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 41
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 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72
t With two or three exceptions only, and these were episcopalians.
401
OF MAINE.
CHAP. XIV.]
as of religion, with their lamps burning. Also the gentle- A. D. 1773. men of the Bar, Theophilus Bradbury, David Sewall, Caleb Lawyers. Emery, William Cushing and James Sullivan, were men equally distinguished for their whig politics, and their patriotic zeal, as for their talents and their learning .*
But the officers of the crown, and some of the more opulent Episcopa- citizens, usually attended worship in the episcopal churches. lians. There was one of this order at Falmouth, which had been estab- lished more than ten years. At first, about forty associated ; and having invited Rev. John Wiswell to settle with them, they sent him to England for ordination by the Bishop of London, and erected for him a very beautiful church .- There was another edifice reared for this communion at Pownalborough, about the same time, principally by the contributions and subscriptions of the Plymouth proprietors, through whose encouragement the
* Mr. Bradbury, a native of Newbury, (Mass.) graduated at Harvard College in 1757, read law in Boston, and entered upon the practice at Falmouth in 1761. His wife was the daughter of Ephraim Jones, Esq. of Falmouth. Mr. B. removed to Newburyport in 1779, was a member of Congress in 1797, when he was appointed an Associate Judge of the S. J. Court of Mass. He left the bench, 1803, and died the same year ; beloved and respected for his talents and his virtues.
Mr. Sewall, born at York, and graduated at Harvard, A. D. 1755, com- menced the practice of law in his native town, A. I). 1759, where he re- sided till his death. He was Register of Probate, Provincial Councillor, Judge of the S. J. Court and District Court of Maine.
Mr. Emery resided first in York, then in Sanford. It seems he was in the practice of law, from 1768 to 1785-6. He was a military officer, and represented his town in the General Court, the two last years of his life. He was a younger brother of Noah Emery, Esq. of Kittery.
Mr. Cushing, resided in Pownalborough, where he commenced practice in his profession, soon after the county of Lincoln was established. He was son of John Cushing, a Judge of the Superior Court .- See Pownal- borough, 1760.
Mr. Sullivan, a native of Berwick, first opened his office at Arrowsick Island, soon removed to Pownalborough where we find him in 1768. He afterwards removed to Biddeford, A. D. 1772-3 .- See post, A. D. 1808.
Mr. David Wyer was a native of Charlestown, Mass. and son of a mer- chant of the same name. He was graduated at Cambridge, 1758, read law with John Chipman, who died of an apoplexy at Falmouth ; and, it is believed, commenced business in his profession, about 1764-5. Mr. Wyer died at Falmouth in Oct. 1775, aged about 40 years. He was of graceful stature and manners, and possessed handsome talents.
Theophilus Parsons settled in Falmouth, [Portland] A. D. 1774.
VOL. II. 51
402
THE HISTORY
[VOL. II.
A. D. 1773. Rev. Jacob Baily officiated in that place several years. But in the commencement of the revolutionary war, finding very few to agree with him in politics, he removed to Annapolis, and never returned. Excepting some of this denomination, there were none found in the three eastern counties, who were advocates for the supremacy of king or parliament.
The causes of dispute well under- parties. The present year was remarkable for the maturity, which pub- lic opinion seemed already to have acquired. All due means, stood by the it is true, had been used, for more than four years past, to enlight- en and unite the people, by essays, addresses, and letters. Some of the publications were extremely fine specimens of composition, -worthy the pen of a Sydney, a Sheridan, or a Burke. Through Committees of correspondence, chosen in the different towns, in- telligence was communicated and received with great convenience and despatch. The Governor's motives, in his backwardness to improve the organization and discipline of the militia, and to use suitable methods for furnishing the inhabitants with arms, were criti- cally examined, and their baseness fully exposed. The successes of these indefatigable labors among the people, were more than adequate to expectation. Perhaps the grounds of political contro- versy between rulers and subjects were never better understood. In short, such were the spirit and thorough information of the community, and such the tendency of measures pursued by ad- ministration, that it were strange, if there was none to entertain fears of a revolutionary rupture .- The instructions given early in the year by the inhabitants of Falmouth to William Tyng, Esq. their representative, will exhibit their temper and apprehen- sions.
