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 29
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
There are, in every regular Plan of Government, Certain Stamina, Certain Vitals and Assentials which render it What it is, and which cannot be altered cannot be Touched without destroying it. Not by the Supreme Authority of the Nation itself; for these being the Ground & spring of what Power they Possess, in the same Proportion as these are re- moved or Altered, their Power is diminished, if not wholly annihilated by the first Touch, - Yea we think they cannot, by the majority of the Nation Personally voting, without, at the same time, intirely discharging the Minor from their Compact, and Leaving them at Liberty to remove themselves & Effects into any other Place or Government they may chuse, even to the Ruin of those they Leave behind.
There are also certain Natural Rights & Priviledges which every Individuals is Possessed of, and Which he neither does or can give up for the Sake of Government in any form whatever - one for instance is Liberty of conscience to worship God in the way he think most Agreeable to him.
The State that enacts any law interfearing with the Dictates of Conscience well in- structed, arrogates to itself a Power never given it by any or all the individuals of which it is composed, and consequently those who are agrieved thereby may with Justice if not Contend for their Rights, yet remove themselves & Effects from under the Jurisdiction of such States; and no sooner have they done this, than their allegiance to such a State is at an End. Allegiance is a relative Term & like Kingdoms & commonwealths is local and has its bounds. Upon this footing our Ancesters Justified in Leaving their native country & seeking for Peace of conscience in this then Lonly uncultivated wilderness where they might worship their maker according to the Dictates of their consciences without the in-
[ 283 ]
Wiscasset in Pownalborough
terposition of any earthly Power whatever. We doubt not our Forefathers soon as they landed here considered themselves as beyound the Jurisdiction of the Supreme Authority of the Relm of England and without the Dominion of its King in any capacity whatever, for these were not their sentiments we must think them such Children of Knowledge, as to imagine they could avoid an Oppression answering from the Laws of Nature, by re- moving from one Part of its Jurisdiction to another, had they Tarried at home, their Friends, their Pleasant Habitations worldly Comforts, would have been some Compensa- tion, at Least some Allevation of their religious Disquetudes but hear they must have felt all the Weight of Ecclesiastick Oppression without one allevating Circumstance, Yea Greatly increased by the Fears of a Savage enemy Death in a Thousand shapes.
Every Right has its Origin, as every Effect has its Cause ; but Whence the right of the King of England to this Land, or the Nation in Conjunction with him before our An- cestors Settled hear, could be derived, is hard to Tell. Was it by Descent, or by Purchass, or by Conquest, or by the first Discovery? - we believe by neither of these. The Subjects of the King of England were perhaps the Subjects of the first Christian Prince that dis- covered this Land, but it was then well inhabited by a People independent free and Happy, but they were Heathens, does it then follow they had no Property in What they possessed? does being Christians either nominal or real give a man or Nation a Right to take away the Property of Others that Were not so? or can we suppose the followers of the Great Founder of the Christian Religion Who himself expressly declared his Kingdom was not of this World, because they were his Disciples, have so easie & expeditious a way of acquir- ing Property? if then the claim of the King or the Nation to this Land when our An- cesters Arived here, was merely Ideal, and that they had a Right under their Peticular Circumstances to Withdraw themselves from the Society to Which they then belonged, does it not follow, that upon their Landing hear, they were an intire independent State? their week and Defenceless Circumstances & the Dangers Surounded them naturally led them to seek the aid & Protection of some foreign Power, for this they applied to the King of England, and by Solemn Compact & Agreement, Obtained the Promise of his aid, with a confirmation of many invaluable Liberties & Priviledges, on condition they would con- sent to hold their Lands of him in free & Common socage with some other Marks of Sub- jection. The evidence of which Compact & agreement we take to be the Charter of the Province, by this then all the requirement of our King ought to be tried; - this ought to be the measure and Rule of his conduct towards us, and of our duty & obedience towards him. many other Immunities we derive from an higher Source, neverless we have un- doubted right to all the Liberties & Priveledges therein Granted, the Abridgement of the Least of which we may justly complain of as a Grievance.
There is a certain determinate Relation subsisting between the British Nation and its King & this Province, to Discover which, seems to us the most sure and Ready way to put an end to our complaints. that will Point out our Duties founded in. & resulting from that relation, then nothing but Honest minds will be wanting to Pursue them.
