USA > Maine > Lincoln County > Wiscasset > Wiscasset in Pownalborough; a history of the shire town and the salient historical features of the territory between the Sheepscot and Kennebec rivers > Part 12
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12. In a letter written by Nathaniel Coffin, March 19, 1824, to the committee of the first parish in Wiscasset and the selectmen of the town, it was suggested, that, if necessary, the meeting-house could be moved over to make room for the new court house, but this was not done.
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Nathaniel Coffin, whose connection with this court as a practitioner and its clerk for this county covers a long period, was born in Saco, Maine.
On the first of December, 1823, he, as agent of the county, invited pro- posals for the construction of this court house, the proposed building to be 50 feet long, 44 feet wide and 28 feet high, to contain three fire-proof offices and to be constructed and finished nearly upon the plan of the court house in Portland, omitting, however, all the expensive ornamental work. By March, 1824, and after conferences between committees of the town and parish it was decided to locate the new court house upon land which was a part of the original meeting-house lot, the Hon. Jeremiah Bailey having agreed to sell to the county a part of his homestead lot so that the county might come into possession of a lot for the court house which should have a frontage of fifty feet.
The Lincoln Intelligencer, the Wiscasset newspaper of that time, published Friday, May 21, 1824, had the following news item :
New Court House.
The Corner Stone of the new Court House erecting in this town, was laid on Tues- day last, by Judge Mellen. After the ceremony, the Rev. Dr. Packard, offered an ap- propriate and impressive prayer. A collation was prepared by the Agent, Master Builder and workmen, to which were invited the Hon. Justices of the Supreme Court, members of the bar, grand and travers jurors, citizens and strangers. The Masonic brethren and Mechanics Association volunteered as an escort on the occasion.
The following is the inscription on the plate deposited under the Corner Stone:
ALBION K. PARRIS Governor of the State of Maine. WILLIAM SWAN, Esq. Grand Master of Masons-1824
On the reverse side:
This Corner Stone was laid by the HON. PRENTISS MELLEN, Chief Justice of the State, May 18, 1824.
Nathaniel Coffin was a leading member of the Masonic fraternity and for a time was Grand Master of Masons in Maine, and his choice of a master builder for this building was Tileston Cushing, of Bath, who was also a
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member of that fraternity. The account of the cost of building shows that much of the material of which it is composed was procured in this vicinity. The number of bricks purchased was 289,862, of which about one-third were from John Porter's yard near Birch Point, a larger proportion from the yard of E. Lowe, who also furnished 2,596 tiles used in the floor and hearths, while the pressed brick (12,780 in number) used on the still beau- tiful and much admired front were from the Cargill yard in Newcastle. The principal part of the lime was furnished by Gleason & Keith, of Thom- aston. William Greenleaf of Wiscasset, furnished 3,6381/2 bushels of sand, and a portion of the hair used in the plastering was from the Stacy tan yard. Bragdon & Farnham, local carpenters, made frames, sashes and blinds for twenty-five windows. William West was the master painter. William Smith, a local iron worker, made the iron doors with locks, irons for the stone stairs, railing, and bannisters for the stairs and other iron work, including that on the fence in front of the building. The chains, however, upon which several generations of children have found pleasure in swinging, were pur- chased from some out-of-town dealer. The stone posts were furnished by George Huff, of Edgecomb, who also furnished some of the hewn stone as did Rufus Sewall, of the same town; while Oliver Whitcomb supplied the stone doorsteps, stone for the broad stairs, and some of the flagging stone, the last named of which he laid. Huff also furnished some of the flagging stone for the entry, while one B. Adams furnished the window caps and the marble keystone. The bell, when hung for ringing, cost $ 134.04. The whole cost of the front fence, including $5.50 each for the ten stone posts, was $129.781/2. The very methodical accounts of the costs of construction, kept by Mr. Coffin and now in the custody of Mr. Clarence Richards, the pres- ent clerk, show the name of every person employed and the nature of his service, as well as every bill for materials and supplies, including that of Capt. William M. Boyd of $127.08 for rum &c., certain ancient articles of merchandise said to have been used as a beverage and then lawfully pro- duced, sold and consumed. The actual cost of the court house is stated as $10,843.09.