Letter to Mr. Tyng.
' Sir,-As you are our representative, we would offer a few ' things for your consideration, in the transaction of the very im- ' portant business, which may come before the General Court at ' the next session. Though the infringements upon our liberties ' give abundant reason for complaint ;- we shall not undertake to 'enumerate our grievances. These having been often and tho- ' roughly investigated, are all well known to the General Court. ' At present, the best methods of redress or relief are, in our ' opinion, of the most importance. Endued with singular abili- ' ties and naturally fine disposition, as the Governor is,-himself ' and family too, embarked in the same bottom with ourselves, we ' know of no better expedient to be tried, than for the members
403
OF MAINE.
CHAP. XIV.]
' of the General Court to conciliate him, if possible, by a manly A. D. 1773. ' expression of sentiment, and an open and elevated course of ' conduct. The manner most judicious, will be dictated by their ' wisdom and prudence ;- full in the belief, as we are, that if he ' could be prevailed upon to join the other branches of the Legis- ' lature, in a petition to the throne, for a redress of wrongs and ' grievances, it would be heard, and the much desired relief would ' be administered.'*
the General Court to the
The same spirit of conciliation pervaded the whole commu- Address of nity. The General Court, in a letter to Lord Dartmouth,-as- sured him, that the people "would rejoice at the restoration of ministry. " the harmony and good-will, which once subsisted between them " and the parent State. But it is in vain, (they said,) to expect " this happiness, during the continuance of their grievances, and " while their charter rights, one after another, are wrested from " them." In short, " could your Lordship condescend to ask, " what measures would restore the harmony so much desired ?- " we should answer in a word, that we are humbly of opinion, if " things were brought to the general state in which they stood " at the close of the late war, it would restore the harmonious " and happy union, which then subsisted."
His Lordship, who was Secretary for American affairs, was Teas. altogether more favorably disposed towards the Colonies, than Lord Hillhouse, his predecessor, had been; yet there was no change in the system. The duty on teas was still retained ;- associations for the disuse of them, prevented sales in America ;- the warehouses in England were full of the article ;- therefore the merchants obtained leave of Parliament to ship it on their own account across the Atlantic. They confidently believed, upon its being landed, the duty must necessarily be secured or paid ; and great quantities would, in all probability, find their way into the interior and be consumed by the people. Shipments were of course prepared ;- but no measure of administration, not even the stamp-act, had ever created more excitement and alarm. For the Colonists, who had determined neither to import the ar- ticle nor use it, supposed it was now to be forced upon them. By consequence, early in December, or late in the preceding
* Smith's Jour. App. p. 17-18.
404
THE HISTORY
[VOL. II.
A. D. 1773. month, three ships arrived in Boston harbor, laden with it ;* Dec. 16. Destroyed in Boston. which no motives nor arguments, urged from day to day by the inhabitants upon the consignees, could induce them to send back. Hence, amidst the agitation, seventeen men, dressed like the Na- tives, boarded the ships, on the evening of the 16th, and threw 342 chests into the water.t
This bold act, though not instigated by the people of Boston, was nevertheless shielded with excuses, framed equally by them and by the country ; being also with the attendant circumstances, a principal cause of determining the Governor to leave the Pro- A.D. 1774. vince. Every movement entrenched upon his plans. In the win- January. Hutchinson ter session of the General Court, he was extremely perplexed by goes to Eng- Jand: applications, either to remove Chief Justice Oliver from the Su- preme Bench, or to receive from the House articles of impeach- ment against him, which charged him with the high misdemeanor of accepting a salary from the crown. Hutchinson saw the gath- ering storm ; and having received the royal consent to visit Eng- land, he prorogued the General Court, March 8, and embarked about two months and a half afterwards, but never returned.}
Two towns incorporat- ed.