Thus Gentlemen, we have given you our Idea of the Relation we bear to the Mother Country, which seems to be that of Two distinct States once intirely independent, but Now under solemn Covenant and Agreement with each other, and of the Rule by
[ 284 ]
Pownalborough in the Revolution
which to Try our stipulated Rights; and we think that whatever is required of us con- trary to the Letter & Spirit of the Charter, is required without Right - Whatever is there- in given up we Lay no claim to, Provided the contents be fulfilled on the other Part.
After saying thus much, we think it needless to Give you a detail of What we may call Grievancis; Boston with many other Towns have done this; - To those who, think as we do, they must be obvious and noticed as they Rise.
We are heartily sorry for the General uneasiness that Prevails thro' this Province and thro' the Continent; and wish to see the Cause removed. our earnest Desire is, that the tie, between the Mother Country & this Province & Continent may Last to the end of Time, Provided Government may be administered in the good old way, and nothing re- quired of us but what Justice Demands us to Give.
Violent measures we Pray may never be wanted, but Who can answer for the Last Struggles of an Expiring Nature, which are usually accompanied with more than a doble Force.
They thought not then, nor did the colonies, of independence of England.
Our fathers were quick to assert and maintain their liberties when menaced, and acknowledged no authority higher than that of the assembled delegates of the colonies. Perhaps their opinions can best be deduced from a record of their acts.
Voted : (1774) To abide the result of the American Congress and to raise £20 to pro- cure ammunition.
Voted: (1775) That Thomas Rice, John Decker, Edmund Bridge and Obadiah Cook be a committee to purchase supplies and also a committee of correspondence.
Voted : To send one member to the Provincial Congress to be holden at Watertown on the 31 day of May instant, and that Timothy Langdon be that member.
Voted: To send one member to the Great and General Court to be holden at Water- town upon Wednesday the 19th day of July instant, and that Thomas Rice be that member.
Voted: That Capt. John Decker be a committee man for stationing the three com- panies of soldiers on the seacoast which are to be raised agreeably to the result of Congress.
Voted: (March 12, 1776) That it be earnestly recommended to all persons to do all in their power to manufacture saltpeter.
One of the first measures of this memorable year was the reorganization of the militia. Each county was placed under command of a brigadier general. Gen. Charles Cushing of Pownalborough was made commander of the county of Lincoln. By reason of the exposure of the eastern settlements no soldiers were levied this year from Lincoln County, but every able-bodied male between sixteen and sixty was enrolled for military duty, with the excep- tion of ministers of the gospel, Quakers, negroes and Indians.
[ 285 ]
Wiscasset in Pownalborough
With the opening of active hostilities, the coast of Maine became infested with the enemy's privateers and vessels of war. The relief afforded by Con- gress was in the nature of things temporary. The inhabitants of the islands along the coast at the mouth of the Sheepscot River early in 1775 moved to the mainland for protection. The owners of Damariscove, Daniel Knight and John Wheeler, brought with their families their flocks of sheep. In the sum- mer of that year a company for the defence of the seacoast was formed and commanded by Capt. Timothy Langdon of Wiscasset. Nearly all of the men who enlisted in it were Boothbay men. Vessels were sunk or hidden away in coves to prevent them from falling into the hands of the enemy.
The next year Captain Mowatt, who had burned Falmouth, October 18, I775, appeared off Damariscove in a vessel and cast anchor inside its sheltered little harbor.