The September, 1824, term of the Supreme Judicial Court was in session from the fourteenth of that month to the first day of October. . . . A record is found that the offices in the new court house were occupied on the twen- tieth of December, 1824. .
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It must have been with deep and peculiar satisfaction that Nathaniel Coffin witnessed the laying of the corner-stone by his old-time mentor, Chief Justice Mellen, and a like pleasure for him when that same friend presided at the first full term of the Supreme Judicial Court held here in the new court house. At that term held in May, 1825, Associate-Justice Weston sat with the chief justice. Here was seen the tall form and florid countenance of Col. Erastus Foote, of Wiscasset, the attorney-general, of whom it was said that during the ten years for which he held that office he lost but a single indictment for defect in form. It was then the duty of the attorney-general to accompany the court through all the counties. At that term he appeared in the proceedings of the State against the Proprietors of Cathance Bridge in the town of Bowdoinham, the charter of which was by the court vacated and the franchise declared forfeited for failure to comply with charter requirements. Among the county officers present during the term were the sheriff, Peter H. Green, Col. Samuel Sevey, coroner; and Maj. Seth Tinkham, crier. Beginning with the May, 1827, term the re- porter of decisions was in attendance at least annually for several years.
The criminal business at that first term included cases of adultery, burg- lary, and possession and passing of counterfeit money, and all the sentences imposed included terms of solitary imprisonment ranging from twenty days to three months, the burglary of Cushing Bryant's shop at Nobleborough being punished by solitary imprisonment for twenty days and hard labor in the state prison for one year, while for the possession and passing of coun- terfeit money the sentence imposed was solitary imprisonment for three months.
The term continued for eight days, and many of the then well-known lawyers of this and adjoining counties were in attendance.
Since that date terms of this court have been regularly held here, and it is likely that from time to time all of the justices of the court have presided in this room which has been the scene of legal proceedings for a century.
Other courts have been held here, for the Court of Common Pleas, hav- ing jurisdiction similar to that of its ancient predecessor known as His Majesty's Inferior Court of Common Pleas, was not abolished until about 1838. The Common Pleas Court was succeeded by a district court which sat here for the Middle District of the state at regular terms from 1839 to 1852.
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Terms of the United States courts have been held in this court house be- ginning with the second term of the United States District Court for the District of Maine, 1790, semi-annual terms of that court were held at Wis- casset, and from the opening of this court house, Judge Ware, of that court, held like terms in this court room until 1842.
After Maine became a state, a term of the Circuit Court of the United States for the First Circuit was held here annually until 1842, at many of which Judge Ware sat with Mr. Justice Story. At one of such terms of the Circuit Court held here about ninety years ago, Mr. Justice Story presiding, the very notable case of Veazie against Wadleigh, in which were involved important interests relative to certain shore and water rights at Oldtown on the Penobscot, was tried, in the conduct of which the celebrated Jeremiah Mason then of Boston, Frederic Allen of Gardiner, and William P. Fessen- den of Portland were counsel for Veazie, while for the defence appeared Reuel Williams, Judge Shepley, Jonathan P. Rogers and John A. Poor with whom was associated Daniel Webster then, as Mr. Poor afterwards wrote, "in the full flush of his success and in the zenith of his power as a master of eloquence and argument."
Reference has been made to a project for dividing the county and while a division was not then accomplished the time for such was not long delayed, for upon the incorporation of Waldo County, February 27, 1827, the towns of Camden, Hope, Montville, and Palermo, and the plantations of Apple- ton and Liberty were taken to form a part of the new county.
With the increased and increasing population and importance of the An- droscoggin and lower Kennebec towns of Lincoln County the business of the courts very materially increased with such a consequent large increase of records and files in the vaults of the judicial and probate courts that an en- largement of the court house for the better accommodation of the public and county officials became necessary. And so it is found that in June, 1850, Oscar Eaton, Arnold Blaney, and Wales Hubbard, Esquires, a committee appointed by the county commissioners, recommended an enlargement of the court house by an extension westerly of about 18 feet so that the most or the whole of the registry of deeds, as it then was, might be included in the clerk's office. The committee recommended that the probate office be so enlarged as to include the office then used by the county treasurer with a new fire-safe room sufficiently spacious to contain the probate records and
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files; that the grand jury room be extended westerly-such room then being only about one-half as large as it should be for proper accommodation of that body. Such recommendations being adopted, and additional land hav- ing been purchased of the parish and Judge Bailey, Edmund B. Bowman, Esq., then clerk of the courts, and acting as agent for the county, caused such alterations and enlargements to be made, at which time (1850) the interior of this court room was altered so as to be of the same finish as that of Portland.