Among his last official acts, in concurrence with the General Court, was his signature of two bills, by which Edgecomb, March 5, and New-Gloucester, March 8, were incorporated into towns. §
Edgecomb.
The township of EDGECOMB was originally settled in 1744, by Samuel Trask and others, in " several places." Under a pos- sessory claim, they and subsequent settlers lived undisturbed upon their lands ten years, when three men, appearing from Boston, challenged title to them in virtue of an Indian deed, and surveyed several lots next to the Sheepscot, which they numbered and marked. But if the whole did not justly labor under the suspi- cions of sheer speculation, the deed of the Sagamores contained no definite boundaries ; no actual possession had ever been taken
* The tea was in two ships and a brig, which lay at the side of the wharf. It was then ebb tide,-the water in the dock was not more than two feet deep, and the tea thrown overboard soon grounded; the heaps be- ing so high on the sides of the ships, as to fall in upon the decks .- B, Simp- son's statement .- Folsom's Saco and Biddeford, p. 288.
¡ 2 Holmes' A. Ann. p. 302 .- 1 Bradford's Hist. p. 298-305.
# See ante, A. D. 1770, note .- Allen's Biog, Dic, p. 364,
§ These were the 33d and 34th towns in the State,
405
OF MAINE.
CHAP. XIV.]
under it; and the settlers were not disposed to surrender. Made A. D. 1774. acquainted with these facts, and actuated by a generous spirit, a gentleman of the bar in Boston, undertook their defence without fee or reward ; and the three claimants abandoned their pursuit. In compliment to the lawyer's generosity, the plantation took the name of Freetown, which it retained till its present establishment. The corporate name was given by the General Court, in honor of Lord Edgecomb, who was, at this crisis of political affairs, a dis- tinguished friend to the interests of the Colonies. To the Island Jeremisquam,* which was a part of the town; the "Wiscasset Proprietors" supported their claim, and compelled the settlers to purchase of them. Among its first inhabitants were John Doors and Joseph Whittam, whose residence was commenced upon the Island about 1745. So populous or spirited was this town, that we find it represented in the Provincial Congress, by Moses Da- vis, the next year after it was incorporated, +
* " Jeremisquam," [Westport,] is separated from Wiscasset, Woolwich, and Georgetown, by the Sheepscot waters, Mock's and Mountjoy's bays, westwardly; and eastwardly by the Sheepscot, which runs between the Island and Edgecomb. Jeremisquam Island embraces 15,460 acres; and is 11 miles in length. One George Davie purchased of the Sheepscot Saga- mores, Dec. 21, 1663, and took their deeds of large tracts in that quarter and settled at Wiscasset point. It seems that the town of Wiscasset and the Island of Jeremisquam, embraced by some of those deeds, came by in- heritance and transfer into the possession of several wealthy gentlemen in Boston, who associated there in 1734, under the name of the " Boston Company ;"-but in their subsequent meetings, were called the Jeremi- squam and Wiscasset Proprietors .- Sullivan, p. 149 .- June 13, 1762, they released to the Plymouth Company, the lands " on the west side" of the Island, retaining the territory of Wiscasset .- Kennebeck Claims, p. 12-25. The inhabitants of the Island are principally fishermen, or mariners. There is another Island belonging to Edgecomb, called the FOLLY, near the N. W. angle of the town, opposite to Wiscasset village, containing 95 acres. This is the site of the United States garrison .- See vol. 1, p. 55.
t The land-title of the inhabitants in Edgecomb, otherwise " Edge- cumbe," was supposed to be involved in the great controversy, (like those of Bristol, Nobleboro', Newcastle and Boothbay)-with the Tappan claim- ants, But by the Report, 1811, p. 24, Edgecomb and Boothbay escaped. See the Reference-in Resolves June 20, 1811, p. 238-9 .- Award-in Re- solves Jan, 7, 1813, p. 181-202. Yet the settlers were embraced in the Re- solve of Feb. 25, 1813, for quieting them, the lots were surveyed in Edge- comb, and deeds given them by Jeremiah Baily and Benjamin Orr, who were Commissioners appointed by the Executive, for the purpose .- Resolve Feb. 13, 1816. By these deeds the Commonwealth quit-claimed its right to
406
THE HISTORY
[VOL. II.