Graphic pictures of suffering among the inhabitants of this eastern country are found in the letters of the Rev. Jacob Bailey, at that time pastor of St. John's Church in Pownalborough. Possessed of a quickness of observation in matters of a practical nature, Mr. Bailey, in the journeys which he used to make to Gardiner's Town, Georgetown, Bristol and Broad Bay and to the new settlement of the Turners above the head of the tide in the valley of the Sheepscot, was a witness of scenes which aroused his liveliest sympathies. In March, 1776, he wrote:
Those who retain any sentiments of humanity and tenderness when acquainted with the circumstances of this eastern country, must compassionate our situation ; a people con- fined to a cold and rugged soil, encumbered with forests and divided by rivers, exposed to invasions from Canada, deprived of free navigation, prevented from selling as usual, their timber for the necessities of life and denied the advantages of receiving provisions from abroad as formerly. These have reduced us to the lowest condition of poverty and almost to nakedness and famine.2
Later : Multitudes of people, who formerly lived in affluence are now destitute of a morsel of bread and the remainder are reduced to a very scanty allowance. Several fam- ilies in the lower towns and in the eastern country, have had no bread in their houses for three months together and the anxiety and distress which this occasions are truly affecting. Great numbers who inhabit near the sea coast and even at the distance of twenty miles, have repaired to the clam banks for a resource. I, myself, have been witness to several scenes of anguish, beside feeling in my own bosom the bitterness of hunger, and the ut- most anxiety for the subsistence of my family. I have seen among my neighbors the most striking horrors of nakedness and famine. Many during the pinching cold and storms of winter, exposed to all the roughness and severity of the season, had the misfortune to
2. See Frontier Missionary, p. 114. A memoir of the life of Rev. Jacob Bailey.
[ 286 ]
Pownalborough in the Revolution
buffet the turbulence of the weather without shoes or stockings or even shirts. And when spring advanced to afford them a kindly warmth, destitute of anything to answer the im- portant demands of nature, except a precarious supply obtained from their charitable friends, who had not sufficient to silence their own necessitous cravings.
It was impossible to procure grain, potatoes or any other species of vegetable; flesh, butter and milk were equally scarce; no tea, sugar or molasses to be purchased on any terms; nothing, in a word, but a little coffee, with boiled alewives, or a repast of clams and even of this unwholesome diet, not enough to gratify the cravings of nature.
In his journal Mr. Bailey has left a description of the poverty stricken appear- ance he presented on one occasion when he made a journey to Boston. It was in July, 1778. He left home on the nineteenth, a passenger on board a vessel sailed by one Captain Hatch. He mentions among his fellow passengers three women, two of the Gardiner family and Dr. Mayer.
Left the Kennebec on the 20th and arrived in Boston the 22nd. On the 23rd repaired to Mr. Domett's and was kindly received by that worthy and benevolent couple. They no sooner perceived the poverty and uncouthness of my apparel, than they contributed toward a reparation and furnished me with a handsome coat, jacket and breeches. My dress before this recruit was as follows: an old rusty threadbare black coat which had been turned and the button holes worked with thread almost white, with a number of breaches about the elbows; a jacket of the same, much fractured about the button-holes and hang- ing loose, occasioned by the leanness of my carcass, which was at this time greatly ema- ciated by the constant exercise of temperance; a pair of breeches, constructed of coarse bed tick, of a dirty yellow color and so uncoat (sic) as to suffer several repairs, in particular, a perpendicular patch upon each knee of a different complexion from the original piece; a pair of blue thick-seamed stockings, well adapted to exclude the extreme heat of the season ; a hat with many holes in the brim, adorned with much darning in other places, of a decent medium between black and white. My wig was called white in better days, but now resembled in colour an old greasy bed blanket; the curls, alas! had long since de- parted, and the locks hung lank, deformed, and clammy about my neck, while the shrink- ling caul left both my ears exposed to publick view. But the generous Mr. Parker soon made me a present of a very elegant wig, which, though it might not furnish my brain with an addition of wisdom, yet certainly enabled me to shew my head with great confi- dence.
The year 1775 was a momentous one for the colonies and the reverberation of its epoch-making events extended to the most remote regions.
September witnessed the flight of the Loyalist refugees and the heroic march of Col. Benedict Arnold, who, with eleven hundred men set out from Cambridge for Quebec. He took the old Indian route up the Kennebec River, stopping at Swan Island, Pownalborough, and at Agry's Point to pick up their
[ 287 ]
Wiscasset in Pownalborough
batteaux before proceeding northward. On the journey he was harassed by the trials of the wilderness, hampered by the loss of boats and clothing, and scourged by famine and fever.
It was an eventful year for Pownalborough also, and town meetings were numerous. At the twenty-eighth meeting held on January 25, 1775, the voters of the town assembled in the meeting-house at Wiscasset Point, and voted unanimously to abide by the result of the American Congress. The probability is that the Loyalist voters either absented themselves, or else did not vote.