At the creation of Androscoggin and Sagadahoc Counties in 1854, the former took from us Lewiston, Lisbon, and Webster, while the whole of Sagadahoc was cut off from Ancient Lincoln. 1860 brought about the estab- lishment of Knox County, when Lincoln, for the last time, parted with some of its territory.
The courts now held here are:
Superior Court, at Wiscasset, on the second Tuesday of May and Novem- ber.
Probate Court, at Wiscasset, first Tuesday of each month except August.
County Commissioners' Court, regular sessions second Tuesday of May,
first Tuesday of September and last Monday of December. Adjourned session the first Tuesday of each month.
Lincoln Municipal Court, at Wiscasset, the first Wednesday of each month for civil business.
The Smock Marriage
This extraordinary custom obtained more than a century and a half ago, and although but few instances are found both before and after the Revo- lution, those few are well authenticated. Though obscure in its origin, its intent-the repudiation of ante-nuptial debts by the bride-appears to have been very definite though not, as far as is known, sanctioned by law. Whether it was the survival of an old English custom or whether it origi- nated in the remote antiquity of a semi-civilized age is not known.
One idea of marriage was almost universal and that was that the husband, by the union, assumed the responsibility of his wife's debts. The only way of avoiding this liability was by the non-reception to his house or possession of any property she might have; this exclusion being extended so far as to
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require the complete nudation of her person, with the bare exception of a shift or sheet. Thus clad, or unclad, the bride met the bridegroom at the cross roads in the early evening and they proceeded to have the ceremony performed. Peter Kalm wrote:
There is a very peculiar diverting custom here, in regard to marrying. When a man dies and leaves his widow in great poverty, or so that she cannot pay all the debts with what little she has left, and that, notwithstanding all that, there is a person who will marry her, she must be married in no other habit than her shift. By that means she leaves to the creditors of her deceased husband her cloaths, and everything which they find in the house. But she is not obliged to pay them anything more, because she has left them all she was worth, even her cloaths, keeping only a shift to cover her, which the law of the country cannot refuse her. As soon as she is married, and no longer be- longs to the deceased husband, she puts on the cloaths which the second has given her. The Swedish clergymen here have often been obliged to marry a woman in a dress which is so little expensive, and so light. This appears in the registers kept by the churches, and from the accounts given by the clergymen themselves. I have likewise seen accounts of such marriages in the English gazettes, which are printed in these colonies; and I particularly remember the following relation: A woman went with no other dress than her shift, out of the house of her deceased husband to that of her bride- groom, who met her half way with fine new cloaths, and said before all who were present, that he lent them to his bride; and put them on her with his own hands. It seems he said that he lent the cloaths, lest, if he said he gave them, the creditors of the first husband should come, and take them from her; pretending that she was looked up- on as the relict of her first husband, before she was married to the second.
In the Lincoln County court house at Wiscasset is recorded the following smock marriage:18
This is to certify that John Gatchel & Sarah Cloutman, both inhabiting on Kenne- bec River, a little below Fort Halifax, and out of the Bound of any Town, but within the County of Lincoln were first published as the law directs at said Fort; and then married, said Cloutman being in Debt was desirous of being married with no more Cloaths on her than her Shift which was granted and married each other on the 2 Ist day of November, A. D. 1766.
Attest. WILL™ LITHOW, J. Peace.
The certificate does not state the reason for this remarkable procedure, beyond the fact that she was in debt and clearly averse to placing on her husband a financial burden for which she alone was liable, therefore by a symbolic representation of utter destitution at marriage it was held that she could cancel the claim.
13. See Lincoln County Commissioners' Record Book 2, page 7.
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Another smock marriage occurred at Friendship, Maine, which place for- merly bore the name of Meduncook. The record on the town book reads:
Certificate-This may certify all whom it concerns that W. Elwell of Meduncook hath been duly published to Hannah Thomas of Meduncook.