A. D. 1774. NEW-GLOUCESTER* was granted by the General Court, in New-Glou- 1735, to the inhabitants of Gloucester at Cape Ann, whence it cester. derived its name. A survey of the township into lots was made in 1737; and so great were the exertions to effect immediate and permanent settlements, that in 1743, the proprietors state, they had erected nineteen framed houses and a saw mill,-thrown two bridges across Royall's river, at the cost of £400,-made twelve miles of road, and cleared considerable land. In the subsequent Indian war, this promising plantation was interrupted, and finally suspended for a period of about eleven years. Not long after the peace, a block-house was built, in March 1754, which was subsequently a Provincial garrison, a store-house and asylum for the settlers, and for sixteen years, a place of public worship. Encouraged by a bounty of £60 old tenor, and by some local considerations, twenty men, in the spring of 1756, undertook the resettlement of the township, engaging to dwell there twelve months. The proprietors' meetings were, in Nov. 1763, holden for the first time within the plantation; and in Jan. 1765, Rev. Samuel Foxcroft, a graduate of Harvard, (1754) was ordained over a church of eight members, embodied at the
the lands, for 133 cents per acre ; [See post, A. D. 1813,] and the inhabit- ants were quieted.
A church was first embodied in Edgecomb, June 24, 1783. Mr. Pickles preached there before that time, and Mr. Whiting afterwards; but neither of them was settled. Rev. Benjamin Chapman, the first minister of the town was installed, March 4, 1801. He died, July 13, 1804 ; and was suc- ceeded in the ministry, Sept. 30, 1807, by Rev. Samuel Sewall. About the time, Mr. Chapman was settled, Timothy Cunningham, an inhabitant of the town, who was a freewill baptist, " was made an elder of that Society, and has since been their minister." There are two meeting-houses, built by the town before it was divided-one on the main, and the other on Jeremisquam. There are in town six mills-and the inhabitants own about 1,200 tons of shipping. The original settlers suffered greatly from the Indians, from famine, and from privations, in the fifth Indian war. Moses Davis, Esq. the first representative of the town, was born, Sept. 23, 1743, at Hampton Falls, N. H. ; and in 1770, removed to Freetown. He was in the Convention of Mass. that ratified the Constitution of the United States ;- one of the most worthy men of the town .- MS. Let. of Rufus Sewall and Moses Davis, Esqrs. 1822.
* In New-Gloucester, there is a family or society of SHAKERS, consist- ing of 75 or 80 individuals. They planted themselves in the north-west part of the town, soon after the close of the revolutionary war-a neat, frugal, industrious people.
407
OF MAINE.
CHAP. XIV.]
same time. The people built for him a dwellinghouse, and the A. D. 1774. proprietors paid him a salary. His ecclesiastical connexion with the people continued twenty seven years .*
* New-Gloucester has been one of the most distinguished towns in the State. Being a half shire with Portland, the Courts of Common Pleas and Sessions sat here from 1791 to 1805 ; when Oxford county was established, and the Courts all returned to Portland .- The first openings in the woods were made by Mr. Mason and Mr. Russell, on the sides of " Harris-hill." The garrison, which stood 100 rods south-west of the present meeting- house, was sold in 1772, at auction, for seven bushels of corn-and was standing as lately as 1788. Religion, youthful education, and public spirit early characterized this people. Two lots of land were appropriated for the ministry ; and one preacher here, before the Rev. Mr. Foxcroft, was Rev. Samuel Eaton, who settled in Harpswell. Among the candidates who have labored with Mr. Foxcroft, was Mr. Wait Cromwell, a powerful young divine ; to hear whose discourses, religious assemblies were crowded. The preachers in this plantation, who settled in other places, were Mr. Broad- street, (settled in Chester N. H.)-Mr. Hugh Wallis, (in Bath) ; Mr. James Boyd, (in Bangor); and Mr. John Dane (in Newfield.) Rev. Elisha Moseley of Hampton (Con.) was ordained Feb. 10, 1802, in this town .- Greenleaf's Sk. p. 120 .-- In the war of the revolution, no people evinced more zeal and public spirit. To furnish their quota of soldiers, the town paid a bounty to those who went into the army, took care of their families, and cultivated their fields.
