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 34
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
[ 329 ]
Wiscasset in Pownalborough
peaceable manner to consult upon the Common good" to express our opinion of public men and public measures - and to petition our rulers for redress of the wrongs done us, and of the grievances we suffer.
Voted. That with deep regret and utter astonishment we find ourselves engaged in an of- fensive war with a nation, which almost single-handed is now struggling for her existence with the most despotic tyrant that ever waged war upon the liberties of mankind - that the differences in our opinion subsisting between us and the power against whom we have so fatally commenced hostilities are susceptible of an honourable adjustment by treaty, and that the declaration of war was premature, impolitic and altogether unnecessary.
Voted. That we view with the deepest horror an alliance with the present government of France - a gigantic despotism fatally bent upon the destruction of every vestige of freedom.
Voted. That we consider the voice of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts essentially necessary in the choice of our next President, and that the good people thereof ought not to be deprived of the same, by fraud violence or usurpation of party - and that we view with regret and anxious solicitude the refusal of the Senate to agree with the house of Representatives upon some mode (out of the number offered) to appoint electors for that purpose.
Voted. To choose four delegates to the County Convention to be held in this Town, and General David Payson, John Merrill, Jr., Samuel Miller and John Boynton were accordingly chosen.
Voted. That the Selectmen represent to the President of the United States or to the proper Department, the situation of this town as to its means of defence, and request further aid and protection.5
And then for two and a half years Wiscasset knew the daily dread of a threatened invasion by the British. It was then that they turned to privateering with its possibilities and profit.
A reference to the war and the local situation is found in a private letter from Joseph T. Wood to Captain Binney bearing the date of September 7, 1813, in which he says:
As to news, I have with much pleasure (for a Tory) to say that yesterday my store windows were a third time broken in rejoicing for a naval victory, at the mouth of our River - the encounter was between the U. S. Brig Enterprise & the British Brig Boxer, of about equal size and mettal. The action continued 45 minutes and ended in the capture of the Boxer - further particulars we have not heard, the Wind being ahead they bore away for Portland.
We are all anxiety for the late news from England and the Continent, as probably a little time will decide the fate of the Mediation. We are still sanguine here in its success or that it will lead to Peace. I do believe the Nation is heartily sick of the War, it grows
5. Town Records, Vol. 3, P. 537-538.
[ 330 ]
Prosperity and Adversity
more and more unpopular daily with the People and I believe Mr. Madison finds it more difficult to manage than he expected and is willing to sell out his stock in it at par.
Business is very dull here but the people appear cheerful in the hopes of better times - my vessels both got out safe to and the prospects are fair for good voyages but I dare not make any calculation in these times - on property out of reach.
It is obvious that the existing state of affairs called for a place where the people of Wiscasset could keep their powder dry. The exact place where the powder was stored to supply the local militia is not known, but as it is a matter of record that some towns in this vicinity used to keep their ammunition in the meeting-houses, it is not unlikely that the custom prevailed here.
At a town meeting regularly held in May, 1813, Gen. David Payson, Col. Ezekiel Cutter and Maj. Thomas McCrate were constituted a committee to provide a suitable place and erect a powder house.
Acting under the powers so conferred, the committee on June 9, 1813, pur- chased of Jeduthan Boynton and Cynthia, his wife, in her right "a little lot of land or rock twenty feet square lying a little northeasterly of the dwelling house of Michael Wharton in said Wiscasset," together with a perpetual right of way to pass and repass from the road or highway, with teams or without, for the inhabitants of Wiscasset.
The work of building the powder house now standing thereon was begun in August, carried on under the direct supervision of Colonel Cutter and com- pleted in the first part of September.
From the bills so incurred and the committee's return thereof, it appears that among the materials used in the building there were eight thousand bricks from Cargill's brick yard, costing $6 per thousand and that Henry Cargill was paid $48 in full for them; that the brick mason and plasterer was Nehemiah Somes, of whose excellent workmanship there are other examples still stand- ing in this village; that the hinges were furnished by John Warren, a local blacksmith of that time; and that Michael Wharton and Phineas Kellam were paid for labor and materials used for the powder house.