(Si'd) EEDATE WADSWORTH
Meduncook, May 12th, 1772. clerk Meduncook April ye 18th, 1772
Whereas the subscribers, Wm Elwell and Hannah Thomas being lawfully pub- lished & desirous of entering into the holy state of Marriage & being confined in a place where there is neither a minister or a magistrate, do by these presents in the presence of Almighty God & before these witnesses that may sign this instrument, en- gage & do take each other as man and wife, according to the best of our capacities & as though we were married by a magistrate or minister.
In witness whereof we have hereunto set our hands:
WILLIAM ELWELL HANNAH THOMAS (her X mark)
Signed in the presence of we, the subscribers, & that the man took her, as were naked & gave her clothes to put on-Wm. E. Frost, Samuel Condon, Cornelius Morton, Mary Condon, (her X mark) Otis Pinkham, Mercy W. Larry (her X mark)
NB-Wm Elwell and Hannah Thomas took the common prayer book after they had signed the above instrument & read the church ceremony of marriage to each other in a serious manner before the witnesses to the above instrument before me-Wm Frost.
It is thought that no statute of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in- cluding Maine, no act or principle of English law provided for, or would uphold the purpose of this ceremony. One would be glad to ascertain in what circumstances and among what kind of people this procedure origi- nated. On the face of the process, it was a trick to escape a just obligation. The magistrate acquainted with the purpose, by permitting and assisting be- came a party to the transaction and so undoubtedly represented public senti- ment of belief and approval.
Most of the recorded cases of the smock marriages took place, in this country, during the reign of George III, and, in Massachusetts Bay, they were resorted to chiefly in the counties of York and Lincoln. It is obvious that in every instance the bride was a widow. No maiden had to employ this subterfuge, as a father was generally held responsible for the debts of his daughter up to the time of her wedding.
Soon after the Revolution this custom seems to have lapsed, for in Maine, until 1852, a husband was held responsible for the debts of his wife
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contracted before marriage and no shift or smock could aid him in shirking that obligation.
That such a custom, even if instances made it such, did arise in New Eng- land, seems incomprehensible; but, introduced and established as a method of eluding a just debt, would be a blot on the honor of New England, un- less there had once been a meaning in the smock marriage which is now unknown.
Shilling Laws
In the year 1822, the town of Wiscasset issued a set of by-laws approved by the Court of Sessions, attested by Thomas Trundy, town clerk. These were printed by John Dorr and were twenty-two in number. As the mini- mum fine for the transgression of these rules was 25 cents, they were called derisively "Wiscasset's shilling laws."
They are the following:
Article I. If any person shall unnecessarily encumber any street, by permitting his team, carriage, or horse, to stand therein in such manner as to incommode travelling, or shall unnecessarily place any masts, spars, boards, joists, wood, or stones, or any other material in or upon any street, or side-walk, or shall place and leave any of said articles, on any common, for the space of twenty-four hours, without permission from the In- spector of Police, he shall forfeit a sum not exceeding two dollars, nor less than twenty- five cents: And he shall be further liable to the same fine, if he shall not remove the same, when ordered by the Inspector of Police, and also in addition thereto shall be liable for all the expenses of removing the same by said Inspector on his refusal .- And if any of the above articles, or any material, shall encumber any street, common, or side-walk, in manner as aforesaid, and the owner or said articles shall be unknown, then the Inspector of Police shall take the same into his custody, and proceed therewith as by the act prescribed in the case of lost goods.
Art. II. No person shall drive any horse, or team, on the run or other immoderate pace; nor shall ride or drive a horse without a bridle to guide him, nor shall permit any horse, carriage, or team which he owns, or of which he has charge, to pass in any street without a driver or leader, on penalty of not less than twenty-five cents, nor more than two dollars. Nor shall any person drive or ride in any sleigh without suitable bells, on penalty of twenty-five cents.
Art. III. Every person who shall ride upon, lead or drive any horse upon any side- walk, or shall drive or lead any cattle on the same, or shall wheel upon the same with any wheelbarrow, shall forfeit a sum not exceeding two dollars, nor less than twenty- five cents. And every person who shall cut or split any wood upon any side-walk, shall forfeit the same penalty as above.
