USA > Maine > Cumberland County > Freeport > Three centuries of Freeport, Maine > Part 12
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
After peace was made he returned to this country and was in New York when he was told in a letter from his brother Se- ward, dated May 25, 1815, that "John, Ebenezer and Jeremiah have been out in the Dash upwards of 4 months and not heard from." This informed him of the probable loss of three of his brothers, although hope was not given up until much later.
The America left Portland for Turk's Island Tuesday, July 25, 1815, loaded with salt and on her return voyage ran into a hurricane. The log of this voyage was torn from its binding when ship was abandoned and still remains in the possession of the Porter family. The strain of this experience is not indicated by the penmanship of the log, which is as steady at critical times as in the early days of the voyage. We reproduce the part relating to the loss of the America:
Remarks on Board America Thursday August 31, 1815
Commences fresh breezes and a very heavy sea from the north- erly. At 2 P.M. single reef the topsails fore and aft and set the topsails over them. At six P.M. handed topsails and all light sails. Middle part handed mizzen topsail and mainsail and close reefed the main one. At three P.M. closed the foretop and foresail. At six A.M. handed four topsail and sent down top
140
Three Centuries of Freeport, Maine
gallant yards fore and aft. Shipped a sea on the starboard quarter and stove in the boards. The ship labors and strains very much and makes more water than usual. Handed the spanker. Got all things secured as fast as possible with a heavy sea and blowing a heavy gale.
September 1st, 1815 Begins with a heavy gale and a very heavy sea from the northeast. At six P.M. handed main topsail and wore ship to the eastward. Handed foresail. Hove to under mizzen-staysail. At six P.M. tried to get the top gallant mast down. Parted three mast ropes but all to no purpose, found it impossible. 10 P.M. It blowing a very heavy hurricane. The mizzen staysail sheet parted. Hauled it down and saved as much as possible reffed it and set it again but it blowing so ex- cessive heavy that canvas could not stand. Split all to pieces. Find the water gains on us with both pumps continually going. At 11 P.M. the four main topmasts and mizzen top masts went over the side and jolly boat from the stern. Shipping water over all continually. Cleared the wreck as fast as possible it blowing a tremendous hurricane and both pumps going continually the water still gaining on us. At eight A.M. observed the heads have started off and hanging by two bolts several of them being drawn. Stopped one leak forward. The sea making a fair sweep over the decks continually and found the leak still increasing on us. Began to bail forward and shovel out salt from forward lighten her free hove the best bower from the bows and every- thing we could to lighten her to no purpose.
September 2nd First part strong gales blowing a hurricane of wind with a tremendous sea. Ship laboring very heavy ship- ping heavy seas at times over all hands employed pumping and bailing forward. Ship gaining water on us very fast. At 2 P.M. the head of the rudder began to split two hands employed lash- ing and clapping on preventers on the tiller. Middle part. Still the same weather. Employed pumping, bailing and heaving overboard salt forward. The ship "githing" by the head. At 10 A.M. observed the rudder had given way from the sternpost. Employed in endeavoring to get it clear of the ship, without damaging the stern. Presently the neck of the rudder broke off from the bottom. On examination found the pintles bad chiefly broke and one or two off. The lower gudgeons had
141
Tales of the Sea
given away from the stern post. Made a considerably more water all hands employed bailing and throwing salt overboard from forward. No observation this day.
September 3rd These 24 hours begin blowing a heavy gale of wind with rain and a tremendous sea. Ship laboring heavy and shipping seas over all. Still all hands employed pumping, bail- ing and throwing salt overboard to lighten the ship. Forward the water gaining on us and settling forward and listing to star- board. Using every exertion to save the ship and lighten her particularly forward but to no purpose as the water gains in the hold. Got the longboat in readiness to quit the ship. Found the principal leak to be aft but could not stop it it being down by the sternpost.
September 4th This first part strong gales and squally with a heavy rough sea. Ship laboring heavy and nearly waterlogged and ungovernable. Using all means to lighten and free the ship of water. Few hands employed setting top gallant sails on lower masts to steady the ship. At 1 P.M. observed the ship settling very fast forward launched the longboat overboard, got in a little water and provisions and "moored" her astern with a good rope. At 2 A.M. found she was going down by the head and ordered all hands into the boat for the preservation of our lives and even as we found it utterly impossible to prevent her from sinking so we thought by a general opinion of all hands and passengers that it was highly necessary to abandon. At 1 A.M. we left the ship with ten feet of water in the hold, the starboard bow under water and in latitude 24° 15' north longitude 72° west. . .. At 6 A.M. about one mile distant from the ship saw her go down by the head and as she went down suppose her stern frame had blown out as we saw the water flying to a great height as she went out of sight. Made sail in the boat with thirty hands in all.