A charge of sixty cents for rum on the twenty-fourth of August indicates the date when the roof was raised. The total of the bills filed by the committee, in- cluding twenty dollars paid for the land and ten dollars for Colonel Cutter's commissions on the job, was $218.96 besides which Judge Lee furnished a quantity of plank and joist to be accounted for to the representative of his estate.
[ 33] ]
Wiscasset in Pownalborough
The Wiscasset Fire Society has restored and preserved from decay this in- teresting relic of the past. In its present condition it is hoped that it may last another century.
Smuggling
Smuggling is the offence of importing or exporting goods prohibited, or without paying the duties on goods not prohibited. During the War of 1812, when articles of importation, not only woolen goods, but even flour and breadstuffs, fetched excessive prices, living became so expensive that many persons in this eastern country felt the pinch of privation and poverty.
Although on the recommendation of the President, March 30, 1814, Con- gress at length repealed all restrictive laws which had been passed, this meas- ure had no essential effect upon our commerce and navigation. Our whole seaboard was infested with British cruisers, and by the twenty-fifth of April of that year, the entire Atlantic coast from Eastport to Mississippi was de- clared by Admiral Cochrane to be in a state of blockade. The inhabitants of this region were unable to get their wood and lumber to market, or to receive in return the much needed commodities. The fishing fleet was well nigh helpless.
A paragraph from a newspaper at that time shows the prevailing indigence of this section :
The District of Maine. We are assured by gentlemen best acquainted with that part of the state (of Mass. ) that the situation of the poor inhabitants in regard to the supply of provisions is deplorable, having neither flour, nor corn, nor even potatoes to live upon. The general poverty of the people produced by the anti-commercial policy, and restrictive measures of the government, has been greatly increased by the short crops of the last season, and has, at the same time, rendered provisions scarce and dear, and reduced the means of the country people so low that they could not pay for them even if they were plenty and cheap.6
Notwithstanding the firm determination of the national government and its agents to stamp out smuggling, the people in sheer desperation, resorted to extreme measures, and men would drive cattle toward the enemy lines in defiance of rules and regulations. With the British east of the Penobscot in need of beef, and the Americans west of the Penobscot in great need of blan- kets, an illicit trade naturally sprang up along the frontier, where the high prices tempted many of our merchants, so that considerable smuggling was carried
6. Commercial Advertizer (N. Y.), May 12, 1814.
[ 332 ]
Prosperity and Adversity
on in the vicinity of Penobscot Bay, and many cargoes of contraband goods reached Halifax in spite of the activity and vigilance along the coast.
When the river was frozen to a safe depth for crossing, smuggling was undertaken with stubborn determination and goods purchased at Castine were carried over the river at all hours of the night, in spite of the fact that the collector was in duty bound to prevent this illicit traffic. One instance occurred when a loaded sleigh was seized crossing the ice at Hampden about daybreak by the agent of the collector. The furious owner had the agent arrested for highway robbery, examined by magistrates of his own selection, and sent to jail in Augusta until he was liberated on a writ of habeas corpus.7
Although some of the prohibited articles were brought along the shore in boats and many stories of smuggling operations in this vicinity were formerly told of mysterious contrivances and exciting adventures incident thereto, the British goods were, for the most part, shipped westward in wagons. Their drivers, in order to avoid arrest, resorted to all sorts of ruses, and developed some cunning and ingenious devices of deception.
In those days the sheriffs were appointed by the governor and his council, and were consequently staunch supporters of the federal party then in power. The sheriff of Hancock County being of this ilk, having been detected in a smuggling enterprise, became the target for merciless gibes of his opponents.