Samuel Goodwin, 2nd, Davis Hatch, Samuel Emerson, Edmund Bridge, Francis Rittal, Richard Kidder and Stephen Brown, were chosen for the west precinct, and Timothy Langdon for the east precinct, to see the association for the American Congress put into execution. The sum of £20 was voted for ammunition. It was also voted "that the province moneys in the constables' hands be paid into the town treasury, and there to remain until further orders of the town, and that said town will indemnify them and save them harmless therefor."
Later Timothy Parsons acted as agent for the Massachusetts War Board in the care of ships' masts and spars at various places along this coast, and files of the board contain numerous references to him. He it was, who was the board's agent for loading the mast-ship Gruel, which was seized in this river by a force sent up for that purpose from the British frigate Rainbow, under command of Sir George Collier.
The Gruel, a ship commanded by Capt. Joseph Proctor, had been chartered at Marblehead by the Provincial Board of War, and in June had been dis- patched to Portland for some repairs and to outfit. Being delayed there through mistaken orders, scarcity of seamen and the presence of a British cruiser off that coast, she did not reach Wiscasset Harbor until late in July. Then the Gruel was moved up river in the vicinity of the upper narrows where her lading was to be gotten aboard by direction of the contractor, Timothy Parsons, a business man of Wiscasset. For defence of this ship while loading Mr. Parsons had sent up a three-pound gun which had been placed about forty rods back on shore. The Gruel was still at her moorings in September. The presence of the fleet of Sir George Collier on the eastern coast furnished good and sufficient reason for her delay in sailing.
During the latter part of August, Admiral Collier began his assigned duty of war in the neighborhood of Boothbay, capturing vessels and plundering the people. His hostile operations were hotly resented and it was said that the
[ 288 ]
Pownalborough in the Revolution
British had two men killed and several wounded. When things quieted down the militia guarding the coast appears to have gone home, and Admiral Collier seeing his opportunity to seize the mast-ship, came up the Sheepscot River on September 10, 1777.
In his report of that affair made to the War Board five days later, Timothy Parsons stated that the Rainbow came up as far as Cross River at about one o'clock on the morning of the tenth; that it being very dark and foggy, Sir George sent forty men in two boats, who came up undiscovered and got on board the ship, then about nine miles above the Cross, at sunrise, and gained possession of it with the captain and three men. For safety the captors hauled the gun aboard. Unfortunately for their plot to carry off the Gruel and cargo, the cook had gone ashore for the night, and on his return in the early morning, spied the new officers in charge and was able to hasten away and give an alarm.
The nearest officer, Maj. John Huse, refused to call out the local com- pany of militia at Mr. Parsons' request. Why he did so has never been ex- plained, but volunteers responded immediately to the alarm, and the captors of the Gruel were in danger. Later the colonel of the regiment arrived and took vigorous measures against Collier's scheme. As a wall against their in- vaders the captors of the ship built up a bulwark of planks on the land side and were fairly protected against musket bullets during the day, but lacked means of escape.
By noon the Rainbow reached Wiscasset and cast anchor in the harbor. Collier issued his demands for the ship, the guns and all of the masts in the river. Thomas Rice, the first selectman, lacked sufficient initiative to enforce armed resistance and found many peaceful followers among the people, some of whom were doubtless Tory sympathizers. He went up to the ship and with "his Jesuitical smoothness," endeavored to win over the assailants to surrender the ship. He got such answers as were "proper for honest and brave men" to give. He had a conference with the admiral, who agreed to take no hostile action until the next morning. The possessors of the ship could do nothing but dodge bullets behind their barricade, yet one was reported killed and several wounded. As their case seemed desperate, in the dusk of evening they took to their boats and abandoned the vessel, but not before they had looted it of such articles as suited them. They were, however, obliged to leave the loaded three- pounder on the deck of the ship.
So far defeated Sir George, it was told, was much "less haughty" the next morning and was ready to leave the river if they would not fire upon him, for
[ 289 ]
Wiscasset in Pownalborough
men in the local militia had threatened to mount guns on the heights of Doggett's Castle and fire on the British frigate as she passed outward to the sea.
Admiral Collier departed but with the threat that the Rainbow would return. And she did return. In the summer of 1778 as the Rainbow lay off the coast capturing American shipping, Sir George Collier heard from a fisherman off Monhegan that another mast ship was loading spars for France in the Sheep- scot River, so he decided to watch and wait for her. The admiral sent a tender with eighty men from the Rainbow, under command of Lieutenant Hayes, into the mouth of the Sheepscot. The next morning under cover of fog a detach- ment of marines with fixed bayonets captured the French ship Marquis de la Fayette, 500 tons burthen, already loaded with masts, planks, etc., for Nantes, France. The prize was ordered to Halifax, Nova Scotia, but as Yankee cruisers followed her, she sailed for Portsmouth, England, where she arrived safely.