SO ENDS THIS TWENTY FOUR HOURS
Monday September the 5th Begins more moderate and smooth with the wind in the southard and eastward At P.M. it being very rough took in sail Kept the boat head to the sea At 6 A.M. made the land to leeward bore up and set sail with a fresh breeze. At 12 Watlands Island where we were received by the in-
142
Three Centuries of Freeport, Maine
habitants and treated with all the generosity that could be Got all our provisions on shore to the houses. Stopped at different places on the island.
The island mentioned above is the San Salvador, where Columbus made his first landing in the western hemisphere.
After this experience Joseph Porter opened a store at Por- ter's Landing and in 1816 Porter & Merrill were building an unnamed brig there, to be launched in August and already sold to Hoyt, Eckford & Brown. The next year another brig was on the stocks and nearly ready for launching. Charles Porter wrote that he had ordered a bust of a commodore for a figurehead and suggested the name Morris for the vessel. It may interest some to learn that the cost of the head was thirty dollars. There is the usual amount of financial stringency following a war and this letter is full of financial details.
In 1820 Joseph Porter was again at sea, this time in com- mand of the brig Abinoam and in 1829 was offered the Lady Gauatin. In January, 1822, he brought a cargo of timber to the Portsmouth Navy Yard on the ship Vigalent and again in March of the same year. In 1823 he was master of the sloop Messenger and in May, 1838, was offered command of the Hickory.
In 1834 Mr. Soule was bargaining regarding the purchase of the shipyard and wharf at Porter's Landing. Evidently Rufus Soule had rented the shipyard previous to 1836 and had been building there.
Joseph Porter died in 1849 at the age of seventy-six.
The Napoleonic wars were the bane of American shipping, for both French and English alike preyed on any luckless ves- sel which lacked speed to escape these raiders. One victim was the Mary Ann of Portland, which was proceeding up the Eng- lish Channel on March 8, 1811, when she was boarded by a French lugger and a prize crew put on board.
Ordinarily a quiet man, the captain, Eben McIntosh, of Portland, was so aroused by threats and ruffianly conduct on the part of the prizemaster that he ran him through with his own sword. The mate, George Bacon of Freeport, joined in with a handspike and in the mêlée all but two of the thirteen members of the prize crew were killed. The lugger was so near
143
Tales of the Sea
and time was so short that it was useless to attempt to rescue the Mary Ann. As the safest course the Americans took to a small boat and finally escaped to Dover, England, where they were greeted as heroes. In London captain and crew were provided for most liberally and exhibited at the theatres.
George Bacon proved that this was not a solitary burst of courage, for he afterward was mate and later one of the success- ful commanders of the Dash. What the Londoners would have done to him and his crew in 1814 if they could have caught them is not beyond imagination.
The Freeport ship Tam O'Shanter was noted for her speed. In the spring of 1892 she was one of three clippers in a race from eastern ports to San Francisco. Although the three sailed from different cities in the east their departures were timed to make an even start and substantial amounts of money were wagered upon the outcome of the race.
The Tam O'Shanter, Captain Peabody, loaded at Baltimore, the S. D. Carleton, Captain Amesbury, at Philadelphia and the Shenandoah, Captain Murphy, at New York. Both the Tam O'Shanter and the Shenandoah arrived July 13, 1892, the former two hours ahead of the latter, after a passage of one hundred and eleven days. The Carleton experienced very severe weather and did not reach San Francisco until August 23.
The Tam O'Shanter was seventeen years old at the time and lasted seven years longer, being lost in the China Sea in 1899. Beside members of the Soule family and Captain Peabody, she had also been commanded by Captain A. T. Small and Captain Ballard. She was the second Freeport ship of that name and a painting of her hangs in the Bartol Library.
An example of the skill and resourcefulness of a captain was given when the San Joaquin collided with an iceberg. The San Joaquin was a ship of 1,630 tons, built in the Soule yard in 1876. She was bound for Portland with a cargo of rags, loaded in Japan. Off Cape Horn on a thick night she struck the berg with such violence that she was partially dismasted and her bow stove. She remained fast in the ice until morning, when Cap- tain Larrabee ran lines to the iceberg, got his vessel off and then proceeded under jury rig, arriving at Portland in safety.