During the autumn of 1814, a wagon of peculiar and suspicious appearance, somewhat resembling a fourgon, arrived at Wiscasset on its journey to the westward, and Mr. Sheriff Adams was arrested by Francis Cook, then collector of this port. The vehicle, on being subjected to close scrutiny and dissection by "James Madison's sentinel," as the Wiscasset officer was called, was found to be fitted out with a false bottom, and beneath it lay concealed a quantity of English goods on which no duty had been paid. The contraband shipment was seized and confiscated and the incident has always been known as that of the "Double Bottomed Waggon."$
Vessels entering the eastern ports were subjected to minute examination by
7. Williamson, History of Maine, Vol. II, p. 645.
8. The following is an extract from a communication to the Boston Patriot for November 9, 1814: "The Double Bottomed Waggon. The next trip Mr. Sheriff Adams takes to Castine, we would advise him to make use of an Air Balloon as there appears to be no safety in travelling on land. The double bottomed waggons are not safe from the gripe of Mr. Madison's sentinels; but in an Air Bal- loon there will be perfect safety, as the officers of government are not permitted to travel by air, nor to make seizures there. . .. But he must take care that when he commences his aerial voyage from Castine he must not have it published in the papers, as the Government Sharks may be looking out for him at his landing place in Boston."
[ 333 ]
Wiscasset in Pownalborough
the harbor-masters and port collectors, who became adepts in the art of jer- quing, i.e. the searching of ships for unentered goods.
The Case of the Sloop Traveller
It has been seen that in many of the smuggling enterprises collusion existed between the Americans and British subjects, and that upon proper notice, the British Government furnished convoys. Contraband goods thus brought in were openly advertised for sale at bargain prices in the newspapers of that day.
The following case of the sloop Traveller will show that the British brig Boxer was the convoy of the Traveller, only a few days before the famous sea fight with the Enterprise, which took place so near to the mouth of the Sheep- scot River, that the reverberation of its guns was heard by the inhabitants of Wiscasset, as they wended their way to the meeting-house for afternoon service at three o'clock on that eventful Sunday in September.
Jonathan Haskell filed his libel in the District Court Wiscasset, September 17, 1813, against the sloop Traveller and cargo, consisting of 68 casks of cop- peras, 14 hogsheads and one barrel of alum, four hogsheads of sugar, 70 crates of crockery ware, 52 packages of dry goods, and 13 casks of cord wire. The sloop of 139 tons burthen was commanded by James Whyte, Jr. The libel alleged "that said sloop was captured August 27, 1813, on the high seas, by the private armed boat of the United States, called the Lark, of Frenchman's Bay duly authorized and commissioned; that the Traveller and cargo at date of capture were the property of subjects of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland; and prayed a decree of condemnation as prize to use of himself, owners, officers and crew."
Soon after this Silas Lee, then United States District Attorney, filed a claim in the District Court in behalf of the United States and Jeremiah O'Brien, col- lector of the district of Machias, setting forth "that the cargo was laden at St. John with the intention of smuggling the same into the United States, and evading payment of duties, and that Haskell, his owners, officers and crew, were collusively aiding and assisting in said purpose of smuggling
Said Attorney further alleges that the Traveller sailed for a port of the United States under the protection and license of the brig Boxer, according to the inten- tion of said shipment, and that afterward, viz: on the 3 1st day of August afore- said, by the collusion, aid, assistance, contrivance, procurement and direction of the libellant aforesaid, his owners, officers and crew, and the collusion and
[ 334 ]
Prosperity and Adversity
pretended capture aforesaid, and which capture was altogether false and per- jured - The Attorney further avers seizure by the Collector, and prays forfeiture for violation of the revenue laws."9
The decree of condemnation, dated November 24, 1813, was that the own- ers of the boat Lark pay into court in twenty days, the appraised value of the property, being $33,887.16 and costs taxed at $222.69 to be distributed ac- cording to law.
Impressment
Impressment was at one time the method resorted to for manning the British Navy under authority of the government to compel the services of a subject for defence of the realm. This system consisted of seizing by force for service in the royal navy, seamen, river-watermen, and at times landsmen, when state emergencies rendered them necessary. In England a small sum called imprest- money, also coat or conduct money, was given to the men when pressed, to enable them to reach the appointed rendezvous.
An armed party of reliable men, commanded by officers, usually proceeded to such houses in the seaport towns as were supposed to be the resort of the sea- faring population, laid violent hands on all eligible men and conveyed them forcibly to the ships-of-war in the harbor. As it was not in the nature of sailors to yield without a struggle, many terrible fights took place between the press- gangs and their intended quarry, combats in which lives were sometimes lost.
