. two into the county of Middlesex, to take their trial in August. Albee was then convicted of a felonious assault ; and at the trials of the others, all the relations of the deceased, the wounded Indians and the chiefs of the tribe, were invited to be present and witness the fairness of the proceedings. Accordingly, 13 of them proceeded as far as Boston, where they had an interview with Lieutenant-Governor Phips, and received the most courteous treatment, as well as some valuable presents :- and though they
* The next year, the Riot act was revised ; and the Superior Court au- thorized to hold special sessions, in any county, on great emergencies, wherein there was appointed by law only one term to be holden in a year.
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A. D. 1750. found there could be no trial of the offenders, at that time, they returned home, apparently satisfied. The prisoners were subse- quently remanded to Yorkshire, while the difficulties with the In- dians were assuming again a very gloomy aspect ; and I do not find, that either of the Holbrooks were ever convicted. Certain it is, that whenever a white person was tried for killing an Indian, even in times of profound peace, he was invariably acquitted ;- it being impossible to impannel a jury, on which there were not some, who had suffered by the Indians, either in their persons, families, or estates.
Rumor of an arrival of from St. Francois to attack Fort Richmond. Touched on this occasion, with natural or affected sympathy the Iwchans for their brothers, and enkindled by French emissaries into a flame of resentment towards the English, the Indians at St. Fran- cois and Becancourt,* took occasion to aggravate the above men- tioned wrong, and magnify some supposed provocations, into sufficient causes for acts of retaliation and revenge. Hence, a company of 80, receiving supplies from Trois Revieres, proceeded to visit Norridgewock and Penobscot. About the time of their arrival, it was reported, that these northern fighters were to be joined by 150 Tarratines ; that a French ship of 64 guns, three or four brigs and 20 transports, probably full of troops, provis- ions and warlike stores, had been seen shaping their course towards St. Georges or Sagadahock river; and that the garrison at Richmond had been told by an Indian-they might expect an attack in 48 hours .- Since the peace, the soldiers at that fort were only 14; at Pemaquid 6; at St. George's 15; at fort George 4 ; and at Saco 8, including two or three armorers; all of them being illy prepared to encounter, or withstand an assault so little expected.
The attack upon the Fort Rich- mond. But though these rumors, so alarming to the eastern people, garrison of were in part unfounded and incorrect ; it is true, that a body of Indians from the north, associating with themselves probably some young Canibas fighters, t did, Sept. 11, fall with great fury upon Richmond-fort, which, notwithstanding the timely notice given it by the Indian, might have been easily taken, had they known its weakness, and made the best use of their advantage. But they
* About this time a letter was received at Boston, from Asseramo, chief of the Wawenocks, (spelt " Worenock," in the record,) making complaints. t There were about 100 in all .- MS. Letter.
CHAP. X.]
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spent the day in spoiling some habitations in the vicinity, and A. D. 1750. killing domestic animals, probably for food ; nine great cattle being butchered by them, and two others barely escaped slaughter by running within the reach of the guns at the fort. In this crit- ical juncture as it truly was, Capt. Samuel Goodwin and a small party of his men, had the good fortune under the covert of dark- ness to reach the garrison in safety. When informed of this fact Other mis- chiefs.
by a prisoner, the assailants abandoned the place ; and forming themselves into parties, committed acts of mischief in different places, on both sides of the Kennebeck river.
A small part of those who crossed the river lurked about the Some com- mitted at plantation of Frankfort, [now Dresden], watching every move- Dresden. ment of the inhabitants. The next day about sunrise, as a Mr. Pomeroy was returning from milking his cows, an Indian shot him from an ambush, and he fell dead, just as he was entering the door of his house. Aroused by what had taken place, Davis, who dwelt in another apartment of the same house, sprang up to close the door, when the Indian thrust in the barrel of his gun to prevent its shutting. Davis seized it, and with the assistance of some women in the room, wrested the gun from the savage, and kept it as a trophy of his success. As the only way of ad- equately avenging himself, the savage caught a young child of Davis', in the outer kitchen or near it, and carried it away cap- tive. Another Indian, concealing himself in the field, fired at McFarland, as he went to work, and wounded him. Before they left the settlement, they seized two other men ; and these they carried to Canada .* In the same unanticipated visit, perhaps Also upon the same day, another party of them was ravaging Swan Island, Swan Isl- and. burning the people's houses and killing their cattle ; and when they left the place, they carried away with them thirteen or four- teen of the inhabitants prisoners. +
But the main body proceeded down the river, and then Visit Par- divided into scouts. One of them undertook the destruction of ker's island. Wiscasset and the settlements of Sheepscot, set several houses on fire, took two prisoners, and would have laid waste the neigh- boring country, had they met with success in surprizing the block-house. Another scout proceeded against Georgetown ; aiming their vengeance at the garrison on Parker's Island, in the
* MS. Let. from Dresden.
t See vol. I, p. 50-1.
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A. D. 1750. heart of the village. Having come to a house, Sept. 25, within Sept. 25. A feal. call of the fort, they were probably discovered, for they began their depredations by assailing it with their hatchets while the owner bravely fought them, without asking quarter, till they had literally cut their way into it through the doors. He, then leap- ing out of a back window, sought safety by flight. But so close- ly was he pursued by two savages, that he saw no possibility of escape otherwise, than by betaking himself to the water, and swimming to the Island Arrowsick. His pursuers as nimbly springing into a canoe were able to gain upon him ; and when almost within reach of their paddles, he suddenly turned upon them, and with great presence of mind, overset their light bark and plunged them both into the water, when all three were on a level-equals in the same element. During the struggle of the Indians for the preservation of their own lives, he escaped tri- umphantly to the shore. But though he providentially saved his life, his house and barn with most of their contents were reduced to ashes .*
Carry away 30 prisoners.