The following is a dainty tale of the sea told in verse by a Freeport poetess some forty years ago:
144
Three Centuries of Freeport, Maine
A FRENCH SPOLIATION STORY 1796-1896
Laid away with a school-girl's treasures In a dainty perfumed box, 'Midst relics of childhood pleasures, Is a pair of old silk socks.
Cut down for a little maiden Ragged at heel and toe, They are yet with memories laden Of a hundred years ago;
Of a gallant vessel taken By a gay French privateer; Of her captain and crew forsaken As soon as land was near.
As they rowed away from the cutter Towards a sunny tropic isle, No farewell did the Frenchman utter But he leaned with a mocking smile
Far over the cutter's railing And to the captain tossed - As if to deride his bewailing For the vessel he had lost -
A pair of long silken hosen, Flesh-colored and daintily clocked.
No taunt more fitly chosen Could his victim's rage have mocked.
Upon a fragrant hillside By the Harraseekit shore, They laid the captain when he died, 'Twas forty years and more.
The blackberry vines above him In tangled masses creep, And those who used to love him, Around him calmly sleep.
145
Tales of the Sea
And naught for the gallant "Freeport," Ere came to him or those - His heirs in the little seaport, But this pair of silken hose.
They tell of the life of the nation Guarded by land and sea, Through the century's duration, With unwavering loyalty.
They tell of hopes that were kindled For claims that are yet unpaid; Of hopes that with years have dwindled Like the socks of the little maid.
"They can be once more made shorter," The maiden says, "Just wait, - I am only a great-grand-daughter; They will do for a great-great-great."
KENELIN LUFKIN (Eliza Dennison King)
XXIV FREEPORT SQUARE
T HE village which is now the centre of town activities in earlier days was but a crossroads on the stage route. Ox teams laden with masts and great timbers from Durham, Pownal and territory to the north, came down Main Street. The space required in which to safely swing these huge loads in making the turn down the present Bow Street on their way to the waiting ships at Mast Landing accounts for the unusual shape of the square. The really important villages at that time were Mast and Porter's Landings.
Even the first churches were located on sites somewhat dis- tant from the present business centre - the Congregational at least a half mile below, the Baptist equally far above and the Universalist down Bow Street, well toward Mast Landing. As time went on taverns and stores grouped themselves about the Square and the churches moved to its vicinity, the Congrega- tionalist opposite the end of Bow Street and the Universalist some distance above, although not so far as it now is. With the town hall then on Main Street, the usual blacksmith and car- riage shops, there was still an absence of real industries, except farming, even after the railroad laid its track and established the Freeport depot here, thereby dealing the Landings a death blow commercially. This condition remained until E. B. Mal- let opened his campaign to create a volume of real business here. His activities however will be treated in detail elsewhere. Aside from them are the developments due to the automobile and before that to the bicycle.
As long as a horse could pull the load little thought was given to roads, until man attempted to propel himself and found out how essential was a good surface. In 1900 the auto- mobile was in its infancy but the succeeding years saw a marked improvement in roadbuilding, as cars became more numerous.
By 1919 there was a black surfaced road from Portland to Brunswick, with extensive construction beyond approaching Gardiner. More and more people traveled by car through Free- port and filling stations and garages were established and in- creased in number, as the traffic warranted. In 1931 the black
147
Freeport Square
surfaced road was replaced with cement and again the volume of travel increased and more filling stations were installed, un- til one almost wonders if Main Street will become a solid mass of such stations, for now there are nine from the overpass to just beyond School Street. In 1937 a stoplight was installed at the head of Bow Street. This proved to be a great convenience, for thousands of cars from all parts of the country and Canada pass along Main Street and without an automatic halt in traf- fic it would be difficult at times to cross the highway or for a car to enter from Bow Street.
The old landmark of the Square has long been known as Holbrook's Block and for many years it was a tavern. The ear- liest knowledge we have of it is when the first Congregation- alist minister of Freeport, Rev. Alfred Johnson, occupied it as a home from 1789 to 1805. Afterward Major Thomas Means kept tavern here, and as many old taverns have strange and in- teresting legends connected with them, this one is no excep- tion. This tale has to do with an Indian who came late one night to the hostelry in search of lodging. Already drunk when he arrived, under the influence of still more liquor, he began to brag of having killed a man. Unfortunately for him he went on to say that as one of the raiding party in 1756 he had shot Thomas Means, the Major's father. Apparently nothing was said or done to indicate the horror his listeners must have felt at this announcement and he was conducted later to his room. This was a small monitor room above the present roof and from this room he was never seen to depart. In fact, he was never seen again for the monitor had been the scene of a secret murder. The Indian's ghost is said to have haunted the place until the removal of the monitor, after which it appeared no more. Before the Major's death, some years later, in 1828, he is credited with having told his son that he had made away with the Indian and in that way avenged his father's tragic end.