Subject to certain limitations, all seafaring men between the ages of sixteen and fifty-five, were liable to be pressed, and might be repeatedly pressed for as long as their liability lasted. Exemptions were made in favor of apprentices, fishermen at sea, a proportion of able seamen in each collier, harpooners in whalers and a few others. The rogue and vagabond element were at the mercy of justices of the peace.
The frightful epidemics of fever which desolated the navy until late in the eighteenth century were largely due to the infection brought by the prisoners drafted from ill-kept jails of the time. As service in the fleet was most unpopu- lar with sailors, the press could only be enforced by making a parade and em- ploying troops.
All forms of evasion were resorted to. The men had many friends who were always willing to conceal them, and they themselves became expert in
9. Records of the United States District Court, Vol. III, p. 146.
[ 335 ]
Wiscasset in Pownalborough
avoiding capture. There was, however, one way of procuring them which gave them no chance of evasion. The merchant ships were stopped at sea and sailors taken out. A press-gang could board a vessel or a privateer of its own nation in any part of the world, and carry off as many of the best men as could be re- moved without actually endangering the vessel. The exercise of this power made a privateer dread a friendly man-of-war more than an enemy, and often led to as exciting a chase as when enemies were in pursuit of each other; for the privateer's men were the best sailors, for their purpose, the naval officers could lay hold on.
When in 1795 the press and the jail failed to supply the number of men re- quired, it was found necessary to impose on the counties an obligation to pro- vide a quota of men at their own expense. The local authorities provided the recruits by offering large bounties, often to debtors confined in prisons. Des- perate men formed a debasing influence in the navy as it became flooded with the dregs of the jails and the workhouse.
As early as March, 1741, there occurred two instances of impressment on our eastern coast. James Scott, master of His Majesty's ship Astraee, took two men forcibly from a wood sloop called the Three Friends, who were inhabitants of the province, and the following day he took the captain of the coaster Charming Betty, and pressed men from other vessels. These acts of violence were the first of the kind ever attempted within the province and so great was the indignation aroused that Scott, realizing that an outburst would follow if he did not immediately set them free, wisely decided to discharge them. But the prejudicial effect on the public mind was deep and lasting.1ยบ
The most conspicuous case of impressment occurring in our vicinity in the Revolutionary War was that of Peleg Tallman. Although he was born in Tiv- erton, Rhode Island, and became a resident of Woolwich, his participation in Wiscasset affairs, both commercial and maritime, caused him to be regarded in the light of a townsman. Peleg Tallman was the president of the Lincoln & Kennebec Marine Insurance Company, which began business in Wiscasset soon after it was chartered in 1802, and he served in that capacity through all of its most prosperous years during which John Merrill, Jr., was its secretary.
Left at the age of twelve years to shift for himself, Tallman wrote:
The first time I went to sea I sailed in the sloop Beaver . .. privateer, commanded by Captain Havens. I was on board of her about four months. We cruised in the Sound, off Long Island, both sides, and occasionally off New York, and made many captures of
10. Williamson, History of Maine, Vol. II, p. 209.
[ 336 ]
1
Prosperity and Adversity
moderate value. I next went in the privateer Rover, Captain William Dennis; we were taken by the Raisonable, 64-gun ship. The prize master, who was an under lieutenant in the British navy, took me on board the man-of-war with him. After some months he was turned over on board a frigate - went to Penobscot and took me with him, where, after some time, I found means to leave, and with considerable labor and fatigue I found my way to Boston and Rhode Island. The next April I went on board the Rattle Snake, com- manded by Capt. Freeborn. I having by this time had some experience on board armed vessels, being constantly on them, of different sorts gave me a high standing with almost a totally green crew on board the Rattle Snake. This very probably induced Captain Free- born to give me a situation much like a midshipman in a public vessel, for which I was to have a deserving share. We sailed from Newport, I think, in April; and the third day we were out run ashore at Barnegat by two British men-of-war, and having taken nothing, but got burnt, my half share came to but little. I jumped overboard and swam to the shore, about a mile, with three others, one of whom, the gunner, did not reach the shore . . . I took the road to New London and went on board the Trumbull.