Three men in this town worthy of particular notice, are Israel Parsons, William Widgery and James Stinchfield. Mr. Parsons removed into the township in 1762, was the first magistrate appointed in it; was the repre- sentative to the General Court in 1783, and other years ; a senator ; a colonel of the militia ; a Justice of the Sessions ;- a man equally noted for his piety, promptitude and integrity .- He was a deacon of the church, and a clerk to the proprietors till his decease. He died in 1825, aged 86 years. -The character of Mr. Widgery is worthy to be emulated; for he attain- ed to eminence by his own industry and merits. He came to this town am unlettered youth and stranger ; yet he had the honor of being elected to a seat in the House of Representatives ; in the Senate, in the Council, and in Congress. He was also a Judge of the Common Pleas; and when he died was worth $100,000. Mr. Stinchfield removed with his father's fam- ily into the plantation in 1753. He was a mighty hunter, and well ac- quainted with the woods, and with the Indian manner of warfare. He helped to build the first fort, and was a principal man in the town for some years .- MS. Let. of J. Woodman and A. R. Gedding, Esqrs.
408
THE HISTORY
[VOL. II.
CHAPTER XV.
The destruction of the tea offends the ministry-Port of Boston closed-Provincial charter altered-The Canadians-Town-meet- ing of Falmouth-T. Gage, Governor of the Province-Dissolves the General Court-A fast-day-Resolutions by the people of Biddeford-Provincial and Continental Congresses-Resolves of Cumberland Convention-Provincial Congress organized-Ap- point Committees-Affair with Coulson-Mowett arrives in the harbor of Falmouth-Dismantles Fort Pownal-Agencies to Can- ada and Penobscot-Battle of Lexington-The country aroused to arms-Gen. Gage denounced-His last official act.
A. D. 1774.
ALTHOUGH the tea destroyed at Boston, was the private prop- erty of the East-India company, the British ministry considered the act an outrage upon the national government; and the king, March 7, (1774) made the transaction a subject of special mes- sage to both Houses of Parliament. In this communication he represented the Colonists to be guilty of obstructing the com- merce of the kingdom," and aiming to subvert the British con- stitution ; and particularly mentioned Massachusetts and Boston, as deserving immediate legislative chastisement. The declaration from the throne, filled the tories throughout the realm with great satisfaction ; and a noble Lord, proudly avowed,-that " he would " not listen to any complaint or petition from America, till she " was at his feet."-On the contrary, among the American peo- ple, there was no other alternative thought of, than freedom or death ; and through the medium of conventions, the organ of expression in those times, they solemnly resolved, ' that if mil- ' lions, swarming through a boundless extent of continent, will ' tamely submit to live, move, and have their being at the arbi- ' trary will of a licentious minister, they basely yield to voluntary ' slavery, and future generations shall load their memories with ' incessant execrations.'
* "The inhabitants of New-York and Philadelphia sent the tea ships back to London."-2 Holmes' A. Ann. p. 303.
The de- struction of the tea of- fends the ministry.
409
CHAP. XV.] OF MAINE.