Major Means was succeeded by Nathaniel Josselyn and he by Samuel Bliss. Later Samuel Thing bought the tavern and con- tinued it for more than forty years. Mr. Thing and Starrett A. Litchfield, who had conducted a "Union Store" in Preble Ox- nard Block for six years, in 1860 bought the Holbrook Block and moved their store into it.
There were then three general stores in the Square, Gore &
148
Three Centuries of Freeport, Maine
Holbrook, Captain R. S. Soule and Thing & Litchfield. At that time there were but two stores on the ground floor of the block, for the store at the Bow Street end is a later addition. Captain R. S. Soule, who ran a packet between Freeport and Portland until 1842, opened a general store, which he con- ducted until 1862, when he sold out to his son, E. S. Soule. Up- stairs the building was at one time a clothing manufactory, producing men's and boy's garments, the materials for which were all cut out and brought by packet from New York and Boston. Working under a superintendent, women and girls did the sewing and their finished product was returned also by packet.
About 1876 the Tavern livery stable, which stood where Libby's filling station is now, was sold to W. A. Mitchell and a couple of years later the stock and goodwill of Thing & Litch- field's general store were sold to Ansel Loring. A little earlier S. A. Holbrook had bought the block and stable building, hence the name of the block. M. E. Averill for many years oc- cupied the store on the right of the entrance, followed by the Atlantic & Pacific chain store. Miss Caldwell occupies the store on the other side of the entrance, under the name of "The Green Tea Kettle." The addition on the Bow Street side was Fogg's drug store and post office, then Mason's drug store and now Cole's Pharmacy.
In 1825 Nye & Harrington were located on the site of the Brewster Block and Soule & Bartlett were where the Bartol Li- brary now stands. Both of them were country stores, where all necessities of the simple life of those days could be purchased.
The account of George R. Anderson for five months of 1832 gives an idea of articles and prices as well as accounting meth- ods of that time. Prices were evidently charged in shillings of sixteen and two-thirds cents and then carried out in dollars and cents. There also seems to have been some sort of a banking business carried on, for we notice that at least twice Mr. An- derson was supplied with cash and for as many times orders were paid to others. In those days, when many of the customers were seafaring, long credits were the rule. This bill proves that Mr. Anderson's taste did not include "N. E. Rum," for that item occurs but once, whereas many accounts of that period in- cluded from a quart to a gallon with every purchase.
West Side of Main Street, 1889
East Side of Main Street, 1889
149
Freeport Square
Mr. George Anderson to Joseph Badger, Dr.
1832
March 14
To
1 Blk Silk Hhdf 4/
$ .67
66
66
66
66
63 " Calico 1 /6 1.63
66
66 Thread
.05
66
1 lb Tea 3/6
.58
66
66
60
3 yds Calico 1/
.50
May
5 8
66
3 " Candles 15 3 Galls Molafses 30
1.35
" Coffee 15 20 lbs Rice 4% 1.20
66
66
66
12 " Salt 2
.24
66
66
¿ Bushl H Grafs Seed 9/
1.50
20 lb Fish 23
.50
66
1 Basket 1 /6 1 Vest 5/6
1.17
66
1 Skein Silk 1 Stick Twist
.10
31 yds Sheeting 12
3.72
66
66
66
1 pr Salts 1 /9
.29
66
66
1 lb Tea 3/
.50
60
66
5 yds Twilled Cloth 20
1.00
66
1/2 doz plates 6/6
.54
66
60
66
7/6
.32
66
1 pr Side Combs
.10
66
66
2 yds Lace
.08
66
66
1 Calico
.18
66
1/3
.42
66
66
6 " Gingham 21
1.26
June
13
pd order to Chase
4.32
16
1 lb Tea 3/ 1 Hhdf 1/
.67
23
66
1 Hoe 2/6 Cash 3/
.92
July
7
1 pr Shoes 12/
2.00
14
Cash 3/
.50
17
2 Galls Molafses 2/
.67
66
66
30 lbs Fish 1 lb Tea 2 Rakes
1.69
1 Bbl Flour
7.50
66
66
66
12 lbs Pork
1.50
66
¿ " Saleratus 3 1b Ginger
.14
1 " Snuff 1 qt N E Rum
.21
28
2 Coffee 15 .30
Augt 66
11
12 4 lbs Pork 10/
1.23
1 Sheet Bread
.06
25
"
22 lbs Fish 1 Sheet Bread
.61
$41.97
9
66
1 lb Tea 3/6
.50
66
66
2
66
66
1/4
2
66
66
24
66
4
10 yds Sheeting @ 9 1.25
150
Three Centuries of Freeport, Maine Paid Cowing's Bill
12.33
$54.30
28 1 lb Tea 3/ 2 lb Candles .84
$55.14
Recd. payt. Augt. 30. 1832 for J Badger
NATHL. BADGER
Across from the Holbrook Block there used to be a stone guidepost, stating that Portland was nineteen miles in one di- rection and Brunswick nine miles in the other. In front of Ox- nard Block was once the town pump, the waterworks of the Square in years gone by. One of many fires which were quenched by its water was that in Nye & Harrington's store, when men and women formed a line that passed bucketsful to be thrown on the blaze and thus saved the whole business group. In those days the waters of the bay could be seen from this spot but now the woods have grown to such an extent that the view is shut off.