I was hauled up, wounded,11 a long time in Boston, but as I got repaired so that I could carry easy sail I went to sea again in a privateer brig of sixteen guns. After being at sea three months without any success, we were taken by a frigate and carried into St. Johns, Newfoundland, and put on board a prison ship. At length, we were sent from thence to Boston. I then went on board another privateer of twenty guns, Capt. Rathbone, then late of the Navy. After being at sea between three and four months without any success, we were taken by the frigate Recovery, and carried into Kinsale, Ireland, and hove into a loathsome prison, where the survivors of us remained thirteen or fourteen months. About half our number died of small-pox and other disorders. At length we were sent over to England and put into Fortune prison. We were there ... until the peace of 1783, in April. The prison was then cleared of its contents, and we were sent over to Havre, in France, and there landed naked as we were. We had no means of getting to America from there. I, with six others, walked through France, down to Nantz - I believe about two hundred miles. We there got a passage on board a ship bound to Philadelphia, and there - pray sir, look at my condition - I was landed in the rags I stood in, without friends, and only one arm, and knew not where to get a meal of victuals. My friends and relations were all dead or out of my reach. I, however, made the best of my way to Bos- ton, and called on my old friend, Dr. Gardiner. After a short time he took me by the hand - sent me to a mathematical school some months - but my wishes were for the sea. He after a time built a brig and put me in master, with a nurse, as I was young and without much experience. I commanded her about three years, and until the death of the Doctor. Then I was enabled to buy one half of her, which continued me in command. At length I sold out in 1791.
II. It is regretted that he omitted the details of what befell him in the action, by which he was taken out of the fight by a shot that cost him his left arm. The ball shattered the shoulder blade, passed through the upper part of his body, and destroyed the shoulder joint, necessitating amputation at the shoulder.
[ 337 ]
Wiscasset in Pownalborough
Others taken whose dates of impressment are in doubt are Mr. Samuel Huff of Kennebec River on board a British frigate. He was without a "writ of protec- tion." Also Job McCormic pressed on board the British frigate Ambuscade, and Thomas Campbell of Sheepscot, born May 16, 1759, imprisoned on board of a British man-of-war for three and a half years.
John Allen, a native of Topsham, Maine, and a resident in Wiscasset, a sea- man for twenty years and commander of Wiscasset vessels was on May, 1807, impressed, but by evidence presented obtained discharge. Again February, 1810, he was seized in Liverpool. The previous discharge, clear and full for evidence, was disregarded and taken from him and he was sent to a prison ship, and thence put to duty on several vessels. In the war with France he lost a leg and was sent to the hospital. When the healing process was over, he was told, "go out free from the service." In this way were the men treated whose period of usefulness had passed; they were turned adrift like human derelicts.
Robert Randall of Wiscasset who had served through that war, and James Cotterill of the same place, who had been in the service eleven years, both under impressment, were declared to be invalids and were accordingly dis- charged.
In 1813-1814, William Fenton, Richard Porter and John Cole, or Dole, of Wiscasset, were among the impressed men.
Listed among the American prisoners who died at Dartmoor prison in England during the years 1813, 1814 and 1815 were Ephra Pinkham, Wis- casset, David Reed of Townsend and Francis Soul of Wiscasset.
One of the greatest tragedies of impressment resulted in the death of John Card of Woolwich. He was the son of Daniel and the grandson of Winchester Card, who had migrated from New York to Nequasset in the early days of the settlement. John Card was born in March, 1783, and at the time of his death was in his thirtieth year. He sailed from the port of Wiscasset, scarcely five miles from his home, on the ship Mount Hope, and somewhere on the voyage he was pressed by the British ship North Star and on that vessel he was retained until April 11, 1811, when he was entered on the Macedonian, in whose crew were eight other American seamen. One of them was accidentally drowned.
The Macedonian had sailed from England before war had been declared, and the crew knew naught of the coming conflict until summoned to take part in it on October 25, 1812, when the frigate United States, under Commodore Stephen Decatur, bore down upon the British ship about six hundred miles west of the Canary Islands. When orders were given to clear the decks for
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.