Boldly resisted or foiled in all their assaults, they withdrew ; carrying away with them, between 20 and 30 prisoners, and taking on their route, one man at Maquoit, one at New-Marblehead, [Windham] and one at Gorhamtown. On their return, they shewed themselves in the outskirts of Falmouth, and did some mischief in several other places. Particularly in passing through New-Gloucester, they met Joseph Taylor and Mr. Farewell near Seabody-pond ; whom they seized, and proceeded with them through the woods, towards the sources of the Little Androscog- gin, in the northerly part of the present Paris. Discovering a of Snow and new track, they pursued it to the height of land, where they The story Butterfield. found the camp of two hunters, Snow and Butterfield. At the moment of discovery, the Indian file-leader, hooded with a large hawk-skin, retaining its feathers, and hanging down upon his shoulders, raised a hideous yell, and quickened his pace. Snow, having been a captive in a former war, and conceiving a great antipathy to the Indians and their manner of living, had deter- mined to sacrifice his life, rather than be again their prisoner. When he heard the shout, he was in a sitting posture, pecking the flint of his gun, which was at the time loaded with only a
· 1 Minot, p. 141.
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partridge-charge. Deliberately rising on his feet, and taking A. D. 1750. good aim, he brought the foremost Indian to the ground, only a few feet distant. He was their Chief. This so infuriated his companions, that they instantly fired upon him a volley, which pierced his body through with several bullets. To satiate their rage, they then cut and mangled it till tired ; leaving it above ground, and forbidding Butterfield, and the other prisoners, to bury or touch it. The body of their Chief they carried into a bog, where Moose-pond empties into Little Androscoggin ; and after breaking the turf and forming an aperture, they crushed it deep into the mire, and departed ; uttering expressions of inter- mingled grief and respect. At Umbagog Lake, they fell in company with another party of Indian plunderers, when all of them joined in something like funeral solemnities, commemorative of their Sagamore's death ;- then wiping the tearful eye, re- hearsed to each other their adventures and feats, with the same good cheer, as if nothing melancholy had happened. Taylor was with them five years, became acquainted with both the French and Indian languages, and was afterwards an instructer of Indian youth at Dartmouth College .*
This sudden and unexpected incursion of the Indians, again The eastern filled the eastern country with fearful distress, and the government country with great anxiety. For if peace could not be enjoyed when with alarm. again filled there were subsisting treaties between the English and French Defensive crowns,-and between New-England colonists and the natives ; measures. then surely no respite from perpetual warfare, could be expected. As the best way to encounter such an emergency, the Lieutenant- Governor ordered 150 men to be detached or drafted, from the eastern Regiment, now commanded by Col. Charles Cushing of Falmouth, and sent to scour the woods on the frontiers be- tween Saco and St. Georges ;- also supplies of ammunition were put into the hands of Capt. Williamson of Wiscasset, and Capt. Nichols of Sheepscot, for the common good.t Nor did the de- fensive measures rest here ; for the General Court being specially convened, Sept. 26, voted pay and supplies to the soldiers raised, until the 1st of November, the succeeding year, unless sooner
* MS. Let. J. S. Holmes, Esq. 1721 .- Mr. Taylor lived in Claremont, N. H. His oldest daughter was the wife of Col. E. Rawson of Paris, Maine. ¡ Jour. H. of Rep. p. 66, A. D. 1750.
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A. D. 1750 discharged ; and requested the Lieutenant-Governor to send de la Jonquiere a letter,-remonstrating in most pointed terms against his course with the northern Indians ; and demanding redress and a release of prisoners without delay.
A. D. 1751.
Indians commit mis- chiefs at Falmouth and New- Meadows.
To finish what is to be related of the Indians prior to a formal and new confirmation of the late treaty ; it remains to be stated, that June 8th, the next year, (1751) they killed Job Burnal, in the highway at Falmouth, and shot his horse under him. About a month afterwards, they carried away from New-Meadows, seven of the inhabitants, prisoners. Purrington and Lombard were the names of two, and the others belonged to the families of Messrs. Hinkley and Whitney .* But it was manifest that since the return of the northern Indians the previous autumn, to St. Francois, and Trois Revieres, the instances of mischief were principally acts of mere revenge, committed by stragglers and renegadoes, unen- couraged probably by any tribe. The Sokokis Indians, whose families had been with the English, while they themselves were at Louisbourg, had of choice returned to their former places of abode and hunting grounds at Pegwacket ; satisfied with the treatment received, and much attached to their English friends.t Interesting case of an Indeed, an interesting Indian girl, the daughter of Capt. Sam, Indian girl. was so captivated with the idea of neatness, learning and fashion, that she chose to leave the tribe, and live with her well beloved mistress. No particular eastern tribe appeared now to be hos- tile. The Sagamores at Penobscot and even Norridgewock, de- clared they had no share in the late rupture, and expressed strong desires of immediately renewing their former trade and connex- ions with the English.}
August. Treaty with the Indians confirmed.
Commissioners, therefore, attended by a guard of 150 men, detailed from Col. Cushing's regiment, met at St. Georges' fort, August 3, the delegates from the tribes at Penobscot, Passama- quoddy and St. John's river, for the purpose of settling all for- mer difficulties .- " Long talks," were followed by re-assurances from the chiefs, of their wishes to live in tranquillity ; and hence
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