North of Bow Street, along Main was Captain Henry Green's harness shop, the office of E. C. Townsend and Charles Tuttle's barber shop. Gore & Holbrook were in business at the corner of Main and Mechanic Streets from 1830. The second member of the firm was succeeded by his son, S. A. Holbrook and he by William A. Davis, who finally became manager for E. B. Mallet.
On the site of the Nye & Harrington store, which closed in 1848, was erected the Brewster Block, destroyed by fire in 1894. Sparks carried by the wind ignited the Congregationalist church, which was on rising ground, overlooking the Square, and that structure, a landmark since 1819 was totally de- stroyed. The church and the Brewster Block occupied the space where the L. L. Bean block and the stores north of it now stand. Shortly before the fire, in 1891, the Brewster Block had the following tenants: On the ground floor, J. A. Brewster & Company, General Merchandise, Pettengill & Chase, Meats and Provisions, Post Office. On the upper floor, F. M. Grant, Barber, Y. M. C. A. Rooms, W. H. Lovell, Violinist, Miss M. E. Dillingham, Dressmaking, Dr. J. E. Harvey, Dentist. Third Floor, Golden Cross Hall.
151
Freeport Square
The large block opposite Bow Street, long known as the Ox- nard Block, was built and occupied in 1887 by E. P. Oxnard, clothing manufacturer who employed twelve workers in his shop and eighty outside. He was established in 1876 and also sold general merchandise.
Nearly every town sooner or later has been the victim of a disastrous fire and Freeport has been no exception, for on the morning of December 28, 1909, a fire which started in the store of Curtis & Morton leveled all structures fronting on Main Street between Bow and Mechanic Streets. The cause of the fire has never been determined. Aid was summoned from Port- land and an engine sent from that city did good service. Fortu- nately, the flames did not cross Main Street but even with that advantage a large proportion of Freeport's business men and women suffered severe losses. Within a few days all of these had secured new quarters and with apparently undiminished courage were conducting business anew. In the end, however, the town benefitted through this misfortune, for modern brick blocks soon took the places of those destroyed, thus providing better business quarters.
Clark's Hotel, formerly the Harraseeket House, upstairs in the block on the corner of Main and Bow Streets, was totally destroyed, as were the first floor stores in the same building. Toward Mechanic Street the H. E. Davis block shared the same fate.
The places of business burned included the following: Curtis & Morton, Groceries, A. W. Mitchell, Variety Store, Lewiston Trust & Safe Deposit Company, Annie Hunter, Dry Goods, Henry Gould, Boots and Shoes and Furnishings, H. R. Alden, Druggist, George L. Small, Hardware, L. M. Bailey, Hardware, Randall & Keene, Law Office, G. F. Lowell, Jeweler and Telephone Office, L. L. Bean, Boots, Shoes and Clothing, W. W. Fish, Undertaker, Portland and Brunswick Street Rail- road Station, Red Men's Hall.
Where there was water power Maine villages had electric lights in the eighties, but lacking power, places like Freeport were later in receiving them. The first dynamo for commercial lighting was placed in the Davis shoe factory and remained there until the electric road took over the business and gen-
152
Three Centuries of Freeport, Maine
erated the power at their car barn near the railroad crossing on Main Street.
When the hour of five approached on the day which should see the power turned on for the first time, one of the prime movers in securing electric lighting was naturally much con- cerned that everything should go without a hitch. So he went to all the places where the new lights had been installed and per- sonally gave directions and inspected the wiring. At one place of business conducted by a woman he was asked if he would tell her just where the match should be applied when turning on the lights.
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.