When the Marquis de la Fayette was taken in the Sheepscot there was found on board a Mr. Bethune, a descendant of the great Duke de Sully, a Boston gentleman of considerable property, who was taking that opportunity of going to France on his way, as he said, to England.
The two reports of the Rainbow in the Sheepscot River, one by Timothy Parsons and the other by Admiral Collier, are here appended.
To quote literally from the report of Timothy Parsons:
About a week before this happened I had sent Up to Your Ship a 3 pounder, which was landed & Moved 40 Rods from the Shore, and delivered to Capt. Proctor 8 small armes for him to defend Your Ship, but the Enemy getting on board Undiscovered, pre- vented his Making Use of them. Capt. Proctor & his two Mats & Botswan being on Board were maid prisoners; the Cook, being on Shore overnight, was going on Board About half an hower After the Enemi, discovered them and Maid his Escape to the first House, where they fired an Alarme and Sent off to the point to informe Me of it. I Emeadeately on Notice, went to Major Hewes and desiard him to muster the Militia to defend your Ship, but he Refused. I took my horse wride Up to Your Ship and found that the Enemy had Spike deal planck Man hight on that Side of Your Ship next the Shore and that the people were getting togeather to prevent them removing her. I returned to the point as quick as possible and sent up the other 3 pounder with 15 round for it. I stopt at the point to take care of the Sails which was in My Store, but with much difficulty I got them Remov'd - About 12 o'clock the Ship Rainbow came up the River an ankord in Wiscasset Bay before the point. Sir George sent A Flag on Shore and demanded Your Ship, her Riging, Sails, all the Mast in the River and the two 3 pounders.
Thomas Rice, Esq. being one of the Committee Received the flag and was for Comply- ing with Sir George's demand and did what in him lay to discourag the people from de-
[ 290 ]
---
Pownalborough in the Revolution
fending Your Ship, teling the people that if they deliverd her Up it wood not be three Copers A Man. his and woods party adheard to his Advise, which ware the biggest part of the people then at the point. Said Rice answered Sir George him Self and begged to have till the next Morning to give him a final answer, but was on Board twice that day Confering with him. Rice went Up the River in the evening to indeavour with his jesuitical Smooth- ness to perswaid the people thens to deliver Up Your Ship, or at least not to defend her, but he Rec'd an Answer that was proper for honist and brave men to give -
The Enemy left Your Ship in the Evening (it being very dark) in there boats, the Militia keep a continual fire on them with there Small armes, but did then but little dam- age Except Wounding one man. There boat was fixet with hamocks, Musket proof, which was the reason of there Escaping with so Little damag. there was no more than 200 Musket Balls Shot into there hamecks, which the Enemy pick'd out the next day. What the Enemy took out of Your Ship, as also what our people took out of her after the Enemy left her is Menchend in the inclosed Acct. the Enemy went in so much feare that they left the three pounder loaded on the Deck. Sir George the Next Morning Lowerd his haughty demand and Offerd to Leave the River without Committing any further hostilities if the people would not fire on him. Col" Jones who had got to the point took the Command and demanded a Schooner that Sir George had taken and was then under his Stern and Capt. proctor and the other prisoners taken in the River, which Sir Georg complied with and left the River on these Conditions. Your Ship is Something damag'd by the 3 pounders which were fired at her while the Enemy was on Board. The Main Mast is spoilt by A Shot going throu it, two of the Sails Menshand in the inclosed ware Stole from a house I remov'd them to for feare of the Enemy. I have Surplied the Militia with as Much or More powder & Bawls than they fired Away, which I bot that day the Enemy was on Board Your Ship, to defend her. I also surplied them with provitions. Coln Jones will inform you of Every Other perticular. the Militia Expect a Salvag for driving the Enemy from Your Ship. You will determine Respecting that as You think proper. The Ship was not on Mannd and when the Enemy Left her they Left the Secont Mate on Board and Brought the people on Board in your Boats.
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.