Three statutes were hurried through Parliament too hastily, if A. D. 1774. not too intemperately, to be examined with becoming delibera- The port of tion. The first closed the port of Boston to all trade, after the ed.
Boston clos- first day of the ensuing June. The second, which was to come into operation on the second day of the succeeding August, so altered the provisions of the Massachusetts charter, as to vest in Massachu- Charter of the Crown, the appointment of thirty-six Councillors, in lieu of setts altered. the twenty-eight, annually chosen by the two branches of the General Court in convention. The Provincial Governor was Officers. likewise empowered to appoint and remove, at pleasure, without the Council's concurrence, all judges, sheriffs, and justices ; and to disallow all town-meetings, excepting what were ordained by meetings. Town- standing laws * Nay, all jurymen, who had been by law drawn Jurymen. in open town-meetings, from the jury-boxes,-were to be subse- quently selected, summoned and returned by the sheriff's of their respective counties. The third provided that if any officer in Trials. the act of executing the laws, or any person aiding him therein, should be charged with murder or other capital offence, he might be sent for trial to another Colony or even to England. The The Cana- fourth, which was passed later in the session, new modeled the couraged. dians en- government of the Quebec Province, and also granted to the Canadian catholics, some peculiar privileges, which justly and generally alarmed the protestant colonists in the northern parts of New-England.t
The eastern towns, as well as those in Massachusetts, held meetings in the meantime, and strengthened and encouraged each The senti- ments of Falmouth other, by resolves and communications through the medium of inhabitants. their Committees. The inhabitants of Falmouth, the only port of entry in this eastern Province, convened in town-meeting; discussed independently the different subjects of wrong, redress and resistance ; and declared it as their undivided opinion, 'that ' neither the Parliament of Great Britain, nor any other power 'on earth, had a right to lay a tax on us, without our consent, or ' the consent of those whom we might choose to represent us. ' This is one of the most important articles in the glorious Mag-
* Prov. Laws, p. 785, 796.
t The catholic religion was now established in Canada, perhaps to ani- mate the French there, or Indians, to take arms against New-England, in case of war .- 2 Holmes' A. Ann. p. 313. VOL. II. 52
410
THE HISTORY
[VOL. II.
A. D. 1774.'na Charta ; the liberties of which we have a right inviolate to ' enjoy, as being interwoven with the constitution of the rational ' mind, and agreeable to the laws of God and of nature. But "we have in Parliament none to represent us; and the vast 'ocean, which rolls between this continent and Great Britain, ' renders a representation impracticable. But as a substitute, we ' have a sacred compact, as yet unbroken by us,-a Provincial ' charter, purchased by our forefathers, and sanctioned by the ' parent government ; whereby, we have a Parliament of our 'own, or rather a Supreme Provincial Legislature, in which we ' are equally represented, and to whose laws, in obedience to the ' law of God alone, ought we to be subservient. Controlled by ' the dictates and acts of two legislative bodies at the same time, ' and in relation, perhaps, to the same subjects, we are exposed ' to slavery of the worst kind. All this, a corrupt and disaffected ' ministry have attempted to palm upon us, by the formidable stamp- ' act and other arbitrary measures ; turning at length the tea-mer- ' chants upon us, to achieve tlie projected and unfinished machin- ' ation. Yet surely, there can be found no subjects more loyal ' to their prince than we, in all his dominions. We have no de- ' sire to be released from the restraints of good government and ' reasonable laws ; while to obey such as are oppressive or to re- 'sist them-is a most unhappy and trying alternative .- If we ' yield,-we own the power that oppresses us, and must forever " submit to its despotic sway ;- we detach ourselves from the ' great body of our fellow countrymen, and must endure their " just and severe reproaches ;- nay, we must endure all the evils ' which a servile submission will bring upon us and our posterity ' in succeeding generations .- If we resist, we help to sever a ' mighty empire ;- we arouse against ourselves, a most powerful ' nation ; and in the midst of our greatest exertions, we put to ' hazard our own security, in all that is dear.'
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.