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Art. IV. Whoever shall wantonly throw any stone chip, dirt, snowball, or other thing at any person, or at any building or other property with intent to injure the same; or shall in any other way wantonly attempt to injure the person, or property of an- other, or shall be aiding and assisting in the same, shall forfeit not less than twenty-five cents, nor more than five dollars. And whoever shall for sport or wantonly throw any snowball, or stone, or other thing, or play at ball in any street, or common, in front of the meeting house, or shall wantonly throw from any wharf, any stones, or ballast into the dock or water, shall forfeit the same penalty as above.
Art. V. Every person who shall ride upon or take hold of the back of any carriage used for the conveyance of persons while passing in the street, without the consent of the owner, or shall slide upon any sled in any street shall forfeit twenty-five cents.
Art. VI. The owner or occupier of any house, or building, the chimney of which shall take fire, so that the blaze shall extend above the top of the same, except while the buildings about it are covered with snow, or wet with rain, or between sun-rise and noon, and any person who shall burn any shavings or other combustible in the open air, except at the time and under the circumstances aforesaid, and at the distance of ten rods from any building or fence, shall forfeit a sum not exceeding two dollars, nor less than twenty-five cents.
Art. VII. Whoever shall remove fire from one place to another out side of any building, except in a covered or safe vessel, shall forfeit twenty-five cents.
Art. VIII. Every person who shall smoke a cigar, or pipe in or upon any street, or lane, or yard, or in any work-shop, where combustible materials may be wrought, shall forfeit twenty-five cents.
Art. IX. If any cooper or any person shall burn out any cask in any other place than a good and sufficient chimney of stone or brick, he shall forfeit twenty-five cents.
Art. X. Whoever shall wantonly injure any fire engine, engine-house, fire-ladder or fire-hook, or shall remove the same without proper authority, shall forfeit not more than five dollars, nor less than twenty-five cents.
Art. XI. If any person shall wantonly or unnecessarily discharge any fire arm; or shall fire, or explode any squib, cracker, serpent, fulminating powder, or prepara- tion of gun-powder, in any street, lane, wharf, store or public place, he shall forfeit a sum not exceeding two dollars, nor less than twenty-five cents.
Art. XII. Every person who shall place any dead animal or any putrid substance or filth in or near any street, lane, wharf, dwelling-house or public place so as to cause an offensive or unwholesome smell to persons passing, or remaining in or upon the same, shall forfeit a sum not exceeding five dollars, nor less than twenty-five cents, and shall be liable to a repetition of the same forfeiture if he shall not remove the same when required by the Inspector of Police, or any person injured by the same.
Art. XIII. Every person who shall make a tumultuous noise or disturbance, or violent and unnecessary outcry, or use any wanton or indecent language, so as to be heard in any street, lane, dwelling-house, or store, or upon any wharf, shall forfeit a sum not exceeding two dollars, nor less than twenty-five cents.
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Art. XIV. Any intoxicated person who shall conduct in a disorderly or indecent manner, or shall be found laying down or staggering about in or upon any of the streets, lanes, wharves, or commons, shall forfeit a sum not exceeding two dollars, nor less than twenty-five cents, or be committed to the house of correction, agreeably to the law in such care made and provided, according to the nature and aggravation of the offince.
Art. XV. Every person who shall grave, or cause to be graved any vessel on any public landing, road, street, or flats without the consent of the Selectmen, shall for- feit a sum not exceeding five dollars, nor less than twenty-five cents.
Art. XVI. Any person who shall injure or destroy any tree, or trees which have been or may be set out, or growing in any street, common or public ground,-or who shall injure, deface, or destroy any post, stake, or monument, placed about said trees for protection, or at the side or corner of any street, common or public ground, for the safety and security thereof, shall forfeit a sum not exceeding five dollars nor less than twenty-five cents.
Art. XVII. Whoever shall wilfully or carelessly, break, injure, or deface any pump, or injure any well, belonging wholly or in part to the town; or shall pump more water from any well aforesaid, then what is necessary for use and thereby wantonly waste the same, shall forfeit a sum not exceeding two dollars nor less than twenty-five cents. -And whenever the Selectmen shall deem it expedient (by reason of scarcity of water,) to forbid any person taking water from any of the wells or pumps aforesaid to fill casks or barrels for any vessel's use, or for the purpose of watering horses, or neat-cattle, they shall give notice thereof by posting up a notification in some public place, in Wis- casset; and whoever shall take any water as above mentioned contrary to said notice, shall forfeit a sum not exceeding five dollars nor less than twenty-five cents.
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